Kalag-kalag

All Souls day, “Kalag-kalag” in my dialect, is the day of the year where we Filipinos pay a visit to honor the past relatives. Why “Kalag-kalag”? It because “Kalag” in Cebuano means soul. I have asked some of officemate on how they celebrate the All Souls day and what they usually do is they visit their past relatives in the cemetery to pray and light candles and sometimes they bring food because it is one of the occasions where they get together with other relatives. And back on their home they do nothing. But as a family tradition way back home in Negros it’s different. During these days we usually cook “biko”, “suman” or “ibus” in Cebuano, and I forgot the name of the other one but its colored yellow with beans and chicken and other ingredients. We offer these rice cakes together with soft drinks, water, cigarettes, tobacco and brandy on an altar and these foods stayed overnight with candles. And what do with these foods the following day? We eat them.. .

And when one member of the family pays a visit a past relative in the cemetery, before entering the vicinity of the house we throw ashes into that person to drive away any bad spirits that might have come along. So this is how my family celebrate “kalag-kalag”. I think its not only us who celebrate this way but some Cebuano does.