Author Archives: garc101@usc.edu

WITCHCRAFT

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 04/22/18
Primary Language: English

Story

My boyfriend moved out of his house and his little sister always said that she saw like an older man in the around the house But not and then his mom got engaged in the hurt so her fiance like moved in with his kids and his youngest daughter also like just randomly like was really scared to at the end of the hall she saw a man and yeah so then like they’re like oh my God what’s going on. So then like you’re like oh my God what’s going on and then they like we’re getting ready to move out of the house because they were moving to a bigger house and things started happening like more often like like they would like Got to the point where Daniels little sister didn’t even want to stay at the house anymore because things would happen so frequently. One day they had all went off to work and his mom and there was a dead bird like a pigeon in the very center of the driveway in the middle of the garage and it has lit body like it look like it had been cut in two. They moved out because it was witchcraft.

Background : This story was from the informants boyfriend, and she really likes it because it is important to notice signs of witchcraft when you see them. This story had a lot of significance for the informant because it was so closely related to her boyfriend and his families safety.

Context: Mexican witchcraft is usually about someone cursing you and signs fall out of the sky via birds and murder. There are a lot of signs of witchcraft and when someone dos it on you. Mexico is a huge beleiver of witchcraft and witchery which should be avoided at all costs

THE NOISE IN THE ATTIC

Nationality: Mexcian American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 04/22/18
Primary Language: English

The story

 

My gram’s house is haunted we all know it and one time when I was little I was playing with my cousins out in the living room because there’s like construction going on in the house so there wasn’t like a lot of other spaces until we are sitting in the living room playing with our dolls and we heard footsteps in the attic and we were really confused because there was no one home . And so we kind of ignored it the first few times and just kept playing and then like we are getting scared and also like frustrated because you didn’t understand like if somebody was messing with us so we decided to like go and check and That was not happening but we went and like looked in the backyard and like in the rooms and we like counted everybody who is at the house so I can make sure there was no way anybody could be upstairs because you’re just really freaking out But like my sounds like loud like footsteps why do they say your grandma’s house How old is the house really old really really old and actually stories of like like the people who have liked live there in the past like I don’t remember exactly but something really crazy happening in the house So there’s that and also my great grandpa passed away in the house. You think is it because like they feel like they will go so note that house basically

Background

This informant felt  very attached to the story because she had experienced it first-hand and it meant a lot to her because it was during your childhood. The attic of her grandmother’s house has always been very creepy and hear noises coming from the attic freaked her out.  Her grandmother’s house is very old and many people were said to hang themselves and kill themselves in that house so a lot of the things that happened or unexplained.
Context

This is a traditional ghost story about the property of the people who had lived there before.  the idea that the person that has lived in the house before still is attached to the house in a spiritual way which is the plot to many ghost stories. Usually by hanging and death in the house bring spirits into the house in which they cannot rest.

 

 

11:11

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/22/18
Primary Language: English

 

 

The story

A Superstition I have is that whenever make a wish because it’s 11:11 or birthday wishes or any type of wish and sometimes you make one I never said out loud because It will never come true

 

 

The background

The informant explains that the Superstition is very meaningful to them because they always want believe in miracles like this and just in case I wish does come true they don’t want to say anything out loud

 

Context

This is very popular in Western culture the belief in Magic and miracles and spells like 11:11 and wishes just in general it is best to keep your mouth shut because sharing it will probably spoil ittehr eason for 11:11 being a so called magc number is because of its repetition in numbers which only happens twice a day.

 

 

 

THE TREASURE HIDDEN UNDERGROUND

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 40
Occupation: Construction
Residence: Calfornia
Performance Date: 04/22/18
Primary Language: Spanish

Story

In the ranch that I lived in there was a boy a friend that I had met in Zacatecas. He said that he was able to speak to the dead and I brought him to my Ranch. In my Ranch there was a sort of a passage that crossed from one Pueblo to another. This passageway was called El Camino Real. This used to be in the olden time a area where a lot of Thieves would take your things so a lot of people it is sad that hid treasure around that passage area but it has never been found. Since my friend was able to speak to the dead he told us that we should call upon them and ask them where the treasure was.

 

We did just that and we started to wait for the guy to call upon the dead and we had to go in a circle and create a sort of a seance to call upon them and so we each held like a cloth blanket and held it was like circular and we were waiting for the guy to contact the dead somehow. 3 hours past and nothing until finally the guys his eyes started to shut so he started to fall asleep and then he woke up and said wait I need to go to the bathroom. And so we waited again. All of a sudden an hour past and my friends eyes turned white and after that he was telling us exactly where the treasure was and we started digging there but we never found anything. After that incident though think started hopping around the ranch door started to open and I saw a door started opening and random noises would happen as if something had he had brought something there so it was very scary because I had experienced it on my own in my Ranch and we still can’t find the money.

 

 

Background

The story brings the informant close to his Ranch back home and his family as well as the friend and always kind of keeps him wishing that this was real because who wouldn’t want $5,000 or more.

 

 

Context

 

This story has a rich history about what would happen in El Camino Real in the 1930s when thieves would come and steal a bunch of things from and money from people that would pass through that passage in El Camino Real and it is very historical for that area.

 

 

DAY OF THE DEAD IN OAXACA

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 04/22/2018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: english

TRADITION

For Day of the Dead my country celebrates a lot like the movie “Coco” We go out and get the cemeteries and place a bunch of the orange flowers all over and we have a bunch of altars in each Cemetery to celebrate the Day of the Dead. We put out flowers guiding are dead family members to us so they can come and celebrate. We also do believe that putting the picture up in the altar allows them to come into the world of the living for that night and celebrate with us. There is a lot of singing and dancing that happens as well. The Day of the Dead is a huge thing in my country of Oaxaca and it is very meaningful to that country because it brings them closer to they’re dead family members. In a way we are keeping them alive by putting the picture up in the altar which is a lot like the movie “Coco” For my family we always put up all my grandparents pictures on the Altar and put a lot of sweet bread and things like that to honor the Dead.

 

Background

The story or tradition is very important to the informant because it brings them closer to their family on the Day of the Dead. Instead of feeling sorrow for their loved ones they celebrate and bring them to the living world to see how much they’ve grown and be close to them in a way. Day of the Dead is very important to this informant and meaningful because she gets to go back to Mexico and see all of her relatives and also in a way see all of our dead relatives and Cemetery by putting up their pictures in the altar she feels closer to them more than just looking at their head Stone.

 

Context

In the new Disney movie Pixar movie Coco this is seen and it’s very interesting how serious they take this and how the movie brought it to life . Is tradition is now widespread because of the movie and these folkloric tails and I might even start putting up an altar for my loved ones because I would love them for them to cross over as well