“When you point at something,

Oh! A rainbow. If you point at a rainbow, you will get a wart on your finger.”

I thought this was one of the most ironic folk beliefs I have ever heard. I’m not judging it or seeing it in a negative way; I just think it’s very ironic because you are left with consequences if you point at something that’s beautiful. These superstitions are such interesting, different compared to ones that I have grown up with.

Destini Felix is a co-worker of mine. She is 21 years old, not married, no children, and working in an office. She was born in the United States, but raised with parents who have lived in Costa Rica. She was raised mostly by her mother because her father had passed away when she was a child.

For this specific folklore, Destini’s mother had told her this whenever they spotted a rainbow. Now that she is older, Destini does not believe in this superstition.

“If you’re pregnant,

you have to….

uhhh.. there’s a….

when there’s a full moon, you have to wear a safety pin on your underwear or wear a red underwear or else your baby will get a cleft lip.”

This was obviously my first time hearing this superstition because this belief is popular and common in the hispanic culture. When Janneth told me about this, I thought it was odd, not being able to see a connection between underwear, safety pins, full moons, and cleft lips. However, it was very interesting to me that so many people share different superstitions and they think it’s a norm for others to know about it, but not everyone knows about it.

Janneth Galeno is my co-worker. She works in an office. She was born in Mexico but moved to the United States and she has been living here ever since. She is married and has one daughter. She told me these traditions and stories during break at work. With this specific folk belief, Janneth has learned it through her own mother when she was pregnant with her mother. It was a full moon one day during her pregnancy, and her mother made her pin a safety pin onto her underwear so that her baby will not get a cleft lip when her daughter is born. Janneth told me that she doesn’t really believe in this superstition, but she did it anyways because her mother did believe in it.

For similar pregnancy and full moon superstitions, click this link : http://www.babycenter.com/0_traditional-hispanic-beliefs-and-myths-about-pregnancy_3653769.bc

“My grandma used to tell me that I can’t step on the floor with my bare feet because then

I think I would get sores… on my hand?

What would she tell me again..

Oh! Not my hands, my mouth.

Like cold sores.”

I personally do not agree with this folk belief at all probably because in my culture, it is respect to take off our shoes and walk around with only our socks or bare feet inside. This superstition was made probably to prevent children from getting sick because of cold feet, but getting cold sores when walking around in bare feet seem very random.

Vanessa Marquez is another co-worker of mine. She is a married 27 year old. She was born in Mexico and came to the United States as a child. These folk stories were shared to me during break at work in a casual setting.

“If you shake your leg, you’re going to lose your luck”

This specific folk belief is a superstition that Tim believed in while growing up. He now knows that he was told this because in the Korean culture, it is very disrespectful and not professional for someone to shake their legs continuously as a habit, so his parents did not want him to pick up the bad habit.

As a Korean, I have never personally heard of this superstition before. It is interesting in that despite our families being from the same country, we hear different stories from our families. Maybe it is because my parents and his parents are from different parts of Korea, but growing up, this was the first time hearing anything of this story. However, now that I have heard it from him, it makes me want to believe in this superstition because it is from my own culture.

Timothy Chong is a 22 year old, senior in college, studying psychology. He is a friend I met through a club on campus. When I asked him to share some type of folklore or story he had heard growing up in a Korean household, he told me several beliefs. These can also be called superstitions. The sayings that he shared with me were told to him mostly by his parents because they are first generation parents that immigrated to the United States from Korea.

Tim told me this piece during break at work. We work together and it was a casual setting when he told me all his stories from his Korean culture.