Halloween Vs Hungry Ghost Festival

Yesterday was month 7 and day 14 of the Chinese calendar. To those in North American region, it's the same date as October 31, your Halloween. These are just the differences to note.

On this date, the souls of the dead would be wondering in the lands of the living again. The spirits would wonder back to the homes of the relatives. This would spur those families to prepare a meal for the hungry, returning spirits. By appeasing the hungry spirits, the family would be awarded with good fortune or any other form of luck in the lives.

Not only were the hungry spirits given food but other offerings as well. Burning money (money was designed for the spiritual realm - a.k.a. 'Hell Currency') is the most common item to be given, ingots of gold and silver (again, these were designed for the spiritual realm), etc. All items to be given to the spirits are made in coloured-paper and may have tin-foil wrappings. Some even to go as far as to have entertainment for the spirits; providing dances, stage shows, etc. The entertainment are done on a large scale, often within a small community.

What was I doing during the evenings of the Hungry Ghost Festival? I was watching the moive 'Taken'. Nice show. Then I went to play computer games with my buddies. So why did I blog this? Just for everybody's reference and mine too. I sometimes get confused between "All Souls Day" and the "Hungry Ghosts/Spirits Festival". That one I'll write about it next time. For more information on the Hungry Ghost Festival : wikipedia