Parol: The vibrant Filipino Christmas star that symbolizes hope and blessings
The parol is a symbol of hope, blessings, luck and peace for Filipinos during the Christmas season. It is also a symbol of the star of Bethlehem that guided the Three Wise Men to Jesus.
According to an article on My Pope, the parol was initially used to light the way to church during the Simbang Gabi, a nine-day series of Masses practiced in anticipation of Christmas.
The origin of the parol can be traced back to when Spaniards brought Christianity to the islands, My Pope states. The word “parol” is derived from the Spanish word “farol” which translates to “lantern.”
It’s believed that Francisco Estanislao started the art of parol-making in 1908, crafting the first five-point lantern out of bamboo strips and Japanese paper.
Today, parol’s feature bold, colourful patterns with extravagant light displays and are made from all sorts of materials like shells, plastic and fiberglass.
The Philippines holds a number of festivals and parades featuring lanterns all over the country. The most famous being San Fernando City’s Ligligan Parul also known as the Giant Lantern Festival. The annual competition coincides with the first Simbang Gabi Mass and has different villages make lanterns as tall as 20 feet.
On Nov. 9, Disney UK launched a tear-jerking animated short featuring a Lola and her granddaughter. The three-minute video starts off in 1940, when a young girl greets her father on the parol-lit streets of the Philippines and receives a Micky Mouse plush toy as a gift. The next clip fast forwards to 2005 in the U.K., where the Lola gifts the Micky Mouse toy to her young granddaughter and teaches her how to make a parol.
As years pass by, the parol-making tradition continues, but as the granddaughter grows older, she becomes less interested in the ritual she and her Lola shared and becomes more interested in her social life. When coming home, the granddaughter finds the old Micky Mouse toy on the table with a broken ear. She looks back at family pictures of her and her Lola and realizes how distant they’ve become.
In the morning, the Lola comes downstairs to find that her granddaughter decorated the house with a number of colourful parols, taking the Lola back to the lantern-filled streets of her childhood in the Philippines. The two sit on the couch and the granddaughter gives Lola one last surprise, the Micky Mouse plushy with his ear stitched back on.
References
- “What is the story behind the Christmas parol?” by Mark Baccay for My Pope Philippines.
- “The giant lanterns of San Fernando, Asia’s Christmas capital” by Al Gerard de la Cruz for CNN.
