My Mexican Shiva and Filipino death beliefs/ superstitions

 I watched last night my third film for his year's  Pelicula Spanish Filmfest 2011 at Greenbelt Cinema, Morirse esta en Hebreo, or My Mexican Shiva.

My Mexican Shivah is about how the death of a man results in the celebration of his life. According to Jewish belief, from the moment a Jew is born, he or she is accompanied by two angels: an angel of light and an angel of darkness. With the passing Moishe (75), his family and friends gather in Mexico City to sit shivah, the 7-day Jewish mourning ritual. The spirit angels, Aleph and Bet, divine accountants, only visible to the camera, watch over the family and calculate which angel will accompany Moishe's soul to the afterlife. The odds are against Moishe from the beginning. Family dysfunction aside, Moishe's friends are all attending for their own motives. And to make matters worse, while performing his duties, a Chevreman, who is a member of the Sacred Funeral Society, is milking the family for all they're worth: charging for kosher food, slippers and various other shivah goods. Emotionally unstable and obsessed with staying young, Moishe's daughter Esther, falls apart; crying over a lost tooth and announcing that she is going to have plastic surgery to fix her entire body immediately after the shivah. Meanwhile, Moishe's son, Ricardo, is attempting to convince a doctor attending the shivah to give his girlfriend an abortion, while his wandering eye leads him to his dead father's lover, Julia Palafox, the notorious mistress for whom Moishe left his family many years earlier. Which angel will win the battle for Moishe's soul? If the shivah reveals anything, it's that Moishe's family and friends loved him with all his flaws and mystery- and most of all his spirit.

 Filipinos have our own version of the film My Mexican Shiva. In  the movie Crying Ladies,  a heartwarming comedy film starring Sharon Cuneta and Angel Aquino,i guess every Filipino could relate the some of the scenes especially during the wake when Eric Quizon, the grieving son, has to relay the story behind the death of his father over and over again to the visitors, from one seat to another as if he is a replay of the previous scene the only difference is the person he was talking to. In DEd na Si Lolo, more than the superstitions, it was absurdly amusing how the family rationalized the traditions and worked their way around them.Yes, there’s fun in funerals. Even in grief, Filipinos never lose our sense of humor. Laughter helps us deal with our loss.In one way, it is good since it can be a form of releasing one's sadness. After having two funerals in two consecutive years, i realized that the said movies presented the "funny" side of death in the family.

SUPERSTITIONS AND BELIEFS RELATED TO DEATH 

 The Filipino daily way of life is encompassed by countless sayings, proverbs, and beliefs. People tend to work around the superstitions even if they were told they may be committing a sin. Many Filipinos believe in superstitions to avoid any negative consequences. They may be true; they may be not. 

-  If a black butterfly lingers around a person, it means that one of his relatives has just died.

- A beautiful flower or candle scent smelled in a home after a death of a beloved, means there's a spirit of the dead visiting who wants the relatives to know he/she's around. Pray for his/her soul

- If one dreams that one of his teeth is being uprooted or pulled out, a member of his family will die.

-  During a wedding the one whose candle goes out first will be the first of the couple to die.

- When a group of three have their picture taken, the one in the middle will die first.

- If a cock crows in the afternoon, it means somebody will die.

- Pregnant women should not have their picture taken; otherwise, their babies will die.

- When a pregnant woman wears a black dress, her baby will die.

-  If a person's shadow appears to be without a head, that person will soon die.

- Cleaning the backyard when the sun has already set and it is already dark causes death.

- If two people from the same family get married within a year, one will die.

- A coffin should be built to fit the corpse; otherwise, a family member of the deceased will soon die.

- Tears must not fall on the dead or on the coffin; this will make the dead person’s journey to the next world a difficult one.
- During a wake, never see your visitors off at the door of the chapel or funeral parlor.
- Do not sweep the house until after the burial.
- After the funeral service, do not go home directly so that the spirit of the dead person will not follow you to your house.
- When a dog is howling, making a spooky cry, it means that death is coming to someone.
- When sending a rosary with the corpse; cut it into pieces. This is believed to hinder anymore tragedy in the family

- If the dead person is a mother/father to an infant or a little child, pick up the child and pass him or her over the coffin, so the spirit won't appear to the child.
- When you are dreaming and a dead person asks you to come along with him/her, DON'T go.
  If a  person  meets a black cat, he will die.