Pangangaluluwa (literally "souling") is a

Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...

tradition observed annually on October 31 during

All Hallows' Eve Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

Observance

The practice of ''pangangaluluwa'' is

folk tradition Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...

where people visit houses at night to sing songs related to

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are k ...

, and

All Souls' Day All Souls' Day, also called ''The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed'', is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by certain Christian denominations on 2 November. Through prayer, intercessions, alms and ...

to solicit for gifts. The practice is more common in the rural areas and is often done by children or teenagers. According to the

National Commission for Culture and the Arts The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyon para sa Kultura at mga Sining, ceb, Nasodnong Komisyon alang sa Budaya ug mga Arte) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. ...

(NCCA), the practice is usually done on October 31, the day before the "Day of the Dead" (Araw ng mga Patay), also known as

. As per tradition, participants of ''pangangaluluwa'' solicits people in front of their houses similar to what is done in ''

harana Harana may refer to: *Harana/Valle de Arana a municipality in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain * Harana, Rajgarh, a village in Madhya Pradesh, India * Sierra Harana mountain range in the center of the province of Granada, ...

'' and ''karoling'' and sings songs pretending to be lost souls in

purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgat ...

. Visited homes are expected to give ''kakanin'' or something else which the "lost souls" could bring back to the world of the dead. The NCCA also describes a superstition associated with ''pangangaluluwa''. According to tradition, the door which connects the world of the living and dead opens during All Saints Day which causes the souls who died on November 1 to return to the world of the living. ''Kakanin'' or various sticky rice cakes as well as food products made from

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato ('' Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young ...

and

purple yam ''Dioscorea alata'', also known as purple yam, ube (, ), or greater yam, among many other names, is a species of yam (a tuber). The tubers are usually a vivid violet-purple to bright lavender in color (hence the common name), but some range in ...

is usually prepared as a tribute to the souls who are said to be hungry for food and attention. The NCCA has cited pangangaluluwa as one of the evidence of Filipino belief in the afterlife as well as the existence of relations between the living and the souls of the dead. In

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its c ...

, the observance is called ''panagkamarerwa'', which came from ''kamarerwa'' which means soul in the

Pangasinan language Pangasinan (''Pangasinense'') is an Austronesian language, and one of the eight major languages of the Philippines. It is the primary and predominant language of the entire province of Pangasinan and northern Tarlac, on the northern part of Luzo ...

In Sariaya, Quezon

In the town of

Sariaya Sariaya, officially the Municipality of Sariaya ( tgl, Bayan ng Sariaya), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 161,868 people. As the only Mount Banahaw town i ...

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...

, ''pangangaluluwa'' is often observed from October 27 to 28. A dying tradition in the town, the tradition was revived by the local tourism council in 2005 as an annual fundraising for the local government's belen festival in December and the development of the local tourism in general. It was usually held on November 1 according to an account of a resident senior citizen born in 1920, after families have returned to their houses from their cemetery visits. The modern practice of ''pangangaluluwa'' in Sariaya town involves children dressing in scary costumes similar to the Western practice of

trick-or-treating Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". The ...

References

{{Halloween Halloween practices Philippine traditions Allhallowtide