Author Archives: Macias

Legend

Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 54
Residence: Riverside, CA
Performance Date: 3/15/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

La Llorona.

There is an old legend about a beautiful woman who put her babies in a river to spite her ex husband that left her, then regretted her decision immediately after doing so. She cried to them to come back but they did not. The next day the mother was found dead and they buried her. Now if you go by the river where she put her babies, you can hear her crying for them eerily.

The story is much longer but that is the condensed version my father told me. This is a very well known and famous legend throughout the hispanic community all over the world. It can be found on hundreds of websites and books now, as well as being passed down from family to family throughout generations. The moral of this tale, other than being a classic ghost story, is again to warn children not to go where they aren’t supposed to and to make sure that they don’t go outside at night where it could potentially not be safe.

Superstition

Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 54
Residence: Riverside, CA
Performance Date: 3/15/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

An old superstition that was told to my father from my grandmother and great grandmother.

My grandmother used to tell my father that if you hear an owl screeching outside at night, then something bad is going to happen soon.

This is an old superstition but I think that it was just used as a way to stop children from going outside at night because it could not have been safe, or too cold, or something of that nature. I believe that because owls are nocturnal and usually flying about I don’t see how that could be a forewarning for something bad happening. Although this could be believed because maybe owls are screeching and flying away because they see danger approaching and are trying to leave.

Ritual

Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 54
Residence: Riverside, CA
Performance Date: 3/15/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

My father told me that his mother used to tell him about an old hispanic superstition and ritual that when you are at a baby shower a woman must thread a needle then have the pregnant woman lie on her back on the floor and someone must hold the thread above the woman’s stomach. The thread is said to move as soon as it is hovering over the belly, and whichever way it swings decided the sex of the baby. If the thread swings to the left then the woman is supposed to be having a boy and if the thread swings to the right then the woman is supposed to have a girl.

I believe that this is just another game played at baby showers that is supposed to guess the sex of a baby for fun.

Legend

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/1/12
Primary Language: English

Riverside, CA legend

There is a legend throughout Riverside, CA that on the historic Mt. Roubidoux near downtown, there is a bridge on the ‘dark side’ of the mountain (side facing Rubidoux city) and that if you walk over by it at night you will get attacked by a lizard like monster that walks the side of the mountain late at night. There are also rumors of dark spirits that roam the side of the mountain late at night as well.

I have personally been up the mountain at night and have not seen anything but Sara swears that it must be there even though she’s been there at night too. We have a trip planned there to specifically search for these ‘monsters’ but it is doubtful that we will find anything. I believe that these rumors and legends are there to keep people off of the mountain at night. Most likely people my age and younger that want to cause trouble, if there is a story that they will get attacked by a monster that lives under a bridge it will probably engrain in them that they need to stay away at night when the mountain is closed.

Folk Medicine

Nationality: Hispanic
Age: 54
Residence: Riverside, CA
Performance Date: 3/15/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

One way that my grandmother passed down to my father to fix the palate of the baby. “It sounds like abuse but trust me it’s not”

When babies have something wrong on the soft spot on their head your grandma told me that if they fell or if something was wrong with that spot on their head what you needed to do was put the baby upside down, press your thumb against the top of their mouth, and tickle their feet. You must softly press on the roof of the mouth and it was supposed to help close that space, or push air around or something. This was called Mollera caida.

After research, I have found that this is a pretty widespread folk belief in the Hispanic community.