Tag Archives: rain

Snake Skin on a Fence Brings Rain

Age: 21

1. Text: In Texas, there is the folk belief/ritual that if one puts snake skin on their fence, rain is likely to come. 

2. Context: This participant, born and raised in Texas, spoke of a superstitious ritual that he believes is pretty unique to Texas. He says that growing up, whenever he would visit some of the more rural – or even suburban – areas of the state (he himself had grown up in more of an urban area), he would sometimes see fences lined with snakeskin. When he asked his parents about it after seeing it a couple of times – too often for it to just be an odd decoration or coincidence, he explained – his parents just told him it was an old superstition that the snake skin would bring rain. He never really understood why this would be a belief, and explained that his best interpretation or understanding of the odd ritual was that maybe it was an old Native American tradition or something akin to an old superstition left over from a bygone era.   

3. Interviewer’s Interpretation: Upon initially hearing about this folk belief and ritual from my interviewee, I was similarly confused by the superstition. While I don’t fully know whether or not this is necessarily a ritual from any particular Native American tribe or belief system, I don’t doubt that it could have roots in some type of rain-related ritual, as rain rituals appear throughout countless cultures. Perhaps this superstition is meant to evoke a sort of causality through the fact that snakes might become more visibly present during rainy seasons/storms; it seems plausible that people believed that if rain causes snakes to appear more often, maybe this cycle can be triggered through the use of their skins. Just like how earthworms seem to pop up in abundance after a particularly rainy day, maybe snakes too appear more frequently – and maybe through this, people began to believe if they brought out snakes/snake skins they could evoke this pattern and it would begin to rain. 

Don’t open an umbrella indoors

Text: 

“Growing up, my mom always told us not to open umbrellas indoors because it gives you bad luck. She wasn’t that serious about it, though, it’s just something that she said. Like if it’s raining really hard she will open it inside so she doesn’t have to get wet.”

Context:

My informant is from LA, but her mom is from Michigan and learned this superstition from her own mother. My informant says that even though she and her mom don’t follow this superstition strictly, she does think about it every time she opens an umbrella. 

Interpretation:

This superstition, like many others, proves the common human fear of giving yourself bad luck. It also shows how superstitions can be passed down through generations, as my informant learned this one from her mother, she learned it from her own mother. This especially works if a superstition is taught at a young age, as young children are taught to obey what their parents teach them without questioning why. In addition, this is an example of how superstitions can be followed loosely. This family talks about this superstition and teaches it to each other, but only follows it when it is convenient for them. 

It’s raining to beat the band

Age: 19

Text: It’s raining to beat the band

Context: My informant, who is from the Midwest, explained that whenever it is raining very hard outside, her family always says “It’s raining to beat the band.” She also said that “to beat the band” can be used to describe anything that is being done to an extreme extent. 

Analysis: When a band is performing, it often grasps the attention of everyone around since bands are loud and both visually and audibly entertaining. If something “is beating the band,” it is being done so greatly that it is visually and/or audibly overpowering the band. This hyperbolic expression compares an occurrence to a band to capture the extent to which something is being done. If the rain is beating the band, for example, it must be raining so hard that it is loud and/or visually shocking.

First Rain – A College Tradition

Background information/context of performance: DC is a 21-year-old student at University of Southern California, Santa Cruz. She grew up in Los Angeles and Alameda, CA, but is currently living in an apartment in Santa Cruz. Now that we’re back on campus, DC has been able to engage much more with UCSC culture and traditions.

DC: First Rain is another tradition that Santa Cruz has, but I think it’s the same for a lot of colleges. It still hasn’t happened this year though (laughs). Because it hasn’t even rained. It’s pretty sad, um, but I guess we still have a few weeks for it to happen.

Me: If there had been a first rain at UCSC this year, what would the tradition look like?

DC: It rains a lot in Santa Cruz usually. But a lot of students like to exercise by walking and running around campus, so maybe this came from that? I don’t know. But basically, like, whenever it rains on campus for the first time during the school year, everyone will run through campus naked. I think everyone runs from somewhere to Porter College, and the run ends there.

Me: Do you know anyone who has been able to participate in First Rain? Is that how you now about it?

DC: Yeah, I think I know a couple underclassmen friends who have? I’m not really sure. I think people mostly just know about it because it’s a big Santa Cruz thing. It just fits with the whole, like, hippie kinda reputation the college has. I remember Kayla is the one who told me about it in high school, when I decided to go here. Maybe they knew from their friends who went there in past years too.

Me: It might be too late for a First Rain this year, but would you do it next year?

DC: (laughs) Um…maybe! If my friends did it with me then I feel like it would be funny. And I’ll be a senior so I may as well since it’s my last chance. But I’m not, like, in a rush to do it. I think it’s funny though, I would definitely wanna see one before I graduate.

I have heard of this tradition occurring at multiple universities, but UCSC definitely has a culture that I feel like aligns with it tradition the most. The college is known to have a very free-spirited and artsy student body, so learning about their First Rain tradition was a fun way to see how that reputation is kept up. I also think it was very interesting to learn that First Rain has become less accessible due to the lack of rain in California, despite the fact that it was established when it rained very often during the Fall and Winter months in Santa Cruz. Hearing about this made me think about the relationship between climate change and longstanding folklore and traditions – if something like UCSC’s First Rain can no longer occur annually because the environment is much dryer than it used to be, I can only imagine how other cultural practices and traditions throughout the world have changed/become obsolete as a result of climate change as well.

Warding off rain

Nationality: Italy
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Valle de Bravo, Mexico
Performance Date: 04/17/2021
Primary Language: English

BACKGROUND: My informant, GO, is an international student from Italy who has spent most of her life living in Mexico. She and her family are fluent in both Spanish and Italian. Interested in her unique upbringing, I asked GO if she learned any superstitions or stories during her many travels. GO responded with this piece, a Mexican tradition she learned from her friends. 

CONTEXT: This piece is from a text conversation with my friend to discuss any superstitions she’s learned during her time in Mexico.

GO: A superstition in Mexico is that’d [if] you’re hosting a lunch outdoors, like in a garden or something, you have to stab four knives onto the corners of the garden bc otherwise, it will rain.

Me: Do you think it works?

GO: Lmao it hasn’t rained yet so yea

THOUGHTS: This superstition is something that I’ve heard in the past from another friend of mine. Though I think this fear of rain is interesting because, with other people I’ve spoken to, rain is a symbol of good luck and is welcomed at gatherings like weddings and parties. Particularly for my family, rain symbolizes change and growth and its appearance suggests that there are good things on the way.