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By tradition, November 1 is marked in the calendar as a holiday.  Though it is not considered a legal holiday, the national government usually declared this day as a special non-working holiday. Catholics call it Araw ng Patay or Day of the Dead.  But Nov. 1 is really All Saints’ Day and Nov.2 is All Souls’ Day.  Filipinos, majority of which are Catholics (thanks to the Spanish colonizers) celebrate Undas or Nov.1 by going to the cemeteries and visiting their loved ones who have passed away.  Families have reunions and sped several hours in the memorial parks or cemeteries and there they have picnics of some sort.  Most of these families light candles and offer prayers and flowers to their loved ones’ souls, subscribing to the Catholic belief of the eternal repose of the soul and life everlasting.

In a materialist point of view, visiting the grave of the dead is kind of irrational because there is no way for the living to be able to talk to the dead.  The dead cannot also hear or see or feel whatever that the living are doing.  A Marxist professor of mine said that if ever there are real souls, it is most likely that the souls of the dead are the last burst of energy from a dying person. For example, a person who died when hit by a speeding truck.  That person could have spent a lot of energy bracing him/herself before being hit by the truck, and that energy is left in the exact place where the person was hit and is what is felt by others who believe that that energy is the dead person’s ghost or soul.  So if you are to go ghost hunting, i is most likely to find energies– or ghosts or souls– in hospitals (and suicide places and execution chambers) where a lot of people die.

In another point of view, whether Catholic or not, visiting the dead or remembering them during this season is plainly respect for the dead.  Sure, it is a nice reason.  Any religion (or lack of it) is humane enough to have their own versions of showing respect for the dead.  Even pagans have their own rituals.  In fact, ancient civilizations are more intricate with regards to treating their dead.  Ancient Egypt have mummies and they even build very articulate tombs inside their pyramids and sarcophagi.  Some tribes burn their dead and scatter the ashes in the sea or let it fly in the air.  Even the majestic Taj Mahal is in fact a mausoleum built by emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal)

The Philippines, being largely Catholic, has a lot of traditions.  But I view these traditions as somewhat twisted ones.  And the interchanging of Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 is one of them.  If I would become a conservative president of this country (given this kind of status quo), I would declare Nov.2 as the non-working holiday instead of Nov. 1.  Being a colony of Spain for around 300 years, majority of the people from Luzon and Visayas have adopted Catholic culture from the Christianity brought by the Spaniards.  And when the Americans came and left (and then came again and then somehow left), Filipinos have also seem to have acquired American culture.  One of which is the culture of celebrating Halloween.

Dr. Spencer Reid, a character in the TV series Criminal Minds, mentioned in episode 06 of season 06 that celebrating Halloween is an American tradition.  Americans go trick-or-treating during Oct.31 where people, especially kids,wear different costumes that usually portray ghoulish or devilish creatures.  Although there are some of those who attend costume parties as superheroes or robots or some random thing such as a TV set or a teapot.  By their tradition, Oct. 30, or the night before Halloween is called the Devil’s night, where people do some sorts of mischief, held particularly in Detroit, Michigan.

Now, my point is that in the Philippines, people have been adopting this American tradition for many year now.  Now this is a very sign of colonial mentality and cultural hegemony.  Filipinos really want to become Americans, even if the American colonizers almost a century ago called us their little brown counterparts.  Another bothering fact about this is that since Filipinos are largely Catholic, it is quite ironic that these same Catholics are the ones who are celebrating Halloween, where they let their children dress up as devils, decorate their houses with skeletons, cob webs, and jack-o-lanterns.  I find it quite absurd that the followers and believers of the good Lord and Christ the son of God are the same ones who patronize images of the devil– the very same enemy of their supreme almighty.

Now THAT is creepy.