“What is a superstition that you always follow?”
In our town [Conception, Tarlac], we believe that whenever a funeral procession passes by, elders would wake us up because there is a saying that the soul of the deceased will take yours when you are unconscious. Another is… wearing a red shirt when attending a wake is not good. People are mourning, and the color red represents happiness or celebration.
I didn’t believe all of this at first, but after [hearing] stories from my family, I began believing it. I was afraid of the consequences.
“How do superstitions affect your daily life?”
I feel like superstitions have been embedded in our society as a whole, and as a kid, I tend to relate my experiences a lot more often to these beliefs rather than solving them in factual terms. Now that I’ve become an adult, I try my best to look for an objective reason in my day-to-day life […] There is nothing wrong in believing in superstitions [as long as] it doesn’t affect your life as a whole in a negative way.
– Biel Mikaela Torres, communication student from Tarlac
Interview by RY PHILIP JACO T. GALVAN
