Name of Ritual

回魂日/回魂 (the deceased coming back to visit the family)

Description of Ritual/Practice

• Taoist priests will use the information of the deceased’s birth and death 天干地支 to calculate the date and time, and direction of their return (this information is listed clearly on the sang pang 丧榜. The priest is also able to calculate how ‘tall’ the soul would be 魂头多大、多高. The shortest is 9ft and the tallest is 18ft
• On the night of the deceased’s return 回魂日, family members will prepare a feast (mostly of the deceased’s favourite dishes) and fill their rice container to the brim. This is to show the deceased that the descendants have enough to eat and are taken care of （丰衣足食）, so that the deceased can leave in peace. All mirrors in the house will be covered up, and everyone will go to bed early.
• In the past, large white candles would be burnt (1 at the bottom of the HDB staircase and 1 at the flat’s front gate. These candles are placed to help the ghost guards and the deceased to make their way to the house – 引路、引魂.
• A simple prayer must be done to inform the door guardians 门神 and the earth god 土地公 that the deceased is on their way back so that the deities will allow the soul to cross the threshold.
• An informant has shared that candles are also burnt at home to prepare for the deceased’s return. Some would wrap the pair of candles with slices of raw beef — an offering to Oxhead 牛头 and Horseface 马面 – underworld guardians in Chinese mythology.

Who practices it? Who conducts the ritual?

Family members and ritual specialists such as the nam mo lo

Is it still practiced now?

The burning of large white candles, and the wrapping of the candles with raw meat is rarely practiced in Singapore – mostly due to lack of knowledge and due to the constraints of living in high density public housing.