Christmas Season

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Hello everyone! Kumusta ka! Welcome to today’s episode. And it’s the Christmas special, being the last episode before Christmas. And this is not the first time we’ve done this, is it? This show has been running for almost two years, and even if we haven’t hit the two year milestone yet, this is still the second Christmas season we have gone through together.  And okay, yeah, I get it that the countdown to Christmas season starts a lot earlier in the Philippines. But I have a terrible relationship with calendars, one based in part on my neglecting them. 

And maybe that explains this next bit but maybe not. Because while I am excited to return to the festive season, it’s not that I necessarily remember what we did last year. Quite the opposite. I actually had to check what we did, which is another great use for transcripts, surprisingly enough  but let that be known. Last year, I talked about the Christmas memories and moments I treasured from past visits to the Philippines. And that might be why I did not remember what I talked about Those moments are already part and parcel with the holiday. So on some fronts some things have never changed and nothing was all that special.

But we should mix it up a bit this year. There are plenty of things I recognize about the holiday by sight but did not know the specifics of prior to working on this episode. So, in the spirit of both the holiday and this podcast, I’m going to talk about them here and now.

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And yes, this is partially an excuse to talk about Paról because I do love them so, so much. They are my favorite Christmas decoration, but I can’t really explain why because I don’t know why. 

Oh but wait this is an audio-based medium so we ran into a problem right then, didn’t we? Because maybe you don’t know the name for what I’m talking about, but you would know the thing if you saw it. I was totally in that camp.

Paról is a type of lantern: a type of Christmas lantern that is meant to represent the Start of Bethlehem that guided the Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus. Obviously the symbol strongly associated with the Christmas season. And while that can seem like a fairly consistent symbol across the Christian world, this specific interpretation is fairly unique. The colorful lantern includes the somewhat traditional five pointed star, but while most Western interpretations include a singular beam of light flowing down from beneath the star, if one at all, a Filipino Paról will have two tails. One on each of the bottom two corners. 

The word Paról is derived from the Spanish farol, meaning lantern or lamp by some translations. Spanish or not, the image of which, however, has been burned in my mind from those seasonal visits back to the Philippines. And it has gotten to the point that when I see a Paról in a church or just around town without any context, I immediately have a sense or even know where it came from or I have a vague idea of its story. I feel a connection to an otherwise random and impersonal object. And even in a random situation, I still know what it means and where it came from. Almost like a relative.

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It also helps (likely) that there are other common traits amongst them. More traditional ones are made of bamboo, capiz or a mother-of-pearl shell, colored lacquered paper, plastic, or colored rice paper. However, in my experience, it’s not uncommon to find Paról made out of repurposed soda bottles or the like. And in this, two problems are solved. Plastics that might be difficult to break down or recycle take on a new life as an item that we wish to have endure the test of time. So that we can treasure them.

Now, contrast this briefly with the traditional way that produces Paról lanterns that can only last a season or two. Contrast it briefly, I guess because there is no need to disparage one over the other. Instead, I will point out this adaption creates a family heirloom of sorts. Not in the traditional sense, true, but the beauty of paról crafted by those you love can stay with you, even after that person has left or when they can’t return for the celebrations.

Sure, it might seem cheap to some people, but Filipinos aren’t typically materialistic. We do value family, and there is a sentimental side to our culture. 

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Now, this next tradition might not seem… appropriate for this podcast? Or strictly Filipino is what I mean, but I’m not sure. I know this was a big part of my family’s traditions but no so much for other families that I knew. However, it clearly is a major part of the popular consciousness because I see references to it everywhere.

But look, I’m not going to keep wavering, I’m just going to include it. 

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Because we had a nativity scene when I was growing up. Actually we had two. We had this small wooden one that could rest on the palm of my hand and would barely poke out beyond my palms and a larger porcelain set. Each piece of that set was just big enough for me to hold it both of my hands. Except for the Baby Jesus who was, maybe obviously, smaller, so much in fact that he could rest almost perfectly in my palm. Or that’s how I remember it. I remember making a big, well little but still more than you would expect, show of fitting that model there, almost as a sign of how much I had grown because I always remembered it being bigger than it was right then. So I must have been more grown up.

Of course, I made sure my mother never saw me do this. Because that set was valuable in every way that mattered. It wasn’t just expense. It was the first Christmas decoration that my parents had purchased together while they were still engaged even. And it was a big deal to me that my mother would trust me with setting it up. And I took that seriously. I would never handle those pieces carelessly. They were too important, and I often held my breath as I moved them about and arranged them just like you would see any nativity scene arranged. Assuming you often saw nativity scenes. Some people didn’t.

We started with the animals. The camel especially was a favorite of mine. I don’t know why. It was so heavy and awkward to hold because you can bet I never grabbed it by the neck. But maybe I liked the rough texture of the carved saddle. Or the slight awkwardness of the face. I don’t know. But I would the animals up along the edge of this cover box that we would place the scene upon. Then it was the three wise men because I don’t really understand what they were supposed to be or represent anyway. 

Then St. Joseph. Then the Blessed Mother. And finally the child Jesus. All beneath the Christmas tree.

That was before we adopted our cat, that is. And then we had to move the scene onto a high table in the room with the Christmas tree. Our cat was lovely but old, so he couldn’t reach or be bothered much to try.

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In the Philippines, this Christmas symbol was known as the belén, and if you do know what a nativity scene is that’s the best way of describing it: it’s a display that depicts the scene shortly after the Savior was born. And the pieces of it are much like I described: stable animals, Three Wise Men, and the Holy Family. From what I can tell, in most instances, there is an angel or star or some sort of topper that we did not have. Maybe that’s what the star or angel on top of the tree were meant to represent or stand in for, but I don’t know. In many ways, we were just trying to make do. 

Belén is also the Spanish name for Bethlehem, you might have realized. Bethelem being the town in which the Savior was born. So nothing about this might seem so Filipino. After all, even if I don’t remember these nativity scenes with a few variations or anything of the sort being in the homes of my friends or in the malls or other very public places like that, that is not a universal experience in the slightest. In fact, some people are seeing them way too many.

However, I would still dare to argue that there’s more to it than that. And that is there is still something somewhat distinctly Filipino about the belén. 

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You see, there is an art to making a true belén, also known as belenismo, and there is this place in the Philippines called Tarlac, that has adopted this task of perfecting this art form as a community-wide project, earning it the title of the “Belen-making capital of the Philippines.” And given how much effort and time is devoted to it, of course there is know a grand spectacle celebrating it and even showing off what they can be done as a great number of grand displays and brought together and all members of the community and outsiders from across the islands and world come together to celebrate this single aspect of Filipino culture 

Beyond it just being a symbol of the dominant religion, the belén has incorporated aspects of and embedded itself into the foundation or bedrock of Filipino life: the community and or the family in particular. Because the construction and decoration of these depictions serve as a point around which we can all come together. It is the communal aspect, I would say, that truly defines what it means to be Filipino.

But on that note, I hope you enjoy this season with your family, be it physically present or through the wonders of technology. And to you and yours, I wish wellness.

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This has been a production of Miscellany Media Studios with music licensed from Sounds like an Earful. Thank you for listening. If you like the show, please consider leaving a review or checking out our other productions.

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