Faces of Death in the Philippines: ‘Pamahiin sa Patay’

Philippines is no stranger when it comes to superstitions. In fact, the country is so rich with such beliefs that superstitions are present in nearly all events in the Filipino lives—from one’s birth up to his untimely death. Even at this day & age, these beliefs have remained a part of the country’s culture, especially for those living in the province.

In death alone, Filipinos have overflowing superstitions that even your most superstitious lolo or lola would struggle to remember them all. With or without a pre-need insurance, these beliefs are still widely observed during wakes to either “avoid the next impending death” or “get rid of bad luck.”

To help you remember the dos and don’ts during one’s wake, we listed down the most common superstitious beliefs our lolos and lolas used to believe.

Dos

1. Cover all mirrors in the house with cloth. If you don’t want to see the spirit of dead haunting your reflection, cover all the mirrors with cloth.

2. Place a chick on top of the casket if the dead was murdered. This is said to bring justice to the dead. The chick’s pecking is supposed to tug the murderer’s conscience.

3. Whisper your wishes to the dead. The dead will bring your wishes when they go to heaven; that is if they go to heaven.

4. Someone must watch over the casket. Not just for someone to get abuloy or contribution, but also for someone to watch over the dead to prevent evil entities from taking his soul.

5. Eat food served in the wake of an old dead person. Doing this should bring good luck.

6. Check the fist of the dead because it foresees the fortune of your family. A clenched fist means the surviving family will have money problems while an open fist means smooth financial sailing.

7. Put on some cash on the hands of the dead, then take it back before the funeral. Opting to spend the money or not should either bring good or bad luck to the family.

8. Let the dead hold a broken rosary. This is said to prevent consecutive deaths in the family.

9. Throw a palayok or a pot on soft soil. If it doesn’t break, someone might want a pre-need insurance because it is believed that another member of the family is also near death.



Don’ts

1. Don’t go straight home from the wake. They say the spirit of the deceased will follow you if you do this, so go somewhere else before heading home.

2. Don’t take a bath or comb your hair. Doing so will bring bad luck. You can do this in someone else’s house though.

3. Avoid tears from falling on the coffin. This will make going to the afterlife hard for the dead.

4. Don’t sweep. Sweeping during wakes means you are getting rid of the spirit of the dead from the household.

5. Don’t bring home the food from the wake. It will either bring you bad luck or make the dead hungry in the afterlife.

6. Don’t attend a wake if you are pregnant or have wounds. Doing so will bring the baby bad luck and the wounds won’t be able to heal.

7. Don’t sneeze. Sneezing calls the spirit of the dead to visit you.

8. Don’t say thank you when someone extends his condolences. Because this might make you sound like you’re thankful that someone is dead.

These are only a few of the many superstitions we observe in the country. Whether you think these superstitions are sensible or just plain ridiculous, keep in mind that they actually mean us no harm. In fact, most of these are made to bring us good fortune and avoid bad luck.


The next time you attend a wake in the Philippines, remember the dos and don’ts, and who knows, these might actually bring something good in your life. However, if you really want good luck, this one is no superstition: trouble awaits those who do not prepare for their own death. Not availing a pre-need insurance will cause your family more grief than your actual death brings, so make sure you save them from trouble as early as today.