According to belief, Ghost Month is a period when souls are given a “one-month parole” to roam among the living. (https://www.mirchelleymuses.com)
The Ghost Month, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival or Zhong Yuan Jie, traces its origins to Taoist and Buddhist beliefs. It falls on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, based on Chinese traditions. This year, it starts on Aug. 4 and ends on Sept. 2. The peak is on “Ghost Day,” which falls on Aug. 18 this year.
Time to be vigilant
What makes Ghost Month different from other festivals that honor the dead is that it also pays respect to homeless spirits, or those who are without family.
According to belief, Ghost Month is a period when souls are given a “one-month parole” to roam among the living. Many take this time to lie low, stay out of the limelight, and avoid making crucial decisions.
Those who honor the traditions and rituals of the Ghost Month practice caution and perform certain activities to avoid bad luck, as this period is considered to be inauspicious. Belief has it that the seventh month of the lunar calendar year is a dangerous period, a time to be extra vigilant.
Ghost Month, also known as Zhong Yuan Jie, traces its origins to Taoist and Buddhist beliefs. (https://primer.com.ph)
Bringing good fortune
In some Asian countries including the Philippines, many observe this month by offering rice, meat, fruits, incense sticks, and candles to the dead, while others burn paper money and put up entertainment to satisfy the spirits and wandering souls. Some say that making the ghosts happy can bring good fortune.
In Singapore, where the Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated during the seventh month of the lunar calendar, neighborhood businesses come together and participate in dinners, auctions, and stage performances. Proceeds from these events and small monthly contributions are used for Mass offerings, usually food items, for ghosts during the festival.
Many observe this month by offering rice, meat, fruits, incense sticks, and candles to the dead. (https://www.justaiwantour.com)
Attracting luck in your homes
In our homes, we can observe some easy actions to placate our “good brothers” and “good sisters”—a better, more respectful way to call them, instead of “ghosts”—while drawing positive energy and attracting good luck into our living spaces.
Allowing for natural ventilation increases the “chi” or the life force in our spaces. It is important to harness the chi, the invigorating life-giving energy, in our spaces.
Sunlight is also essential, so keeping our skylights and large windows open with no reflective tints can help bring in that healthy sunlight. If your space does not have enough windows, keep the walls and floors painted or blanketed in light tones. It also works extremely well during these months of the gloomy rainy season.
Aside from sunlight, good lighting should be available in our homes. It is said that spirits tend to lie in wait in gloomy and rarely used corners of a home. Light brings positive energy to a space.
The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated during the seventh month of the lunar calendar. (https://www.thechairmansbao.com)
Recommendations from experts
Feng shui experts recommend keeping living spaces, including hallways and corners, brightly lit. Floor lights or desk lamps can lighten up hallways or corners with no lighting fixture installed.
If you are planning for a new space, keep the largest areas central, as they connect breezeways for the flow of chi. Put the largest wall openings at opposite ends to catch the natural flow of our monsoon winds and to allow it to traverse through the inside of our spaces.
Keep your home tidy to allow chi or positive energy to freely flow through it, thus protecting us, its occupants. Clutter, dirt, and dust are considered negative elements that hinder positive energy from doing its job.
When decorating spaces, it is ideal to keep it natural, such as using fresh fruits, ornamental vegetables, and decorative plants. You can also utilize other accessories in timber and stone finishes, all with varied yet subtle textures that are pleasing and soothing to the eyes and to the touch.
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When it comes to picking colors for your home furniture or curtains, go for bright and cheerful colors like yellows, oranges, pinks, and pastel colors to encourage positive energy and give spaces an uplifting mood.
Avoid black, white, and red for the time being—black because it is generally a ghost’s favorite color, white because it is traditionally worn at funerals, and red because it is said to stir up strong emotions in spirits.
It is recommended to put very personal and human touches in your spaces like displaying photos of your loved ones. Good memories elicit positive feelings and are good for your well-being.
Lit incense sticks also help as spirits are believed to feed on their sweet smell, making them feel that we’re not antagonizing them.
Keeping away from risks
Those who honor the traditions and rituals of the Ghost Month practice caution and perform certain activities to avoid bad luck. (https://www.roots.gov.sg)
During this month, many avoid important endeavors and big decisions such as business transactions and marriages, as it is believed that the ghosts would put up stumbling blocks. Other believers refrain from cutting their hair, shaving, hanging clothes outside the house at nighttime, visiting the hospital, or attending funerals. Going out at night, swimming, and leaning on walls are also considered taboos.
Keeping away from risks is probably the general attitude during the Ghost Month, but doing little things to help ward off negative energy is immensely more ideal in our day-to-day lives.
There is always something we can do to attract more positive energy in our homes and in our lives.
Sources: Inquirer Archives, Feng Shui Sunrise, yourchineseastrology.com