JAN VAN DAM*: Christmas Parols in The Philippines

boys watching the colorful display in this shop  

The southeast Asian island nation has the world’s longest festive season — and pulls no punches in its celebratory zeal for the period, with lavish light displays, masses, and festivals held throughout the country from September until January.

☆ The Philippines has the longest Christmas season in the world — from September to January.
☆ The festive season is marked by traditional masses, spectacular light displays and family gatherings
☆ Some villages organise contents for the best Christmas decorations
☆ Traditional paper and bamboo lanterns known as ‘parols’ light up many Filipino villages and towns.

The parols are as important to Filipinos as the Christmas tree to Western culture — without parols Christmas wouldn’t be complete.

Christmas lanterns known as ‘parols’ light up many Filipino homes or streets. They were first created in the late 1800’s by artisans to help villagers find their way to churches to pray. Old paintings from that time show these lanterns already. The lanterns were used by people to light their paths during the ritual Yuletide dawn masses called ‘Misa de Gallo’ [midnight mass], because electricity was unavailable at the time in many rural areas. They were made of bamboo and paper and had a candle inside. Such lanterns are now more likely to glow with electronic lights, and made with plastic or capiz, but the ethos remains the same — a guiding light in the darkness for worshippers wanting to congregate and pray.

Make your own Christmas Parols in the Philippines.

Try to make your own parol for next year. A nice website with a good way to make a parol can be found on My Parol dot com And another one can be found at the website of the Bayanihan Community Center .

If you like to insert a lightbulb or candle, you need to make provisions before you finish the parol, but I do not need to tell you this. If you do: be carefull, because the paper and the bamboo might catch fire easily…

lantern parade in San Francisco  

Summary

 

Article Name

Christmas Parols in the Philippines

Author

Jan van Dam

Description

The Philippines has the longest Christmas season of all countries in the world: September - January. This is about the famous Christmas Parols in the Philippines, history and how to make them.

 

(c) 2103/2014 Jan van Dam (http://www.expatinthephilippines.com)

Holiday Hazards

Re-posted Editorial from MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR with friendly permission of the publisher Marietta Siongco:

This the season to be careful. As the Christian season approaches and homes and establishments get festooned with various lighting fixtures, it would be well for all of us to be mindful of the actual materials we use for such decorations. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has given out a list of approved Christmas lights brands, and of the scores that are being sold in he market, only 20 have actually passed muster. Most of us do not think twice about our purchases and rarely even look at what brand of lights we buy, but our choices can literally be a matter of life and death, We look back to 2004 and remember that even then-house speaker Jose de Venecia lost a daughter to a fire in their home that originated from faulty Christmas lights. Dozens of other such fires have occurred over the years, adding a bitter note to virtually every holiday celebration.

...

However, it is goverment's failure to prevent such brands from being sold in the first place. The DTI has approved only 20 branches - but what does government intend to do with the rest? How do the faulty brands get into the country in the first place? There is an obvious failure here on the part of the government agencies tasked to guard against such faulty and dangerous merchandise.

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