Pag Sug-alaw sa mga Kapapuan (The Meeting of the Ancestors)

In the past 25 years of practicing the Craft, October 31st is always a special night. It is the night of Samhain and I have celebrated this without fail since 1995. Way back when I was Wiccan, this celebration is the "holiest" of the eight Sabbats and is usually celebrated grandiosely. This festival marks the "Witches New Year" and the preparation usually starts really early. We would normally go to secluded beaches or even rent out private resorts for a night so we could have it all for ourselves. Even when I started practicing Roman Paganism last 2012, I am still joining Wiccan friends celebrate this festival, where we still dress up with our ritual robes and crafted masks. Samhain became a moment where friends get together and honor the ancestors.

This year however, the rite has become less centered to the Pagan or Wiccan belief system as we have celebrated this night solely for the spirits of the land and the ancestors. The rite deviated from the conventional ritualistic set-up of Wicca and has mainly become a more intimate conversation with the spirits. 

The night started with the preparation of the ritual space, the candles and the offering to the ancestors. I prepared a red candle, passed to participants where they engrave the surnames of both their parents on one side of the candle. When we were done etching the candles, I tied red yarn at the bottom part of the pillar candle and bury it on the ground. We also prepared the bonfire and the offerings to the spirits of the land (honey and milk) and for the ancestors (tobacco, bread and spirits). As midnight comes, we throw some incense on the bonfire and sit around the ancestral candle. 

After we ask permission from the spirits of the land to allow us to do the rite, offering them a libation of milk and honey, we faced Katulundan (West) where the sun sets and the dead resides, calling for the veil that divides the world to part and let the dead walk among the living. We hold to the red yarn that is connected to the red candle (red being the color of blood is the perfect color to represent the family blood line), I used blood to coat the yarn and yank it a little to represent the calling of the spirits from the Idadalmunon (the underworld). As we yank the yarn, we whispered silently the names of the ancestors that we are inviting to the rite. During this time, we have felt a change in the air, as it became colder and the I have personally seen a few "people" walking around and disappearing from the corner of my eye. 

After the invitation of the ancestors, we took turns and told stories about our ancestors. I believe that our ancestors live in the stories we pass on to our descendants and we celebrate their lives through story telling. This would also make us remember them all the time. Aside from the unseen visitors, we were also visited by a really big Mariposa who flew and landed around the space where we did the rite, as well as a black millipede walking around the ritual space.

I named this rite "Pag Sug-alaw sa mga Kapapuan", a Hiligaynon term which in English means the Meeting of the Ancestors. Sug-alaw means to meet, encounter or come upon, especially said of persons coming from different directions. We ended the night telling stories and thanking the ancestors for their wisdom and guidance, as well as their protection. It is just right to honor and remember them, not just on the day of Fiesta Minatay every November 1, but daily.  

"Kari kamo mga Kapapuan

Dungga ang amon panawagan. 

Amon kamo gina pasalamatan, 

sa pagpalayo sa amon sa kalalat-an.

Kari kamo mga Kaparyentihan, 

Pamati-i ining ambahanon, 

Kari kamo, palapit kag batuna, 

ining amon mga dulot. 

Kari kamo mga katigulangan,

Dugo sang amon Dugo, 

Amon kamo ginadumdom, 

sa maragtas kag sa amon panumduman."

- 

Come, our ancestors, 

Listen to our call.

We thank all of you

for saving us from misfortune.

Come, our relatives, 

listen to our chants.

Come forth and receive

all of our offerings. 

Come, our elders, 

Blood of our Blood. 

We are remembering you,

In our stories and in our memories.

-Bane-