TRICK or treat, a tradition in western countries where kids go house to house to collect candies and chocolates, would not be fun come Halloween Day, November 1.
In fact, some local authorities have issued advisories canceling these fun moments for kids and their accompanying adults. The reason is to safeguard everyone from Covid-19 contamination. It will be a disappointment for millions of kids who look forward to the joys of wearing Halloween costumes and running from house to house shouting “trick or treat” and receiving the season’s goodies.
This western tradition has not yet caught up hereabouts except in upper-middle-class housing subdivisions and communities. I guess this western practice should remain in the countries.
Our Pinoy tradition is sacred as we piously remember family members who have gone to the great beyond. Yearly on All Soul’s Day and All Saints Day, all roads lead to cemeteries.
In urban areas, netizens push each other to get bus and train rides leading to their respective hometowns where family members hold reunions in the graveyards of their departed beloved. They bring along food and drinks, and music blares to a fiesta atmosphere in some.
Prior to these two days, public and private cemeteries are teeming with able bodies doing weed cleaning of ground graves or whitewashing of pantheons. To some, they do these tasks only on the day of their visit and with visibly embarrassing faces. In general practice, the departed are remembered during these holidays and on their death anniversaries.
In some Cordillera villages, the departed are buried right in their backyards or plots not so far from their homes. Some tribes also keep the bones of dead loved ones right in their own homes and are invited to partake of food whenever the family eats.
Still among the different tribes in the Cordillera hinterlands, the spirits of the dead are religiously served the first taste of alcoholic drinks before one takes a sip. Skipping this cultural practice normally results in an awful drunken stupor or an appalling hangover the day after.
Decades before the arrival of baby boomers and millennials, rural lowland traditions and influences have slowly sipped into Cordillera Poblacion communities. One among those is the Ilocano “kararwa” practice.
It is not visiting and praying for the repose of the souls departed. It is the day when stealing a chicken on the eve of “piyesta ng patay” is not punishable in the court of law!
When I heard of this in my teen years, I asked the local Justice of the Peace (who hails from Tondo, Manila) for his opinion. He didn’t give me an answer but simply gave an impish smile.
This thieving is usually done by young men for what is called “katuwaan” in Tagalog. In those days, not all poultry are caged at night. Some matured chicken normally perch themselves in bushes or tree branches near houses. These are the target victims.
How do they do it? One or two of these young men must be experts after experience and practice. Once they have spotted a target, the expert by using a long sturdy stick slightly pecks the chicken legs one after the other for it to step on his stick, and then slowly moves it far from the house owner.
The “thieves” feast on their priced heist elsewhere where nobody knows where. Not even the top police detective in town would ever know who the culprits are because he would prefer not to sniff around!
How about food prepared for the dead? Traditionally, native cakes or kakanin are usually prepared and served. This brings to mind whether the spirits of the dead must be craving for food other than native pastries which are offered every year! Nagsawa na rin sila!
So folks, how about other recipes to satisfy the palates of the spirits of souls departed?