more than meets the eyes

In most people's eyes, holidays have become a festival of convivial merry-making, school holidays, time-off from the banality of life to smell the proverbial flowers by the roadside.

These festivals have become so commercialized that how many of us actually truly know the meaning of these festivals, that these calendar dates actually mark the death of these saintly mortals?

During Good Friday and Easter, crucifixions in honour of Jesus take place every year in the Philippines, the only country in Asia that has a predominantly Roman-catholic population.

Children as young as fifteen are pinned to crosses, have 6-inch pins driven into their flesh, and have to endure blistering pain as whips are slashed across their backs hours before the crucifixions take place.

The voluntary participants line up as they wait for their turn to be crucified for an excruciating five minutes under the relentless scorching sun. As pins the size of an adult's little finger are hammered through their flesh, you witness their faces twisting into tormented expressions, and blood pours down their faces and bodies. It is a gory, bloody sight to behold.

Sadly, even the evil claws of commercialization have found their way into such activities. Stalls are set up nearby selling items like souvenir whips and even VIP tickets are sold for spectators wishing to have an upfront view of these real-life crucifixions going on right before their very eyes.

Such events are treated with all-seriousness in the Philippines, being the only Catholic nation in Asia. During the Easter festival, bloodshed has a whole different meaning with the Filipinos. During processions, they cut their backs with broken glass, until their entire back is covered with blood, some of which inadvertently splattering onto the cutter's hands.

In such reconstructions of how Jesus died on the cross, these acts of self-flagellations are seen to be a washing away or atonement of sins, as well as to bring blessings for the family.

The entire significance of the event has been lost through the meaningless blood-fest tastelessly packaged as a spectator sport, ad nauseum in its masquerading as a glorification or tribute to Jesus. The volunteers who have the pins pierced through their flesh do it for base reasons, and lack true understanding of the crucifixions.

I think such processes lend new meaning to Good Friday and Easter, that in some countries, it is more than just cute bunnies and chocolates eggs.