Author Archives: Macias

Superstition

An old superstition that was told to my father from my grandmother and great grandmother.

My grandmother used to tell my father that if you hear an owl screeching outside at night, then something bad is going to happen soon.

This is an old superstition but I think that it was just used as a way to stop children from going outside at night because it could not have been safe, or too cold, or something of that nature. I believe that because owls are nocturnal and usually flying about I don’t see how that could be a forewarning for something bad happening. Although this could be believed because maybe owls are screeching and flying away because they see danger approaching and are trying to leave.

Ritual

My father told me that his mother used to tell him about an old hispanic superstition and ritual that when you are at a baby shower a woman must thread a needle then have the pregnant woman lie on her back on the floor and someone must hold the thread above the woman’s stomach. The thread is said to move as soon as it is hovering over the belly, and whichever way it swings decided the sex of the baby. If the thread swings to the left then the woman is supposed to be having a boy and if the thread swings to the right then the woman is supposed to have a girl.

I believe that this is just another game played at baby showers that is supposed to guess the sex of a baby for fun.

Legend

Riverside, CA legend

There is a legend throughout Riverside, CA that on the historic Mt. Roubidoux near downtown, there is a bridge on the ‘dark side’ of the mountain (side facing Rubidoux city) and that if you walk over by it at night you will get attacked by a lizard like monster that walks the side of the mountain late at night. There are also rumors of dark spirits that roam the side of the mountain late at night as well.

I have personally been up the mountain at night and have not seen anything but Sara swears that it must be there even though she’s been there at night too. We have a trip planned there to specifically search for these ‘monsters’ but it is doubtful that we will find anything. I believe that these rumors and legends are there to keep people off of the mountain at night. Most likely people my age and younger that want to cause trouble, if there is a story that they will get attacked by a monster that lives under a bridge it will probably engrain in them that they need to stay away at night when the mountain is closed.

Drinking Game

Snappa

Played with: 4 people, one glass of beer each, two pieces of die

Rules: go until one team gets to 7 points. each glass is put a hand with apart from edge of table. Each person must say “snappa” before they throw the dice. You must throw one die up in the air and try to get it in the cup or at least hit the top of the cup; if it does, the other team must drink one third of their beer. The other team must also drink if the die lands in the center of the table and the other team does not catch it with one hand before it falls off of the table. Your team must drink if the same happens to you or you do not catch the die OR if you throw the die on your turn and miss the table completely. If you throw the die on your turn and it hits the ceiling the turn is void. The other team can also call the throw too low which makes it a gentleman’s game. If you say “snappa” before you throw and the other team doesn’t hear you, you may still throw. When drinking, you must also finish your glass of beer in 3 drinks (it should only take three turns to finish it).

This is a common drinking game that I have played in Santa Barbara, CA and I have only found it there. My friend Bernadette explained the rules to me when I visited her and played in Isla Vista, the college town in Santa Barbara. The legend goes that my friends brother invented the game when he was a student at UCSB a few years ago. There are also websites that explain the

Folk Medicine

One way that my grandmother passed down to my father to fix the palate of the baby. “It sounds like abuse but trust me it’s not”

When babies have something wrong on the soft spot on their head your grandma told me that if they fell or if something was wrong with that spot on their head what you needed to do was put the baby upside down, press your thumb against the top of their mouth, and tickle their feet. You must softly press on the roof of the mouth and it was supposed to help close that space, or push air around or something. This was called Mollera caida.

After research, I have found that this is a pretty widespread folk belief in the Hispanic community.