Author Archives: Haley Valdez

The Cleansing of the egg- Religious/ Spiritual ritual

Description (From Transcript): “Okay so for this one it’s the curing of the egg! I don’t know how the other person you got it from told you this, but my mom, she gets an egg, and she rubs it with either alcohol or agua bendita (holy water). We get our agua bendita from church, or sometimes in a tiny bottle. We have like a little bottle here at home, and what she does is she puts agua bendita or alcohol, or both sometimes, and she does a cross on our body. But that cross is a small cross on our forehead, which is 1, 2, 3, 4, (*does a cross motion*) and then a small cross on our heart, in the small crossing our legs and then a cross behind our head. She rubs that egg all around our body,  starting with the back of our head, which is the most important part. My mom says that’s the most important part because that’s where it’s in the middle. Medically, if you hit your head right there, you’re probably going to die. That’s the most important part that you have to protect, and that’s where she rubs us and especially when I had problems with stress, she does this to me, and as well. She does it through the head, first in the back of the head and then on top of the head, and then she moves towards the shoulders and hands, the front of the heart, and then she moves to the back, and then at the end towards the bottom, and then she brings all that energy into the top, and she rubs the head again. Then she goes to the restroom. She opens the egg, and she throws it in the toilet, not in the back. I know a lot of people throw it in the backyard or they throw it in the trash.But she does it in the toilet. She’s like “don’t come with me because you’re going to get that bad energy, and I have to do it by myself”. 

She goes to the toilet, she closes the door, and she flushed it. Then, she throws the shell in the trash can outside. 

Context: The informant, VA, is a first generation student at USC. She has one sibling and her family is from Puebla, Mexico. She got this tradition from her mother, who learned it from her own mother. As for how to do it, her mother saw it on an online video on facebook. However, she first learned of it from her mother. The informant explained that this practice shows how, even if you don’t believe in it, seeing how much her parents care for her, or the extent to which they care that they would do it, makes her feel important. She emphasized how seeing her mom do this small ritual for her when she feels bad or because of schoolwork, she feels a lot better. 

My interpretation: Unlike the other informant who explained this ritual, VA utilizes many religious aspects, including holy water and the crosses made on her body. To me, this reveals how the act is not only a demonstration of religion, but also a way for her to connect to her family and her culture. Additionally, her explanation of the head being the most important body part demonstrates how physical well being and spiritual well being are directly connected, and more specifically, how negative energies can be physically removed from a person’s body even if they are not visible or tangible. Flushing the bad energy down the toilet demonstrates how it’s seen as a particularly putrid agent that must be disposed of the way waste or toxic chemicals might be disposed of. I found it interesting how her mother relearned the ritual through social media videos. 

Carrying a Lemon- Superstitious custom

Description (From Transcript):  “This is a custom that we have with the lemon.This one comes from my dad. I see him always carrying a lemon in his back pocket and he’s like, “Give me a lemon”, and i’m like, “okay”, because it absorbs bad energies, especially because he works all day at work. He goes from 5 am and comes back at like 8 pm. There’s like a lot of work and I’m like, okay, I’m gonna give you the lemon. Sometimes he can place a lemon randomly in the corner of a cabinet, or take it home and I’m like what’s the point of doing that? He’s like– because you don’t know how many bad people want bad things towards us. I’m like “what happens if the lemon rots or becomes black?” He’s like “that’s because there’s a lot of bad energies”, and he’s like “you see this one” (there was one next to his bed) he’s like “look at this one. This one’s dry but it’s still green”and I’m like okay “what’s the significance?” And he’s like “Oh, well, there’s not really many bad energies”. I’m like, “Okay, so what happens if you have a lemon that has bad energy?” You’re supposed to go outside and instead of throwing it forward on the floor, you’re supposed to stand backwards and get rid of it, so that you can put all those bad energies behind you. 

Context: The informant, VA, is a first generation student at USC. She has one sibling and her family is from Puebla, Mexico. She learned this custom from her dad and says that he is a man who has many superstitions and believes in a lot of rituals and magic. She believes he learned this one from a friend at work. He works at a food production company, specifically poultry. She explains how his friend group at work always talks about superstitions. If any of them sustain an injury, instead of telling each other to go to the doctor, they’ll tell each other to do a certain ritual or go to a certain person (who specializes in superstitions medicine). Even though she does not personally believe this superstition, she explains how her dad believes in it, which to her, demonstrates how much he cares about their family. He doesn’t want any harm to come to them, he’s responsible and caring. So by him carrying the lemon, he is also protecting his family, not just himself. 
My interpretation: It’s possible that a lemon would be used as a measure of energy because it’s such a bright, happily colored fruit. Once it starts to rot or green, however, it shows that it has been infiltrated by bad energy. It’s also, seemingly, used for that exact purpose. If the negative energy is strapped in a tangible, affordable and easily disposable container, it’s easy to get rid of that bad energy. Because the informant’s father works in a field where people can be easily injured, it makes sense that co-workers would share home remedies with each other. Finally, it was very telling that the informant admitted she did not personally believe in this, yet appreciated it because it showed her how much her father cared about her well being. This demonstrates how, often, superstitions are not just about avoiding harm, but also about showing affection to loved ones.

“Plate of Money”- New Year’s Eve Ritual 

Description (From Transcript):

“So in my family, when it comes to New Years’ we usually have the custom of doing this like- a plate with a bunch of money. So we have, like a bunch of like savings and coins, and what we do is we distribute those coins in this star shaped plate, and we also put like 3 candles in the middle.  One of them is blue, one of them is yellow, and then one of them is red. I think the red signifies love, the yellow one, I believe it signifies money and then the blue one, I don’t remember but usually my mom does this so I don’t really remember, but I always see her do it every year. And she always does it before midnight strikes for the next year. And then after that she places dollar bills, or like. If we have $2 bills, (we have the superstition that $2 bills bring super good luck) we put those around as well and then at the end, we tie all the candles together with the red ribbon, because red signifies keeping the bad energy out. And that’s why she adds this little stick of cinnamon in the form of a cross, and she puts it in the middle of the plate to signify, I think, good positive energy, and as well as health”. 

Context: The informant, VA, is a first generation student at USC. She has one sibling and her family is from Puebla, Mexico. She explains that her mother learned this tradition from her grandmother because she used to do something similar every year back in Mexico. However, her grandmother doesn’t really talk about it. Additionally, she explains how it signifies a hope for having a better year. In the previous year, her family experienced some struggles, especially with her dad having health problems. Therefore, this tradition was also used to ensure better health in the new year, and making sure that everyone in her family is safe. When asked if she believes that the tradition actually brings good energy, she responded that she genuinely did. As a child she was suspicious and claimed to have not believed in it, however, she has gotten so used to doing it every year that it feels wrong to not do it now. If she doesn’t, she will get sad, and therefore prioritizes it, even if it takes five minutes. Without it, she states that “the little magic disappears”. 
My interpretation: I found it interesting that there’s a connection between money and good luck and health. Other objects that could potentially represent good fortune were not placed in the dish, revealing how financial stability is directly connected to a stable lifestyle. The color coordination of the candle and what each represents is also indicative of values within the informant’s family and culture. Love and money seem to be common themes in this tradition; love is present in the red candle as well as wishing health and safety for family members. Money is present in the yellow candle as well as literally in the dish. While the informant herself could not recall what the blue candle represented, it might be specific to good health or luck as these themes also came up a lot during the interview.

“El Juego del Lobito” (“The Wolf Game”)- Children’s Game

*Originally spoken in Spanish. The following is a rough translation. 

Description (From Transcript): “A bunch of kids, we would make a circle and we would choose one person in the center of the circle and the “wolf” outside the circle. And we would start moving in the circle and singing the song “Jugaremos en el bosque, mientras que el lobo no esta, porque si el lobo aparece a todos nos comerá.” (“We will play in the forest while the wolf isn’t here because if the wolf appears, he’ll eat us all”), and then we would pause and say “Lobo, estas ahi si o no?” (“Wolf, are you there, yes or no?”), “Sí aquí estoy” (“yes, I am here”), and we would ask “what are you doing?”, and the wolf would say, “I’m showering”. Then we would start moving in the circle again, and so on. And when the wolf was done getting dressed, (each time he would say what he was doing) he would say, “I’m gonna eat you all” and we would run! We would all run and whoever he caught had to be the wolf next, until we were done with everyone. I guess just until we were bored”. 

Context: TR is a Mexican woman, born and raised in Zacatecas, Mexico. She immigrated to the United States in 1995. She would play this game in her hometown when she was a child. Her and her neighbors would get together when they were children and they didn’t have much else to play with. They would play a lot of rondas, games such as this one where children would stand in a circle and do some kind of call and response. Some of the games had losers and winners. 

When asked about her children knowing the game now, she responded that her son didn’t know or play the game, and her grandchildren will probably not know it either. However she accepts this reality because times are changing. Her grandmother and mother also played this game. She explains how many generations played rondas infantiles until electric light was introduced to these rural communities, at which point many children just wanted to watch TV. 

My interpretation: This game is heavy on contact, communication, and movement, all characteristics that explain why they were so heavily used in rural Mexican communities, where children didn’t have much else to play with or do. Because these virtues are instilled in children at a young age, the people in these communities remain close as adults and emphasize activities such as play, dance, and music. This game in specific is very telling of how fear is a motivating emotion from a young age. Oftentimes, these communities are low on resources and high on crime, a difficult lesson to learn as an adult. But here, children learn to be attentive, stick together, and outrun danger, all while maintaining youthful qualities like joy, movement, and competition. 

“El que nace pa maceta, del corredor no pasa”- Mexican Refrán (Proverb)

Literal Translation: “He who is born a pot, doesn’t leave the hall”

*Originally spoken in Spanish. The following is a rough translation. 

Description (From Transcript): “It means that… people would use it to conform with what they were. For example, for us, we (young people who finished high school) weren’t allowed to continue our studies. We had to get married or conform, no longer have aspirations for anything. Like- one who is born poor, has to stay poor. Like the pot, because it’s a pot, is gonna stay in that hallway. It can’t be in the refrigerator because it’s not a frozen food. So for people- if you were born to be where you were born and not go out anywhere else, you have to stay there and make your life there. Another example is, if I’ve always done custodial work and I want to work in a school, I can tell myself “I don’t think so. El que nace pa maceta, del corredor no pasa”. 

Context: TR is a Mexican woman, born and raised in Zacatecas, Mexico. She immigrated to the United States in 1995. She says that this is a very popular saying that she has heard for as long as she can remember. Everyone would hear this and everyone would say it. She believes that most of the world is familiar with it now because it’s so popular. She has followed it because it’s always been popular but recently, she’s learned that it’s about conformity, which she doesn’t like. 

My interpretation: I interpreted this proverb as both a possible excuse and a possible explanation for a person’s inability to change. Because a pot is a non-living object that literally cannot leave the hall in which it was placed against its will, the proverb makes a commentary about how people in circumstances (such as poverty) have no agency to change their situation, in this case economic status. Because of the informant’s background and upbringing, it makes sense that she would be familiar with this saying, as most people in rural Mexico experience high rates of poverty and struggle to achieve economic mobility. However, just like my informant explained, it could also be an excuse for conformity. If people believe that they can never achieve progress (economic, academic, in the things they pursue) because of their current situations, this phrase can be used as an excuse to not even try to create a change.