Monthly Archives: April 2018

The Significance of Pomegranate

Nationality: Armenian
Age: 56
Performance Date: 04/08/18

There’s a story about a woman during the genocide, that she kept her family alive by feeding them pomegranates. I think it was that every day she gave each one of them a seed. They were able to survive off that. Pomegranates have a significant meaning in Armenian culture. Armenians say that a pomegranate, each one, has 365 seeds and that if you eat one seed a day you will be filled with health and good fortune. If you do not eat one a day you don’t receive those gifts. Famed author, William Saroyan uses the pomegranate as symbolism as the pomegranate is what sustained his mother during the death march of the genocide.

  1. Do you eat a pomegranate seed every day as suggested above?

No I don’t… I don’t… I really don’t eat pomegranates? I like them a little bit but not that much… They also aren’t really available all year long anyways.

My Thoughts:

Symbolism is very important in literature. And it’s almost like the pomegranate was a good luck charm for those during the genocide. Authors like Saroyan may see that as a beacon of light to write about. In Armenia, you can find many touristy items that are related to pomegranates including key chains, household knick knacks and even jewelry.

The Story of Santa Claus (as told by Lori)

Nationality: Armenian
Age: 56
Performance Date: 04/08/18

When we were little, we used to believe in Santa Claus. It was just the way kids are, I suppose. Something that was a little different though is that we used to believe that Santa would leave our Christmas presents on the doorsteps of our house. We later learned that it was our grandparents. They would ring the back porch doorbell and leave all their presents there. Then later on we would find them coming through our front door. It’s so funny that we weren’t able to understand that they were ringing the back doorbell. But it was always a treat we would wait and wait and wait on Christmas Eve… Me and Uncle Gary, and Auntie Deanne and Uncle Paul… and when we would hear the back doorbell we would run together and get all our presents. It’s also funny how selfish we were as kids, less interested in out grandparents and more interested in the presents they got us haha.

 

My Thoughts:

I don’t really believe in allowing children to believe in Santa Claus. I didn’t really ever believe in Santa… I think I always knew it was my parents. I really appreciate the sentiment though that sometimes we get caught up in the glamour of Christmas and forget to cherish the moments with our friends and family.

Easter Eggs

Nationality: Armenian
Age: 56
Performance Date: 04/08/18

In Aleppo, when I was growing up, we didn’t have fancy egg coloring kits. What we would use to dye our Easter eggs was skin of red onions. There weren’t a ton of colors… there was only red. There’s a reason for that. During the crucifixion of Christ, Mary had an egg in her shall. While she witnessed her son bleeding out on the cross she cried. Her tears mixed with the blood of Christ blended and colored the egg she carried. The color red represents Jesus’ blood. Also the hard shell of the egg is a sign of the tomb in which Jesus was encapsulated and as you break the egg you release Jesus from the tomb as He resurrected.

My grandmother would boil the eggs on either Good Friday or the Saturday after along with the skin of red onions. I would stand next to her and watch her peel the onions and put it in the boiling water. After the eggs were boiled they were removed and cooled and then we would put them on a platter. We put them in the living room… we didn’t have a family room… sometimes we put them on the dining room table. When guests would come, we would sit around the table and greet each other in the Easter tradition. One person would say “Krisdos haryal i merelots,” which means Christ is risen from the dead. One would reply, “Orhnyal e harutyun’ Krisdosi,” which means blessed is the resurrection of Christ.

We would leave the eggs overnight till Easter morning. I always got to be the one who carried the plate from the kitchen to the dining room table… it’s not much but it was my role. Then we would fight the eggs. My uncle would come… when he was born, Easter was very close to his birthday so they named him Harout after the Armenian word for resurrection, haroutune. In American his name is Harry. I fought the most eggs with him. I won most of the egg fights… I don’t know if they let me win or if I won off of merit but either way… I won.

My Thoughts:

I never knew there was a reason behind dying eggs. It’s interesting how now there are many different ways to dye eggs. Companies have monetized a religious tradition. I suppose that’s the case with many holidays though including Christmas, Valentines Day, and Hanukkah.

Silence of the Lambs

Age: 27
Occupation: Sales Associate
Performance Date: April 17, 2018
Primary Language: English

“For about a month straight after watching the horror movie, Silence of the Lambs, I woke up at the same time every night with really bad night terrors. They were so bad that sometimes I was too afraid to breathe because I was so certain that a monster was across the hall waiting to attack me. I could not control my fears and I could not control the nightmares that struck me every night. One day, my younger sister told me that she had been having nightmares recently too, so I decided to sleep in her bed with her. I hoped that it would calm both of us down.”

“That night, I woke up at 3:30 AM, the same time I usually had my night terrors. I immediately noticed that my sister was awake as well, and she was sitting up in her bed staring at the corner. She looked frozen; she would not move a muscle. In a panic, I popped up and said ‘Leila what are you looking at???’ to which she responded, ‘Tara don’t you see that? Don’t you see that face in the corner?!?’”

“Immediately after, Leila sprinted out of the room and slammed the door. I was left alone in the room and was so scared I could barely function. I swear to G-d I felt something emanating in the corner of the room, it looked like the outline of a man’s face. I worked up the courage to get up and sprint downstairs to my parent’s room, where my sister was already screaming and crying. My parents were shook by my own fear as well as my sister’s fear and in turn, they anointed Leila’s room with holy oil and threw away a bunch of books. After that, nothing of this manner ever occurred again in my home. I also never woke up at 3:30 AM with another night terror again. I don’t know what happened and I don’t know if I am crazy, but my sister and I were both overwhelmed with and are convinced that we both saw a face.”

 

My Interpretation of this story:

 

Through my research, I have notice many stories that involve the corner of a room being the place of question. This makes me curious as to why the corner of a room has such connections with the supernatural or the irrational. Besides that part of the story, I believe this is a classic case of the mind. Personally, when I was younger and watched horror movies, I experienced similar troubles. Horror movies give the sense of terror without actually having to personally experience, which can be analogous to dreams giving people a sense of reality without it actually being real. Because of the similarity in feelings and less of a physical experience than real life, it can be determined that the imagination has taken over. The movie, most likely, took over the sisters dreams and caused them to feel an even further effect of imagination, because they had never experienced such and thing in real life or even in their dreams. The level of intangibility of the situation in addition to the time of night can offer an explanation for these visions and feelings. Additionally, once the parents of the teller in a way ridded the room of the bad vibes and the terrors disappeared, I felt more of a sense of personal security from the story rather than an actual ghost experience.

The Festival of Vardavar

Nationality: Armenian
Age: 56
Performance Date: 04/08/18
  1. What kind of holiday traditions did you celebrate in your family?

I remember one thing called “Vardavar,” it’s 98 days after Easter celebrating the transfiguration of Christ.

  1. Where do you celebrate this?

I used to celebrate this as a child when I lived Aleppo, Syria.

  1. What does Vardavar entail?

It was a festival where people would gather with buckets and small bowls filled with water to pour water on each other. You would pour water on family and friends and even on strangers. Everyone knew on that day, that you would expect to get wet.

  1. What did the water signify/ What’s the origin of this festival?

I believe it began as a pagan festival worshiping the goddess Astghik, the goddess of water, beauty love and fertility. The name Vardavar comes from the Armenian tradition to give up roses as an offering to Astghik. The word vart means rose.

  1. What is the transfiguration?

The transfiguration is when Christ became radiant in glory. It refers to the experience of momentary divine radiance.

My Thoughts:

It’s an interesting idea that this ceremony is celebrated by splashing water on each other. I feel like the splashing water is similar to drowning, which is the opposite of fertility, however water is also cleansing and healing.