Author Archives: Charlene Clee

Superstition

Nicole and I were having dinner together at EVK on campus here at USC. While we were talking, she knocked over a saltshaker. Automatically, without breaking speech, she took a pinch of salt and threw it over her left shoulder. This is an example of a conversion superstition. She brought bad luck upon herself by knocking over the saltshaker. However, she countered this bad luck by throwing some of the salt that spilled on the table over her left shoulder. According to the superstition’s stipulations, she ridded herself of bad luck by performing this action.

She learned this superstition from a friend in a similar situation. Her friend knocked over a saltshaker during lunch at a restaurant. When her friend countered by bad luck/bad spirits by throwing the salt over her left shoulder, Nicole asked her what she was doing.

Nicole says she has only seen this superstition performed by people who knock over saltshakers. She herself only does it when she knocks over a saltshaker. She would never throw a pinch of salt over her left shoulder for nothing. She said that the pinch of salt had to be specifically thrown over one’s left shoulder.

Superstitions are about regaining control over something they feel they have no power over. Nicole feels as if she has no power over bad spirits or bad luck, so to protect her against it, she follows superstitions such as throwing salt over her shoulder. Superstitions are largely psychological. People, including Nicole, feel there is no harm in throwing salt over one’s shoulder, so why not do it? It soothes people’s fears when they perform superstitions; it makes them feel better. It makes them feel like they are keeping bad luck and bad spirits at bay.

This conversion superstition is deeply cultural. I also follow this superstition because I have grown up around people who do it. Other cultures around the world might not perform this superstition. In fact, some cultures might find it wasteful that we throw salt around. For instance, I know that in the desert, salt is very, very valuable. People who live in the desert might find it completely offensive that we throw salt. In America, we tend to waste food a lot; a pinch of salt seems like absolutely nothing to us because we are not hurting for food to eat.

I think it is interesting that there are books out there telling one to let go of superstitions. According to page 90 of Intuition for Starters: How to Know and Trust Your Inner Guidance, one should let go of reading too deeply into outward signs. It just kind of made me laugh that the saltshaker superstition was listed as one of the frivolous superstitions to let go of. While people may say that they think it is just a stupid superstition, they still tend to follow it.

Annotation: Walters, J. Donald, and Devi Novak. Intuition for Starters: How to Know and Trust Your Inner Guidance. Nevada City, CA: Crystal Clarity, 2002.

Superstition

“Knock on wood.”

Nicole and I were discussing living arrangements this coming fall. We were talking about someone we dislike and she said, “Just watch, she’s probably going to be living exactly where we are.” And I said, “Nicole! Don’t say that!” She exclaimed, “Sorry! Sorry! Knock on wood!” When she said this, she first knocked on her own head, on her temple, and then proceeded to knock on her presumably wooden dresser.

Lauren, a girl on Nicole’s high school basketball team, taught her this superstition. They were sitting on the basketball court before a game, and one of the girls on the team said something that would jinx the game (Nicole cannot recall exactly what the girl said). Lauren automatically said, “Knock on wood!” She then knocked on her temple and then knocked the wooden basketball court floor. Ever since then, Nicole has performed this superstition. Nicole says she does not really think she is superstitious; it is just a habit now. She does not think the superstition really means anything. However, the fact she does it implies she does believe in the superstition. Knocking on wood is an example of a conversion superstition. One knocks on wood to reverse the bad luck that would come from something she or someone around her said. Psychologically, she does it because it makes her feel better. She figures there is no harm in warding off bad luck by performing this superstition. The reason behind the performance of the superstition has a lot to do with the fact that she feels there are things outside her control. She feels almost helpless against things like bad luck, so she regains some power and control by knocking on wood.

According to page 363 of the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, knocking on wood “expresses a wish that something will or will not occur.” I agree with Nicole and the dictionary’s definitions. Knocking on wood is expressing a wish that bad luck will not occur, or that good luck will occur. It is interesting to note that this “expression alludes to an ancient superstition that literally knocking on or touching wood will ward off evil spirits.” Nowadays, knocking on wood does not have so much to do with evil spirits; it has to do with warding off bad luck.

Nicole’s version of the superstition surprised me because she does not just knock on wood; she also knocks on her temple. I have never heard nor seen anyone knock on his or her temple in addition to knocking on wood. She said that when she is not near wood, she just knocks her temple. She informed me that all of her friends perform the superstition this way. Where I grew up in the Bay Area, California, nobody knocks on their temple, too; people only knock on wood. If someone asked me to describe Nicole’s group of friends from Rancho Palos Verdes, I might mention this superstition because it is so distinct from the superstition I know. I would identify them as “temple-knockers.” Perhaps other people who are not from the Bay Area would identify people from the Bay as “only wood-knockers.” Nicole’s version, to me, shows multiplicity and variation. I had never encountered a different version of the superstition before and now I realize there must be many different ways to carry out this superstition.

Annotation: Ammer, Christine. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

Contemporary Legend – Nevada

“Supposedly Liberace’s Mansion is haunted by the ghost of the great Liberace himself.”

Wladziu Valentino Liberace was an American entertainer and pianist. One can tell from Robson using the word “supposedly” that he is skeptical about this urban legend. His high school held his senior prom in the mansion. He was a little apprehensive, but he never saw nor heard a ghost. Because of his experience, he does not think the mansion is actually haunted.

He read about this urban legend on multiple websites and he has heard it through the grapevine. This urban legend can also be found in the book Weird Nevada. According to Robson, everyone in Las Vegas and many people outside Nevada know that Liberace’s Mansion is haunted. He has heard from multiple people that it is a spooky place. This urban legend draws many ghost hunters to the mansion to prove or disprove Liberace’s presence. He thinks that people are perpetuating the urban legend because the mansion would not draw half as many tourists as it does now if the urban legend were not in existence. Even though he, in particular, does not believe in this urban legend, he is an active bearer and tells this urban legend to anyone interested in Liberace and to tourists who plan on visiting the mansion.

Even though Robson and his fellow high school classmates do not think Liberace Mansion is haunted, many people still do believe it is haunted. Urban legends make people unsure about their beliefs. People do not know whether or not they should believe in the supernatural. They think it sounds unlikely, but they still cannot help but at least slightly believe the ghost of Liberace is haunting the mansion.

Because Robson went there and did not hear or see a ghost, I think he is right and people are probably just perpetuating this urban legend for the sake of tourism. It is kind of disappointing because I always feel this thrill or chill when I hear urban legends. I enjoy hearing about them even though they scare me a little bit. It is almost like they are addicting. However, this one now seems fake and hollow, so now I am much less interested in it. If I told anyone about it, I would probably attach a “supposedly” to the beginning precisely like Robson did to convey my skepticism.

Annotation: Oesterle, Joe, Tim Cridland, Mark Moran, and Mark Sceurman. Weird Las Vegas and Nevada: Your Alternative Travel Guide to Sin City and the Silver State. New York, NY: Sterling Pub. Co, 2007.

Contemporary Legend

“So when we first built my house, it was finished on New Year’s Eve and we moved in. There was a really weird howling sound in the house, like there was a window open or something. And it just so happened the power was out that night. Anyway, we had candles everywhere and we kept hearing this howling sound but all the windows were closed. So we all went upstairs, and it was really cold upstairs. We found that all the candles upstairs had been put out in all the rooms. We didn’t find an open window but we definitely hard the howling sound all night. I don’t know, I thought that was really spooky.”

As a result of this first experience in their house, K.D. and his family now think their house is haunted. Now, whenever K.D. or any of his family members hears the howling, they attribute the howling and spookiness to the house ghost. Thus, this account marks the beginning of an urban legend. The howling they continue to hear every once in awhile at night has reinforced this urban legend.

K.D. thinks the howling is really scary; it creeps him out whenever he hears it. He says the first time was just especially scary because the power was out, it was eerily cold upstairs, and all the candles were out in the upstairs rooms. K.D. is not really sure whether or not he believes in ghosts, but when he hears the howling he cannot help but think there has to be at least a possibility that ghosts exist. He is unsure why the ghost is haunting them; he thinks maybe they built their house on haunted ground. He kind of regards this urban legend as his own personal urban legend, and it has made him think that maybe urban legends do have some truth to them.

K.D. tells this urban legend whenever other people start telling ghost stories, which is usually at night. For instance, he has told the story to cabin-mates at sleep-away camp, while on camping trips with friends and family, and during childhood sleepovers. Whenever people ask about his house and/or the building process, he answers their questions and also brings up this story about when they first moved in.

Urban legends usually have creationary figures (Big Foot, vampires, aliens, ghosts) in them. This urban legend is no exception since it contains a ghost in it. Legends tend to resonate with the audience, which is why people keep performing this particular genre of folklore. I know that I personally enjoy hearing about urban legends. They tend to scare me a little bit, but I am fascinated and always want to hear them. I agree with K.D. that these kinds of stories are spooky and I also do not know if I believe in ghosts. Legends show what a group might consider believable or acceptable. This urban legend shows others in the world that Americans may allow belief in ghosts.

K.D.’s urban legend is an example of a memorate. This is a personal experience of his and he and his family put it into a traditional framework. The howling and the candles being extinguished despite no open window being found is difficult to explain. So, it was put into a traditional framework to explain this phenomenon. Howling and the extinguishment of candles is associated with ghosts, so when he and his family experienced it, they automatically said it had to be a ghost. When they told other people about their experience, other people also automatically assumed the howling and extinguished candles had to be the result of a ghost’s presence in the house. Personal experiences translated into a traditional framework strengthen the legend. So, now people have even more “evidence” behind ghosts being the culprit behind howling and candles getting mysteriously put out. Now people will even more strongly associate howling and candles inexplicably getting extinguished with ghosts.

Contemporary Legend – Henderson, NV

“In a certain park in Henderson, there is a little boy that is seen swinging by himself. When visitors to the park approach him, his face changes to that of a demon, and then he vanishes. He is supposed to be the spirit of a boy killed by a drunk driver near the park.”

Robson heard this story from his mother, who heard it from a friend. Usually, urban legends do have a “friend of a friend” format. It is usually hazy who actually did see these occurrences. This urban legend is no different: Robson does not know anyone who has actually seen this boy, he only knows people who know people who know people who have possibly said they have seen this boy. He says he has also read this urban legend on websites and in the book Weird Nevada.

Robson lives across town, so this story has not affected him in particular. However, it does scare him a little bit. He finds the story slightly spooky and very eerie. He is not sure whether or not he actually believes the demon boy exists, but he does not want to take his chances so he will just avoid the park altogether if he ever comes across it.

Robson only really ever tells this urban legend when people in a group start telling ghost stories. Because he is from Nevada and lives in the same city as the park, he tells what he has heard about the urban legend whenever people bring it up. It is a pretty popular urban legend in Las Vegas, so people have brought it up multiple times. People might also tell this urban legend when passing by the park, or when actually visiting the park. According to Robson, this urban legend has actually driven down attendance at the park. People will purposely go to other parks instead of this one.

People are not really sure whether or not they believe in ghosts in general, let alone the demon boy. This demon boy seems more real because the back-story is that it is the ghost of a child killed by a drunk driver. I agree with Robson that this is a spooky story, and honestly I would probably completely avoid the park, too. If I ever saw it, I would probably feel terrified and agitated. If someone tried to pull me to the park as a joke, I would undoubtedly fight against it and probably scream in terror. I find it interesting that I, or anyone else who feels as I do, would react so strongly to something they are not sure is even real. The demon boy has not been proven by science. Most people admit to having never seen the boy, just hearing about the boy being there.

I am not sure why the ghost of a boy killed by a drunk driver would take on the face of a demon. Because I think it is people making this up (at least I think/hope it is people making this up), I wonder why people would assign a demon face to a poor, young boy who got killed.

Urban legends invite discussion about beliefs and this urban legend is no different. When people hear this legend, including myself, they are unsure about whether or no they believe in this demon boy. Considering the fact that attendance at the park went down though, I think people are leaning towards believing it is possible for demon boys to exist.

Annotation: Oesterle, Joe, Tim Cridland, Mark Moran, and Mark Sceurman. Weird Las Vegas and Nevada: Your Alternative Travel Guide to Sin City and the Silver State. New York, NY: Sterling Pub. Co, 2007.