Author Archives: ngorelic

Menninkäinen

I decided to interview my brother because he is very well versed with Finnish tradition. He took four years of Finish while he was in college and has travelled there twice so he is familiar with their culture. I wanted to talk to him to ask him of any interesting myths, tales or legends that he could tell me.

Collector: “Do you know of any Finish folklore that you find interesting?”

Informant: “Well, there is one myth that I really enjoy. So I’m sure you have heard of a goblin or a gnome before right?”

Collector: “Of course”

Informant: “Ok well a long time ago, in Finish culture, they believed in many different monsters that aimed at hurting people. One of those was called a Menninkäinen. This being was a really small creature that looked like a human and lived in the forests. It would approach humans out of curiosity and play games with them. They resemble the gnome or goblin and those words are thought to be just modern terms for Menninkäinen.”

This was a super fun and interesting story that I did not know. It is really cool to think that gnomes and goblins could have originated from Finland. Just a few more facts that I found out while researching them is that If they are approached carefully they tend to be friendly, however with children who do not often approach them in this way are often tricked and led astray into the forest. I also found out that these beings are very intelligent and enjoy riddles, often getting into a battle of riddles with the people that they come in contact with.

Candlemas

I interviewed a really good friend of mine who is 19 years old and moved to the United States from Mexico City pretty recently to go to school. I thought he would be a perfect person to interview because I really don’t know much about Mexican culture especially that of Mexico City. Through some research and discovery, I did find that the city was the center for celebration and festivals across the nation and that people come here for the wonderful events. However, I wanted to find out which festivals my friend was a part of during his childhood.

Collector: “Any other celebrations you could tell me about?”

Informant: “Yes, there is one other tradition that we have that follows christmas called Candlemas which occurs on February 2nd. “This is in celebration of when the Child Jesus came to the temple. People dress up and go to church, then after there is a big party with my family and friends. We listen to music, dance, eat tamales, drink, and eat this soup called stole which is made from corn. It is always a very fun day.”

It was a very cool process to learn more about one of my good friends’ culture. After doing a little research I found out that this tradition is very close with Epiphany where everyone eats the kings’ cake and whoever finds the muneco, or small christ child, in the cake must organize Candlemas. The small child figure is then brought to the church to be blessed. Whoever drew the figure must prepare tamales and the whole family comes to dinner. This is a tradition that is passed down from generation to generation and gives the holiday an aspect of sharing and community.

Dia de los Muertos

I interviewed a really good friend of mine who is 19 years old and moved to the United States from Mexico City pretty recently to go to school. I thought he would be a perfect person to interview because I really don’t know much about Mexican culture especially that of Mexico City. Through some research and discovery, I did find that the city was the center for celebration and festivals across the nation and that people come here for the wonderful events. However, I wanted to find out which festivals my friend was a part of during his childhood.

Collector: “Are there any other festivals or holidays that you take part in which I might not know?”

Informant:”Another really important holiday is the Day of the Dead.”

Collector: “What happens during that holiday?”

Informant: “On this day which is on November 2nd is meant to just remember those who have died which I think is really important. My family and my friends’ families gather and we simply just pray for the close one’s who have died and help them during their spiritual journey. We call the day Dia de Muertos.”

It was very interesting to learn about another one of my friend’s traditions. I did a little more research to find out more about where this holiday came from. This ritual in particular has actually been present for about 3,000 years. In Aztec culture it fell on the ninth month of their calendar and was usually celebrated for that entire month. All of the festivals were dedicated to the goddess known as the Lady of the Dead. More recently on November 1st people celebrate the loss of children in whats known as Dia de los Angelitos and November 2nd was known as Dia de los Muertos. Families and friends during this time bring food and flowers to the grave to bring good spirits and tell stories for hours about those that have departed, usually in a humorous manner as they would tell funny stories about them.

Independence Day in the Zocalo

I interviewed a really good friend of mine who is 20 years old and moved to the United States from Mexico City pretty recently to go to school. I thought he would be a perfect person to interview because I really don’t know much about Mexican culture especially that of Mexico City. Through some research and discovery, I did find that the city was the center for celebration and festivals across the nation and that people come here for the wonderful events. However, I wanted to find out which festivals my friend was a part of during his childhood.

Collector: “Were there any celebrations or events that you regularly took part during your life in Mexico City?”

Informant: “Yes of course, there are a lot of festivals that occur every year. One is Independence Day which is on the night of September 15th. The main square is decorated with lights and it turns into a huge party with music, drinking and a lot of really good Mexican food. At this celebration the President of Mexico rings a huge bell and after he rings it and we all shout the famous names of important Mexican heroes and then yell “Viva Mexico!”. It is a huge party that I go to every year with family and friends. The next morning there is parades and stuff that we also go to. It is a lot of fun.”

This was a really cool interview because he has been one of my best friends at school but I didn’t really know the culture from which he came from. I wanted to do a little more research on Mexican independence because I still didn’t know much about why they celebrate on this day. September 16th was the day Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla uttered the “Cry of Dolores” which encouraged Mexicans to free themselves and fight the Spaniards for their rights. He got every one in the churches to revolt in what became known as The Siege of Guanajuato. This ended up being the start of a war which gave them independence.

Lemon juice highlights

I interviewed my 52 year old Aunt who was visiting from Seattle. She was very close with my grandmother, who I never had the opportunity of meeting, and I asked her questions about things that her mom taught her. She did have a couple things that she fondly remembers her mother teaching her, one of those things was surprisingly teaching her how to lighten her hair with lemon juice.

Collector: “Are there any other things that your mother taught you when you were young?”

Informant: “Lets see… well, when I was about 12 or 13 years old I really wanted blonde hair. Because I knew I was never going to have blonde hair, the closest thing to it was just to lighten my hair. At first I tried a few different methods on my own with over the counter hair lightening treatments, but none of them worked and they just made my hair turn a weird color which I hated. My mom saw me struggling with this and showed me a trick that her mother showed her. The process was to combine lemon juice and warm water in a spray bottle, spray it on your head and then sit in the sun for an hour or two. Then just repeat this until you get the color you want. I was shocked at how well it worked and it is definitely something I would recommend doing for someone looking to lighten their hair.”

This was very interesting to me because I have actually heard of this technique before, and to see that my grandmother and even great grandmother were familiar with it was very surprising. I tried to do some research on the origin of this technique specifically but could not find any information. I did discover, however, that hair coloring has been around for a long time. In the 1661 book Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art & Nature, different methods of hair coloring are explained. This includes turning your hair black, gold, green, red, yellow and even white which are mostly very unnatural colors. I found this topic very interesting.