Author Archives: Austen Le

The Evil Eye- A Hindu Superstition

Nationality: Indian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Punjabi

What is the evil eye?

“So, basically, the evil eye is a Hindu superstition that a person will have bad luck if they are given too much attention, good or bad, by other people. This can be done because of jealousy, but also can occur if someone gives another person too much praise. Pretty much, it is a curse of bad luck that is cause when somebody looks on your too much, whether with bad intentions or good intentions.”

So what traditions are associated with this superstition?

“Usually, mothers will protect their babies by putting black eyeliner on their eyes or a dot of black eyeliner on the side of the neck to ward off the evil eye. There are also charm bracelets, tattoos, or other objects that can be worn by people to prevent the curse. It can affect anyone, but I’m assuming that people usually protect their children because they don’t want them to die. But yeah, this is a very common Indian tradition that I’ve heard a lot, and when I went to India, it was actually a huge deal that basically everyone believes in. I think it’s a pretty interesting part of my heritage, even though I don’t really believe in it.”

 

Collector’s Comments:

This is a tradition that we have discussed in class, and seems to be shared by many different cultures, not just Indian traditions. There are variations of this story from Turkey, China, Italy, and all over the world, making me wonder if the superstition was developed in one country and spread all around given how many places have a similar tradition. This is an example of contagious magic, as it is passed through contact from one person to another through eye contact.

Money Burning Ceremony for Chinese New Year

Nationality: Chinese-Cambodian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English

Informant is a Chinese-Cambodian American from San Jose, California, an area known for its large population of people of Asian descent. This tradition is a part of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration, which is usually a week of festivities in late January.

“So, on the last Saturday of the week of Chinese New Year, um, my family, including all of my uncles, aunts, and cousins gather around a big metal Chinese pot container thing that is lit up by a flame. We sit around it in silence and say prayers to our ancestors, and wish everyone around us good health and fortune for the new year. Once everyone is done doing that, the oldest family member hands out small stacks of fake paper money with Chinese characters and images on them. We each take turns throwing bills of money into the pit, and doing so is supposed to give our ancestors wealth and fortune in the afterlife. This is supposed to help bring good luck to their living descendants. Then, following the burning of the money, there is a feast for the family, but first some food is set out in front of an altar as an offering to the ancestors. That’s about it.”

How long has your family been doing this tradition?

“At least since I was born. I’ve done it almost every year, and my family from out of town will all come together and go to the temple to pray and perform the ceremony. It’s a very distinct memory from my childhood.”

 

Collector’s Comments:

Being from an Asian-American from San Jose as well, this tradition seems very familiar to me, yet at the same time it is different from the traditions that my family practices. The Lunar New Year celebration is a very big deal in San Jose, and involves a week of prayer at temples, decorations and parades, and feasts to honor the ancestors and bring in the New Year. However, there are many variations in the celebrations, especially between the different ethnic groups. This is an example of one of the many ways in which the holiday is celebrated.

Kara- A Steel Bracelet worn by Sikhs

Nationality: Indian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Performance Date: April 24, 2017
Primary Language: English

Informant is a student at USC, and is a practicioner of the Sikh religion.

“The Kara is a plain, completely round steel bracelet worn by all Sikhs to identify themselves to other Sikhs. You receive it right when you are born, and you’re supposed to wear it until you die. Well, I guess that you have to swap it out once it gets too small on you, but that’s besides the point. It is a form of identification so that everyone would know that we were Sikhs, because the Sikhs were known as the protectors of people from the Mughal empire. It is also a charm that protects you from bad spirits, and the circular shape is used to represent and remind us of the infiniteness of God. It is always made of steel so that everybody is equal. Like, the peasants will wear steel karas and the richest people would wear steel karas too, to show that everybody was the same under the eyes of God. So I wear one, and all of my family wears them as well, as a sign that we are Sikhs.”

 

Collector’s Comments:

This is a very good example of jewelry that is worn for religious reasons. This is very interesting to me personally, because I have seen a few people who are Sikhs wearing the same bracelet, but I had not known what the purpose was. It is also very interesting because this is an identifying mark within the Sikh community so that other members can recognize each other, so even today, beyond its religious significance, it serves a functional purpose.

The Weeping River Lady

Nationality: Laotian/Cambodian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Jose, California
Performance Date: April 9th, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Cambodian, Laotian

Informant was told of the legend by her mother, who was born in Laos, whose parents had passed it down to her when she was a young child. Informant’s grandparents were a poor family living in the capitol of Laos (Pakse).

Okay, tell me what you remember.

“I think I was like a freshman in high school when I heard this one. My mom told it to me and my sisters when we were camping once. She, uh, spoke of a very small village in Laos that all of the farmers had to pass through in order to reach the market to sell their crops. According to the story, if anyone tries through the village between midnight to 3 AM, a crying woman wearing rags will walk out of a nearby river and stand to block the path. The woman chants something… like gibberish or some random language maybe?  If the person passing through doesn’t run away and still tries to pass, they become possessed and lose consciousness, and once they wake up, they find themselves in a spirit realm, and are gone from the real world forever. My mom said this is why people said never to pass through the village at this time.”

How did you react to the story?

“I was really scared. I think my mom was just telling it to us to scare us, but I had a really hard time sleeping afterward. So my sisters and I just stayed up together.”

Conclusion of Collector:

Laos, a country in Southeast Asia, is primarily a rural economy, and many rice farmers live and work in the countryside. This legend was passed mostly through the farming communities, explaining why it is related to the market path. This story seems very similar to legends such as La Llorona, which also involve crying, ghostly women, which makes me wonder if the tales are related, or if they formed through polygenesis. However, the legend also seems like a warning to those who would try to make the journey at night, perhaps to prevent people from getting robbed or passing through the village so late. One could say that this legend might even have been used to warn children from staying out too late or leaving the house at night.

The Pineapple Man- A USC Legend

Nationality: Irish-German American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Anaheim, California
Performance Date: April 23, 2017
Primary Language: English

Informant is a sophomore at the University of Southern California, majoring in Computer Science/Business Administration. This is a story about an event that he had heard last about last year from a senior student, who said it had happened long ago on Menlo Street, an area off campus that is known for its parties.

“So this is a story that one of my senior friends in an entrepreneur club told me. The story goes that one of his friends had gone to a party at the SoCal Vocals house on Menlo Street. This friend was slighty tipsy and was under the influence of a marijuana edible, so he was at the kitchen sink drinking water straight from the faucet, when to his right, there was a guy who pulled a pineapple out of the fridge. The guy set the pineapple onto the counter, and he look a big ass, machete ass knife out of their wooden cutlery block and starts hacking away at the pineapple. Starts slicing the fuck out of the thing. Then, a brother from the SoCal Vocal house approaches the guy and says ‘Hey bro, you can’t just eat our pineapple.’ So the guy says, ‘Fuck you, I can do whatever I want. I don’t even go here.’ And he starts waving around the knife and air slicing everything with this big ass knife. The friend is still at the sink this whole time, drinking water and feeling like this is a movie going on. So the brother tells him to calm down, and two other brothers come in to help, at which point the dude is just getting angrier. They try to wrestle the knife out of his hand, and eventually they pin him down and get it away. They try to drag him out of the house, but he breaks away and breaks a window, barrel-r0lls out of it, and runs off into the street. That is the Pineapple Man.”

 

Collector’s Comments:

This is a story that almost sounds unbelievable, yet based on the setting, is very possible. Menlo Street is an area where many different people, primarily USC students but also outsiders, will go to party on the weekends. The houses throw parties where anyone can enter for a fee, so it is not surprising that this person is an outsider. Based on the fact that the person who experienced the event and told the story was intoxicated, some of the details might be jumbled or exaggerated, but this makes for a very memorable tale to tell friends and underclassmen, which is how the informant had learned about it. This story could be easily passed along by word of mouth, and would be very relatable to the experience of many USC students.