Ghost Month Cleaning
For some believers, the Ghost month can be scary. A lot of “Do’s and Don’t’s” before, during, and after the period. Making some necessary preparations, doing big decisions and transactions, preparing for a festivities for the Ghost Festival day, and most especially – doing a deep cleaning of their homes and offices. But there are also some who have been used to it for years and automatically schedule what they need to do during this period.
Traditionally, Buddhist and Taoist believe that during the 7th month of the lunar calendar, the gates of the underworld opens and spirits can roam freely, visiting family, relatives and descendants. On it’s peak day, which falls on 15th day of the 7th month (of the lunar calendar), will be the day with the most spirit on earth, which becomes the “Ghost Day”, hence, Buddhist and Taoist celebrate the “Hungry Ghost Festival”.
Ghost Month Schedule until 2050
- Ghost Month 2022: July 29- August 26 (Ghost Festival: August 12)
- Ghost Month 2023: August 16 -September 14 (Ghost Festival: August 30)
- Ghost Month 2024: August 4 – September 2 (Ghost Festival: August 18)
- Ghost Month 2025: August 23 – September 20 (Ghost festival: September 6)
- Ghost Month 2026: August 13 – September 10 (Ghost festival: August 27)
- Ghost Month 2027: August 2 – August 30 (Ghost festival: August 16)
- Ghost Month 2028: August 20 – September 17 (Ghost festival: September 03)
- Ghost Month 2029: August 10 – September 7 (Ghost festival: August 24)
- Ghost Month 2030: July 30 – August 27 (Ghost festival: August 13)
- Ghost Month 2031: August 18 – September 15 (Ghost festival: September 01)
- Ghost Month 2032: August 6 – September 3 (Ghost festival: August 20)
- Ghost Month 2033: July 26 – August 23 (Ghost festival: August 09)
- Ghost Month 2034: August 14 – September 11 (Ghost festival: August 28)
- Ghost Month 2035: August 4 – September 1 (Ghost festival: August 18)
- Ghost Month 2036: August 22 – September 19 (Ghost festival: September 05)
- Ghost Month 2037: August 11 – September 8 (Ghost festival: August 25)
- Ghost Month 2038: August 1 – August 29 (Ghost festival: August 15)
- Ghost Month 2039: August 20 – September 17 (Ghost festival: September 03)
- Ghost Month 2040: August 8 – September 5 (Ghost festival: August 22)
- Ghost Month 2041: July 28 – August 25 (Ghost festival: August 11)
- Ghost Month 2042: August 16 – September 13 (Ghost festival: August 30)
- Ghost Month 2043: August 5 – September 2 (Ghost festival: August 19)
- Ghost Month 2044: July 25 – August 22 (Ghost festival: August 08)
- Ghost Month 2045: August 13 – September 10 (Ghost festival: August 27)
- Ghost Month 2046: August 2 – August 30 (Ghost festival: August 16)
- Ghost Month 2047: August 21 – September 18 (Ghost festival: September 04)
- Ghost Month 2048: August 10 – September 7 (Ghost festival: August 24)
- Ghost Month 2049: July 30 – August 27 (Ghost festival: August 13)
- Ghost Month 2050: July 20 – August 17 (Ghost festival: August 03)
Need something cleaned?
Ghosts can give good fortune
Buddhist and Taoist revere this Hungry Ghost Day similar to our All Souls Day (November 1, each year), and so similarly, this would be the day to talk to our dearly departed relatives and ancestors to help us and bless us with good fortune. Your great-grand mother will not simply visit you on this day just to over emphasize the poor decisions you have made a long time ago. These spirits will most likely just disturb you for your underspending habits, impulsive decisions or poor cleaning habits. Your actions and decisions before and during the Ghost month will definitely affect your interaction with those spirits and your fortune. One of the best thing to do is doing a deep cleaning of your home before this month so you could give a good impression to your visitors – be it the living or the dead.
Cleaning before the Ghost Month
It is recommended that you schedule your home or office cleaning days before the Ghost month. Ghost are attracted to dark, dirty, cluttered and old items and places. These are the things we need to address to before that month start. Here are a few items you need to focus on during the cleaning:
- Organize and declutter – throw away dirty, old items and furnitures
- Clean light bulbs – wipe dusty bulbs to make your space brighter (remember, ghosts love dark spaces)
- Open and clean windows – it helps natural sunlight to go in, as well as remove stale air inside your home
The paint color can also affect how bright or dim your space can be. It is also recommended to keep light colored paint inside your home. If you think you need some home improvements to to lighten up your home, it is best to do it before the Ghost Month (and you are recommended to do so). Make sure you can maintain all these all throughout until the end of the Ghost month.
Cleaning during the Ghost Month
If for some reason you forgot to clean your home before this month arrived, or you’ve made a big decision like buying this very affordable home or condo unit and need to have it cleaned, don’t worry, you can still do it with the help of some salt. It is believed that salt counters bad energy. After doing a general cleaning of your place, make the final rinse of water with salt. Sprinkle some salt on your doorstep, window and corners. Also, always remember to keep your place well lit and well ventilated.
Other Tips
For some other non-cleaning related tips, here are what some Buddhist and Taoist believe and share on things to do and not to do during the Ghost Month:
DO
- Place offering for spirits (food), light candles or incense, and pray
- Wear light colors
- Light up your house at night
DON’T
- Do not make big decisions (eg. get married, buy a house or a car)
- Do not travel (leisure trips)
- Do not go near bodies of water
- Do not wear red
- Children and old people should not be out late at night
- Do not play supernatural games (eg. spirit of the glass)
- Do not pick up strange items on the street at night
We hope you enjoyed and learned from these tips. Visit our page again soon for more helpful tips in cleaning and housekeeping.