Author Archives: justinross

Lebanese Dream Superstition

According to Lebanese folklore, my informant said, bad dreams should be interpreted as signs of good fortune.  (This would be reassuring to me, as I have had my share of them!).  The superstition says that once a scenario is played out in a dream, it will not be repeated in reality.  Thus, it is also reflexive: a pleasant dream should not be received as a sign of good fortune to come.
My informant was not aware of the origin of this sign-superstition.  He learned it from his family, none of whom he says actually believe it.  I would most likely postulate monogenesis as a model for the origin of this superstition, as it is unique and counterintuitive.
This is indeed a unique perspective on dreams, one I have never encountered before hearing the superstition from my informant.  As with many superstitions, odds are that there is some element of belief somewhere back in my informant’s family.  Otherwise, it would be unlikely that the superstition would have been passed down and remembered by succeeding generations.

The Legend of the Dogwood

In Jesus time, the dogwood grew

To a stately size and a lovely hue.

‘Twas strong & firm it’s branches interwoven

For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.

Seeing the distress at this use of their wood

Christ made a promise which still holds good:

“Never again shall the dogwood grow

Large enough to be used so.

Slender and twisted, it shall be

With blossoms like the cross for all to see.

As blood stains the petals marked in brown

The blossom’s center wears a thorny crown.

All who see it will remember me

Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.

Cherished and protected this tree shall be

A reminder to all of my agony.”

(author unknown)

This poem of unknown origin canonizes an old legend about this twisted, beautiful tree.  My informant originally heard of the legend from her grandmother, and was unaware of its roots.  As neither the Bible nor other historical records have anything to say about the wood used for Jesus’ cross, the idea that the dogwood was used cannot be verified.  The legend exhibits a high degree of Christian symbolism, which would lead me to guess that it has foundations in the Catholic church, which has always shown great interest in symbolism, perhaps as far back as the Middle Ages.
My informant said, “According to the legend, the dogwood was one of the largest and strongest trees in the Middle East at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, and thus was the wood of choice for making crosses. Supposedly, the biggest and strongest was used for Jesus’ cross…. because of his pity for those who suffered on the cross, Jesus spoke to the dogwood tree and told it that it would be slender, bent, and twisted, so that it would never again be used as a form of execution.”  She pointed out that one can look at a dogwood blossom and see that it has two short petals and two long petals in the semblance of a cross.  The edges of the blossoms display a color pattern that resembles a nail wound, “tinged with brown (rust) and red (blood).”
My informant also recalled part of the legend not mentioned in the poem.  Supposedly, three days after Jesus’ death, the dogwood trees began to wither and die.  Several years later, woodcutters were amazed to have witnessed how forests of the trees they once used for lumber had been transformed into groves of twisted shrubs with fair blossoms.

Death Joke

When I die, I want to go peacefully, like my grandfather.
I do not want to be screaming in terror like the rest of the people in the car.

This death-humor joke, which my informant said he remembers from Saturday Night Live, is a fairly simple one to analyze structurally.  According to folklorist Elliot Oring, the source of humor in jokes is the presence of “appropriate incongruities.”  The joke introduces apparent incongruities – ideas that seem out of place, impossible, obscene, or otherwise wrong in some way – and the punchline delivers appropriateness or creates both appropriateness and incongruity at once.  However, this joke is unique in that it reverses the order of the appearance of appropriateness and incongruity.  Whereas traditionally the incongruity comes first and is justified by the punchline, here the first line (and part of the second) makes sense and the punchline reveals the sad incongruity – the old man fell asleep at the wheel.  If the situation is sad, though, then why is it funny?  Certainly a joke like this would not be funny for someone who has recently lost a loved one in a car accident.  However, humor is a popular outlet in many societies for dealing with the concept of death, particularly societies like America who do not share universal beliefs about death and the afterlife.

Mirrors attract storms and should be covered during a storm.

My informant is a native of Brazil and is of Portuguese descent.  According to her, her grandmother, from whom she learned this superstition, was a fervent Catholic and “knew hundreds of saints and their miracles and for every misfortune or mishap there would be some saint to pray to or a superstition to fix it!”  She said superstitions were her grandmother’s specialty.  She recalls of her grandmother: “If it was raining hard with thunder and lightning she would go around the house covering the mirrors: they attract the storm.”
I have never heard any superstition quite like this one, though I have heard others that associate omens with mirrors.  Certainly I have never associated mirror superstitions like this one with Catholicism.  This magic-superstition is probably either taken directly from native lore or is a hybridization of the lore of the Portuguese with that of the native land.

Sta. Clara Superstition

“If you wanted the weather to change from cloudy and rainy to sunny and dry: break an egg over a wall under the moon in honor of Saint Clara and the weather would change in the morning.”

This is my informant’s synopsis of a superstition her grandmother held.  My informant is a native of Brazil and is of Portuguese descent.  According to her, her grandmother, from whom she learned this superstition, was a fervent Catholic and “knew hundreds of saints and their miracles and for every misfortune or mishappen there would be some saint to pray to or a superstition to fix it!”  She said superstitions were her grandmother’s specialty.
This belief strikes me as one of the most contrived-sounding superstitions I have ever heard; it really seems strange to combine all those elements.  According to the New Advent’s Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/index.html), there were two St. Clare’s (but no “Clara”).  Both were known for their piety, but neither is associated with the weather or the sun or clouds or rain.  Certainly, neither is associated with the egg or fertility, as nuns are celibate.  This magic- superstition is likely an example of hybridization.  As many holidays including Christmas and Easter were once non-Christian feasts, to which the Catholic church attached Christian meaning to facilitate mass-conversion within their growing dominion, this superstition was probably once a native idea, to which Portuguese Catholics attached Saint Clara (or Clare).  As the name “Clare” (and also “clarity” and “clairvoyance”) is associated with light, St. Clare was probably chosen to replace a pagan entity that manipulated weather in the native lore.