Are You Superstitious : Pomegranate Leaves

I saw a few sprigs of pomegranate leaves on the table this morning, and I thought that Dad was going to a funeral wake or something. Well, apparently not.

It's nearing Qing Ming Festival. Normally, for this occasion, Chinese families would honour their ancestors at the grave site, cleaning and sweeping the tombs. My parents usually clean my grandpa's tomb ahead of the festival. It's quite troublesome as there's no water pipe nearby, and they have to carry lots of water to douse the tomb after all that scrubbing under the hot sun.

Nowadays, however, there are people who offer tomb cleaning services. They even have business cards for ease of contact.

Maria's business card

Since my parents are aging, they decided to hire Maria to wash grandpa's tomb this year. Dad gave her a call last week and told her the designated grave to wash. The damage? RM60.00.

Today, Dad wanted to drive all the way to the Teochew cemetary at Batu Kitang to pay Maria for her services. Hmn, if I remember correctly, I have only been to my grandparents' tomb a few times - perhaps less than five times. So I have a very vague memory of the place, and asked to go with Dad to this morning.

Before we set off, Dad gave me a sprig of pomegranate leaves.

On the way to Grandparents' tombs with my sprig of fresh green pomegranate leaf

"Put in your pocket," he said.

Pomegranate leaves are supposed to ward off evil spirits and bad luck associated with death and places like the cemetary. Some people even wash themselves with water infused with pomegranate leaves as a purifying ritual after going to a funeral wake or a cemetary.

Well, I don't know, but I obediently put the leaves in my bag.

Paternal Grandpa's tomb, all cleaned up for RM60.00

And next to Paternal Grandpa's tomb is ...

Maternal Grandparents' tomb
It was a coincident that they bought the tombs side by side. They did not know it till very much later that they were going to be "neighbours". My maternal grandparents' tomb has not been washed yet this year, but I thought it looked rather clean and well-maintained too.

Well, I've never been around for Qing Ming and will not be around too this year. So, today's trip to the cemetary is for me, a prelude to the festivities. As for the pomegranate leaves, I discarded them when I got home. ;p