7th Lunar month...

This is taken from the the star... interesting read...

Ever wondered what the hungry ghost festival is all about?

"Culturally, the Chinese believe that appeasing the hungry ghosts and their ancestors during the festival would also enable the living ones to accumulate merit that they can use if they are sent to hell upon their death.
As to the origins of the festival, it would depend on which Chinese religion one followed.

According to the Buddhist Chinese, the festival commemorates the deeds of a filial son in ancient China. The story goes that the son, Mu Jian Lien, found out that his mother’s soul was in hell and was being tortured through starvation because of the sins she had committed when she was alive.Mu saw that everytime his mother’s soul put food into her mouth, the food would turn into charcoal.Being very filial, the son turned to Buddha and begged for compassion. Buddha told him that he must find monks and pray with them on the 15th day of the seventh month. Mu began a ritual Buddhist fast and together with the monks chanted the sutras until they finally succeeded in releasing his mother from hell.

Among those of the Taoist faith, the origins of the festival is traced back to an actor by the name of Hua Guang whose duty to his emperor caused him to fail in taking care of his aging mother. Hua was ordered by the Chinese emperor to perform for him. As he was away from home while performing, Hua was unable to look after his aging mother who died. Through some divine help, Hua obtained a third eye to find his mother’s soul and he saw her suffering in hell. When he offered to rescue her, she declined and instead told him to rescue the rest who, like her, were suffering. Hua then started making offerings to all those who had died."

It's also said that it's not a good month for the Chinese to get married or hold other events as it may be bad luck. Although this year, many people held their weddings on 9-9-9, though it fell during the 7th month as the 9-9-9 is believed to be a lucky number for the chinese.

Interesting huh? Well, I don't really have those beliefs, but it's interesting to know what others believe.