Monthly Archives: May 2025

Girl Scouts’ Bridge Ceremony

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

“Everytime in Girl Scouts that we went up a level; so, Daisy to Brownie, Brownie to Junior, Junior to Cadet, Cadet to Senior, and Senior to Ambassador. We had a Bridge Ceremony to mark the transition. There are a lot of different ways that we did them. But, generally, they include a bridge or something to like physically pass from one side to another. And generally, before this ceremony happens, you will talk to the level above you to ask them about wisdom and what questions you might have and you talk to a troop in the level below you and pass on your wisdom to them”

“And then at the actual ceremony there’s plenty of stories that everyone has to read a bit and it’s all about like the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Sometimes you just skip straight to calling each girl across the bridge and then giving them their next badge that goes on their vest to signify ‘hey, you’re older!’ So each girl crosses the bridge. Yay! You’re all the next level”

What are some variations?

The informant described having “something reminiscent of the year below or the year that you are,” such as when transitioning from brownies to juniors, they had brownies and junior mints.

“There’s a lot of variations on that. One year, we limboed into cadets, I think. We started having pool parties, so we kind of just jumped into the next year. 

But the actual physical bridge is a big one. The most institutionalized version of this [would be that] many people when they bride to cadets fly to San Fran to cross the Golden Gate Bridge because thats when you’re younger girl to older girl. You’re expected to start volunteering and helping out with events and stuff. You’re going into middle school, so it’s a big transition.”

Analysis: While this ceremony is institutionalized in the idea, the international organization of Girl Scouts provides endless opportunities for multiplicity and variation of this tradition. In fact, not all troops even participate in this tradition since it is not a required ceremony. Other troops even have completely different ceremonies for transitions. These ceremonies signify the girls’ growth each year and excite them for moving up in the ranks. The bridge itself has a symbolism of moving on into the next state of life, which becomes a little looser as they get older and the bridge becomes less literal. The informant even recognizes an important coming of age transition into cadets and sometimes go to San Francisco, emphasizes the weight of their new responsibilities of an older girl. These ceremonies set the tone for the new expectations each year and celebrate their achievements thus far as well as getting passed down wisdom from the girls a level older, making them feel more prepared for their next year of life. 

Grandma’s Earrings & Brooch

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA

“When my grandma passed away, the two things that I got from her were a pair of ladybug earrings and a butterfly brooch. So I started as a tradition wearing one of these items. Anytime I had a big presentation, anytime I had a big event, anytime I went to a family event where my grandpa was going to be there, as a way to invite her. I don’t know. It just felt like if I was wearing one of those, she was with me and she was able to see what I was doing and still keep up, even though she wasn’t alive. It definitely got to the point where times when I was like ‘oh, i don’t really want to wear either of these. They don’t go with my outfit’ but I’m not going to say that grandma can’t come to Christmas dinner. So you wear the brooch or you wear the earrings so that grandmas with you.’ I do that for a lot of things.”

Do you also view them as good luck charms in a way?

“Oh, definitely yeah. I mean it’s just like having someone on your side/ I mean, I don’t think it physically brings me good luck. Even though I know butterflies are signs of hope and I know ladybugs are signs of luck, I don’t view it very strictly in that way. It’s supposed to be my grandma and she’s going to help me get through it.”

Did you start doing this on your own?

“Yeah, I started a couple months after, so I’ve been doing it for about nineish years now.”

Analysis: After the death of close relatives, especially grandparents, we receive family heirlooms or some sort of memorabilia from their lives. Particularly with jewlery, we tend to inscribe intense meanings onto these items, feeling that they are a connection to the person’s spirit. Wearing their jewelry is like carrying them with us, just as the informant described. By having her grandmother with her, the informant has the confidence to face stressful events as well as accompanying her at family gatherings. The informant specified that she feels an obligation to wear the items around her grandfather since he had lost his wife. In a way, this creates a special bond with her grandfather who sees his granddaughter carrying a piece of his wife as she lives through her. This is one of the many ways of coping and supporting family members in their losses of loved ones.

Walking Home Backwards After a Funeral

Nationality: American & Trinidadian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Glendale, AZ
Language: English

“A superstitious belief in my family and some of my friends have is that after a funeral, we will enter our homes backwards.It’s mainly so the spirit doesn’t follow you home, especially if you go to the graveyard site or cremation site.”

Can you please explain to me how they enter the house backwards?

“From what I’ve seen from my parents, they fully enter backwards, so they don’t start facing our house or like the front door if that makes sense.” She goes on to explain to me that “someone’s been there to let them in, or it just matters that they enter the first door frame facing backwards.”

Context: The informant identifies as a Hindu.

Analysis: In Hindu traditions, this superstition is common after funerals. It is believed to prevent the spirit from following the family home and getting stuck there, essentially aiding in their transition to the afterlife. This tradition is also a way to purify the home from any lingering negative energies after death that might have followed the family home. Spirits and ghosts in folklore tend to be tied to a property or area, so this practice prevents this from happening to their loved ones. This superstition has also shown up in other folk superstitions, and the consistency of walking backwards out of a cemetery seems to be the common trope. This practice shows how universal superstitions might be if you look beyond the religious contexts. 

Seollal (Korean New Year)

Text:

Seollal is the first day of the Lunar New Year in Korea. On Seollal, you bow to your elders, play games, and visit your hometowns. Seollal(설날) is the Korean New Year, usually falling in mid-February. It is one of Korea’s biggest holidays, with many people taking several days off of work to spend time with families. Often, people travel back to their hometowns or visit family members/in-laws. There is also a ritual called sebae(세배), where people bow deeply before their elders and wish them a happy new year and good fortune, and in turn the elders give them money in envelopes.

Context:

The informant, having lived in Korea their whole life, participated in Seollal every year. At first, they were the ones to bow to their elders and receive money, but as they grew older, they began to be the ones to sit as their younger family relatives bowed.

Interpretation:

There is a lot of emphasis on filial piety, and more than that, respect for your elders and your ancestors. For example, you lay out food for your ancestors at the table or a memorial/shrine. I feel like there is a major emphasis on Confucian piety in Korean culture, as well as a reminder of the strength found in community. When you bow to your elders on Seollal, it is more than a bow–you are literally on your knees, head on the ground, essentially showing utmost reverence and respect for the elders’ wisdom and impact on your life. You(as the younger person) have the responsibility to visit your hometown, your origin, not the other way around, showing the idea that you never truly leave your family behind, which is a foundational concept in Confucianism. Through this practice, families reaffirm their connection to the past and show gratitude and respect to their ancestors and elders.

Foods like tteokguk (rice cake soup) are essential to Seollal. Eating tteokguk is believed to symbolically grant one a year of age, connecting food rituals to the passage of time. Furthermore, traditional clothing like the hanbok and folk games like yutnori also play a role, reinforcing cultural identity and intergenerational learning. This latter point is especially important; as Korea quickly evolves to match the demands of modernity, many traditional aspects of Korea’s culture are at risk of disappearing or losing their value. By participating in holidays such as Seollal, families are teaching the future generation the importance of remembering their history and culture.

Piñata

Text:

“Whenever there’s a kids birthday party, we get a piñata with candy in it and have the kids strike it down to get candy. So a piñata gets hung up and one of the adults swings it around as kids try to bring it down with a stick. The kids take turns starting from youngest to oldest, with the idea being that they don’t want the piñata to break too quickly, so the older kids who are most likely to break it go last. Once the piñata breaks, everyone runs up to the candy and grabs them.

Context:

The informant simply participated in this as a kid, and learned that this is something that just happens at birthday parties, and is something to look forward to.

Interpretation:

The piñata plays a central role in gatherings such as posadas, birthdays, and other social events. The communal act of breaking the piñata—surrounded by singing, cheering, and sharing treats—encourages group participation and the sharing of joy/laughter. This reflects the highly valued concept of communitas, interdependence, and festivity with those close to you. Furthermore, a child’s birthday is not seen as a quiet, private event, but something to be shared with the whole community to experience.

I find it interesting that although the piñata originated in Latin America, it spread to other cultures around it. For example, I personally did not grow up in a Hispanic or Latin household; however, I distinctly remember going to other people’s(also non-Hispanic) birthday parties and breaking the piñata, as well as having a piñata at one of my own birthday parties. I feel like this is a prime example of how a culture can travel, and have other cultures adapt aspects of it while also sprinkling some of their own traditions.