Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

The Ghost story of Catalina Island

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“While on my CIMI trip to Catalina with my 7th grade class, one of our chaperons who also was our economics teacher gave us the option to hear a ghost story late at night. Me and my boys, who I was rooming with, were all confident that we wouldn’t be scared so we went. When he started telling the story, I was spooked when he told us that the burned down house on the hill we say today was haunted. Several of my friends were too scared to sleep alone, so eight of us piled into a 4 person room. One of my friends was the only one who thought our reactions were funny and felt we were dumb to believe the story. The rest of us slept like sardines on the floor of the dorm and were scared the rest of the trip. When I would open my eyes at night I sometimes thought I would see red hair in the window, but to this day I do not know if I was hallucinating or not.”

Context

“Apparently, it was the home of a red headed girl who got lost one day in the canyon and never came back. After she died, he claimed that she came back to haunt the island and would show up at night to terrify kids. I remember him saying she comes and grabs your feet if they are not covered by a blanket and takes you away. After hearing this story, we were all petrified and I remember how our fear brought us all together. This story is known by many Catalina natives, especially the ones who work near or at CIMI.”

Analysis

This ghost story is a good example of a legend because it shows how they could be true but there is no concrete facts to prove it. Many forms of folklore are similar to legends because they are often informal and lack historical evidence that is proven. Like this ghost story, legends and other forms of folklore are created through belief, and when there is belief there are usually contradictions. However, when legends are performed and passed on, they are shared with confidence as if they are proven to be true. Like his friend who did not believe the story, there are many who follow and live by legends such as religion, and others who strongly refute it. Legends are important as folklore because they create uncertainty and debates, prioritizing belief over facts. The location and time of day this story was told also shows how environment contributes to folklore. Since it was a dark night and the story took place where they were, their fear was heightened and they were able to bond on shared trauma, showing how legends mysterious aspects create connection.

Armenian Genocide

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“This is the story of my great grandma. At four years old, the Ottoman Empire came bursting into her city, raiding houses and killing anyone who resisted. On a snowy night, she escaped, and would never see the rest of her family again. Trudging through the snow with no shoes, she could see a church steeple. The nuns saw her and invited her in with open arms. At first, they spoke a langauge she did not understand. Eventually, a nun spoke to her in the Armenian language. “We are lucky to have found you. You may stay here as long as you like.” Still too weak to speak, she nodded yes.

They lived together for several years. My great grandma learned she was living in a German convent, and the nun learned that the little girl’s name was Heghine. Every day, Hegine studied reading, writing, and speaking the Armenian language. With the teachers, she learned many wonderful things as she grew up. After years passed, Hegine grew to be a happy, humble, and very smart girl. One day, her favorite teacher came by to sit with her in the rose garden and said “My dear Hegine, the time has come that you continue to a bigger school. There is an Armenian school in the city of Jerusalem. Would you like to go there?”

“I will be a little nervous to go, but I will also be happy. I am very very thankful for this time I have had with you here at the convent.” Just before sunrise, Hegine and her beloved teacher arrived at the train station. They said their goodbyes, and Hegine got on the train. On the train, Hegine sat in a seat by the window, and while the train started moving, she watched the mountains as the sun began to rise.”

Context

“I heard this story from multiple people in my family. In particular, my uncle even made a short story describing her story which gave me a strong sense of what she went through to eventually raise a family that I am part of today. It is very important to my family because her resilience to survive a genocide resulted in my family and I getting to live a fortunate life in the US. Her story is a lesson to us to always be grateful for our opportunities and never give up hope.”

Analysis

This story reveals how family narratives serve as folklore due to their passing through generations. These type of folk stories create cultural identity and connect personal history to larger groups such as the Amerian people. The story demonstrates the value of perseverance and gratitude in everyday life. This survival story connects Amerian identity to family history and maintains the memories of the past. Because of this family lore’s importance in their family, it shapes their collective family identity and becomes a story they all learn and continue to pass it down to future generations. Through the creation of a short story, the varied narratives of the great grandma’s story are reduced and everyone in the family gets the same account, allowing them to all resonate with the same messages.

Metropolitan state hospital

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“My boys and I snuck into the hospital in Waltham and once we were in, it was abandoned and disgusting with trash such as beer cans everywhere. There were eerie sounds in there and we reluctantly were scoping around the area. Legend commonly says that this hospital is haunted and noises we heard we thought to be the mythical ghosts. We searched the deserted building for a bit til we ran out of fear, finding nothing but trash but I swear we heard these weird sounds constantly.”

Context

This ghost story is commonly known by teens in Massachusetts familiar with the Waltham area. Kids often talk of the area in a spooky manner due to its past being a psychiatric institution. Rumor has it that the abandoned hospital is haunted with ghosts of past patients. This sparks curiosity in the young kids of the area who explore the building often.

Analysis

This folk story is a common example of an abandoned building with an emotional back story becoming associated with ghosts. The psychiatric hospital has cultural ties to suffering and isolation which permit horror stories and supernatural beings. This story is a legend because it is based in reality and believed to be true by some and false by others. In society, people often use folklore to rationalize factual events. This specific legend is used to make sense of why the hospital is abandoned and show how the suffering within that building created ghosts. Him and his friends’ exploration is legend tripping because they are experiencing and testing their belief first hand.

Lucky Pencil

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“Growing up, starting in late middle school and going to all the way to today in college, I have had this superstition that I never do well on tests if I do not use my lucky mechanical pencil. I felt a connection to this aqua pencil the second I used it, and I aced a middle school biology test that I thought I was absolutely cooked for. After doing so well on the test I credited my success to the pencil instead of my own brain power. From then on I always used that pencil on every test from highschool to now as a freshman in college. Along the journey though, I had a couple slip ups where I left the pencil at home and I felt my scores were not as good as they would have been on those exams if I were to have had my lucky pencil.”

Context:

“I first heard of this superstition when my friends from middle school would never let me borrow their lucky pencils whenever I asked to borrow one. I asked them why they were so protective of this pencil and they told me they needed it to do well. I laughed and did not take them seriously until my masterclass performance on the biology test. After that miracle, I told them they were right about the lucky pencil and they laughed and said ‘we told you so.’ To this day I still believe that my pencil holds magic to help me do better which is why I still use it for exams.”

Analysis:

The belief in the lucky pencil shows how young students and other creative minds create superstitions or mini rituals that help ease their anxiety and doubts. Although, the pencil itself has no concrete proof to increase scores, it boosts students’ confidence making them feel like they will well. Lucky items are figures of material culture because they hold culture and identity beyond its intended use. Through folklore passed down by friends, the pencil turns from an ordinary writing utencil to a magical object personal to the individual who believes in its power. This reiterates how folklore can often be used to boost feelings of control through ideas of luck, safety, and comfort.

Splitting a pole

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“I practice a superstition related to splitting a pole while walking with someone I care about such as my girlfriend when we are holding hands. The belief is that if you are walking with another person and you guys are separated by a pole, tree, or sign, it is a sign of bad luck due to the distance caused by the object. This is because it symbolizes a blockage in the relationship thus representing a bad omen to come within our connection. Due to this belief, I try to stay on the same side as the other person to avoid that division.”

Context

I first found out about it when walking with my friends who would suddenly grab me next to them when walking near an object telling me to not split the pole. Initially, I thought it was random and abrupt, but after hearing more of my friends who practiced this same belief, I realized it was a common practice in local US culture. Although the exact origin is unknown to me, the practice makes literal sense because the physical separation caused by the object reperesents emotional distance in a relationship. My practice of this folk belief helps me feel close and maintain strong relationships.

Analysis

From a folkloric perspective, the superstition to not split a pole reveals how in certain cultures regular objects can hold deeper meaning. In this particular belief, a pole or other object on the street takes on a symbol of an emotional blockade that leads to bad luck in a relationship. The semblance mirrors homeopathic magic, which believes like causes like. So, a separation physically leads to one emotionally. Avoidance of the split caused by a pole becomes a ritual used in everyday life that ensures love and unity. The context of this situation is important because it only applies when you are walking with someone you care about and don’t want to lose. If you are simply walking alone or with strangers the poles have no significance, which ties to folklore often being context dependent. While some folklore is learned through words this ritual is often learned through performance, or when someone physically acts to pull you from being separated.