Author Archives: Matthew Manasse

Superstition – Jamaica

Jamaican Superstition- Paper on the Baby

This superstition is one that I have never heard before until my mom brought it up the other evening when we were talking about one of my nanny’s from childhood.  She said when a baby is born, take a small piece of paper and attach it to the baby’s forehead with water.  This will keep the evil spirits away from the baby.  This was told to my mom by this Jamaican nanny I had named Jacqueline.

I asked my mom more about Jacqueline and the superstition so she told me a few more details.  She said Jacqueline put a lot of emphasis on this superstition the first couple months after my first birthday.   Supposedly, Jacqueline always wanted the paper to be white without any slits or creases in it.  The water that was used as an adhesive would be placed directly in the middle of my forehead.  The paper would have to be placed gently and then left there for about five minutes.  My mom didn’t know what to think of this ritual and is still slightly confused by it. “I did not know what to think about the superstition Jacqueline was performing.  She seemed very serious about it, and since it was harmless, I did nothing to stop her.  If anything I wanted to believe it would keep evil spirits away.  Maybe she knew something we all didn’t.  Anyhow, she was a good helper and since that made her happy, I was fine with it.”

I think I was more confused by this than my mother.  I had never heard of this story till she brought it to my attention the other day, but I did have some ideas as to why Jacqueline believes this superstition to be true.  First of all, both water and the white of the paper is known as a sign of purity in many cultures.  Babies are also the supreme object of innocence and purity.  By combining these three aspects into one, it is reasonable to assume that no evil spirits could penetrate such an innocent thing.

I also thought it was interesting that Jacqueline was set on performing this ritual following my first birthday.  In many cultures, the first birthday signifies the beginning rather than the birth itself.  If this superstition is observed with that in mind, it does not seem crazy to want the child to start off life with a clean slate.

The last thing I wanted to cover about this superstition is why my mom was willing to let Jacqueline perform it.  The most obvious reason is that it was something that would not harm me.  The second is that Jacqueline was good help and she probably wanted her to stay happy and do a good job.  The last reason is more complicated in my opinion.  I think she wanted to feel like she really connected with Jacqueline and be a part of the Jamaican identity.  I think the whole ritual intrigued her and made her curious about her own beliefs regarding superstitions.  Although she does not admit she believes it, I think there is a part of her that wants to or does.

Folk Tradition – Jewish

Folk Tradition- Christmas Chinese Food and Meal on Wheels

Every Christmas I spent back in Erie, Pennsylvania was always a bit different from all my friends, at least the Christian ones.  They would wake up to presents under the tree and spend time with family, but I never really had that.  It is normal though because I am Jewish.  In Erie, the Jews had a different way of celebrating the holiday.  We would wake up and deliver meals to underprivileged families.  The program was called Meals on Wheels and my whole immediate family would participate each Christmas.  Following that, our family would go to the movies with other Jewish families in the community. Once the movie finished, we would all order Chinese food and have a get together at someone’s house. This Christmas tradition is not written in the Torah nor is it mandated in any part of our synagogues rulebook, but it is accepted as common practice each year.

I collected this tradition from my family.  I participated in it for the first time when I was twelve.  At first, I thought it was going to be a one-time deal until I joined the rest of the community in doing so year after year.  I thinking helping the poor is great for the community and going out afterwards helps the Jewish community come together.

I believe the Jewish community comes together on Christmas to help underprivileged people because of our willingness and want to do good deeds.  Another reason is that there is nothing else to do that day, so we mine as well be productive.

Getting together after we all participate in Meals on Wheels makes us feel together on a day that separates us from the rest of society.  We could do anything together as a group and the same effect would happen, but it just so happens that the movie theatre is one of the only places that open early in the day on Christmas Day in Erie.  Feeling this sense of identity and belonging to the Jewish faith is a direct bi-product of these events.

Eating Chinese food can be considered a Jews’ favorite past time.  Chinese restaurants are open for almost all major Christian and American holidays, which makes it especially popular within the Jewish religion.  Eating this food on Christmas makes us feel different and special.  I know I feel closer to the Jewish community when I partake in the events that make up our Christmas Day.

Joke – Jewish

Folk Joke- Cheap Jew

What is alive and can travel faster than the speed of light?

A Jew with a coupon

I collected this joke from my little cousin Alex from Manhattan Beach.  He first learned it at a Jewish summer camp in New York.  He said people were not going around asking for Jewish jokes, but instead it came up casually when they were bored at night.  I asked him to tell me what he thought of the joke and how it made him feel when it was told amongst a group of other Jews.  He said, “I found the joke pretty funny when I heard it.  Telling it to fellow Jews makes you feel like part of the group”.

When analyzing jokes, especially Jewish ones, it makes sense for me to tackle the easiest fact first.  When a Jew amongst a group of Jews performs Jewish jokes, it allows the group to identify the stereotype that society has labeled us with and laugh about it.  Jewish jokes are exclusively related to cheapness and the size of our noses, so when we can find humor in such things, it brings us together as a group and reveals a strong sense of identity.

The other aspect of this story is when the joke was told and in what environment.  The joke was performed late at night when the mood was low and people were bored.  Humor, especially among teenage boys, is a popular tool to use when nothing exciting is occupying their time.  The other key point to pay attention to is that it was told in a bunk full of kids.  My cousin did not simply here this from a friend in private, but it was something that was performed in front of a group to manufacture a better response.

The last thing to note is that jokes making fun of certain races of ethnicities are only acceptable when told either by the right person or in the right context.  In this case, this Jewish joke was acceptable because they were at a Jewish camp and nobody would be offended.  This can be a problem though when said in the wrong environment.  For example, my sister went to a drive-thru with a bunch of friends one day.  The driver was the only person she did not know and the lady at the drive-thru window supposedly gave less change than she was supposed to.  When the driver found out what happened, he said, “ the lady Jewed him out of his money”.  My sister found this very offensive because the wrong person in the wrong environment said it.

Legend – Singapore

Folk Legend- The Japanese Muramasa Sword

Well the sword, there is a sword called the Muramasa.  It is named after the last name of the family who makes them, although there are a lot of fake ones.  There are five true Muramasa that were given to the five generations of emperors. Well, these swords, before given to the emperors, were tested.  Each sword has killed over a thousand people and were said to be cursed.  Whenever these swords were put into the river, leaves flowing down stream were not cut in half, but they circled the blade in a sort of demonic way as if the blade was drawing in the life force of nearby objects. Well, pretty much, once these swords were given to the emperors, it is said that for a time, the empire thrived because the sword was so strong that greatest general in the army could kill anyone and pretty much conquer everything.  But unfortunately, there is a side effect.  If the general happened to die, which is very possible because they said the sword slowly sucked out the person’s life force, the empire would crumble.  And the scary thing is it’s all in history.  All five generations during, I think the Tokogawa era have fallen.  I’ve seen the swords before. There very, you can say, cold.

Zhi Wei Ko told this story to me.  Zhi is Singaporean royalty with rich knowledge in Asian culture.  He said he learned it from both his father and grandfather when he was younger.  Supposedly, it is normally told to younger children to warn them not to play with sharp objects.  When I asked Zhi about his perception of the story he said, “I do think its true.  I mean, I’ve been around a lot of blades before and these swords have something, you can say, eerie about them.  The way they feel I don’t know.  I felt cold around it.  I would also say there is a lesson from it though.  Just don’t sell your soul to the devil”.

When Zhi told me this story, I did not know what to think.  It seems these swords were powerful enough to put any man into emperorship, but were so damaging to one’s life that it may not have been worth it.  From what he says, it is common knowledge these five generations of emperors existed, but he could not find any real solid documentation revealing the total truth about the swords.  He said it is something that is mostly passed on through generations.  This led me to believe it was said to teach a lesson.  Some things are not worth the risk or as Zhi put it, “Don’t sell your soul to the devil”.

The last two things to analyze about this story is what culture it’s coming from and when it is told.  In the Asian culture, it is mandatory to respect your elders.  When Zhi’s grandfather told him this story, it makes him look wise in the eyes of young children.  This will definitely maintain that sense of respect.  Also, since it is kept within the Asian culture, it forms a sense of identity within the group.  Lastly, this story is not set in modern day.  Instead, it focuses on the ancient history of Asia.  This serves as a way to teach future generations life lessons while maintaining old customs and beliefs.

This story can also be found in the following:

The Japanese Book of the Ancient Sword

Author(s): Ethel Watts Mumford

Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 26, (1905), pp. 334-410

Publisher: American Oriental Society

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/59289

Folk Medicine – Asian

Folk Medicine- Growing Magic Potion

We have something called, well, translated into English it is called magic potion.  I can’t really pronounce it correctly, but it means magic potion.  Well, it’s made from a series of things: the antlers of a deer, the hooves of a water buffalo, and a snake.  If you want to be luxurious you use shark fin too.  Well, it’s supposed to make you grow, and on top of that it is supposed to make you become healthy and good at sports.  Like, it is supposed to make you like strong and big.  It is strange though because supposedly people say it works on a lot of people.  I’ve actually tried it.  In Chinese, it is actually called Mee Tow.

My Singaporean friend Zhi told me this story about this magic potion a couple weeks ago.  When he told me about his use of the potion, I was intrigued by it.  When I asked him what his experiences were, he said, “I drank it for like two months, and well you knew me when I was younger, I was really short, like really short.  Like I used to be like 5’2 when everyone was like 5’8, and well I grew. I don’t know whether it is because of that or because I just simply got the better genes in my family and I hit puberty, but I mean my parents aren’t tall.  My father is the tallest one being only like 5’8, so you have to admit I am pretty tall for an Asian person”.

I looked up the word potion and figured the very word means some type of magical agent.  This already helps me analyze the belief difference between Asian cultures and that of the “Western World”.  Zhi’s family was willing to concoct this potion in order to help him grow and prosper in tennis.  This leads me to believe their effort to shy away from Western medicines and stay with ancient techniques.  This can be compared to the movie we watched about curing different types of tumors.

Another thing to take note of are the ingredients used in this “magic” potion.  They are not everyday items that you can find at a supermarket.  Also, if you can get these ingredients, they are never used together so this creates a belief that the potion might work.  The animals used are all large and strong animals, which works perfectly with the aim of the potion.

Lastly, this builds a strong sense of identity within the family and Asian community.  This is not something you could find online or in a cookbook.  It can only be taught and passed down through generations, which makes it very unique.  Also, Zhi told me the preparation of the potion took a very long time.  People normally connect hard work and success with the amount of time you put into something.  This could affect the person mentally and cause them to believe the potion is really working.