By Tetchie Herrera
Filipinos are a superstitious lot. They have superstitions about everything under the sun, getting married or staying single, getting bad or good luck, if it rains on a certain day. You name it, they have a superstition about it.
Take, for example, when family members or friends are seated around the dining table, having a meal together. When one of them leaves the table before the others are finished eating, and bids the others goodbye after a few minutes, the others have to turn their plates clockwise before he/she leaves the place. Why? To ensure that the person leaving while the others are still eating doesn’t get into an accident outside. Really.
My high school friends with my husband and myself, enjoying lunch at Hokkaido Restaurant in Encino, California. (Photo by Omar Santos)
Also, while having that meal together inside their home, if any of the family drops a fork, the others would say that a male visitor is coming soon to the house. If it’s a spoon, then a female guest will be arriving soon. And don’t move to another chair while having a meal – you’ll marry again.
At home, one is not supposed to sweep the dust away from the house and outside the door. The old folks would say that’s bad luck – it’s like sweeping out your fortune out of the door. And don’t pay your debts at night. It’s bad luck, too!
My grandson Jakobi is watched over by their pet cat Merle, as he dreamed on. (Photo by Helena Herrera-Turner)
There are also Filipino superstitions about dreams as connected to gambling. In my mother’s time, Filipinos play the “numbers game” or jueteng which is actually illegal. One chooses two digits from 1 to 37 and places a bet on it from 25 centavos to a peso. One can win 400 pesos to a thousand depending on the location (Source: “Jueteng,” Wikipedia). If you dream of a boy, it means 1 or 10, so you can bet both numbers or either number with another. If you dream of fecal matter, you can bet 8 with as one of your numbers.
There are many other superstitious beliefs in the Philippines but those are the ones I can remember right now. How about you? Do you remember your former country’s superstitions as you were growing up? (Next week: Filipino Foods)
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Thanks for your posts! Trust me, they mean a lot, even if not many people see them. I wish more people would highlight and record these Filipino cultural artifacts.
Additional superstitions that I learned when I was there earlier this year (2024):
When a group is eating, no one should gather the plates to clean/clear the table before everyone is finished eating. If someone starts collecting the plates and utensils before you are finished, it means you will never get married!
On the other hand, the number of plates you have (but they have to be stacked on top of each other) is the number of wives/husbands you will have. For example, if you finish eating and then take another plate and put it on top of your old plate and continue eating, you will have two wives!
I love Filipino culture.
Oh yes, some more superstitions:
You have to finish all the grains of rice on your plate. The number of grains left will be the number of pock marks on your husband/wife's face!
If you eat a watermelon seed, it will grow into a whole watermelon plant inside your stomach! I remember believing this one, and I was deathly scared of it. I'm going to scare my children with it some day, haha.
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