Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Greek American Ghost Memorate

Text: The informant lived in a small apartment in the Bronx. Due to the neighborhood’s known risks, his mother would meticulously lock the door, a practice the informant deemed necessary yet somewhat excessive. Over 33 years, the informant remembers the door never being left unlocked or open without explicit reason. He recalls even if he was moving back from college, his mother would lock the door in between each trip. However, the day his father passed away the informant discovered the door wide open twice, despite no signs of a break-in or any items being disturbed or stolen. The informant also explains there is an old Greek tradition that he heard about from friends that when someone dies, a male family member has to stand outside of the house for a while to prevent the soul from returning to the house.

Context: The Informant experienced this in 2001. He believes that his dad did come back into the house. He viewed it as a good thing though, somewhat contradictory to the original belief that you had to stop it from happening. Instead he took comfort in it. The informant is Christian and believes the spirit stayed around for a bit just to impart good byes to his family. 

Analysis: I think this piece reflects the strong religious belief in the afterlife among the greek population, Christianity is one of the defining parts of their culture, though this story isn’t really christian though it still reflects the belief in an afterlife. I attribute the story, in part, to the Mysticism inherent in the religious beliefs of Greek Orthodoxy. I think you can also gleam the traditional gender roles from this story as well, with the aurdmian of the house required to be male, Greece being a very traditional society, this doesn’t surprise me

SoCal Ghost Story

Text: When the informant was three, her grandmother, who was battling breast cancer, passed away in 1967. Choosing not to undergo the harsh treatments of the time, she died at home, survived by her husband and four children, the youngest being seven-year-old Jerry. After her passing, the grandfather remarried and continued raising the children nearby, renting out their old home. Years later, when Jerry was in college, he and his roommates, Gordy and Bob, rented this family home. Gordy occupied what used to be Jerry’s bedroom, while Jerry stayed in the master bedroom and Bob in another children’s bedroom. left it out on the dining table. Upon seeing it, Gordy was shocked and exclaimed, “What the fuck!” and “That’s the women.”  He explained that a woman resembling the one in the photos visited his room every couple of nights to turn off the lights. Bob also confessed to seeing her well. This revelation was the first time the roommates spoke of any supernatural occurrences in the house, and notably, Jerry never witnessed the apparition of the woman.

Context: The Informant believes her grandma had unfinished business, because she died leaving her cousin as a little kid. She is a devout Catholic but she says she believes in this ghost because she believes Her grandma had to try and take care of Jerry. this took place in Pasadena in 1967 and the ghost part 15 years later. The informant grew up in suburban Virginia in a Irish Catholic home

Analysis: The grandmother’s death and subsequent appearances as an apparition reflect a common motif in folklore where spirits linger due to unfinished business, in this case, to care for a family member. The informant’s integration of Catholic beliefs with the concept of ghosts demonstrates the personalization of spiritual beliefs, showing how individual experiences influence the interpretation of traditional religious doctrines.

Angel Signs (Folk belief)

“My mom does this really sweet thing where when she goes on walks she’ll pick up things that catch her eye and puts them on this shelf in her room and she calls them her angel signs. She’s picked up feathers, rocks, pinecones, stuff like that – but not just regular ones, ones that are special looking, like if they have an interesting color to them or shape or something. They make her feel like angels are watching over her. She thinks this about a lot of things, like signs from nature mean someone or something that’s passed is looking out for us – like when our pet rabbit died, she starting saying every rabbit that came into our yard was an angel sign that the rabbit was still with us. She likes to take the objects with her to bring us more protection by those angels I guess.”

My informant spoke very affectionately about her mother as she recalled this folk belief/ritual that she often partakes in. While I find complete validity in her assumption that her mother brings home these objects as a way to bring protection to the household, I wonder if she does this knowingly. My informant was quite specific about how her mother felt about these items, that they were signs from angels, but she wasn’t certain about her mother’s intentions upon bringing them home. I wonder if it is partially due to a fascination with the objects in general, mementos so that she will never forget a moment when she felt seen, protected, and closer to something spiritual.

“The Mothman” (memorate)

“When I was a kid my dad used to warn me about this thing called the ‘Mothman’, he’d tell me a story about kids that went out at night alone and we’re snatched up by a half man, half moth creature.”

My informant has never met anyone else who grew up with this narrative, but she stressed to me that kids shouldn’t go out alone or else “he’d get ya.”

“If you see red glowing eyes in the dark, then you’d better run, that’s a warning he’s there.”

Her father would tell her this as an encouragement to not wonder off alone as a child, especially when the sun went down. “I was such a little shit back then” she told me. Her dad was never sure what antics she would get up to, so he stressed this story to her in order to prevent any runaway thoughts.

As opposed to telling her about the true dangers of wandering off alone in the night, he instead decided to tell her about a make believe creature. I find this interesting cause the reality of what could happen is just as scary, if not more frightening then a “moth man” (in my opinion), but I also agree that these kinds of narratives, ones with outlandish concepts, are more effective than ones rooted in reality with children.

Big Sur Ghost Myth

Ghost Story: 

In Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park lies the cabin of John Pfeiffer, the founder of the State Park. He lived in a cabin with his family nearly 200 years ago, and it still stands, rickety and weathered, in the forest along the Big Sur River. It is said that his ghost still lives in the cabin and haunts the campers who set foot on the cabin at night, so the campers must stay away from the area and cannot hike up to the cabin if they want to avoid being haunted.

Context: 

The informant grew up hearing this ghost story told whenever she would camp in Big Sur over the summer. The story would be told by family, friends, and soon all of the parents of the children that she camped with. It became a tradition to tell this ghost story around the campfire at night, and then hike to the house to scare the children.

Analysis: 

This ghost story is a prime example of society’s fascination with the paranormal. If this ghost story was actually true, wouldn’t the campers want to stay away from the cabin to avoid being haunted? Instead, many people seem to chase ghosts, and often try to perform the act that these ghost stories specifically warn them not to. This shows that people are more interested in the thrill of ghost stories and the paranormal than they are actually afraid of ghosts. This could also be because ghost stories do not have a very high truth value; most people who “believe” in ghosts might not actually anticipate seeing one. Rather, it is more the concept of the paranormal that they want to believe than their actual expectation of being haunted by a ghost.