Author Archives: Bianca Collins

French Proverb

Nationality: French American
Age: 24
Occupation: Artist
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 1992
Primary Language: English
Language: French

“Qui vole un oeuf vole un boeuf”

“Who steals an egg steals an ox”

“He who steals an egg, steals a cow”

Theo remembers learning this proverb from his French father when he was about 5 or 6, growing up in New York City, New York. Of the context in which he would hear this, he says, “When I would steal, or get caught [stealing], or when discussing stealing, my dad would always say that to me.”

In other words, Theo says he believes it to mean, “Don’t ever trust a thief. Once a thief, always a thief. Those who steal small things will go on to steal more. A thief always starts small, you know? You don’t wake up and immediately rob a bank. You stole an egg when you were a kid, you know? You were hungry for something.”

Theo believes this proverb contains words of wisdom. He says, “Every culture has a little saying about not stealing.  But this one’s sort of different because it says it’s in his nature. It’s sort of a harsher outlook on thievery.” I strongly agree with Theo’s interpretation of the proverb. More specifically, I believe that this proverb cautions us to look for any small signs of untrustworthiness early, so we might prevent a betrayal later.

Folk Object

Nationality: French American
Age: 24
Occupation: Artist
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 1993
Primary Language: English
Language: French

Theo recalls a folk religious object that has been kept in his house since before he was born in 1986 in New York City, NY.  The object was his father’s, who told him the story behind it once Theo had attempted to touch and move it. He says, “My dad had a little bronze tablet. Given to him apparently by the emperor of Japan, as a gift for restoring a painting for their national museum, or something. And he would get super pissed if anyone touched it or moved it. It was really bad luck, he used to say. The emperor was a demi-god and stuff. It was a blessed tablet.”

While it might not seem out of the ordinary for a man of faith to protect a religious item so fiercely, Theo’s father is not one of those men.  When I asked Theo what he thought about his father placing such a strong emphasis on the sacredness of a blessed object, he said, “My dad’s atheist, you know? I thought it was weird that he would talk about this guy, after only meeting him once; sure he was on a higher level than other humans. That he was truly royal, or something.” I have to agree with his interpretation. I wouldn’t expect a man who is atheist – not agnostic – to give any religious value to any item. The fact that Mr. Goldrach would continue to value and protect this item seems inexplicable, perhaps representative of a deeper belief in a higher power than he is willing to admit.

Persian Pregnancy Magic Superstition

Nationality: Persian
Age: 23
Occupation: Artist
Residence: Eagle Rock, CA
Performance Date: 1995
Primary Language: English
Language: farsi

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maah-gereftegi

Eclipse

Roxana recalls a folk magic superstition from her Persian culture that she learned from her mother at about seven years of age while growing up in Orange County, California. The context in which this magic superstition is relevant, is with a woman who is carrying a child.

Roxana recalls, “My Mom said, ‘When I was younger, I heard that if you touch your pregnant belly on a full moon, your child will have a birth mark wherever you touched your belly. So, when I was pregnant with you,’ she told me, ‘I touched my belly on the full moon.’ And then, when I was born, I had a huge birthmark on my stomach. We tried to remove it because they said it might be cancerous, so now it’s a six-inch scar.”

Roxana feels like she has no choice but to believe this superstition, especially since it seems to have happened to her. She says, “If I’m ever pregnant, I want to keep my hands away from my belly. What if my child comes out with a huge birthmark on his face? I’m like, ‘hand off’ on that day.”

Upon further investigation, I found that the superstition usually applies to pregnant women going outside during an Eclipse, not a full moon (which makes more sense, since Eclipses are much more rare).  However, Roxana seemed pretty sure her mother had said a full moon, so I’m not sure if she made a mistake or simply was taught a different version of the same superstition.

Another superstition involving pregnancy, but with Mexican-Americans, warns that if a pregnant woman walks outside during a full moon the baby will be born with a harelip, or with the features of a wolf. To prevent this from happening, these women are encouraged to tie a bunch of keys around her waist so the keys deflect the moonlight. While this isn’t the exact Persian superstition, it provides variety to a very similar superstition, making this cautionary performance unarguably folklore.

Craigslist Prank

Nationality: Chinese American
Age: 23
Occupation: Financial Analyst
Residence: West Covina, CA
Performance Date: 2009
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin Chinese

Michael Lu performed a prank with his friends in college at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA, when he was about 21 years old. Michael says that he and his friends would use this prank if they were miffed with a friend, but not entirely angry.

They got the idea for the prank from another prank that they had learned, where they would post a picture of their heterosexual friend on Craiglist, under the personal ads. Michael says, “[The idea] stemmed from posting personal ads on each other on Craigslist. Like we’d post other people’s pictures, like, ‘Gay, looking for a good time.’ And usually they’d get a call or two.”

The idea of a friend being badgered with unwanted phone calls from enthusiastic Craigslist hopefuls evolved into a new prank , sure to elicit more phone calls. Michael recalls, “We would go on Craigslist, and we would post an ad for a free TV for the first caller to my friend’s phone number, at 3 AM. Like seven people would instantaneously call. It was hilarious because it’d be like 3:30 AM and his phone is ringing off the hook. We also did it with Coachella tickets, like free Coachella tickets. [laughs]”

Michael thinks these jokes are harmless fun, and I have to agree. The introduction and widespread use of Caller ID ended most of the fun of prank calls, but kids are inventive, and it seems we’re in the age of Prank Calling 2.0. In addition, the Craigslist Prank, which often involves an unsuspecting victim and unsolicited calls has many variations and might be considered a genre of prank in the new digital age of folklore.

Annotation: This prank can also be seen documented in TheSmokingLoon.com, in a document about a woman who was faced with felony charges after a very similar prank.

“Felony Charges for a Craiglist Prank.” The Smoking Loon. N.p., 09/Mar/2009. Web. 27 Apr 2011. <http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/felony-charge-craigslist-prank>.

Persian Protection Superstition

Nationality: Persian
Age: 22
Occupation: ARTIST
Residence: Eagle Rock, CA
Performance Date: 1992
Primary Language: English
Language: Farsi

Roxana remembers a Persian tradition her family has held since before she was born in Orange County, California. She first remembers performing this folklore when she was about four years old, as taught tao her by her mother.

Roxana recalls, “If I’m going on a long trip, while I’m walking out the door, my Mom will make me walk under the Koran. It’s so my voyage is blessed. The ironic thing is we’d be going somewhere like… Vegas. The most sinful place in the world. But I’d have to walk under the Koran. It doesn’t make sense [laughs].”

When asked what she thinks about this piece of folklore, Roxana replied, “It’s ironic because we don’t practice anything else that’s Islamic. And we’re always going to places like Vegas to gamble, and drink, and there’s prostitution exposed to me at a young age, but yet we have to walk under the Koran to get there. It’s something that was engrained in [my mother] as a child so she can’t stop doing it. But then I have to be exposed to it because of that, and I don’t really care for it.”

I, on the other hand, have a different opinion of this folklore performance. I believe the action of walking under a holy object, like the Koran, for safety and wellbeing on a journey is a comforting act, one that shows how much your family loves you and hopes that good things will fall upon you while you’re away from home. I don’t think that it should matter if you’re going somewhere a bit “sinful,” like Las Vegas. It’s the sentiment of hoping your loved ones are safe and happy that would matter to me, not so much whether or not I was specifically following the Koran’s teachings.