Author Archives: Aidan Bates

CAT GRAVEYARD – Legend / Ritual

Transcript – informant speaking
Informant 1: “There is a place at UCSC called the cat graveyard. They say that someone had a cat on campus once, and when that cat died they buried it in the backwoods of campus. As the years went on, that spot became a place for the burial of pets, as well as the site where the book of shadows of a local coven in buried. They say that that place is where one of the covens practice.”
Informant 2: “Did Steven king base his book pet cemetery on that?”
Informant 1: “Naw, none of the pets ever come to life. Some people just practice magic there.”
Informant 2: “Seems legit.”

Background
I couldn’t find any information online to confirm the existence of the burial sight. But said informant attends the school, so I find the existence of the burial ground to be a likely story. Assuming that at least the place itself is real, then it’s interesting how a certain legend spawned an actual burial ground which in turn spawned more legends. There’s no reason everyone else had to bury their cats in that location, but they did so off of one supposide story. Then by burying more pets, the land somehow took on a more mystical tone. It goes to show that even when it comes to animals, we seem to have an obsession with locations of burials. But what’s interesting is that opposed to human burial grounds, this story doesn’t contain any notion of the animals returning to life, as clarified by the informant.

Context
The story was provided during a zoom conversation about on campus college legends. The informant told the story till the end. Then afterward, a different person, who was a part of the conversation, asked if this location was related to the Steven King novel. It’s interesting how he immediately made the leap from a folk story to pop culture, even though the stories themselves are not related. After all, while the location for this story is in a graveyard, there is no notion of the undead.

Thoughts
I like ghost stories, so this one appealed to me. One thing I keep coming back to is the presence of magic within the story, but the absence of any undead. I wonder if this has anything to do with the way people view pets versus people. People might be less inclined to believe pets have souls as compared to humans, which might signify the lack of any resurrection among these animals. However, the location is still clearly classified as a place of magic. So the location of the animals resting place is still given power, but to a lesser extent than what might have been a human graveyard.

FIRST RAIN – Festival

Transcript of recorded audio
“Oh my god, I almost forgot First Rain. Okay so, this isn’t like, a legend, so much as it is a holiday. But every um, okay, cuz there are really specific rules surrounding it. So I feel like it counts. So, when first rain happens, um, you’re suppose to strip naked, and run to Overs, where the pool is, and you’re suppose to jump in the pool. But there are very specific, like, conditions that depend on what is first rain. So like it has to rain at a specific time and it has to rain like on a weekday, like it can’t rain on the weekend, or like a Friday, it has to be like Monday through Thursday and it has to rain from like… oh gosh, it has to rain from like, I want to say its like 10 to like 3. Like it has to rain for like 4 hours, I think. And I don’t know why the rules are so specific. Uh, legend says that it’s because, I guess like one year like, there were like, a bunch of like false starts or like maybe First Rain kept on happening like too soon. Um, there were a couple… um, false starts my Freshman year. Uh like, people who were like, oh its first rain, but like it wasn’t. Cuz like the specific rules hadn’t been fulfilled. But Sophomore year, like it like went off without a hitch. And I-I like, looked outside my room and there’s just, naked people running. Um, I never participated because I have a shit immune system. And honestly, I don’t know who started it. But it is like, a legitimate, like holiday, that I don’t think anyone else like celebrates. I bet you it like ties back to the fact that like being in UCSC, like on that campus in the forest, you feel that much more connected to nature.”

Background
The informant providing this story goes to UCSC. They likely heard it from their classmates (or if not that, from seeing a bunch of naked people jump into the pool in the rain. From their perspective they don’t seem to participate in the tradition, however, they also seem very positive towards it as well. There’s a clear point of pride in the way they talk.

Context
This story was given as a set of voice memos. Most of them are more related to legends and magical sights on campus. But this story (which was the last one provided) is about a holiday they have. The nature of the performance, which inherently creates two separate out groups (the ones who jump in early and the ones who don’t jump at all) is something I find interesting. This is also one of the many times that the speaker has contextualized her story through the nearby forest. It seems to act as a centerpiece for a lot of these stories, even the ones where very little relation is bared to the actual woods.

Thoughts
What’s weird about this festival is how obvious it is. Knowing the campus and its culture, this is exactly the kind of thing I would expect from them, to the point where it almost feels stereotypical. I feel like thats the point. In a way, this tradition seems to take the most mockable elements of the hippie movement (a movement which the school was closely associated with) and embraces it wholeheartedly. Another interesting element is the practice of open nudity in relation to autumn (when we might expect the first rain to actually happen). One might imagine that in a more traditional society, this would be more of a springtime celebration. But in a way, this tradition almost seems to mock that, by introducing a lively, outdoors celebration that forces people to jump into cold water. It almost comes across as a dare to thwart the seasonal change.

RESPECT THE FUCKING FOREST – Folk Magic (sympathetic)

Transcript of recorded audio
“Um, it’s funny. Every single adult that I talked to, right before I went to Santa Cruz, told me not to go into the forest at night. But that, like, consensus, isn’t really upheld up by the students at UCSC, mostly because I think the forest is like around us like literally everywhere. Right, there’s no like don’t go into the forest at night, but there are some pretty serious like, respect the forests at night. Obviously there’s a pretty big like Wiccan culture at UCSC, and like I get it, like, when I first went into the forests at night, like you could definitely feel like you’re not alone there. You know, and whether that be like animals or spirits or whatever it’s… it’s noticeable, right? So at UCSC, there’s not this idea of don’t go into the forest at night, but there is this idea of respect the forest, especially at night. Because, you know, like you hear strange shit going on in the forest, you hear laughing and screaming and, just like noises that are very very haunted, but as long as they are reasonably far off, you don’t really have to worry about them, but you do kind of have to be on the top of your game. Right? So like never liter in the forest, never fuck with the forest, always respect the forest and the forest will respect you. Like I said like, cougar attacks happen. People fucking died on campus. Um, so, respect the fucking forest, you know? I guess that’s a legend in it of itself.”

Background
The person telling this story goes to UCSC, and is very into the superstitions and folklore. They’ve provided quite a few examples of legends and magic pertaining to the campus. But what’s interesting is how this story is coming from two separate places: one version from the students and one from the adults. It should also be noted that this same informant has placed a considerable amount of emphasis on how scary the forest is at night in a lot of her other stories.

Context
This story is part of a set of voice memos, sent by a student at UCSC Santa Cruz. Most are ghost stories concerning the campus. For context, Wiccan culture is referencing old pagan traditions. But what’s interesting is that this is the first time I’ve ever heard her mention these traditions on campus. It’s treated as obvious knowledge, but in all honesty, this is the first time I’m really hearing about is specifically.

Thoughts
This story in particular ties together a lot of the notions that have been formulating in my head about Santa Cruz lore. It’s very concerned with nature, specifically with the forest surrounding campus. And in doing so, it’ll often treat nature as a magical entity, one who’s general nature is benevolent, but hold the potential for savagery if the wrong actions are taken. Like with the story about the buddha and the wishing stones, we see what we might expect to be very positive and wholesome rituals take on a more threatening edge. I wonder if this has to do with the idea of ‘nature willing out,’ so to speak. UCSC has a very ecologically conscious environment, so the idea of nature being mostly seen as a force of good, but also as one which can wipe humanity off the face of the earth (say through global warming) doesn’t seem to fall too out of step from these interpretations in their lore.

WISHING STONES – folk magic (sympathetic)

Transcript of recorded audio
“There’s this place out in the woods, um, I think I told you a story about it before, about me finding a bunch of stacked rocks in the middle of the night, and it’s called the wishing stones, and they’re these piles and piles and piles of rocks. And what you’re supposed to do is you’re supposed to write a note with a wish on it. And you’re supposed to put it under one of the rocks. And it’s supposed to grant wishes. And it’s really pretty during the daytime, absolutely terrifying at night. Don’t go at night.”

Background
This person knows of this location because they attend UCSC, and from what I understand they have actually been to this location. The informant is pretty supersitious. They’ve given me a few of these stories, as they are very into ghost tales and magic. However, its unclear exactly who they learned about this place from.

Context
This story was given as a set of voice memos sent to me by a friend. Most of the stories pertain to UCSC. They talk quite quickly, but I tried to match the transcript as closely to what was actually said. Also, it should be noted that for the bit where they say “I think I told you a story about it before” that I have literally no memory of this. She might have told me a story like this before and that I just forgot it, but as far as I know, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this location.

Thoughts
Like the buddha story told to me by another person (which is also in UCSC), this seems to be a pretty classic example of sympathetic magic. And just like the Buddha story, it seems to contain a strange element of fear that you wouldn’t really expect from a tradition like this. After all, you’re literally just writing wishes. What could be more wholesome? But even in spite of this, we get this strange warning: “Don’t go at night.” Almost as if by going at night, one might reverse whatever positive elements the sight brings, and unleash something more sinister.

THE MISSING ROOMS – Legend

Transcript of recorded audio
“My um, psychiatrist told me this one, cuz he went to UCSC. Um, he told me that Stevenson and Cowle, the college that I go to, that they’re said to be incredibly, deeply haunted. And he told me that story about the jogger getting killed by the cougar. (reference to an earlier conversation) And he heavily implied that like her spirit is haunting the woods. And then he told me to count the windows of the, um, like some of the dorms. And count the doors on the inside. And he implied that some of them don’t match up, so that there are sealed off rooms within Cowle Stevenson that like nobody is suppose to go into, and honestly with the amount of asbestos at my school, I kind of believe it.”

Background
This story is part of a set of voice recordings that a friend sent to me, pertaining mostly to tales at UCSC (University of Santa Cruz). As stated in the tape, they gained this story specifically from their psychiatrist, who also went to the school. They also likely felt attached to this piece as they are an avid fan of ghost stories, and UCSC has a lot of them.

Context
As stated above, this story was given to me as part of a voice recording. The enthusiasm for the story was palpable, even just from the audio. I tried to capture everything that was said through the transcript, although the speaker does fumble with speech a bit sometimes.

Thoughts
What’s interesting is that there is an element of performance for this legend, but this performance is simply acting as proof. By counting all the windows and doors, nothing good or bad is going to happen. It’s just given out as a form of proof or justification for the legend. Also, the dark joke at the end with asbestos is something I found interesting. Outside of being deliciously dark, it also brings in a real world element of death and sickness to this ghost tale.