Author Archives: Ava Lord

Band Legend

Text:

Every Saturday each instrument section within the USC band gets together to practice before all the instrument sections come together. Back in the day, the tubas would practice on the roof of building facing the field where everyone could see them. To prank the rest of the band they put a plastic sousaphone on a manikin and pushed it off the roof. Everyone who watched the incident freaked out. After the prank, the tubas were prohibited from practicing on the roof and had to practice on the ground.

Context:

Apart from the USC band, A.B. explains she heard this story as a freshman getting initiated into the band. She thinks it could be a made-up story told to the band freshman to make them stop complaining about what their band initiation tasks were. at the same time, she also thinks it is true, based on the old band’s history of being intense and troublesome.

Analysis:

This is a right of passage legend to get the freshmen initiating to easily comply with the tasks given to them. The legend is more convincing due to the USC band’s past of recklessness. This right-of-passage legend strengthens the tradition of band initiation.

Ghost Uncle Visit

Text:

Late one night in 1966 in Santa Ana, California, my grandma heard a knock at the front door. She opened the door and saw her Uncle Udono, who lived in Japan at the time and felt shocked to see him in the United States. Behind her, my grandpa asked, ”What are you doing at the door?” She turned around to respond that it was her uncle, and when she faced back towards her uncle, he was gone. The next day she found out he had passed away in Japan.

Context:

This is my grandma’s personal experience. After she saw her uncle show up at her house and then disappear, she thought she was hallucinating since she was tired when the experience took place. Later the next day, after hearing about her uncle’s passing, she felt startled but also oddly at peace. Her Uncle had no children and in a way saw my grandma as his child. She interpreted her uncle’s ghostly visit as her Uncle saying goodbye to his favorite niece one last time.

Analysis:

I think her one memorate strengthened her belief in the supernatural because after she described her experience she briefly described another personal paranormal story. Her experience was her smelling an awful stench in her home that only she could smell. About 2 weeks later she found out her brother had died and was rotting for a month in his apartment. She interpreted this as a sign from her deceased brother that he was dead and wanted her to know. I think if she didn’t have her uncle’s ghost experience she may not have correlated the two occasions (the sudden odor and her brother’s death) together.

Hiroshima Miracle

Text:

On August 6, 1945, next to Hiroshima Japan, my great great aunt (grandma’s aunt) was using the restroom when the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. As she was right outside ground zero, and felt a sudden shake and boom. In an attempt to leave the bathroom, she realized the door to the exit had collapsed. Desperate, she looked for any way out and found a crack in the wall leading to the outside. She escaped and ran for cover. Later on, rescue teams searched the area for trapped survivors. She had questioned if they found the hole she escaped through, but they said there was no opening where she had escaped. In doubt, she went back to her work building to seek out where the escape hole was. After searching around the building there was no crack nor indication of an opening near the outside of the bathroom.

Context:

This story was originally told to my grandma by her aunt but shared the story with me on her deceased aunt’s behalf. She (my grandma’s aunt) interpreted her experience as a miracle from God and a sign that she had meaning in life. My grandma believed her, as she was very respected within the family and was known to be truthful. She strongly agreed with her aunt and the story lead to her Christian belief being strengthened.

Analysis:

After the bomb, my grandma’s aunt was unable to have children, since she was in contact with radiation. She ended up never marrying and lived a long full life. I think because she felt she had a purpose after her experience, despite not being able to produce a family and the trauma of war, she decided to live a fruitful life. When you understand you have meaning you start to see the beautiful parts of yourself and within life more often, rather than it going unnoticed. Her story also inspired my grandma and she too has the same positive outlook on life.

Friend of a Friend Ghost Story

Storyteller revered to as JZ.

Text:

At night inside JZ’s home, he and his friend Jay were getting creeped out by looking out at a pitch-black window. Jay began to talk about how he and his family are very into the supernatural and shared with JZ that he (Jay) can sense ghosts. JZ asked how can you sense ghosts? Jay explained by using an experience he had when traveling. The family got an Airbnb, and the house looked and felt haunted. Right when he (Jay) entered he felt a “bad aura”. Then at night when he and his sister were going to brush their teeth, he went to open the door and it opened by itself and started to swing back and forth by itself. Startled, Jay and his sister decided to not go in the bathroom and went to bed instead. They were sharing a room so he slept on the floor while his sister slept on the bed. As they were trying to sleep they heard something walking down the hall while scratching the wall and heard pounding in the attic. Jay also added that he felt like he was being watched. He asked his parents in the morning if they were walking through the hall after they all went to bed, and they said no. Then he asked if they heard any walking through the halls and they said yes.

Context:

JZ was telling this story on his friend Jay’s behalf (Jay’s memorate). At that moment he questioned his belief in the paranormal. JZ explained to me he has a very analytical mind, and he was surprised that he even considered if ghosts were real.

Analysis:

I think JZ’s trust in Jay combined with the “creepy” environment the story was being told in, influenced JZ to wonder if ghosts were true. If you trust someone, you usually don’t question if they’re making up a story. And if a spooky story is being told to someone in an office compared to a creepy environment, there’s a better chance the story will be taken more seriously in an uneasy atmosphere. Jay’s memorate made ghost lore a bit stronger because it had JZ who is not a ghost believer consider if the paranormal was real.

New Years in Brazil

Text:

In Brazil over New Years, everyone wears white and goes to the beach to throw white flowers and candles into the ocean on January 1. The story behind this was when African slaves arrived in Brazil they had to give up all of their gods and goddesses. As a replacement for Iemanja, their goddess of the sea and patron of women and children, they chose the Virgin Mary. So these flowers and candles are not actually for the Virgin Mary but to Iemanja. This is actually a pagan ritual but during the enslavement of Africans in Brazil the it was disguised to be a Christian new years tradition, dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Context:

K.L. went to Brazil during new years in the 1990s and participated in this tradition with his friends. He explained, ”I thought it was interesting how the enslaved Africans were able to keep part of their culture alive by disguising it. But now it’s well known that it’s not really a traditional Christian custom in Brazil, but to honor Iemanja“.

Interpretation:

Looking further into the tradition, the flowers and candles thrown into the ocean are meant as offerings to Iemanja to grant their wishes. If the flowers or candles drift back to you the wish will not be granted. I think the color white is worn to symbolize being reborn (over the new year). The flowers and candles are white for the wish’s purity. And the candle is lit to represent the light and hopefulness of the wish. The wish is taking on physical form through flowers and a candle and given to Iemanja, the ocean. This is homeopathic magic, using colors and gestures to imitate how a wish is granted during a special time of the year.