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| My hungry ghost altar |
In China both Taoists and Buddhists perform rituals to soothe the sufferings of the dead. The Taoist name for the Hungry Ghost Festival is the Zhong Yuan Festival, and Buddhists call it the Yulanpen Festival. Think of it as a summertime Halloween celebration!
Agenda:
1. Family feast
2. Prepare offerings to burn
3. Hungry ghost ceremony
4. Make a floating lantern
1. Prepare offerings:Prepare paper items that represent the basic needs of people: Paper money and paper clothing.
You can buy these at an Asian food store, or print your own "hell notes", and cut out miniature paper clothes. (I used some joss paper I had on hand to make these.)
Also, have incense and red candles on hand, and offerings of food: Uncooked rice, peanuts, fruit, tea, and rice wine.
We start with a big family dinner that’s shared with our family ghosts. Just like the Day of the Dead, it's customary to make the favorite foods of each of our dead family members.
3. Hungry Ghost Ceremony:
The dinner is shared with family ghosts, but the outside ceremony is for any poor, unfed ghosts that happen to pass by, so you want to set it up away from the house. In China it's common to have altars right at the curbside. I set mine up in the driveway- just a large clay saucer, and candles and incense stuck into the garden nearby.
When night falls, take your paper and simple food offerings out to the altar. Burn the incense and paper offerings, and give yourself some quiet time to think about the suffering ghosts. The belief is that burning the items changes them, allows them to escape to the spirit world, and become useful to any ghosts in need.
The dinner is shared with family ghosts, but the outside ceremony is for any poor, unfed ghosts that happen to pass by, so you want to set it up away from the house. In China it's common to have altars right at the curbside. I set mine up in the driveway- just a large clay saucer, and candles and incense stuck into the garden nearby.
When night falls, take your paper and simple food offerings out to the altar. Burn the incense and paper offerings, and give yourself some quiet time to think about the suffering ghosts. The belief is that burning the items changes them, allows them to escape to the spirit world, and become useful to any ghosts in need.
Offer a prayer that all ghosts everywhere will be fully satisfied, and free. And remember to say a prayer for your own personal "ghosts" of greed and desire!
I like this Buddhist Prayer, from the Japanese Zen ceremony of Kan Ro Mon:
Attention! Attention!
Raising the Bodhi Mind, the supreme meal is
Offered to all the hungry spirits in the ten directions
Throughout space and time,
Extending outwardly and inwardly,
Filling the smallest particle to the largest space.
All you hungry spirits in the ten directions,
Please come and gather here.
Sharing your distress, I wish to offer you this food
And hope it resolves your thirsts and hungers.
4. Make a floating lantern:
On the last day of the seventh lunar month, before the next new moon, the gates of hell are closed up again. People celebrate this day in a variety of ways- they might burn more paper money and clothing. Taoist monks chant to drive the ghosts away.
The most common way to mark the end of ghost month is to float a paper lantern down a river. People make colorful lanterns out of wood and paper, and families write their ancestor's names on the lanterns. The ghosts will follow the lanterns away. For a great tutorial see this Lotus Lantern tutorial at Chinese American Family. I haven't had time to try it yet, but it looks fantastic!
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