Monthly Archives: April 2012

Thai folk belief: Butterflies carry souls

Nationality: Thai-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student (Fine Arts)
Residence: Northridge, CA
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Thai

My informant had a personal experience with this folk belief while attending her grandmother’s funeral in Thailand. She and the other funeral-goers were kneeling in prayer in front of the Buddhist temple where the funeral was being held, when she noticed a black butterfly fly over her grandmother’s coffin as the monks chanted a sutra to help the soul pass on.

When my informant mentioned the butterfly to an aunt afterwards, the aunt told her that butterflies are containers for souls, and that they carry souls away. The timing of the butterfly’s flight, as well as the fact that she’d never seen a butterfly in Thailand before, convinced my informant of the validity of this folk belief.

My informant suggested that it may be comforting to someone mourning a death to equate their loved one, and maybe death itself, with a butterfly, which is almost universally considered to be beautiful and graceful.

The main religion in Thailand is Buddhism, which rejects the idea of an unchanging self or soul, and so the soul’s flight in the butterfly could be considered the luminal stage between death in one body and reincarnation in the next. Also, while human/alive, we can’t fly—it could be exciting to think that in death, we are able to rise beyond the limitations of our past human bodies.

Thai folk belief: Mole on foot

Nationality: Thai-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student (Fine Arts)
Residence: Northridge, CA
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Thai

Shortly before starting her freshman year at college, my informant noticed a mole on the back of her left foot which she was sure hadn’t been there before. She mentioned the mole to her mother, and it was then that her mother told of her the Thai belief that when you get a mole on your foot, it means you’ll travel far. (My informant’s mother is from the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand.)

My informant strongly believes that this belief is accurate, because she moved away from home and into a college dorm a few weeks after noticing the mole. She told me that the belief was bo-lan, a historical saying, or ancient/common knowledge, and that you have to respect bo-lan. Though she didn’t move far (her home is about a half hour drive from her college), she believes that this is because her mole is fairly small, and the size of the mole either determines or predicts (she’s not sure which) how far you’ll be traveling.

The location of the mole on the foot is probably significant. The feet are associated with walking, and therefore travel. This belief reminds me of another bit of folk speech: the “travel itch,” the desire to travel. Moles can itch, prompting the desire to walk, which could be a metaphor for travel.

Thai custom: First menstruation

Nationality: Thai-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student (Fine Arts)
Residence: Northridge, CA
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Thai

The first time my informant got her period, her mother told her to go to the stairs, hold her breath, and walk down the number of steps she wanted her period to last for. For example, my informant decided that she wanted her periods from then on to last for three days, so she went down three steps while holding her breath. According to my informant, it worked for her; her periods now last three days.

I asked her why she didn’t just go down one step, and she said, “because it wouldn’t be possible, biologically, so to keep the legend true, you have to go down at least three or four.” This response suggests that there’s an element of conscious self-delusion for every girl who performs this custom, and that the belief is important more for its own sake than for the fact that it works.

My informant proposed that going down the stairs represents that the performer is taking the steps to becoming a woman. The girl holds her breath because Buddhism (the main religion of Thailand) encourages believers to endure suffering. Not breathing also symbolizes the pain of menstruation.

I agree with her assessment. A girl’s first menstruation is, biologically, the marker of her transformation from girl to woman. Taking physical steps represents that she is crossing that threshold.

Annotation: This folk custom appears in the 2001 Thai movie The Legend of Suriyothai. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290879/

Menlo Toe Sucker

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, USC
Performance Date: October 2011
Primary Language: English

A friend once told me about the Toe Sucker who supposedly lives on my street. I asked him to retell the story and the following conversation ensued between residents of the street implicated in his story and the storyteller.

Teller:

So this girl [name omitted] from [house name omitted] told me that one time after a party everyone was hanging out on the porch, and this random Asian dude came up. He was kinda older and he just hung out. Then I guess after everyone went away he came up to [name omitted] and offered her $300 to suck her toes. She says she didn’t take it but he’s like offering it to anyone who’ll let him suck their toes. And he lives here somewhere on the north end of Menlo.”

Menlo Resident 1: What the fuck. Where does he live?

Teller: I don’t know! Man, I’m not sure that’s just what [name omitted] said. But she does know someone who did it and got paid.

Menlo Resident 2: I don’t think he’s gonna pay you $300 just to suck your fucking toes. I bet he gets a little more, ya know?

Non-Menlo Resident: Oh yeah…I heard that too. But doesn’t he do it by the window? So he like pays you but makes you do it by the window? Actually, maybe I heard this story from you [to Teller]. Or no I heard it from [fellow co-worker]. He heard it from [people who live at the omitted house] too.

Although this story is very close to home [literally] it can be neither confirmed nor denied by anyone I have spoken to. Some claim to have had personal contact with the elusive Toe Sucker, but their personal stories have come down through friends or other sources as a retelling. The actual people implicated are either always unavailable or it is too awkward to ask them about having their toes sucked for money.

Since the first time I heard this story I have done my part to spread it far and wide. During my last retelling of this story to a resident of Menlo they countered with saying that I was confusing him with the HedgeFund Keg Guy. This is apparently another elusive character who story has it offered to pay for 100 kegs for the Menlo Block Party. He is extremely wealthy either from managing a hedge fund [what I’ve heard most often but unlikely] or as a beneficiary. Early on the actual day of the Block Party someone confirmed he had bought 20 kegs for the event. The person who confirmed this was soon after unavailable for comment, and in fact remembers nothing from that entire day.

This story was told until very recently as an absolute truth. Before my last collection of this story my primary informant was adamant that it had really happened. As he put it, “Why would someone make that up?” I have often wondered this as well. It is especially odd to me that a legend would originate for and from a region as specific as a street. The entire legend seems to count on the audience’s familiarity with the block of Menlo Ave located between Adams Blvd and 29th Street. This is a neighborhood with both temporary student residents and families who have been here for generations . As the neighborhood shifts to a larger student population and the current student population develops more of its own community identity than most in mixed neighborhoods it seems there is some anxiety about the populace.

One of the fears addressed in this narrative is that of intrusive presence. Clearly there is some danger in a complete stranger being able to infiltrate your gathering, home or even social circle. For people who live on this street this is a reality, since it is perfectly common to allow strangers into your homes or gatherings. Some people take issue with this for safety reasons (particularly after violent events around the University this year), while others feel it is an essential part of the developing culture of the street-community.

There is also a preoccupation with sexual deviance, reflecting a college-aged anxiety and exploration of sexuality. Although the toe-sucking fetish seems to be the initial impetus for telling this story, it is more so a sensational twist for the sake of making the narrative entertaining, and possibly more apt for future retellings.

The existence of not just one, but two elaborate stories relevant only to one street is a microcosm of urban legends specific to a University context and this community that seeks its own identity within it. As the Toe Sucker narrative has increased in retellings and acquired more exaggerations my original informant has moved away from claiming its truthfulness and now instead treats it like a legend.

 

Step on a crack, break your mother’s back

Nationality: American
Age: 35
Occupation: Photographer
Residence: Seattle, Washington
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian

My informant first heard this superstition during recess when she was in the first grade.  She happened to walk on the seams in a sidewalk and the girls she was playing with began to chant the superstition.  My informant had never heard the superstition before and, in the moment, she thought she had actually hurt her mother.  She started sobbing, because she knew how devastation a broken back could be.  Her friends found her crying and they came to comfort her until she stopped crying.  They explained that the connection between cracks and backs was just a superstition.

The whole experience was so traumatic for my informant that she can remember the day nearly perfectly and still thinks about it frequently.  She believes that the superstition was made by a mother who wanted their child to watch their step.  My informant said her daughter is always stepping in gum or dog droppings, and she would love for her daughter to be more cautious of her step. So, instead of getting her to be careful for the sake of her shoes, it’d be a lot easier to get her to be careful for the sake of her mother.  She also said that this superstition is mainly used by kids because only kids would believe in a connection between cracks in the sidewalk and their mother’s wellbeing.  My informant said that later in her childhood, even though she didn’t believe the superstition, she used to step on the cracks depending on her feelings about her mother at the time.  This gave her a way to vent some of her anger without actually causing harm to her mom.

I believe the superstition was started by a bored child who had to walk home from school everyday.  Personally, I only had to walk to my mother’s car, and even with this short distance, I know I stared at the sidewalk much longer than I ever should have.  After staring at the concrete for so long, it’s likely that such a rhyming superstition would be thought of.  Also, a popular variant suggests that stepping on a crack is bad luck in general, which puts both you and your mother at risk.  I believe the meaning behind the superstition is to watch your step, because if you don’t, you’re likely to trip or trod on something gross.