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Eerie Ghost Month approaches
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The gates between the worlds of man and ghost will open next week, beginning the supposedly inauspicious Ghost Month (Gui Yue 鬼月) on the Chinese lunar calendar.
Starting Wednesday, the first day of the seventh lunar month, ghosts and spirits will roam the earth, visiting families, feasting and making mischief until they return to the underworld at month-end.
This is not a good month to start a business, move a household, go for an evening stroll, and certainly not to marry. There’s a long list of quaint prohibitions and tips for getting through the month.
Chinese believed the world is divided into two realms — yin jian (阴间) and yang jian (阳间) — the worlds of the dead and the living.
During the Ghost Month, ghostly ancestors visit their living families, check on their well-being and enjoy a feast and offerings provided by their descendants for them.
Families may also offer sacrifice and burn paper money for their departed loved ones to enjoy in the netherworld. Appeasing the dead is supposed to help ensure a good year for the living.
But homeless and hungry ghosts wander around, looking for a feast, in a friendly — or unfriendly way. That’s why it’s also important to appease unrelated hungry ghosts.
There are three important days during the month, the first and last days when the gates of hell open and close, and the 15th day, known as Zhong Yuan Jie (中元节), or the Ghost Festival or Hungry Ghost Festival. This year it falls on August 21, the peak of ghostly yin (cold dark) energy.
The gates open at zi (子 11pm-1am) by Yan Luo Wang, the king of the underworld, and close at the end of hai (亥 9pm-11pm) on the 30th day of the month.
The dead are addressed as hao xiongdi (good brother). Incense is burned and a pair of chopsticks is inserted vertically into each food dish to signify an offering to ancestors and unknown “good brothers.”
Religious rituals and chanting are common throughout the month at temples to help release the ghosts from suffering. The dead may also be asked for help through prayer and offering particular sacrifices.
Observe taboos
Still, it is a menacing month since no one knows what the spirits will do when they swarm into the world. Accidents may be attributed to ghosts’ practical jokes or malevolent attacks.
To stay safe, people may observe taboos. Construction projects won’t be started, new ships will not be launched, new shops won’t open. Getting married and walking near water and swimming are dangerous, in case a person marries a ghost and in case water-ghosts who drowned drag people into the water to free their souls.
Some people carry good-luck charms all month, and amulets and beads provided by temples are popular. Ghosts can also be dispelled by sprinkling coarse salt, sticky rice, incense ashes and small red beans, green beans and peas. A piece of peach wood and copper mirror are also effective.
Taboos in the Ghost Month
• Do not reveal your full name when walking at night, and do not respond when an unfamiliar voice calls you. This keeps ghosts from seizing you.
• Do not insert chopstick vertically in your bowl, since this invites ghosts to eat.
• Do not eat food offerings, lest “good brothers” get angry and retaliate.
• Do not clap someone’s shoulder — this extinguishes the protective yang flames that protect people from ghosts.
• Do not pick up money or hong bao (red envelope) from the ground, since it probably belongs to a ghost or can be seen as an invitation to marriage. Do not walk on paper money by mistake.
• Do not hang clothes outside overnight, lest a ghost borrow them and leave bad luck on them.
• Do not take photos at night, lest ghosts are attracted and follow you home.
• Do not whistle at night, especially when passing a graveyard. It’s disrespectful and it’s best to say “Sorry for interrupting” when passing a cemetery.
• Do not hang wind chimes at home, since they naturally attract yin (cold dark energy) things, such as ghosts.
• Do not go near banyan trees since they attract yin energy. Avoid forests and jungles where ghosts congregate.
• Do not think or speak disrespectfully when encountering funeral arrangements.
• Do not lean against outside walls at night, since “good brothers” tend to rest on cool walls. The ghosts may attach themselves to you.
• Do not swim at night. Water-ghosts who died from drowning will drag swimmers down as their substitute in the underworld, so they can be released from sufferings.
• Do not leave shoes pointing toward a bed as this invites “good brothers” to bed.
• Do not look into a mirror at midnight, because ghosts may snatch you.
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