Category Archives: Magic

Ritual actions engaged in to effect changes in the outside world.

Taiwanese story: Yu Gong and the Two Mountains

Nationality: Taiwanese
Primary Language: Taiwanese/Mandarin
Age: 76
Occupation: Retired, former teacher
Residence: Taipei, Taiwan
Performance Date: 24 March 2024

Tags: wisdom, mountains, hard work, perseverance, Jade Emperor

Text:

Once upon a time, there was an elderly man living between two mountains. The mountains were big enough that it would take multiple days and nights to navigate them, making them incredibly inconvenient for the old man and his family. One day, the man decided to remove the mountains to make life easier for him and his family, much to the bewilderment of his wife and others. The old man and his sons began to chip away at the mountain, dumping the dirt and stones in the Bohai Bay, working tirelessly each day. Others laughed at their attempts and called the old man “Yu Gong” (dumb geezer, approx.). There was another old man around whom others called “Zhi Shou” (smart man, approx.) who also started belittling Yu Gong, telling him to give up since he was too old to ever hope to finish moving the mountains. Yu Gong retorted that even if he withered away and died, his sons and those sons’ sons would continue his work, since the mountain couldn’t do anything but shrink and shrink throughout the years. The Jade Emperor happened to hear this conversation, and, touched by Yu Gong’s determination and spirit, ordered two of his own men to help Yu Gong move the mountains. The Jade Emperor’s men moved the mountains with ease in an instant, and Yu Gong’s family celebrated.

Context:

C. is a born and raised Taiwanese citizen, and has told her fair share of stories to her children and grandchildren alike. Interestingly enough, in contrast to the stories of Hou Yi and Yu Gong, this was a story not told to me until pretty recently. When I inquired about this, C. simply said she forgot.

Analysis:

I have never personally heard this story until recently, but it does hold up as a traditional aesop that one would tell their children and such to learn the importance of perseverance and determination. Perhaps it is because the other two stories (Hou Yi and Chang E) are more deeply ingrained into Asian society due to their connections with festivals, and this story of Yu Gong is simply a cautionary tale.

Korean story: The Woodcutter and the Axes

Nationality: Korean
Primary Language: Korean
Age: 68
Occupation: retired, former pastor
Residence: Seoul, South Korea
Performance Date: 24 March 2024

Tags: woodcutter, ax, god, greed, lake, gold, silver

Text:

Once upon a time, there was a woodcutter who would chop down trees and sell them for firewood and such. One day, while he was chopping logs, his ax slipped out of his hands and into a lake. As the woodcutter went to retrieve his ax, a god appeared out of the lake, with the woodcutter’s ax in hand as well as a shiny new gold and silver ax. The god asked the woodcutter which ax he had lost, and though the woodcutter was enamored with the gold and silver axes, he truthfully said that he had lost his normal one. The god was pleased with the woodcutter’s honesty and gave him all 3 axes as a reward. Word of the woodcutter getting the new axes spread throughout the village, including to the ears of a rival woodcutter, who got jealous and sought to do the same. Thus, one day while cutting logs, the greedy rival woodcutter threw his ax into the same lake, where the same god came and asked him the same questions as the other woodcutter. The greedy woodcutter lied and said that he had lost the gold one, so the god got angry at his dishonesty and drowned him in the lake.

Context:

H. is a born and raised South Korean citizen, and has had experience with telling stories through giving sermons in his church. This was simply one of the stories he told me when I was young in Korea. H. was aware that there were other versions of the story, and just said he told me the one that he knew the best, thinking about whether he should include the part with the greedy woodcutter.

Analysis:

Obviously, this story is derived from the story of the Woodcutter and Hermes, adapted in a Korean setting where the god is unnamed and some small details are changed. The aspects of being honest and not being greedy are pretty common lessons that still hold up in modern Korean society, and this is another good example of a story being changed throughout time and place from its original version.

Moroccan Evil Eye

Informant Details

  • Gender: Female
  • Occupation: Student
  • Nationality: Moroccan-American

Folklore Genre: Folk Beliefs/Superstitions (magic)

1. Text

The informant explained a common curse in her culture (the evil eye) and the talisman used to prevent this curse. The evil eye gaze is when someone looks at you with jealousy, and it causes bad fortune. To protect herself from the evil eye gaze, the informant wears jewelry that is decorated with charms that look like eyes. (pictured below) The informant calls this type of jewelry “evil eyes” because they are talismans used to ward off the evil eye gaze. A superstition surrounding this practice is that when the evil eye talisman breaks and falls off, it has done its job protecting you. In addition to the evil eye talisman, the informant’s mother burns sage around her and recites surahs and bismillahs from the Quran. These rituals are also meant to ask Allah for protection against the evil eye.

Image: an evil eye talisman attached to a hamsa hand given to the informant by a friend

2. Context

The informant learned of the evil eye gaze and the evil eye talisman from her mother, who is from Morocco. She has received many evil eye talismans from older family members as well. These practices are performed often, especially when you have good fortune or someone compliments you in an envious tone.

3. Analysis

The evil eye talisman is an example of sympathetic magic because the jewelry is made to look like an eye, which represents the evil eye glance. In International Folkloristics, Dundes says “With homeopathic magic, we have ‘like produces like,’ such that one can enact through mimetic imitation the desired event or outcome.” (222) Since the talisman resembles the eye, this form of magic uses the principle of homeopathic magic. The evil eye belief suggests the cultural idea that jealousy is malevolent and causes misfortune. In this culture, being the subject of envy is seen as a bad thing. It also suggests the cultural belief that fortune can be fickle and blessings may be taken away as quickly as they are given.

Palestinian Evil Eye

Informant Details

  • Gender: Male
  • Occupation: Student
  • Nationality: Palestinian-American

Folklore Genre: Folk Beliefs/Superstitions (magic)

  1. Text

The informant explained a common curse in his culture (the evil eye) and the practices done to protect against this curse. The evil eye can be inflicted when someone is jealous of you, when something good happens to you, or when someone compliments you and doesn’t say mashallah. Most often the evil eye is caused by jealousy. To guard against the evil eye, people keep talismans that look like an eye called nazars and hamsa hands. These can be worn as jewelry, hung in the car, and placed in the house in rooms where guests visit. Wearing blue can protect you from the evil eye. Sage is also used to ward against the evil eye. The nazar is typically worn as a necklace or a bracelet with lots of circular beads that resemble eyes. The beads are blue with a black circle in the middle. One superstition about the nazar is that it should be given as a gift because it is bad luck to buy one for yourself. When the nazar breaks, it isn’t effective anymore. It breaks because it has protected you from someone’s jealousy. Once it is broken, you can’t wear it anymore because it holds on to the negative energy. 

2. Context

The informant learned this belief from his older family members from Palestine. In the first grade, his aunt gave him a nazar because he was being bullied by other kids. His aunt is from a town outside of Ramallah in the West Bank of Palestine. Generally, the rituals that ward off the evil eye were done when people expressed jealousy or negativity towards them.

3. Analysis

The nazar is an example of sympathetic magic because the jewelry is made to look like an eye, which represents the evil eye gaze. The nazar uses the principle of homeopathic magic – “like produces like” – because it resembles an eye. The evil eye belief suggests the cultural idea that jealousy is malevolent and causes misfortune. It also suggests the cultural belief that fortune can be fickle and blessings may be taken away as quickly as they are given. In this culture, being the subject of envy is not viewed favorably. The superstition that a nazar must be received as a gift represents the belief that fostering strong interpersonal bonds protects people from misfortune. This suggests a cultural value of community and loyalty.

Apache Tear Mountain

‘ In Arizona, there is a mountain called Apache Tear Mountain. Back in the mid and late 1800s, the Apache people lived around this mountain. They were peace-loving and wonderful people. They raised their families in this area, but at one point, the Apache that lived around there went to war with another Native American tribe. The tale goes that the warriors of the Apache tribe met and fought the other tribe on top of the mountain. They fought and fought and fought… Many warriors of the Apache tribe were killed. At the end of the battle, the wives and daughters went to the top of the mountain and saw their family members… grandfathers, fathers, uncles, and brothers… dead from battle. The women wept and cried, and as they cried their tears fell down the mountain and turned to beautiful black glassy stone which then turned into obsidian… the Apache tears.’ – PB

Growing up, PB and his dad would travel to Pima, a town in central Arizona. It was on this drive his dad would always remind him of this legend that many people in Arizona know and share with others. His dad learned this from his father, who was actually a miner in central Arizona, mining silver, copper, tin, and manganese. PB remembers when he would travel to Apache Tear Mountain, he would ask for Apache Tears and would be brought beautiful black stones, stones of obsidian. He even went into the mountain on hikes and trips, and recalls that when he would dig in the soil, it would unearth even more beautiful obsidian. While he learned this from his father, PB has also shared this tale with his own family and children, taking them to the exact spot he grew up going.

This legend was told to me as a child, and has been a story I share with friends on road trips throughout the Arizona deserts. This piece of folklore follows many of the trends that lore is known for. It latches on to the cultural beliefs of the Native American peoples in Arizona and combines it with the legends that were told among these communities. While it can be assumed that these legends were adapted as they flowed through the many diverse communities who told them, this is still a key aspect of folklore; the adaptation of the tradition as it follows through many cultures. Furthermore, this legend combines the tradition and cultural beliefs with an origin for a mineral formed among a mountain, allowing the imagination to give reason as to why and how obsidian was created there in the first place. This tale also allows these communities to uphold the sacred connection to the land in central Arizona. History and legends are combined into one, giving a unique oral tradition to a tale told thousands of times.