Author Archives: Catalina Qualantone

Vietnamese & Buddhist Healing Ritual/Belief

Text

S: “So, my mom, she’s very into like, I guess like folk medicine. She’s Vietnamese and Buddhist. So like whenever we’re feeling sick, like even if it’s not like a cold, like if we’re just like, have a headache or something. Do you guys know, like the suction cup? “

C: “Oh, I’ve heard it.”

S: “Yeah. There’s one that’s called where they like heat up the cup and then do that on your back. But this one, it’s kind of like pressure. So you kind of put the cup on your back and then like there’s like a little pump and then you put the cups all over your back. And then she [S’s mom] says like, oh, the redder your back is like the more sick you are, even though that’s like pretty sure that’s not true. So like as the days go on, like she keeps doing it and like if the redness going on, she’s like, oh, you’re feeling better or something, but she’s like, oh, like helps get the blood flowing and helps all that stuff.”

Context

Whenever anyone in S’s family doesn’t feel well – whether it be an illness like a cold or just a headache – S’s mom will take cups – or coins if there are no cups – and apply a specific amount of pressure. She believes that the redder the back becomes, the sicker one is, and that the combination of the pressure and release helps purge or cure the body of the illness/unwell feeling.

Analysis

This healing ritual seems to have a two part purpose: (1) to determine how ill one is – the redness of the back – and (2) to help the body heal from it whatever is afflicting it. The small change of the color of one’s back stands in for the immaterial presence of an affliction or illness which helps categorize this as a ritual, as well as its repeated, pattern, and symbolic characteristics.

Nigerian Red Handkerchief

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T: “In Nigerian culture, there’s this, like, there’s a significance behind, like, a red handkerchief, right. That’s like if you’re carrying it, it’s kind of like a sign that, like, you have, like, powers, like, certain, like supernatural powers. It’s like, like a charm almost … It’s like a medium to, like, exhibit those powers, you know. And it’s like, and there’s this thing called, they call it, like, juju or jazz where it’s like, it’s just, it’s basically just witchcraft. Like … Yeah, that’s the best term to call it. Just, like, use certain charms and things, like, you know, to, like, do magic.”

Context:

T comes from a Nigerian family and has heard the legend of the “red handkerchief” passed down through the generations. In the culture, it is believed that if someone carried a red handkerchief then they had supernatural or magical powers. It is almost like a Scarlet Letter, in the fact that it symbolizes something else.

Analysis:

The Nigerian Red Handkerchief is a legend because it something believed to be true, based in the real world. This legend seems to be both emic and esoteric as it is an insider’s perspective of the significance of a red handkerchief and it communicates something within the group, not to those outside of the group. It carries cultural significance since it is predominately recognized with the Nigerian community. It also carries familiar significance as it is a legend passed down through generations of a family.

Thunder Explained to a Child

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“The angels are bowling”

Context:

“The angels are bowling,” my mom use to tell me when I was a child. I was so afraid of thunderstorms, so my mom told me that thunder was just the angels in Heaven bowling. I stopped being afraid of thunder then and would just complain that the angels always had to go bowling when I was trying to fall asleep.

Analysis:

In order to help me overcome my fear of thunderstorms, my mother constructed a legend – a story set in the real world and told as if it was true. Now, I asked her if she came up with the legend on her own, and she tells me she’s not sure. She may have heard it from somewhere else or come up with it on the spot. My family and I are Christians, so my mother used emic, or insider’s, language when discussing that thunderstorms are just angels bowling to esoterically communicate to me that I had nothing to fear.