Category Archives: Magic

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

Alley of the Kiss/El Callejón del Beso

Informant Information – SI

  • Nationality: American
  • Age: 20
  • Occupation: Student
  • Residence: Los Angeles, California
  • Date of Performance/Collection: April 20, 2022
  • Primary Language: English

The informant grew up in Mexico and learned about this legend on a family trip to Guanajuato. They were first told the story by their father and shared this information with me in an in-person interview. 

In this piece of folklore, a legend is set in an alley in Guanajuato, Mexico. In this alley, the space between houses is extremely narrow, with the balconies of houses across the street from one another nearly touching. 

According to my informant, a young woman and her parents moved into a house in this alley just after it was built. She had recently become interested in a suitor, but her father didn’t approve. She couldn’t imagine her life without him, so they began secretly dating. After the suitor learned that the house across from her family’s home was empty, he purchased it so that he could sneak into her bedroom and visit her at night. 

One night, the woman’s father caught the suitor in his daughter’s bedroom. In a fit of rage, he chased the suitor, who attempted to escape back into his house by jumping from her balcony to his. The father grabbed the suitor’s legs just as he tried to jump, causing him to fall off the balcony and break his neck. 

Horrified by her father’s violence and grief-stricken by the loss of her beloved, the young woman refused to ever move away or marry, and she lived in that house until her death as an elderly woman. 

Now, the alley is a popular tourist attraction, and couples that kiss under the balconies are said to be blessed by the spirit of the deceased suitor. 

Analysis:

This legend contains a tragic description of prohibitive familial expectations that result in a forbidden love affair. However, since it focuses on the gruesome nature of the murder and the father’s horror upon realizing what he has done rather than the reason that the lover was said to be an unfit suitor, this story seems to be more of a warning against prejudice and violence than against pursuing a forbidden suitor. 

It’s interesting that both the legend and associated magic ritual celebrate love instead of focusing on the tragedy that occurred. In this version, even the ghost of the deceased lover is a benevolent spirit that blesses couples that kiss in the alley where he was killed. 

For another version of this legend, see the version published in a tourist guide of Guanajuato: “Alley of Kiss Guanajuato.” Guanajuato Mexico City Guide, GuanajuatoMexicoCity.com, http://guanajuatomexicocity.com/Guanajuato-guide/Alley-of-Kiss-Guanajuato.html. 

Simmer Pots

Informant Information – LM

  • Nationality: American
  • Age: 20
  • Occupation: Student
  • Residence: San Pedro, California
  • Date of Performance/Collection: April 24, 2022
  • Primary Language: English

The informant describes herself as a practicing Wiccan. She learned how to make simmer pots from her mother. She shared this information with me in an in-person interview. 

Informant: 

So simmer pots use the idea that lots of plants in the natural world have intrinsic magical properties that you can take advantage of if you use the ingredients intentionally. One way to do this is by making simmer pots, where you add your ingredients to a pot of water and let it simmer and release these properties into your home. 

The length of time that the pot simmers isn’t too important– I usually use whether or not I can smell the ingredients in the air as a way to tell if I’ve let it simmer for long enough. Usually, I like to make sure that the scent makes its way into every room of the house– about a couple hours– so that the properties of my ingredients are brought into every room. 

Some ingredients that I use often to bring positivity, good luck, friendship into my home are rosemary, bay leaves, slices of citrus fruits, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lavender, just because these ingredients all have these properties and they’re easily accessible to me. 

Analysis:

This piece of folklore is very interesting! Like other Wiccan practices that the informant has shared with me, intention is very important in this ritual. Each ingredient must be carefully chosen to achieve the desired effect. This intention is so important that it actually doesn’t matter when or where simmer pots are created so long as the practitioner’s intentions are clear as the ritual is completed. 

Gardening for Love and Luck

Informant Information – LM

  • Nationality: American
  • Age: 20
  • Occupation: Student
  • Residence: San Pedro, California
  • Date of Performance/Collection: April 24, 2022
  • Primary Language: English

The informant describes herself as a practicing Wiccan. She learned these gardening practices from her mother. She shared this information with me in an in-person interview.

Informant: 

I’ve learned that there are a few plants that every Wiccan should have. 

For example, every witch should have a rosemary bush planted in their front garden or near the entrance of their home. Rosemary is used in lots of magical practices, including cleansing and protective rituals. 

Lavender should also be planted near the entrance of the home, as it is said to attract love and happiness. 

If possible, mugwort is also really common in Wiccan’s gardens, as it is frequently used in divination rituals. 

Analysis:

The role of intention is very interesting in this piece of folklore. My informant specified that it isn’t just the plants themselves that are magical; the act of planting them with the intention of drawing out their magical properties is also necessary. Thus, the planting can be understood as a sacred ritual, in which the act of gardening is completed with the hopes of achieving a desired effect. 

The 11:11 Game

Informant Information – SI

  • Nationality: American
  • Age: 20
  • Occupation: Student
  • Residence: Los Angeles, California
  • Date of Performance/Collection: April 20, 2022
  • Primary Language: English

The informant grew up playing this game with their sister. They started playing this game as children and still play when they are together at their parents’ house. This information was shared with me in an in-person interview. 

The 11:11 game is played by the informant and their siblings; they began playing it as children and still play as adults when they are all together at their family home. 

If someone notices that it is 11:11am or pm, they must announce the time and shout out a task, such as standing on a chair or knocking on wood. Everyone that wants to play will then complete the task and then shout out a different task. 

Players should try to complete as many tasks as possible before the minute ends. Playing this game and completing these rituals is supposed to bring the players good luck. 

Analysis:

In this game, the time, 11:11, is ritualized. Participants must perform a prescribed set of actions, hoping that they will produce a desired result, good luck. As in other rituals, the bounds of acceptable behavior become flexible– while it might be strange to stand on a chair at another time, it is encouraged at 11:11.  

The bee and the orange tree

–Informant Info–

Nationality: French

Age: 47

Occupation: Teacher

Residence: Los Angeles, California

Date of Performance/Collection: 2022

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): French

(Notes-The informant will be referred to as DK and the interviewer as K)

Background info: DK is a mother of 1 who was born in the United States and moved to France when she was young, moving back to the US in 2017. She notes that she was told this story all the time but has not heard of it once in the US, and when she has brought it up to other people, they have never heard of it.

K: Ok so, what’s the name of the folklore, how do you know of it, and what’s the context of the performance? Like when is it told, under what circumstances?

DK: It’s called uh..The translation would be The bee and the orange tree. It was always told to me when I was little, in like school, or my parents and people like that. It’s kinda like Cinderella, you know? It was told like that.

K: Yeah that makes sense! Uh whenever…whenever you’re read you can tell the story.

DK: Ok. The story goes that there was this princess called uh Aimée who was lost after a ship wreck. She drifted to a little island in her crib, where a lot of uh…ogre’s lived. They only took her in because they wanted her to marry their son when she got older, normally they eat people who come ashore. When she was uh 15 I believe, she was told she would marry that ogre but the thought of that disgusted her. She went for a walk along the beach and found a man, who was actually her cousin, but neither of them knew that or could uh…say that. After a little while, the man, a prince, discovered who she was because she had a locket with her name on it. The little ogre said it was time for them to marry, and she fled but hurt herself on a thorn so she couldn’t walk. The prince went to find her when she didn’t show up and got captured. I don’t really remember the details here so I’m sorry

K: Thats alright! Just whatever you do remember tell me, even if its confusing

DK: Alright, uh so Aimee managed to trick some of the ogres into eating each other and found an uh magic wand somehow. Using it, she made herself speak the prince’s language and he told her everything. She used the wand again to distract the ogres and flee, but one of them followed them using his…magic boots. She would use the wand to disguise herself and the prince each time the ogre came close. She turned herself into a bee and the prince into an orange tree and stung the ogre, and in the chaos, the wand was stolen so they were stuck like that. Later, another princess fell in love with the orange tree, who was the prince. Aimee stung her out of jealousy, and the other princess ribbed a branch off the tree to defend herself, causing blood to flow out of the wound. Aimee left to fetch balm for the wound. A fairy came by while she was gone and detected the enchantment on the prince, turning him back. The prince explained the situation, and when Aimme returned the fairy uh turned her back also. They returned home to her parents and got married. The end *laughter*.