Author Archives: smcummin

Diwali – Festival of Lights

Name: Diya 

Text:

“Diwali is the Indian festival of lights celebrated because the Lord Rama returned home, taking 14 days after the defeat of the demon Ravana. The whole town was dark, so they lit up lamps (Diyas!) so that he could find his way home. This is why on Diwali, the festival of lights, we celebrate by using oil lamps and colorful decorations.”

Context

“I heard this from my mom when I was young”

Analysis:
A festival is an event that happens during a specific time/place, and includes rituals to represent a right of passage. One thing to note after research is that Diwali occurs on the darkest night of the month Kartik, or rather the New moon. This year, it will be on Nov 1, 2024. This, I suppose, makes the most sense as the darkest time emphasizes the contrasting light present to carry out an even stronger message of hope, return and safety amongst the unknown. In addition, I researched that Diwali usually celebrates two different Lords – Shiva in the North and Rama in the South. There was one variation that illustrates Lord Rama, his wife and his brother returning from a 14 year long exile. I suppose the 14 is the cognate element that is consistent in these two versions, and is a case of monogenesis where it originated somewhere in India and diffused to different regions that created different variations as a result.

Angel visitation

Name: Elsa 

Text: 

“When my grandmother was sick in the hospital, she was in a lot of pain. She had glaucoma, and due to a mistake at the hospital, she got an infection from the surgery. This is ultimately how she passed.

I never met her, but a story I’ve heard circulated many times is the night she met angels. One day in the hospital, she was in an extreme amount of pain. She thought she was going to die that night. She fell asleep, and woke up to the sound of two voices, and a very bright light. The two voices conversed about it “not being her time yet,” and a hand reached out and touched her back. Her pain immediately subsided, and she fell asleep. 

Although she passed away shortly after, she had enough time to spend with her family.”

Context:

I heard this from my father, who is her son. I think this story is not only a cool supernatural story but one of hope and healing. It was comforting to my dad to hear that she was protected, and hopefully still is by those angels who helped her.

Analysis:

This story is a legend. It can’t be disputed or proven as that is in the experience of the person experiencing it. This genre is often used to showcase a potential truth value that is unknown, and it is not as easily spread. It also highly depends which one is believed and not believed as it is socially negotiated. In Ireland they believe in fairies, but in the states they believe in Aliens. Objectively, the two are the same. In this case, Elsa’s family is from Pakistan. However, the idea of seeing an angel visit someone as they died/about to die/die and come back is quite common. I suppose the connotation of the word “angel” is an Abrahamic perspective of categorizing the being that visited her grandma. The legend of angels are socially non negotiable in America because of its inherent Christian ties. However, the idea of something visiting is quite universal.

Baba Yaga – A medicine woman

Name: Katya

Text: “Baba yaga is a slavic witch that lives in the woods and i heard about her growing up cuz i had a russian nanny.She lives in the woods and is known to have a house that has chicken legs on it which I always really loved as an image and she kind of represents this very powerful woman figure that I think a lot of people do fear but when you really dig into the fairy tales about her she really is a healing witch and I remember learning about her having like all these potions and what I didn’t realize at the time is that she’s basically like an herbal medicine practice practitioner so I feel like Baba Yaga is really cool and I heard since then that basically every Eastern European country has some version of Baba Yaga but she has like a bunch of different names so her reach is far and I feel like there’s something about her as a character that really resonates with people definitely really resonated with me . 

Context:

Where did u learn it from?

Like I feel like as a kid I don’t know exactly where but my nanny would read me Bedtime Stories and stuff like that so I must have been then 

where was your where is your Nanny from?

 She’s from Kazakhstan but her ancestry is Russian 

how do you think people use it? 

I feel like she’s a symbol for a very powerful mother figure “

Analysis:

This is a tale. This is because Baba Yaga has chicken feet and we understand as humans we cannot have that. This genre is often used to make things more child-like and fantasy related. There has been a history of labeling powerful women figures into negative connotations such as witches, and to this informant, represents the mother. Baba Yaga is feared, coming from the notion of a woman having power. Thus, they have created her into a tale that depicts her as fake and as something that is dangerous (as a traveling witch with chicken feet, who in other versions eat children). When my informant mentioned there is a version of her in every Eastern European country, it further emphasizes that this is a tale as it spreads easily.  It also proves to have had a great impact on individuals, especially children, as they pass it down when they grow up. In other tales, Baba Yaga was a donor figure, but in Katya’s telling she mentions how Baba Yaga had negative connotations to many. This highlights that despite what is widely known, the individual could have their own spin on it which illustrates the multiplicity and variation of meaning on the individual scale – i.e. instead of seeing a witch, she sees a positive alternate healing figure.

The Golden Mongoose

Name: Diya

Text:

“ One day in a rural town in India there was a poor family. it was a cloudy afternoon when they had just gotten their crops and were ready for a meal. There was a severe drought happening, so the family gathered what they could as their stomachs growled. Then, suddenly, as they were about to start eating, a guest appeared at their doorstep, asking if they could spare any food. The father replied, “go get him all of the barley we gathered for me.” “Really, papa?” Asked his children. He simply nodded firmly. Then, the family watched as the stranger thanked them, and ate the meal, licking his fingers as if he wanted more. The father of the family noticed, and began to worry, as he had no more of his own food to give. Then, his wife stood up and gave the guest her portion, to which the guest thanked her and continued eating. The children followed suit. Finally, when the family could not satisfy his hunger any longer, and the father was about to offer up his own flesh, the guest stood up and revealed himself to be a deva*. He proclaimed that the family had passed the test of righteousness and are all saved a spot in the devaloka (heavenly abode). The family all rose up with the deva, leaving only their house and a few grains on their doorstep.

An odd Mongoose appeared on their doorstep. it was half golden, while the other half was its normal brown-ish shade. The mongoose previously rolled over on grains of the floor where a great prayer between the gods had happened. That is why half of its body turned gold.

 In order for its other side to turn gold, it would have to search for the location of an equally righteous people. It would sit in front of houses and roll over on many doorsteps. Every house, tirelessly, it would roll over and then shake its head in dismay, its other half remaining brown. But this time, it sensed something different. When it rolled over in front of this family’s house, its other half did in fact turn gold. It said to itself, “this family has matched the giving nature of the original gods!”

* Deva: indian deity 

Context:

Where did u learn it from?

Indian comics: Amar chitra kathas

how do you think people use it? 

It’s not very well known but I think it shows the spirit of giving

Analysis:

I believe that this is a myth, as it informs the individual what it means to live a good life using the emphasis of supernatural figures that is Hindu – the dominant religion in India.  Myth has a large truth value that is respected by many, and in effect imparts values. In this case, it is what Diya said she thought it meant – having a spirit of giving. More specifically, this is a prescriptive of sacrificing oneself in the name of being righteous and humble. The story mentions how there was a drought to exemplify that even in hard times, one must carry the essential value of giving. This will allow one individual to always help another out in the name of community, which could have helped a lot of people/the town live back then when one family had food and the other one didnt (and to this day).

Moroccan remedies for discomfort using Cumin

Informant is from Morocco

  • It is said drinking milk cinnamon cumin powder and honey will help with period cramps
  • Putting cumin powder on eggs will help you with digesting it

Analysis:
The spice trade has landed in Morocco, in which its regular dishes are full of spices.It only makes sense that cumin and other powders would be used for remedies. Nevertheless, Cumin is originally from Western Asia, in which it is used for various dishes and remedies there as well. This remedy could be an example of monogenesis. Even though it is a folk recipe, modern research has confirmed that cumin does in fact help with digestion. Perhaps that is not directly correlated to period cramps, but it would in fact help regardless.