Author Archives: Shea Brennan

Bloody Mary Ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/2021
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Informant: “So I think, from what I remember, if you go into a bathroom and say Bloody Mary three times, and then flicker the lights, Um, then you are supposed to her in the mirror. She is supposed to appear.

Interviewer: “Who is her? Did you ever see her or? Did you remain the bathroom”?

Informant: “She is like inspired from like some brutal queen and you are supposed to see her ghost in the mirror. I think my cousins, who showed me it was older and locked us in the bathroom and they started chanting it, but I was too scared and yelling to notice if anything happened.

Background:

The informant is a 19- year-old female from St. Louis, Missouri. However, she now lives in Los Angeles and attends the University of Southern California. She says that her older cousins, also from St. Louis, introduced her to this when she was very young. “Bloody Mary” however is a classic American folk tradition that many children are introduced to at a young age to scare them. Many of the people that I know also have their own versions of the tradition, or similar ones in just from different regions. I believe the name of the legend comes from the historic Queen Mary I of England, who was known for killing many Protestants in the 17th century.

Context:

This story was related to me by the informant, my roommate, after I enquired after any folk knowledge that they had.

My Thoughts:

This is a common American folk tradition that many kids experience either in Middle School or at home, typically with older siblings or cousins. Most versions surround a similar idea of chanting “Bloody Mary” three times and then flickering the lights. I think that this is almost a “rite of passage” that many young kids go through in order to prove their bravery to older kids by summoning Bloody Mary in the bathroom and sticking in the bathroom until the tradition is over. As someone who has gone through it themselves, it can be quite terrifying. After having one roommate relate the story in front of all my other roommates from different parts of the country, everyone was aware of a story similar from their region and most had heard about the tradition through older children. I think this story once again speaks to the possibilities of globalization regarding stories that has boomed over recent years.

For another version of this ritual, see

Bloody Mary. Directed by Richard Valentine, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment,
     2006.

Sailing Folk Belief

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Part-Time Summer Sailing Instructor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/2021
Primary Language: English

Main Piece

“If someone flips a boat in the first week of June, they have bad luck for the rest of the sailing season”

Background:

The informant is a 19-year-old female who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA and attends the University of Southern California. The informant however resided in Minnesota for a large part of her life where she was a sailing instructor at City of Minneapolis: Parks and Recreations Sailing School. The sailing season starts in the first week of June and whichever instructor is the first person to tip a sailboat is believed to have bad luck for the rest of the season, which lasts until the first week of September.

Context:

The informant is one of my college roommates, who I asked to relate any folk beliefs or legends she had for the purpose of a project.

My Thoughts:

I think that this appears to be an occupational magic superstition, where doing something, in this case flipping your boat, produces bad luck for a period of time. In sailing, or anything pertaining to boats, I think it’s typical to have superstitions that warn of danger or bring bad luck to the sailors considering the somewhat dangerous nature of its activity. Being an occupational superstition, this belief likely also functions as a way to bind the community closer together by having certain beliefs that they all adhere to that outsiders might not know.

The Safety Song

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/2021
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Video Lyric Transcribe:

“Stop look and listen, before you cross the street

Use your eyes, use your ears, and then use your walking feet.”

Background:

The informant is a 19-year-old female from St. Paul, Minnesota who currently lives in Los Angeles, CA and attends the University of Southern California. The informant learnt this song when she attended a Summer Camp around the age of five. The camp was located in Corvallis, Oregon, nearby where she lived at the time, although she does not remember the name of the camp. It was taught as a part of her road safety education, to prevent her young self from walking into the street without proper precautions.

Context:

The informant is one of my college roommates, who I asked to relate any folk beliefs or legends she had for the purpose of this project.

My Thoughts:

The “Safety Song” is a perfect example of a little song/jingle made up that one never forgets but never remembers where they heard it for the first time. Like much of folk knowledge, it serves as a warning and attempt to keep kids from dangerous scenarios. It also rhymes in order to be catchier and to resonant with younger children, who is its target audience. I think it is also very indicative of the type of dangers that exist within the community of the informant. Obviously road safety and being cognizant in public areas are very important lessons that children need to be exposed to at young ages.

The Bartlett’s Short Necks

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/26/2021
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Informant: “Norwich, Vermont. My great-great grandfather was going for a swim in Leech Pond. Um, which is like a local watering hole in Norwich, Vermont. And he dove off the dock, head-first into the pond and he broke his neck. And then none of his kids had necks after that.”

Interviewer: “What do you mean no necks?

Informant: “You know when you jam your finger and it’s fucked up. That happened to his neck. Apparently that’s why many of my family has short necks.”

Background:

The informant is a 19-year-old female from St. Paul, Minnesota who currently lives in Los Angeles, CA and attends the University of Southern California. She heard of this family legend from her second cousin, who told her this was the cause for the family’s short necks, but as time has gone on, she has become more skeptical of this explanation. She was told at a very young age when she lived in Maine and vacationed in Norwich, Vermont where she herself swam at Leech Lake.

Context:

Informant is one of my roommates and related the story upon being asked if she knew had any folk tales or knowledge to relate.

My Thoughts:

I think that this story is a great example of a family legend passed down through generations. It’s almost an identity that she has inherited, being a member of the Bartlett family by blood. It almost appears to be slightly mythic as it explains the origin of something: short necks in her family but also has elements consistent with a legend due to the questionable nature of the story and its setting in the real world. The story is slightly ironic though because the informant herself does not have a short neck and is in fact rather tall. The story makes me wonder if a certain generation of the family had particularly short necks that called for some sort of explanation for the phenomenon.

Mother-Daughter Proverb

Main Piece:

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”

Background:

“Your nonna [informant’s mother] used to say this to me often when I was younger and especially as I got older and moved away from her. In 2008 when my family and I moved to London and then didn’t return to Chicago for  like, what, 13 years, the proverb became more powerful as it became more relatable to not being around your loved ones. I don’t know where she first heard it.”

Context:

The informant is my mother. I acquired this information during a Facetime call with her, on which I asked if she had any folk knowledge or beliefs.

My Thoughts:

I think that this a lovely proverb that shows how different phrases can affect you at different phases of your life. It does not mean as much until you actually are physically far away from someone. I assume the proverb would’ve been popularized in eras where families or couples were more prone to be separated. I also think that is shows the global nature of our world, with it being common for closely related or connected people to go far away from each other geographically.