We are in the midst of Ghost Month, or the 7th month of the lunar year, here in Taiwan. And no, we don’t get to dress up and go trick-or-treating. Buddhists and Taoists believe that spirits jailed in hell are released for one month a year into our realm, so massive feasts and offerings are given to appease the spirits and to pay tribute to ancestors. It is an important folk/religious ritual for the Taiwanese people, dating back to the Tang dynasty, where people try to placate troubled spirits of former Earth dwellers lest those spirits interfere with the lives of current Earth dwellers. Apparently, the ghosts come out to eat, drink, spend the paper money that’s burnt for them, watch burlesque shows in certain instances and haunt the living. The fact that it sounds like a 23 year old’s bachelor party in Vegas is purely by coincidence.
There are too many taboos to list regarding what should not be done during Ghost Month, but growing up with a superstitious mother I remember things like not swimming for fear of ghosts dragging me underwater and not whistling at night for fear of attracting evil spirits. Basically, the woman just set me up for years of therapy.
Nevertheless, Jules and I have been enjoying seeing all the sights associated with Ghost Month, like the Ghost Festival we attended at our local temple this afternoon. A procession of monks chanted to send unsettled ghosts away and tables were filled with a variety of food, drink, paper money and burning incense. The scientific part of me really enjoyed pointing out all of the internal organs of the sacrificial pig to Jules, but all he could say was, “Mommy, that’s dégoutant!” Given the spread this temple put out I can’t imagine any spirits not being satisfied.
