Monthly Archives: May 2023

Ghost Story

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A couple of years ago, the informant was living back home in Torrence, Los Angeles. He would stay up in the living room studying, and when it got late, he would often see a shadow in the corner of his eye. At the time, he would tell himself that it was just late, he was tired, so it was probably nothing. Eventually, he would start seeing things during the day such as a little girl. The informant states that he believed the shadow was a random manifestation, but the girl he would actually see as a manifestation of other objects, so he would see a girl made up of clothes on a chair. It kept happening more and more frequently, so he began to get suspicious. He told his sister about it, and she said she was seeing the same thing, so they asked their whole family living at the house and everyone said they saw it too. What caused the family to really freak out is that his little cousin living there had told her mom that a little girl had grabbed her arm. She was only five years old, so she would not have come up with this story.

One night, his uncles and grandma came over and asked him about what he had been seeing, and all they said was, “Yeah that’s how that happens”. They said in Mexico, it’s a common thing to see where the black shadow is an evil spirit, and the girl wasn’t actually evil but was his slave, so the girl was a lure to get people alone in rooms. The informant was completely freaked out after that as they told him not to be in a room alone, he always had to have the lights on and they even brought a priest over to bless the house. One night, he was sleeping in bed when he woke up with his heart racing and he did not know why. He did not have a nightmare so he woke up with his eyes closed as he did not want to open his eyes. He knew that he would see something, as he was laying in bed extremely scared, and did not move. Eventually, he did look and saw the shadow of a man sitting on the chair. This time was different because previously the shadow would just be a fast blur, but this time he was just sitting in the chair as he stared at it. It started walking towards him so he closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

Context:

The informant explained that his grandpa’s side of the family was accused of being witches. His family believes that someone had placed a curse on an ancestor, and it had passed down so this haunting was taking place in their house. His uncle also suggested that the reason he had been seeing it more and more was that it was getting closer to Halloween, so after Halloween, nothing would be seen again. The informant did believe it because he was experiencing it first hand but states that his family doing things such as bringing a priest solidified or confirmed his belief that it was real. Looking back on it, he no longer believes it now, as he would explain it by tiredness. Additionally, he states that other people in his family started claiming that they saw things once he said it, so everyone else believed it as well or their minds would trick them into believing it.

Interpretation:

This legend is that of a ghost story. It seems that much of this legend stems from fear and history. Other ghost stories tend to have a specific factor that leads to the creation of these stories and in this case, the ghost story comes from the informant’s past beliefs of ancestors indulging in witchcraft and confirmation bias. Once the informant had explained his situation to others, they also began to see the same thing which comes from confirmation bias. They are expecting to see ghostly things in their house, so any small instance of a blur or shadow immediately becomes a potential ghost or demon in their mind in order to confirm their beliefs. Additionally, once the informant was told by his family of his past, and of the same legend happening so commonly in Mexico made the informant begin to see these things more frequently. The more fear he held, the greater the legend became, and as soon as someone confirmed the information about the potential reality of what he was seeing, it became real.

Witches in Mexico

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The informant’s tia, aunt, is very Christian, very devoted, and one day, went to live in Queretaro, Mexico to teach at a Christian school. The community was extremely Christian as well but outside of the gated community was the regular town. Whenever people from the Christian community would be driving from the town back to the gated community, large rocks would be in their path on the road at night. Thus, whenever they would get out to move the rocks, they would hear laughter like the stereotypical witch laugh but obviously, no one was around. Then they would see fireballs in the sky, kind of like shooting stars, but bright red and yellow balls just floating around in the skies. There would be graffiti on the walls of the gated community which display a message such as “Leave” and anti-Christian messages. Evil would happen to these people and when his aunt experienced seeing the fireballs, she did not want to give it much thought and relied on her faith.

Context:
The informant thought it was bizarre as rocks in the road are dangerous because someone could be waiting to hurt you. It was something to really worry about but the fireballs were not really something he fully believed in. It is a frightening thought to believe that witches do exist and that they can do evil to people. However, the informant clarified that there was never any physical incarnation of the witch and thus they could not fully believe the legend as reality.

Interpretation:
The connection between fireballs and witches seems quite strange to me. I am not sure where the link comes from but it seems that many believe they are witches. This might relate to the overall notion among many groups that witches are capable of shapeshifting into animals. In many movies and cartoons that contain witch characters, they are able to transform into rodents, cats, and reptiles and I have additionally heard of witches transforming into owls in Mexico. This story also seems to relate to religion as the target of witches according to the informant’s aunt was a Christian community and her faith was what protected her from the evil that witches could do. However, the messages left as graffiti most likely do not come from the witches and perhaps more likely from the town. This could be a potential culprit for some things that occur in the gated community.

High School Ghost

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The informant went to high school in Laredo, Texas. At her high school, she always heard stories of this boy with a red backpack in her high school. She heard that it began in the 1990s when janitors would see him really late at night. She says they would try to get his attention, calling out to him, saying, “Mijo, Mijo” but the boy would just walk away. They were always at opposite ends of the hallways and there was never any noise of the doors opening or closing when the boy would disappear. She heard another story of one day when the basketball coach was doing basketball tryouts and while in his office after tryouts, when all of a sudden he heard a ball dribbling. It was already late at night and he went out to check who was dribbling the ball. There was no one there and so he returned to his office. Once again, the coach heard the ball dribble so he went to check. This time the ball is dribbling toward him but there is no one to be seen. Other stories she heard did not involve the kid with the red backpack but were about supernatural instances such as books falling over. There was also this corner in the library that was always really cold. Some say that if you stood in the corner you could feel his presence.

Context:
The informant did not actually believe in the story as she believed that it was just a chance to talk about something in class and thus not do homework. She was told this story by teachers and the librarian so she also believes it was a story used to scare the students.

Interpretation:
This story seems to be very similar to the stereotypical ghost stories that kids are scared of. Thus, because of this, it seems that this story very much grew out of word of mouth and kids trying to make the story scarier every time it was spread around. For example, elements such as the empty school hallways, the basketball dribbling by itself, the books falling over, and the cold spot in the library are all elements commonly seen in fiction and in movies. None of these elements seem to really have any malintent behind them and thus, the ghost doesn’t seem to come from any evil place. It is very convenient that only certain adults would ever see the boy in the red backpack. Nonetheless, the legend stays relevant because it is something that high school kids can look to and claim as their own.

The Story of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl

Context:

The informant tells of a story she learned about in Mexico through the almanacs or calendars. It featured a picture of a warrior carrying the dead body of a beautiful woman. Both were covered in Aztec cultural dress such as the feathered headgear for the warrior and the woman in a white dress. She was curious as to what it featured so she asked her grandparents. Then they told her of the story of Popocatepetl and Iztaccíhuatl.

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The informant states that the story of  Popocatepetl and Iztaccíhuatl follows a war that ensued with the Aztec kingdom. Her grandparents told her that the chief of the Aztecs had a daughter born as beautiful as her mother and named her Iztaccihuatl. She eventually fell in love with Popocateptl, the most handsome warrior, but her father would not allow them to marry. The war began and the chief promised his daughter’s hand in marriage to the warrior if he brought the enemy chief’s head back to him. After many months of the war, a warrior among Popocateptl deceived the chief of the Aztecs by sending a false message stating that they had won the war but that Popocateptl had died. This was obviously false, but when the news reached Iztaccihuatl that he had died, she could not stop crying and died of sadness. As they prepared her funeral, Popocateptl returned from war victorious and found out about his love’s death. He had the warrior who sent the false message killed and took Iztaccihuatl’s body, leaving the city. He walked a long way until he got to some mountains, where he decorated her body with flowers. He knelt down over her body and died of sadness too. The Aztec gods witnessed this love story and converted their bodies into volcanoes. This story is known to the informant as “Amor Eterno” which means “Eternal Love”.

Interpretation:

The story resembles the story of Romeo and Juliet as it is denied love which results in a conflict leading to the male’s supposed death. This trick makes the female want to die as she no longer has her love by her side. When the male returns and finds his love dead in his arms, he dies as well to be by her side. This also reflects certain values that are highlighted in Aztec culture such as war and sacrifice. Sacrifice because after the God’s witnessed Popocateptl’s sacrifice, they knew they would honor them both. Additionally, the chief was only willing to give his daughter’s hand in marriage if the warrior helped them win the war

Children’s Hand Game: Concentrate

The game requires two players. One hand is facing down, one hand is facing up, your hands are mirrored with each other, and then you clap three times on your own. To start, you do those actions while singing “Concentrate, 48, no repeats, or hesitates, ill go first, you’ll go second, let’s concentrate on _”
The informant stated that the category to concentrate on is chosen before the start of the game. For example, the category could be Disney characters, fast food restaurants, books, movies, or anything else. Then the informant said the point of the game was to continue to list out things in that category while alternating back and forth, doing the same hand-clapping motions every time a response is given. The game ends when one of the individuals runs out of responses, someone hesitates, or something is repeated.

The informant has an older sister who is five years older than her. She states that growing up, her sister knew so many games such as hand clapping games meant to pass the time. Whether it was in car rides, in line at Disney World, and before Iphones and Ipads, it became an integral thing for them. She stated that when they would play, they would think “Oh you’re bored, oh you don’t have anything to do, you just want to be silly for a second” and it would alleviate their boredom. Additionally, she added that at other times the adults would be busy and thus she and her sister would need to occupy themselves so they would be able to be silly and have fun. She added that she was a girl scout and learned many other hand games through this as well. Lastly, she mentioned that she still plays now for nostalgia and that she has taught it to some of her friends now as a way to disconnect from being on their phones all the time.

 The hand-clapping game resembles many other games in the sense that its pace is fast and creates a competitive environment between its players. The urgency to play whenever one was bored shows how children are able to be creative and innovative. Considering the link between being a girl scout and having the knowledge of all these games shows that there is a purpose to learning these games and that we view them as having value and not just something silly. They provide children with something they can do that stimulates their minds and can also now help to detach themselves from using technology for entertainment so much.