LIFEWAYS,

ACCORDING TO
THE OLD FOLKS
JOEL QUIAMBAO CAYANAN
OLD
MABALAQUENOS
SUPERSTITIONS
ABOUT DEATH
AND DYING
 “
Don’t let children
sing in the street.

3
 “
You hear a bell
in your dream.

4
 “
A howling dog in the
vicinity of a sick person.

5
 “
A crowing hen at night is
a premonition of death.

6
 “
A hooting owl.

7
 “
Don’t put three lamps on
the dining table.

8
 “
The soul of a mother who
dies after giving birth will
return to look after her
baby.

9
 “
The soul of a dead wife
will appear on the night of the
widowed husband’s
next wedding.

10
 “
Do not allow termites to grow
a hill under your house.

11
 “
Take the bed of the recently
departed out of the house
through the window.

12
 “
Never get an oversized coffin
for a dead family member.

13
 “
Don’t eat unripe fruits
at night.

14
 “
Never comb your hair after the
death of a parent.

15
 “
Fond of perfumes?

16
 “
A dream in which one
loses a tooth.

17
 “
The number of grains of rice or
salt wasted.

18
 “
The souls of children who die
before they are baptized.

19
 “
If you’re a bride or a groom,
never look back on your way to
the altar.

20
 “
Newlyweds must pass through
the threshold at the same time.

21
 “
Taking a bath within three days
after a relative’s death.

22
 “
Pieces of red cloth hung
around the house.

23
 “
A man with a pregnant wife
must not participate in the
digging of a well.

24
 “
Don’t plant a breadfruit tree
that grows tall enough to view
Mount Arayat from.

25
 “
Don’t take a bath
during an eclipe.

26
END
27