Hungry Ghosts

One of the festivals that has been going on in Singapore is the Hungry Ghost Festival. It occurs in the 7th lunar month of the Chinese calender. I kept seeing signs around the stores, packets being sold, and tents being erected around our neighborhood and wanted to know more about what was going on. One of the first things I did was buy an extra small packet of joss paper in the store. I felt a bit strange buying it since I'm not Chinese or into ancestor worship, but I was curious.

In the packet I found this (there was a lot more, but this is a sampling):

I knew that people burned these things so their ancestors would get them, but I didn't know what each thing represented. So, I asked a Singaporean friend of mine for some insight on what the paper meant and the reasons behind the ritual.

Basically during the 7th lunar month the boundaries between hell and the living on earth are removed. This allows the ghosts of the ancestors to walk among the living. It also allows the living to "replenish" their living expenses for a year. It is believed that hell is like earth and that the ancestors need all the basic necessities that we do. Living relatives burn the paper which allows their ancestors to get whatever is on the paper. If you look at the picture, the large paper has pictures of clothes, TVs, shoes, etc. Most of the other paper represents money. My friend taught me how to fold up the paper (the silver one on the bottom left) correctly. Her family would write the name of their ancestor on the paper and the date of their death (I think) so it would get to the right person (ghost?). She said that she would do this for stacks and stacks of paper since the more you burn the more your ancestors get. (I hope I got all that right)

The paper and incense are burned in places like this:

I found out the the tents that were being erected put on shows for the ghosts. The first two rows of chairs are left empty so the ghosts have a place to sit. (good know so if I ever go to a show, I won't sit on a ghost.) At the end of the month, the ghosts go back to hell with all of their new possessions.

Their are couple other festivals coming up The Mid-Autumn/Lantern Festival a Chinese festival and Deepavali a Hindu festival. We were here last year for Deepavali so you can take a a look at last year's post if you would like. I'm interested in the Lantern festival since I have been told kids walk around the lake out side our condo with lanterns. Should be pretty cool.