MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 29 December) – The lives of average Filipinos revolve around rituals. Such rituals are grounded on beliefs and a unique conception of spirituality. And, like other beliefs, they defy explanation and rationalization. What’s important is that they lend colors, not to mention hope, to an otherwise bland existence.
Take the case of how many of us would like to welcome the New Year. Aside from crowding the markets and grocery stores for media noche stuff, the women (yes, it’s normally them) would look for 13 round fruits like guava, apple and melon to place on the dining table to bring luck and prosperity to the household.
We call it “palihi” or simply “lihi”. There’s no exact English translation of the word, but it means an injunction or practice that’s believed to bring success to any undertaking.
Back to the round fruits, Chinese Feng Shui, the source of this tradition, says there should be 12 of them to represent each month of the year. As to why Pinoys have made it 13 escapes me.
But that’s already beside the point, which is the eclectic nature of what passes off as Filipino culture. We tend to easily adopt practices that appeal to our lingering fascination with, if not enslavement to, superstition even if we already have a vast collection of rituals inherited from the spirit-worship by our pre-Hispanic era ancestors that have survived to this day.
True, the Spanish colonizers deeply implanted Catholicism among the majority. However, many of the rituals observed by our ancestors continue to be observed. I have heard many priests admonishing their flock to stop observing these rituals, saying these are contradictory to the Christian faith.
Incidentally, most of these rituals are related to “palihi”. There’s a “palihi” for every human activity. In erecting a house, coins are placed beneath the posts, in addition to pouring animal blood. There’s a “palihi” too for farming and business endeavors.
I have asked some people why they believe in these practices, and their usual reply was “wala may mawala sa imo kung motoo ka (you’d lose nothing if you believe).” End of story. I mean, how do you argue with that?
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. H. Marcos C. Mordeno can be reached at hmcmordeno@gmail.com.)
