Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Lucky 8 and Unlucky 4

Text: The performance captured below is an explanation of different lucky and unlucky numbers in Chinese folk belief.

Interviewer: Do you have any superstitions or things that bring luck?

Interviewee: Yeah, so for uh, again for Chinese people, we have lucky numbers and unlucky numbers. For some reason that I am not super sure about, the number eight is a lucky number. It, like, signifies good fortune, or whatever, and the number four is an unlucky number. I think the last time I hear it, it’s like because (sǐ 死) in Chinese kind of sounds like death, so that’s uh like why.

Context:

The interviewee is an Asian-American student at USC whose parents are first-generation immigrants from China. First, the student was asked if he held any superstitions, after a while of thinking, his response was as described above. When asked how he engages with this belief, the interviewee responded:

Interviewee: Unconsciously I always try to do things, like in eights probably. Like, if I think about it, throughout my life, like, I do feel like eight’s a lucky number.


Analysis:

These examples explain how language affects folk belief. The belief follows the pattern of homeopathic magic, as due to the fact that 4 phonetically sounds like the word for death in Mandarin, negative folk beliefs and superstitions are placed on top of that number. This example also exemplifies how different cultures vary in how they view specific numbers. The additional belief that 8 is a lucky number showcases conversion magic, as now that the evil number 4 is doubled, its unlucky connotation is inverted, and the new number 8 now carries good luck. The response from the interviewee also showcases how belief exists on a continuum. He does not actively advocate that 8 is actually lucky. However, this cultural superstition still subconsciously affects him, and informs how he acts day to day.

Birthday Noodles

Text: Below is a performance from a student describing a Birthday tradition.

Interviewer: Are there any superstitions you know or follow for certain events?

Interviewee: Yeah, so uh, in my family especially, anytime there is, like, a birthday for someone, we eat noodles for their birthday, and, if it’s like my dad’s birthday, we and my family’s whole small family will eat noodles because noodles are, like, long, and that long shape of noodles signifies, like, longevity.

Context:

This excerpt came from a conversation with a 26-year-old grad student who grew up in Walnut, California, and whose parents are both Chinese immigrants. He partakes in this ritual when he or one of his family members celebrates their birthday.

Analysis:

This folk tradition of eating noodles reflects the very common role of food consumption in folk traditions, where a food is consumed for its characteristics. Other examples of this include eating coin-shaped objects for wealth in Lunar New Year, and eating fish for fertility. Here is showcased the sympathetic magical effect of food in folk tradition, as the person eating the food magically takes on the qualities of the food they consume.

Drake Curse Legend

Text: The interview below captures a student folk performance of the Drake Curse legend.

Interviewer: Do you have any MMA or fighting beliefs?

Interviewee: So, for, like, the UFC, I don’t know if it spans across other promotions, but, for the UFC specifically, there’s a betting system. You can see who bets what on which fighter, uh, and there’s basically this thing called the Drake Curse, wherein whichever fighter Drake, the rapper, singer, uh, puts his money on, that fighter will lose, and that has uh, only a few fighters have broken the Drake Curse, but most of the fighters who he’s bet on have lost their fights.

Context:

This interview was collected from a college student, raised in São Paulo, who is captain of the school’s MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) club after a practice. The interviewee heard about the legend from UFC fight commentary and social media

Analysis:

MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) fights inherently have a lot of randomness. One stray punch, or one awkward position can lead to an upset, so betting on fights contains a lot of risk. Because of this uncertainty, folklore is used to explain and deal with that unpredictability. Now, the winner of the fight is determined by one factor: whether Drake put his money on him. The staying power of this folk speech is evident, as even when Drake does win some of his bets, the reputation of the Drake Curse still endures. The belief is able to permeate multiple folk groups, because Drake bets on a lot of different sports. The interviewed bearer of the legend heard about it both from official fight commentary, and from social media posts. This origin showcases the fight commentator engaging in folklorism, as they take the humorous legend from the digital folk environment, where it originates, and repeat it on the official commentary broadcast.

White Vans Superstition

Interviewer: “I’ll give an example to start turning the gears in your head. A superstition my friends have is never splitting a pole because it gives you bad luck. Can you think of any similar practices?”

MA: Yea its kind of niche, but in high school there was this really bi superstition that if you wore shoes or white clothing when taking a test your mind would go blank and you’d perform poorly. If anyone was wearing white they always would dirty their clothes or shoes very slightly in order to do well on the exam.”

Context: MA is a sophomore at USC, however she is the youngest of her siblings and cousins who all attended the same high school. When she learned about this ritual, she was wearing white shoes to class, and her cousin, who is her age, scuffed her shoes slightly and told her about this practice to help her destress for the test they were about to take.

Analysis: This functions as a control ritual. In high stress environments like midterms, tests, exams etc, students often create causal links in order to relieve stress or justify grades. This functions as a folkloristic mechanism to manage anxiety, often employed by students across various cultures.

Knocking on Wood

Interviewer: “OK, personally some rituals i’ve grown accustomed to and practice are mostly related to theatre. Superstitions such as avoiding naming the play “Macbeth” in the theatre, never wearing your costume outside of rehearsal and performance, and a created folk song that was local to my high schools theatre department. What are some rituals or superstitions you believe in?”

AB: “I always knock on wood when I say something I don’t want to jinx, I don’t really even think about it anymore its more of an automatic reaction out of fear or something”

Interviewer: “Why do you think that works, like why do you use it?”

AB: “I don’t know, it makes me feel like i’m undoing evil energy, like your correcting it before some karmic lesson is taught to you, its like proactive.”

Context: The informant learned this practice from her parents. Her parents are very spiritual and superstitious and thus this, among many other practices, have become common place in her life. She recalls using the practice of “knocking on wood” since she was very little, around 9 years old. She is unsure if this practice has a tangible affect on her life, however she still uses it as a method of providing comfort to herself, proactively “saving” herself from an event before it occurs.

Analysis: This interview highlights how folk beliefs persist even when individuals do not fully rationalize or consciously believe in them. AB repeatedly framed their practices, such as knocking on wood as accidental or habitual, suggesting that these rituals function more as a medium to grant oneself peace of mind rather than superstition. This suggests that these rituals function less as explicit belief systems but more as engrained cultural behaviors where the action of knocking on wood takes less energy than the worry that accompanies bad karma.