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Dieng Plateau Dreadlocks Haircut Ceremony

by SamlyFebruary 3, 2017June 1, 2017Indonesia / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

Dieng Plateau is one of the famous tourism destinations which is located in Wonosobo District of Central Java. It is located at an altitude of 2093 meters above sea level. Since ancient times, Dieng Plateau is one of the most famous cultural centers of development in Indonesia. One of the cultures that has become viral in tourism world is the Dreadlocks Haircut Traditional Ceremony of Dieng Plateau.

This tradition is held once a year, it is very interesting because the ceremony contains some sequence of events with the main ceremony to cut natural dreadlocks of the children who are called “Anak Gembel”, so that it doesn’t bring about sickness and disaster in their families. These native people of Dieng Plateau believe that “anak gembel” are a reincarnation of their Dieng tribal ancestors who they consider as their gods. Because “anak gembel” are considered as re-incarnation of their gods, to cut their hair needs a special ceremony led by the village elders. And it is also believed that if the dreadlocks are cut without ceremony is considered as a disaster to the entire village and especially their family.

“Anak gembel” never cut their hair since their dreadlocks start growing. Their dreadlocks are not innate, symptoms of hair changes usually occur during the first year after birth and changes happen suddenly without any sign thereafter….to be continued.

Make some noise!

by SamlyApril 2, 2014June 1, 2017China / Entering the house / Fengshui / House Rules / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

Add sound and movement to your house, followed by ventilation and lighting.

First, get some water boiling. It’s best to use a whistling kettle to add some noise to the space, but if one is not available, any kettle or saucepan will do.

As soon as you hear the water boiling, turn on television and the radio.

Once you get the audio-visual going, open up all the windows then turn on the air conditioning and electric fans.

Last but not least, switch on all the lights.
boiling kettle

The idea is to draw prosperity to your new home by introducing vitality.
As a way to be conscientious of the environment, electrical appliances can be switched off after around 15 minutes when the moving-in ritual is complete.

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Salt and Rice in House Corners

by SamlyApril 2, 2014June 1, 2017China / Entering the house / Fengshui / House Rules / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

On the day of moving in to your new house you must sprinkle some salt with rice in every corner in the house. This is to remove all evil and bad spirits from the house should there be any. Start at the entrance of your house on ground floor and then move up.

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A date is chosen for moving in

by SamlyApril 2, 2014June 1, 2017China / Entering the house / Fengshui / House Rules / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

The occupants of the house should try to be in a jovial mood on the day that they are to move into their new residence. They should try to refrain from losing their tempers and refrain from uttering profanities and inauspicious words. It is not advisable to argue or quarrel as this might signify that the residents will be forever arguing or quarrelling thereafter.

The red banner must be put up before moving in. Some people hang a turnip on each side of the banner and a pineapple in the middle. Other people hang up other auspicious things.
Each family member must carry one auspicious item when moving into the new house. They should never go in empty handed as this implies that they have not brought in anything from outside. They can carry a rice container which is 3/4 filled with a red packet (ang pau) placed on top. This would mean that there is space for more to come. A packet of oranges or mandarins. Actually, it can be anything that has an auspicious meaning.

Also, either the house owner or his wife must get ready some coins to throw onto the floor while in the process of entering into the new house. This would signify bringing in wealth and good fortune. If possible utter some auspicious words like, gold and jade fills the house or something to that effect.

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Barrio

by SamlyMarch 26, 2014June 1, 2017Health & Doctors / Philippines / Religion / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

Before education have been known in the Philippines, they believe in the power of quack doctors to heal someone with illness and diseases. These days, a lot of people became educated, some of them became doctors of health, and doctors have been known to public, but there are still few people who choose to go and have their selves or their loved ones experience ‘treatment’ from the quack doctor. Tourists, especially those who marry Filipinos who are living in a place away from the cities called barrio may be shocked because quack doctors may sometimes ask for unusual things such as pure black chicken, fresh chicken’s head, candle and water to have the melted wax of the candle drop on water, some leaves, etc.

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Usog

by SamlyMarch 26, 2014June 1, 2017Philippines / Religion / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

Filipino people, especially those who are staying away from urbanized areas believe in ‘usog’. This is the term used for ‘evil eye’. They believe that some people, though not bad, can sometimes be used by the devil or some bad elements to give sickness and tantrums that are more than normal to the baby. It usually comes with the idea that bad things ride on the words spoken by people to describe the baby or the way they look at it, whether those were appreciation or not. To prevent this, they let the baby wear a bracelet made of beads which have been blessed, tie or pin a small cellophane with a garlic inside to the baby’s clothes, or put a lipstick mark on the baby’s forehead. One ‘usog’ already happens, they usually bring the baby to the manghihilot or find the person who said something to the baby and have that person draw a cross on the baby’s forehead using his thumb and saliva.

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Burying placenta

by SamlyMarch 26, 2014June 1, 2017Family / Philippines / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

When a woman gives birth to a child, the abdominal cord will be cut from the baby and the placenta will also be removed by the healthcare providers from the mother. Usually, after checking if the placenta that was taken from the mother is intact, it will be thrown because the help it can give to the baby is no longer needed. In the Philippines, there is this old belief that until now, some of the Filipino people still believe in and do. The family will ask for the placenta of the child from the delivery room and burry it near a tree so that the child will be guarded and will not be or give a big problem in the family.

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Twins

by SamlyMarch 26, 2014June 1, 2017Family / Philippines / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

Scientifically, to naturally bear twins during pregnancy, a family history of having twins in the family must be present in either the female (mother) or the male’s (father) part. Some families want to have twins and some do not. In the Philippines, old people believe that a pregnant woman who is fond of eating twin bananas will probably have twin babies. Though Filipinos are aware with science (biology), they tend to believe the older people about this because they grew up with this kind of orientation, especially those who are living or once lived in a place away from the cities.

Will it be a girl or a boy?

by SamlyMarch 26, 2014June 1, 2017Family / Philippines / SuperstitiousLeave a Comment

People gather ideas based on known and read studies, their observation, and others’ observation. In the Philippines, there are beliefs about pregnancy a lot of years ago that were passed on from generation to generation. Though Filipinos are now very educated and oriented with technology, there are still some ideas from the past that are still used. Ultrasounds are widely used but before the pregnant woman submit herself for it, people will be guessing the gender of the baby. They say, if a pregnant woman is beautiful and blooming during pregnancy, she will have a female child; otherwise, it will be a male. If her abdomen is rounded, it will be a girl and if it is pointed, the baby she is bearing is a boy.

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What One Should Not Do While Cooking and After Eating

by SamlyMarch 26, 2014June 1, 2017Having a meal / Philippines / Public manners / Superstitious / Table MannersLeave a Comment

Filipinos are known to be good in cooking. A lot of Filipino chefs have been successful all over the world. What others do not know is any Filipino who knows the most basic in cooking can be good in it. Ordinary people can cook very good foods even without formal cooking education or learning from cook books. Philippines is a country where people love to cook. Since cooking is a known activity, there are also known beliefs about it. They say, a males or females who are single should not sing while they cook because they may not have the chance to marry someone someday and will be forever a bachelor or an old maid. The same will also happen if one will get the last piece of food on a platter.