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Ghost month starts tomorrow: what you shouldn't do during the ghost month

A list of things you should avoid if you want to stay away from the "ghosts".

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Image Flickr

Image Flickr

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – According to Chinese mythology, this year's “ghost month ”lasts from Aug 22 to September 19. The ghost month is a month when spirits from the lower realm supposedly roam around the world of the living.

The ghost month is the 7th month of the lunar calendar. Most of the Chinese consider the month as an unlucky month and therefore will avoid scheduling major events such as weddings and business deals in this particular month to keep bad things from happening.

As the ghost month begins on the first day of the seventh lunar month, the gates of the hell are opened and an army of hungry ghosts come out to haunt the living, eat good food, drink rice wine and collect ghost money, which is offered by the living by burning the ghost money, according to Chinese mythology.

As the ghost month starts tomorrow, here are some of the things you should avoid doing during this lunar month:

  1. Don’t repair your house because the ghosts are apparently looking to mess up things that are being fixed or repaired.
  2. Don’t move into a new home.
  3. Don’t enter into new relationships.
  4. Avoid breaking up with your current significant other as it may lead to suicidal thoughts or attempts.
  5. Couples should avoid getting married as your marriage may not last long.
  6. Don’t drive late at night to avoid accidents and sightings of ghosts as they may disturb you.
  7. Avoid getting into arguments as they may lead to more serious situations.
  8. Avoid looking at the mirror at night.
  9. Avoid visiting hospitals.
  10. Avoid wandering the streets at night; ghosts are looking for a spare body to possess or sometimes a soul to replace theirs so they can come back to the world of the living.
  11. Avoid whistling at night and making noise such as knocking at night.
  12. When someone taps on your shoulder once, do not look back as it may be a trick for spirits to possess you.
  13. Don’t turn your head when you hear someone call your name at night; instead, you should turn your whole body around.
  14. Stay away from water activities.
  15. Don’t walk alongside the wall.
  16. Don’t hang wet clothes outside at midnight.
  17. Don’t use a lot of black or red as it is said to attract hungry spirits.
  18. Stay calm when surprised, don’t be too emotional.
  19. Do not step on or kick the offerings left on the roadside.
  20. Don’t obsess over ghosts and ghouls and don’t go looking for them as they may find you instead.
  21. Don’t open an umbrella inside your house.
  22. Avoid buying puppets, sculptures or dolls.
  23. Don’t say the word “ghost”.
  24. Avoid standing under trees or bus stops at night.
  25. And most importantly don’t tell a Chinese or Taiwanese person that the Ghost Festival beliefs are superstitious.

Sources Feng Shui Beginner, Says, & Malaysian Times.