Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Thai Yellow Balm

Interviewer: So does your family have any special home remedies for when you have a cold? 

KB: Do you mean something not necessarily medically accepted? 

Interviewer: Something traditional that may be passed down in your family. Have you yourself inherited any such practices, or do you remember any from your childhood? 

KB: Let me think about that … Oh, I know, the yellow balm my grandma always uses. 

Interviewer: The yellow balm? 

KB: Yeah, it’s a Thai thing that my entire Thai side of the family swears by. 

Interviewer: Oh, interesting! How is it used?

KB: It’s basically a panacea, at least according to my grandma. Any time I hurt myself as a kid or had a flu of some sort, my grandma used to apply this balm to my chest or anywhere I had hurt myself. 

Interviewer: Do you use it to this day? 

KB: Not really. I doubt it does anything, but as a kid I actually kind of liked it when my grandma made me apply it because it smelled nice. 

Context:

The informant is of half Indian and half Thai descent. She described her childhood experience with a popular Thai medicine made from Zingiber cassumunar (Plai), turmeric, and menthol.

Analysis:

We find this trope of a “cure-all” balm with often secretive recipes in many cultures around the world. More often than not, they are made from herbs that have a long history of use in folk medicine. I remember my Georgian grandma had a version of her own, and she insisted my mom, who is very skeptical towards these sorts of things, keep it in the house for emergencies. Despite traditional medicine, such as yellow balm, having questionable medical properties it still plays a significant role as tradition-bearer practices.

A Georgian Healing Lullaby

იავნანა, ბატონებო, ვარდო ბატონებო, | o violetnana, o spirit lords, o rosenana, o spirit lords,
იავნანა, ბატონებო, ვარდო ბატონებო, | o violetnana, o spirit lords, o rosenana, o spirit lords,
დატკბით, დატკბით, დაშოშინდით, ვარდო ბატონებო | Enjoy, be calm, o rosenana, o spirit lords,
დატკბით, დატკბით, დაშოშინდით, ვარდო ბატონებო | Enjoy, be calm, o rosenana, o spirit lords.

Context:

This Healing lullaby was collected form an informant who grew up in Georgia. It is only performed when a child is very sick and only by female family members, usually the mother.

Analysis:

In ancient Georgian belief, measles were caused by angry spirits called “ბატონები”. Once a child is
visited by spirits they must be pleaded with to leave. This lullaby contains many religious artifacts from a time when Georgians worshiped pagan gods. Their names remain in Georgian folklore as vocables. For
examples the vocable “ნანა” is through to be derived from a name of a pagan mother goddess. These
vocables, combined with common flowers in Georgian culture such as violets and roses, are used to
decorate the spirits’ names. Combined with this lullaby the child’s room is decorated with flowers and
various fruits. When used in this context we can think of the lullaby as a healing spell to ward off evil
spirits and sway the child into a peaceful sleep. This Georgian lullaby is passed down the
maternal line. The healing ritual is only performed by women and highlights the traditional role of a
maternal figure in Georgian culture as a caretaker.

The White Lighter (Bic)

Background on Informant:

My informant is a 40-year-old student from California. I know him from Discord, where we often play video games. He explained that he first heard about the superstition in high school, especially among his peer group, who used to smoke weed

Text:

Interviewer: Can you tell me about the white lighter superstition?

Informant: Yeah, so growing up, I was a stoner, and my group always had lighters for smoking weed right? Well, I always remember people freaking out about white lighters, BIC lighters to be exact, some wouldn’t even touch one, like they wouldn’t even smoke weed if that was the only lighter.

Interviewer: Why?

Informant: So the story goes that all these great musicians that passed away, like Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, all had white lighters in their pockets when they were found dead.

Interviewer: Have you heard about this anywhere else?

Informant: A few times, usually at bars, someone asks for a lighter to spark a cigg, and a white one comes out, it’s pretty funny some of the reactions.

Interviewer: interesting so it is believed that if you use a white lighter, you die?

Informant: It’s not that cut and dry; it’s more like IF by chance it does have something to do with a white lighter, there are so many other colors, why tempt fate?

Analysis:

This is a great example of a modern superstition. BIC lighters were not introduced until 1973, which shows that superstitions are still being created and spread in modern culture. The belief is tied to celebrity deaths, like musicians like Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Elvis Presley. These were iconic musicians that were deeply loved and mourned upon their death, that significance is why I believe the superstition holds any validity. The superstition’s transmission is horizontal through friend groups, specifically stoners and smokers (due to the use of BIC lighters),  as my informant explained, he heard it within his group of marijuana smoking friends. Even though there is no factual evidence linking white lighters to these deaths, the belief continues because of the fear and uncertainty, this shows symbolic thinking because this group believes that the lighter could change outcomes. This superstition also functions as a form of group identity, as well as displaying multiplicity and variation as not just stoners follow the white lighter belief but cigarette smokers sometimes do too.

Splitting the Pole (walking)

Main Text:
Superstition: Splitting the Pole

Background on Informant:
My informant is a 20-year-old who was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and is currently serving in the United States Air Force stationed in Ramstein Air Base, Germany. We know each other through a Counter-Strike Discord group. I asked him about any superstitions he believes in or practices, and he brought up the idea of “splitting the pole.” He explained that he first learned this superstition from a friend in elementary school, and that his friend had learned it from his parents.

Text:

Interviewer: Do you believe in any superstitions?

Informant: Yeah, splitting the pole when walking because it’s bad luck.

Interviewer: Splitting the pole—can you explain what that means?

Informant: When you’re walking with someone and there’s a pole or sign, you have to go on the same side as them, or it’s bad luck.

Interviewer: Where did you first learn that?

Informant: One of my friends told me when I was around 9 years old.

Interviewer: Do you know where it came from?

Informant: Not really, I think his parents told him.

Interviewer: Why is it considered bad luck?

Informant: Because it kind of means you’re separating from the person you’re with. It’s like symbolic of your relationship with them.

Analysis:

This superstition is a form of customary folklore because it’s a behavior people follow in everyday life. It represents symbolic thinking, where physically separating around an object is believed to represent separation in a relationship. This connects to the idea of sympathetic magic where symbolic interaction can affect the outcome. The superstition is passed through both horizontal transmission, friend to friend, and vertical transmission, parent to child, which gives understanding to how these superstitions may persist over time. It also functions to promote social awareness, since following the superstition leads to a heightened sense of relational awareness leading to more of a considerate and cohesive experience.

Ancestral Lucky Bracelet Norse

Main Text:
Material Folklore: Lucky Charm Bracelet

Background on Informant:
My informant is a 40-year-old student from California. I know him from discord and we play video games together. He told me about his lucky family bracelet that his Norwegian grandmother gave him.

Interviewer: What is the object, and what does it look like?

Informant: It’s a bracelet made of round stones on a strip of leather.

Interviewer: Where did you get it?

Informant: It was a gift from my grandmother, passed down from her grandfather.

Interviewer: Who told you it was lucky?

Informant: My grandmother told me it has been passed down for generations, and when I wear it, I have all my ancestors looking out for me.

Interviewer: What ethnicity are you?

Informant: Norwegian

Interviewer:  So like Viking Norse tradition?

Informant:  Yeah, I guess but I don’t like worship Odin or anything.

Interviewer: When did you start believing it brought you luck?

Informant: When I started wearing it. I don’t know if it’s because I became more aware of my luck, or if it actually works.

Interviewer: Why do you think it brings luck?

Informant: I’ve noticed little things out of the ordinary happening consistently, and they usually benefit me.

Interviewer: Do you use it in specific situations?

Informant: No, I wear it every day.

Interviewer: What if it breaks it must be so old?

Informant: It has broken in the past the stones are the significant part, My Grandma said if it ever breaks to collect the stones and put them on a new strip of leather.

Interviewer: Do you feel different when you don’t have it?

Informant: Yeah, I feel kind of naked and vulnerable. I’ve gotten so used to having it I can’t even remember the last time I wasn’t wearing it.

Analysis:
This is an example of material folklore because it’s a physical object that has some meaning and is believed to bring luck and protection. The bracelet isn’t just something he wears, it represents a connection to his family and ancestors tied to Norse traditions. This ties into sympathetic magic, where an item can change outcomes based on its special properties it represents. The bracelet and belief were passed down through vertical transmission, since it was his grandmother who gave it to him. The fact that he says he feels naked or vulnerable without it shows how it functions as a source of comfort and protection.