Author Archives: Lore15

Don’t Cross Your Eyes

Background:

The informant is my Uncle. He was born in the Philippines and came to the United States when he was twelve. He went to Hollywood High School and after he attended chiropractic school. He enjoys watching basketball and is also on the verge of retiring from work. 

Informant: 

When I was a kid in the Philippines, all the parents in the neighborhood told me and my friends that if we crossed our eyes and someone blew into them, we would end up permanently cross-eyed for the rest of our lives. So of course us being kids we believed what we were told. I was around 5 or 6 at the time when it was first introduced to me. So for fun my friends and I would play this game where we would cross our eyes and the other person had to try and blow into our face. If you turned away in time to dodge the blow then your eyes were safe. The funny part about this though was that it was so reinforced by our parents that even as a teenager I didn’t want to risk it. The idea of being permanently cross-eyed was a nightmare for me. I didn’t stop believing till I was umm let me see..seventeen. And by that time I was already living in LA. I don’t know what I was thinking (laughs)

Analysis: 

I am so curious as to why the parents reinforced this idea so much. Was the crossing of eyes a major issue back then in the Philippines? I asked my Uncle and he says he still has no clue why parents reinforced the idea back then. Whatever the case may be this belief is quite comical. I can only imagine what playing that game was like with a bunch of five and six-year-olds. Probably an excessive amount of spit and invading of personal space. Maybe the parents got a good laugh out of it watching from afar?

Jumping On Easter Sunday

Background:

The informant is my Uncle. He was born in the Philippines and came to the United States when he was twelve. He went to Hollywood High School and after he attended chiropractic school. He enjoys watching basketball and is also on the verge of retiring from work. 

Informant: 

Every Easter Sunday since I was a kid I would wake up at exactly 8:00 AM, get out of bed and start jumping as high as I can. I got the practice from my dad. The belief is that if you do this religiously every Easter Sunday at 8:00 AM you will grow taller than you normally would be. The symbolism behind jumping for joy at 8 is in relation to jumping for joy when Jesus rose from the dead at 8. It was a common practice not just for the kids but even for adults. My parents, aunts, and uncles participated too when I was growing up. I did it for the simple fact that I wanted to be able to dunk in basketball. I introduced it to your older cousins and the one that actually kept up with it and did it every Easter grew to be 6’6. The other two never did it and they’re 5’11 and 5’6. So I guess you can say it works huh? (laughs)

Analysis: 

This is a fun ritual in my eyes and also a pretty cool incentive to get up and celebrate the holiday. I remember participating in it when I was younger. Nowadays though it’s kind of hard to get me up at 8:00AM on a Sunday morning. I also think it is pretty amazing how my cousin who kept up with the ritual grew to be what we consider a giant in our family. 6’6 is no joke. Who knows maybe if I kept at it I’d be 6’6 instead of 6 feet. Rituals are often passed down from generation to generation. Maybe I’ll continue this with my kids in the future.

The Haunted Gym

Background: 

The informant is my younger brother. He was born in Pasadena, California and was raised in Silver Lake, California. He is currently a sophomore at Providence high school in Burbank where he receives an academic scholarship. He enjoys participating in sports and hanging out with his friends in his spare time.

Informant: 

I spend a lot of time in the gym at school. Mainly because I’m on the basketball team, but also cuz that’s where everyone hangs out after school and during lunch. When I came in my freshmen year, the older guys on varsity would tell us younger guys that the gym was haunted. My first thought was that they were full of shit and were just trying to fuck with us. But then they weren’t the only ones who said it was haunted. People say that it’s haunted cuz some kid supposedly died in one of the locker rooms. Some people say it’s haunted cuz our school is next to a hospital. And other people say it’s haunted cuz it’s built over an old graveyard. But that isn’t even the crazy part. I have heard countless stories of people’s creepy ass experiences and have also had my own. There are two stories that creep me out. The first one, my basketball coach told me just this past year. And he’s new, he wasn’t here my freshmen year so he didn’t know about it at all. He said one night after we had a game he stayed at the gym in his office watching film from our game. While he was watching he heard a basketball bouncing outside of his office. He said he got up went to go see who it was and no one was there. He said he didn’t find anyone or any ball that could have been bouncing so he grabbed his stuff and left right away. The other story is with our janitors. We have four of them. Three guys and one lady. The lady refuses to go into the gym because of an experience she had in there while cleaning one night. I’ve seen how she reacts too… she will not step foot in there. I don’t think you could pay her to go in there. But anyways… one night she was cleaning the bleachers by herself after a game. Across from the bleachers is the entrance to the main locker room. The door has a window and blinds on the top half. While she was cleaning she said that she looked up and saw a dark figure staring right at her through the blinds. It scared the shit out of her and she booked it. Ever since then she won’t go in there at all. And my experience happened last December. It was after practice and I was the last one in the locker room. I was by myself changing and all of a sudden a shower turned on by itself. I freaked the fuck out grabbed my stuff and ran! Ever since then I don’t like being in there alone. People can say whatever they want, but I’m pretty convinced that the damn place is haunted.

Analysis:

I’m a fan of ghost stories and this one gave me chills just hearing all the different experiences. In my opinion, all the personal accounts seem pretty valid. I wonder if there are more unheard stories from faculty? I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept it hush to avoid stirring up controversy and concern amongst students and parents. I just find it odd because that gym is really nice and up to date it doesn’t give off a creepy or uncomforting vibe. I’ve been in there several times, but never actually alone.

 

The Dead Sea, A Cursed Land

Background:

The informant is a good friend of mine who attends California State University, Northridge where she is studying to become an occupational therapist. She is a second generation American citizen who was born and raised in Burbank, California. Her parents came to the United States from Egypt shortly before she was born. She is a Muslim and can read, write, and speak Arabic fluently.

Informant: 

So there is a story about the Dead Seat that caused it to be looked upon as a cursed land. So basically there was a tribe who lived there called “Qawm Lut”. They were considered sinners for homosexuality. So a message was sent with a prophet that if they didn’t stop they would be wiped out. After, the prophet was then sent an angel to warn him and his family to leave the tribe with his wife and daughters and not look back for if they look back they would also be punished. As they left his wife looked back and was then turned to stone. The tribe is said to have been flipped upside down and buried beneath the Dead Sea. Making the dead sea a cursed land. Locals and Jordanians avoid the area after dark… If one were to go there after dark they would experience extreme misfortune and also risk the chance of being turned into stone.

Analysis:

In some ways, this narrative reminds me of Cleopatra. Which shows some multiplicity and variation. They said that if you looked her in the eyes you would turn into stone. The story doesn’t sound entirely believable, but my informant stressed to me how serious residents take this over there. It is pretty much forbidden to go to this land at night in fear of something terrible happening to them. It is a fearful superstition that no one really wants to put to the test.

The Evil Eye

Background:

The informant is a good friend of mine who attends California State University, Northridge where she is studying to become an occupational therapist. She is a second generation American citizen who was born and raised in Burbank, California. Her parents came to the United States from Egypt shortly before she was born. She is a Muslim and can read, write, and speak Arabic fluently.

Informant:

The evil eye is like a jinx caused by jealousy and envy that allows one to hurt or damage others by looking at them. The concept is a mix of culture and religion. When you see something nice and give a compliment, like for example someone has nice hair instead of saying “oh my gosh she has such nice hair ugh…” you’re supposed to say “she has such nice hair, masha’Allah” which is an Arabic word that means like “wow look at what God created!”and it’s supposed to repel the evil eye of the jinx in jealousy.

Analysis: 

This is a good moral custom to stress the importance of staying away from jealousy and envy. Although, no one has the magical powers to harm someone simply by looking at them. This belief also has multiplicity and variation as well. It is found in other cultures and religions across the world, each with their own little twist to it. This belief has also helped tourism by the fact that small items are sold in various places which are artistic in nature but also said to have the ability to ward off the evil eye.