Author Archives: Yash Gupta

Legend – Cover Your Mouth, or a Djinn will go into your mouth

ZN is of Pakistani Muslim Descent, and she shared about her father warning her of yawning without covering her mouth:

ZN.) Whenever we yawn, like me or my brother, my dad will say, “Make sure you cover your mouth, or else a Djinn will go in your mouth.”

Me.) And where do you think that came from? Like, who?

ZN.) I honestly don’t know, cause I don’t know if other people do it, but I know it’s like a polite thing to cover your mouth when you yawn and like, djinns are a part of the culture, so I’m sure it just, like, merged.

Me.) And they’re a part of Muslim culture, yeah?

ZN.) Djinns? Yeah. I don’t know if Muslim people cover their mouth when they yawn. Maybe it’s just emerging? I’ve never heard any of my other Muslim friends say that specific thing, but my dad always says that.

This story about djinns seems to be one unique to the subject because there is little in the way of stories about djinns entering a person during a yawn. However, if the subject’s father did make it up to teach them to close their mouth while yawning, this would be an example of using religious beliefs about supernatural creatures to encourage certain behaviors in children. There is a similar superstition about the devil entering a person’s mouth if they don’t cover their mouth when yawning, and this might be a Muslim adaptation of that saying. Muslims have historically taken local superstitions and stories and folded them into their religious fabric. This seems like an example of that.

The Djinn, also written Jinn or adapted to Genie are legendary figures often discussed in the Muslim world. Since they are not strictly Muslim figures, ghosts and legends from other cultures are often adapted to be depicted as Djinn.

A Memorate about Djinns

ZN.) My mom really believes in jinns, and she believes that she can see them sometimes. So do I, but this is my mom’s story, and she genuinely believes it, like it’s not just a scary story she tells for fun. Basically, my dad’s parents live in London, and they have a basement. My mom has always said she got bad vibes from the basement like there was a jinn in there, and one day she said she went down and saw a man standing across the room from her, with a blank face. She said he moved, and she ran back upstairs, and has refused to go back down into that basement since then.

ZN.) jk she saw the guy twice and refuses to go back lmao

Djinns, also known as Genies or Jinns, are ghost-like figures common in Muslim cultures. Whereas those in most of Europe or North America would use the term ghost instead, they both have similar meanings. Djinns are neither considered good or evil, and can have their own goals while existing in this world. What’s interesting here is that ZN’s mother’s experience with what are considered legendary figures have changed her behaviors to the point where the refuses to go back into her parent’s basement. By entering her experience with the Djinn, ZN’s mother has added to the collective legend present in Muslim culture.

Parable of the Drowning Man

GL is a USC student from the country of Georgia, and he shared a fable, or igavaraki he heard while growing up there:

AL.) So one of them, it’s uh, it’s about a man who was drowning in a river. So a river is carrying this man down and he’s asking God for help. Uh, so, he’s going down a river and suddenly he sees a branch. But he doesn’t grab onto the branch because God’s gonna save him, so he, like, keeps going down the river. And then he keeps going down the river and there’s, like, a fisherman and the fisherman reaches his hand out, and he’s like, “Grab my hand, I’m gonna save you.” But the guy’s like, “Nah, God’s gonna save me.” And then the guy keeps floating down the river. And then he sees a rock, but he doesn’t, like, grab the rock because God’s gonna save him. And he falls of the waterfall, hits the rocks, dies, and then in heaven he asks God, “Why didn’t you save me?” And God is like, “I tried to save you three times but you just don’t move your hand.” 

Me.) Yeah, so where’d you hear this?

AL.) Uh, it’s like a popular kind of like, in Georgia we have a thing called igavaraki, which is like, um, like a story with, like, a meaning attached to it.

Me.) Oh, so kind of like a fable.

AL.) Yeah, kind of like a fable type vibe. So, I don’t know, it’s been told by, like, sometimes teachers might tell you. My grandma told me this one, I think. 

Me.) Oh yeah that’s pretty funny.

AL.) I’ve heard it like two times, so…

I had never heard this growing up, so I was quite surprised to hear how common this story is. After a brief google search, this exact story, often called the Parable of the Drowning Man, shows up in several different versions. Versions online often have different ways for the drowning man to prevent himself from death, but none of them matched what AL shared with me. This seems to be an example of Oral Formulaic Theory, where the active bearer of the narrative doesn’t know the specifics of the story, but rather the general story beats. The informant seemed to be making up the objects the man could have grabbed on to as he was telling the story.

USC Lore – Squirrel Massacre

NN is a business student as USC, and shared a story she had heard about the squirrels on campus:

NN.) So basically, talking about the squirrel massacre, I did see a post by, I believe it was the Sack of Troy or Daily Trojan, it was one of those on Instagram, talking about USC having to euthanize the squirrels. I don’t remember which one, but our professor just told us about a rich kid who got bit by a squirrel and had to, like, file a lawsuit. But I also know, I’m an RA at Birnkrant, so one of my freshman residents was walking to, like, EVK and a squirrel like fully jumped on her.

Me.) And you were there to see this?

NN.) Um, no, but she came back and like, was asking me for a first aid kit and I saw her arm and it was, like, it was kind of bad.

Me.) Oh, wow.

NN.) I think she, I mean I gave her, like, a bandaid, but like, that didn’t really help, so I think she had to go to like an animal specialist, which is kind of funny.

Me.) Oh, wow, yeah.

NN.) She was scared she would have, like, rabies or something. That was really scary, I would be, like, really sad.

After I had collected this story from her, it came to light that the story had originated as an April Fool’s Day prank by the university’s satirical news publication, The Sack of Troy. While this prank was misinformation brought through social media by an organization, it shows how the information from authorities (I use this word loosely in this case) can be augmented by people’s personal experiences and become folklore. By adding her exposure to effects of squirrel attacks, she had added legitimacy to the story that otherwise wasn’t there. Information can knowingly be false, but become true through these mechanisms. While the April Fools day prank is over, it’s likely that the image of campus squirrels as violent will proliferate through the increased exposure that they have received.

The Earth is round

Nationality: USA
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: CA, USA
Performance Date: 2/23/23
Primary Language: English

NM told me a phrase his mother would say when someone takes a wrong turn in the car. He described his mother a “casual, very laid back, person.”

I forget the actual phrase, but basically it’s like “The Earth is round, we’ll get there eventually”

-NM

This saying could be a response to contemporary American culture. In the United States, there much respect given towards working people. Leisure and relaxation are often viewed as laziness, which can lead to people becoming upset when unnecessary time is taken to complete a task. In contrast to this, NM’s mother takes a more laid-back approach, choosing to accept the extra time taken in stride and stay content with the way things happen.