Monthly Archives: May 2017

PE Possession

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/21/17
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Informant Information:

Jaden Davis is a student at the University of Southern California. He is originally from Smyma, GA, before moving to Los Angeles, CA for college.

Urban Legend:

“Have you been to the physical education building? Legend has it that if you go into the physical education building and you go all the way down to the bottom floor. There are lights in the hallway but they won’t turn on no matter what. Apparently one time there was an earthquake and 2 kids who happened to be down in the basement. Well the basement kind of caved in and the kids were buried in the rubble. They were presumed dead. But when they were repairing the damages people go down there and clean up the rubble but when the halls finally clear the bodies weren’t there. If you go down in that hallway, you can sometimes hear the sound of them screaming before the rubble fell on them. There’s also a door at the end of that hallway. The door has no handles but it can be opened from the inside. Now, if you go in that hallway on the night that they died which was March 8th, the door might be open and in that door is a bill collector to collect all your tuition. Just kidding there’s no bill collector, but if you walk into the door legend says one of the kids will take over your body and the kid possesses you till midnight. This is why kids wake up and don’t know where they are.”

Q: Where did you hear about this legend?

“One morning me, Eva, and Jack were in the physical education building. Some guy comes up to me and starts telling me this story.”

Q: Had you heard of this legend prior to your visit?

“Well Jack told me the physical education building was creepy, so I assumed there was stuff going on.”

Analysis:

Though I am also a student at the university, I have never heard of the urban legend that the informant mentioned. After doing more research,  I couldn’t find any information on the event that inspired the urban legend.

Gatto Mammone

Gatto Mammone, meaning Mammon cat, is one of the creatures of myth in Italy. Long time ago there was a woman who had two daughters, one is ugly and one is very beautiful. Surprisingly, the woman loved the ugly daughter more and they were jealous of another daughters’s beauty. One day they decided to sent the beautiful daughter to a curse fairy to ask for a sieve. On her way to the castle of the fairy, she met a man who helped her and told her how to behave to find the object she sough after. In the castle, she must help the cats to do housework. The Gatto Mammone, who lives in the castle, is thankful and gives her what she asked for, along with a warning: on her way back home, she must not turn at the call of the donkey, but only when she hears a rooster. As she does so, a beautiful star is magically embedded in her forehead. After she came back, her sister also wanted to get the beautiful star so she went to the castle as well. However, she was shunned away by the cats. On her way back, she turns at the bray of the ass, and a donkey’s tail is magically embedded in her forehead.

Feng Shui

Nationality: China
Age: 50
Occupation: Doctor
Residence: China
Performance Date: 03/21/2017
Primary Language: Chinese

Informant: my mother

Original Script: Feng Shui is a practice of arranging furniture for good luck in Chinese folklore. Doors, windows, and other types of furniture need to be balanced so that energy can flow through the house without stopping. For example, it is not good to have your bed facing the door of the bathroom, and doing so will weaken your luck. And crystals can be used to deflect negative energy. Putting a crystal figurine on your desk is beneficial.

 

Background information: Feng Shui is a superstition in Chinese folklore. Some people extremely believe in that so in China there is professional Feng Shui consultant that tells you how to arrange your home.

 

Thoughts on the piece: I did not hear any American or Western folklore that related to the arrangement of the furniture. But my friend once told me that McDonald’s use a lot of red colors in the interior because red makes people agitated so that they won’t stay in the McDonald’s for too long. The theory of color in Chinese Feng Shui is more about superstition. For example, green stimulates business and helps you earn money, and violet gives peace and insight.

 

The white monkey

Nationality: China
Age: 50
Occupation: Doctor
Residence: China
Performance Date: 03/30/2017
Primary Language: Chinese

Informant: my mother

Original Script: After the heaven was created, a book recorded the heaven’s secret was made. To prohibit human from discovering the secret of the heaven, a group of white monkeys was sent to guard the book. However, one of the monkeys was very curious so he looked at the book when there was no one around and learned some secrets of the heaven. As punishment, the monkey had to guard the book forever by himself, knowing the secrets but never able to tell anyone. The other white monkeys were set free and went down to the man’s world to discover knowledge from other sources.

Thoughts on this piece: Monkey plays a significant role in Chinese culture. The character of monkey is always curious and disobedient to the rules. One of the famous examples is the Monkey King, who rebelled against the heaven and then was imprisoned under a mountain by the Buddha.

 

Ikebana

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 23
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/30/2017
Primary Language: Japanese
Language: English

Informant:Yume

Original Script: Ikebana is the art of arranging flowers. In Japan, women who are trained in Ikebana are thought to be virtuous. Ikebana also represents the arrangement of three elements–heaven, earth, and people. Rather than using a large variety of flowers, ikebana is minimalistic. Only a few flowers are arranged sparsely in a shallow vase. The arrangement often takes on the shape of a scalene triangle.

Background information: Ikebana is an art in which the arrangement of flowers represents a balance where nature and humanity are brought together. It also indicates a closeness with nature.

Thoughts on this piece: Ikebana is an example of a folk tradition that is elevated to an art form.