Author Archives: garc101@usc.edu

THE POSSESSED BRITISH

Nationality: Indian American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles CA
Performance Date: 04/21/2018
Primary Language: English

 

STORY

I’m from India and there’s a fort near my cousin’s house India which has been said to have belonged two Indians in the late 1600’s This fort was used for protection against the British that would come and take these Indians for labor and use them as slaves of their own kind. My cousin wants was walking back for a party really late and she never came home that night she was found outside had passed out outside in front of the fort and she woke up everything was normal and that night she was found brushing her teeth sleepwalking brushing her teeth in the middle of the night and one of her brothers came and asked why are you brushing your teeth? She turned to him and started saying bad words and freaking out on him and telling him why are you here why are you in here ? What do you want for me? He woke up his sister and she was like oh my gosh did I actually say that I didn’t even know. The next night she was brushing your teeth again and this time a Spiritual figure came and was trying to help the family figure out what was wrong. That same night the spiritual figure asked what are you doing in the girl said what do you want from us instead started talking in plural and when asked who what was the name She said it was David and a bunch of different American names which brought them to think that it was the British. To this day my family doesn’t talk about it.

 

 

Background

Informant really likes this story because it bring them closer to history and the family as well as his culture. This story is really meaningful to the informant because it was an actual experience from his cousin that leads him to think that ghosts are real.

 

Context

In the late 1600s the British would actually come and take people like this and this is probably a ghost story of history and the feeling that they are never gone even though they seem gone.

 

 

 

THE KNOCK OF DEATH

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 04/21/2018
Primary Language: English
Language: spanish

STORY

During the cool times of October 2016  my cousin of 16 years old passed away was beaten to death by cholos and shot in the stomach. This incident came as a surprise to my family and nobody knew until it was reported by the police and the body was found. My parents do say that a day before something happened which was out of the ordinary. They had heard a strange knocking sound coming from the furniture. And again nobody was home the knocking sound sounded just like somebody knocking on the door but instead it was the furniture of their bedroom and they were in the living room watching a movie. This also happened when one of my uncles passed away in Mexico. Before they had known that my uncle passed away they had the same exact knocking sound coming from on room in the house and they thought it was strange that in both incidents the same thing happened as if something was warning them that one of their family members was dead. The strange thing is that both of these death happens around October just in different years. My cousin actually was beaten to death just outside of my apartment apartment complex so it was very close to where I lived.

 

Background Info

The informant really likes this story because it makes them feel close as if something warns that before anything it makes them feel psychic. It also makes the unexplainable explained as if some sort of sign was there before their deaths or before the knowledge of their deaths. It’s also the belief of their family members being close to them and letting them know that they have gone to heaven. The story is really meaningful to the informant because it reminds them of those deaths and helps them have closure in a weird way that they can only explain.

 

Context

Many stories of signs have to do with the idea that there was a sign before the death or the knowledge of the death of someone it’s kind of like a psychic feeling that you get or like a sense you know like a mother’s sixth sense that you feel something is wrong so something out of the ordinary happens to let you know that it has happened. It helps us get prepared for the unknown because us humans are very afraid of the unknown and the idea of not knowing what’s going to happen the next day.

 

 

The figure in the shadows

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 35
Occupation: Nursery Worker
Residence: San Marcos CA
Performance Date: 04/21/2018
Primary Language: Spanish

THE STORY

I was walking with a bunch of friends through a very haunted area In my hometown. This area had been known for being haunted and a lot of things would happen especially at night. This area was sort of a bridge that separated two different pueblos. There was this huge tree it was about 6ft tall and people would see figures and shadows of people and that weren’t actually there. I actually experienced all of this and everybody who was there saw the same thing so this was very real to me. I was around 12 years old and we were walking around we weren’t expecting anything to happen we were just walking and as we were passing we saw a huge Shadow but the shadow was covered in what seemed like a white cloth and it was like a shadow that was stood right in front of us and flew up into the tree and everybody started screaming and we started to cry. The fact that everybody saw this kind of scared a lot of people and will you believed in there was something that happened here that was not okay.  I had heard a lot of stories that someone was killed there or multiple people were hung on the tree so that made me believe that the shadow was a representation or a ghost that was hung there once. The history of it is unclear and I don’t know if it’s still hunted like it used to be because it’s been years that I’ve gone to Mexico.

 

Background Info:

The fact that everybody saw the ghost made the informant fuel rui not crazy end also they really feel like the story is Meaningful to them because it was there first and last time having an encounter like this a paranormal encounter that couldn’t be explained. The idea of a ghost is very scary for many people but actually experiencing it and seeing something unexplainable can shock people especially if others were there to experience the same thing and be able to share that experience with them.

 

Context:

This is a typical ghost story with the idea of something happening there that was not good and that the ghost don’t have peace with themselves which is why that this area is very haunted. The idea of seeing figures and people that aren’t there it’s usually what happens and go stories that you see something that looks like a person but is it actually there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE BABY KILLING WITCHES

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 35
Occupation: Nursery Worker
Residence: San Marcos CA
Performance Date: 04/21/2018
Primary Language: Spanish

STORY

My grandparents once told me about a story about witches that would come at night and drown babies or not drown but suffocate them.

In Mexico in Oaxaca it is said that there would be green lights in sky in those would be the witches that would come at night. They wouldn’t have a specific purpose or reason but usually that is what parents would be worried about. This is why it is supposed to be important that you don’t leave your babies alone at night because if you do leave them alone The Witches would come and suffocate them in their sleep in the crib. The witch would come and suffocate the baby and in the morning the baby would be dead and purple as if someone had choked him.  This was real this would happen way back then though I don’t know if it happens now.

 

Background

The informant explain that the story brought them closer to their grandparents because when she was little her grandparents would tell her stories like this maybe to educate her on the idea of never leaving her babies alone at night. The story grew up with her because she would never leave her four children alone at night since she feared that the witches would come and suffocate the babies.

 

Context :

There are many beliefs of witches in Mexico and the idea that they come to either alert children or hurt them if they are unbaptized or if they’re left alone. This could also be something from Europe that had traveled to Mexico like the Salem witch trials. In the mountains of Mexico it has also been said that broomsticks and random green lights have been seen flying through the air and mountains of Mexico. The idea that we just joke babies comes from the fact that a lot of babies would die because of sudden infant death syndrome and Mexicans would come up with an explanation that has to do with religion and witchcraft. Clearly sudden infant death syndrome didn’t appear to them that it was due to Suffocation from a blanket.

 

 

 

 

MAL DE OJO

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 04/20/18
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Superstition

Superstition that runs in my family. Basically if you look at a baby you have to touch it because then you will give them the evil eye or in Spanish it’s called “ dar ojo” I don’t know I guess it’s kind of like putting bad vibes towards the baby in the baby feels bad vibes. Kind of like giving the baby MV or showing Envy towards them. The baby’s stomach will start to hurt and they will start gets to get sick. Babies in the Mexican culture usually wear bracelets that protects them against those bad vibes that people can give them like some people can give I buy more than others.

 

Babies usually that have the bad eye are usually very restless and can get very fussy. They’re always uncomfortable they get nightmares. Embracement protect them from those bad vibes. I have a bracelet and it has a little Saint on it that protects them. I have one. Another thing that people do is they put on egg under their bed which absorbs all of the bad vibes and you might also have to light a candle but I’m not sure.

 

I’ve had my bracelet and have changed it because I’ve gotten big which also symbolizes how much ive grown.  Luckily me and my brothers have never gotten the evil eye because we have won the bracelet since we were babies and also I heard that you can get the evil eye even if you’re not a baby so one time a person came up to me and started touching my hair because they didn’t want to give me the evil eye because if they hadn’t touch my hair it would stop growing.

 

Background info

They send form it feels really protected and believes in the Superstition just in case it’s real so she always Where’s her  bracelet Wherever She Goes. She really feels like with her bracelet it means a lot to her because of how much she’s grown and it’s a symbol of faith as well since the bracelet has a little saint on it. It also helps her to not give em be towards others.

 

Context: In an article it explains “the evil eye, is a widespread superstition rooted in medieval Europe and rampant in Latin America. The idea behind the superstition is that a look can literally curse people, particularly children, making them sick. Across Latin America and Spain amulets are employed to protect against the evil eye, and folk remedies and witch doctors are relied upon to cure its curses.  It has been widespread in many places and in mexico it is connected with faith since the amulet has a saint on it