Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Feeling Bad Weather in Your Bones

Nationality: American

Age: 20

Occupation: Student

Residence: San Antonio, Texas

Language: English

1. TEXT/TRANSCRIPTION
“If my back or my knee starts aching out of nowhere, I know it’s going to rain.” That’s what I always say, and I mean it. It’s not just a guess or a coincidence, I really feel it. The ache has a different kind of weight to it, almost like pressure building in my joints. Sometimes I’ll be sitting down or walking around and suddenly my knee starts acting up, and sure enough, within a few hours the clouds roll in, the temperature drops, or it starts drizzling.

I know it sounds kind of folksy or “old-person-ish,” and maybe it is, but I’ve been saying this since I was young. I remember hearing my grandparents say things like, “My joints are flaring up, it must be a storm coming,” and I always thought it was just something older people said to be dramatic. But as I got older, I started noticing it myself, especially after I injured my back a few years ago. The pain doesn’t always show up from strain or use. Sometimes it’s just there, sudden and unexplained, and every time, the weather ends up changing.

It’s become a running joke with people around me. They’ll ask, “How’s your knee today?” like I’m some kind of walking weather app. And I’ll say, “Uh-oh, the storm’s coming.” And then, sure enough, it does. I don’t even check the forecast anymore, I trust my body more.

2. CONTEXT
I picked this up from my family, especially the older generation. My grandfather had arthritis and used to say things like, “Storm’s coming, I feel it in my bones,” and I remember thinking it was a funny expression. But I also remember him being right, more often than not. The same thing happened with my mom. She has knee pain and swears by it. So when I started noticing the same thing in my own body, especially after dealing with back issues, I realized this wasn’t just a saying. It was real.

At first I thought I was just imagining it, but then I kept noticing the pattern. There’s something about the barometric pressure dropping before a storm that makes certain pain flare up. I don’t think I would’ve even made the connection if it hadn’t been passed down to me as a known thing. It helped me name what was happening instead of feeling like I was losing it. And even now, it feels like a small way of staying connected to my family, like I’m carrying their wisdom in my body.

3. INTERPRETATION
This saying reflects a deeply embodied form of folk knowledge, rooted in generational experience and personal observation. While it may sound anecdotal or “unscientific” on the surface, there’s actually physiological logic behind it, barometric pressure changes before a storm can affect joint tissue and inflammation, especially in people with previous injuries or chronic pain. The body, in this case, becomes a kind of barometer, registering environmental shifts in a way that scientific instruments later confirm.

Culturally, this phrase expresses an important value in traditional and familial forms of knowledge, wisdom that comes not from books or data, but from lived, bodily experience. Saying “I feel it in my bones” is a way of asserting trust in your own senses, especially in cultures or communities that have historically relied on oral tradition and intuition in the absence of formal medical care or scientific explanations.

Historically, this also reflects a long tradition of weather-related folklore. Before modern meteorology, people paid close attention to the natural world, and their own bodies, as signs of what was to come. This belief bridges the gap between human and environment, showing how people once (and still) read their bodies as extensions of nature. It also serves as a symbol of age, wisdom, and resilience, only those who’ve lived with pain or experience are seen as having the “sensitivity” to detect such subtle shifts.

In modern life, this superstition can offer emotional and psychological comfort. It gives people a sense of control and foresight in situations that are otherwise unpredictable. And for those who live with chronic pain, it offers meaning: a way to interpret their symptoms as useful rather than arbitrary.

Bourbon Street Tradition

Nationality: American

Age: 19

Occupation: Full-Time College Student

Residence: Los Angeles, CA

Language: English

I interviewed MW who is from New Orleans. Although born in Ohio, his family moved to New Orleans when he was 4 years old, and has lived there since.

M talked about Bourbon Street and the spirituality in New Orleans. He works at a bar on Bourbon Street and he always has to be careful. Along the street there are vendors that may tell you they can tell you your future if you tap his elbow. M emphasized that you’re never supposed to tap elbows as this induces destiny swapping. He doesn’t know the exact reason why it has to be the elbow, but he says it stems from voodoo, and that these vendors are out to get you if they sense you have “good” energy.

The folk belief that you can swap destinies is very apparent here. We see the role of the trickster at play in this situation. The power of the vendor on Bourbon Street is something that’s respected or feared. Even his everyday behavior seems to be shaped by this idea as he is cautious about running into people like that vendor. The fact that he also doesn’t know why the elbow is important indicates that he is following oral tradition without knowing where it comes from. He believes it and passes it on, something very natural in folklore.

Folk Ritual: Funeral Custom – Saranta

Text: It is custom in the culture of Greek people to practice an extended window of mourning after a loved one dies. This window lasts 40 days and is called Saranta. It is the belief of the Greek people that during this window of time, the soul continues to stay within the earth and navigate within it. It has not passed on to heaven, but remains wandering for a period of time in order to complete and review lingering tasks from its time in life. This concept has been colloquially believed in by Greek people for centuries. It is at the basis of their concept of mourning, becoming something almost as equally important as the very funeral service itself. By participating in a continued mourning during this time, the family becomes adjacent to the spirit of their loved one as it exists around them.
Informants Context: The Saranta is very important in our culture. For 40 days after the death, we continue to mourn. This is because we believe that the spirit continues to walk the earth for 40 days after passing. After my husbands death, I wore black for 40 days. This was to recognize and signal my own mourning. For the first three days after the death, they say the spirit remains near where they lived. I believe this – I felt him around the house, I heard him around where his bed was. After that, its said that they begin to explore the world, go back to places where they used to spend lots of time. Maybe he went back to Greece for a few days, I don’t know. But then in the final few weeks, he has to be with God, or so they say. Then on the 40th day, he gets to be free. He goes to heaven. We do little things in that time so to watch over him as he wanders. Mirrors are covered during the 40 days, my grandmother used to say that souls get trapped in the glass if they go into it. During the funeral, we make sure a small window is open in case his spirit wants to leave, to wander. Other little things are part of the 40 days. For example, very little cleaning and no renovation to the house after the death so not to disturb the soul if it wants to visit. The most important thing is that we light the Kantili (oil lamp) everyday to assure that he is guided back to us when he wants to visit. If the candle burns, it will also in part assure that his spirit will be eternal. These rituals were passed down to us by our families when we used to still live in Greece. They showed us how to practice these things when there were deaths in the community. I was there during the second world war when I was very young, and then during the civil war. So even though I left at an early age, we attended many funerals before I officially departed from the country.
Collectors Interpretation: Both the 40 day period and the superstitious rituals that occur during this period reflect certain distinct values on the part of the Greeks. Firstly, these superstitions clearly reflect a value for the concept of the eternal. Specifically as it applies to the burning light, Greeks want to assure that the spirit remains forever in existence despite bodily death. This is consistent with the superstitious fear of windows as well. Juxtaposing the hope for eternal paradise is the fear of eternal purgatory that could arise from getting trapped in these reflective surfaces. The Greek concept of 40 days of mourning clearly evolves into a folkloric concept in and of itself, as it is born out of and coupled with many of the superstitious concepts surrounding it.

Fields

AGE: 85

Date_of_performance: May 5, 2025

Informant Name: Confidential (EZ)

Language: Greek/English

Nationality: Greek/Canadian

Occupation: Retired

Primary Language: Greek

Residence: Canada

Folk Ritual: Superstition – Evil Eye

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Text: Perhaps the most iconic piece of folklore to emerge out of the Greek culture has been that of the Mati, otherwise known as the “evil eye”. The motif of the evil eye is world famous, a black pupil inside a white eye which is surrounding by another circle of royal blue. The belief about the evil eye is that it can be given to certain people as a consequence of their envy and jealousy onto them. This is where the idea of the “eye” comes from – as one person stares at another with negative connotations or emotions, they will potentially impart a curse of some kind onto them that will leave them sick. In order to deter this potential evil from other people, the Greeks actually hang the image of the evil eye around their homes, believing it will keep the dark spirits away. This is considered common practice in all Greek homes, a common folkloric concept that has not only been around for centuries but remains relevant in the culturre today.
Informant’s Context: The presence of mati is very real. Mati comes from people being hateful – they will look at you and snare if they you look handsome or beautiful. They might gossip about you behind your back if they become jealous of you. You can tell if someone is jealous by how ticklish they are. If someone is very ticklish, they are jealous people. Mati isn’t always something that is given to people because they’re jealous though. Some people are just bad luck, they’re a jinx, even if they don’t mean pain by anyone. For example, they say that someone who has a unibrow, one eyebrow that connects, can give someone mati even if they don’t have jealousy. My husband would sometimes compliment people in passing, but because he had the unibrow he would give them mati. Not his fault. Once someone gets the mati though, they become very ill. They might have high fever, they might have migraines. Sometimes they go into shakes in their bed. To know for sure if one has mati, a test must be conducted called Xematiasma. This is when we take a glass of water and we say a prayer over the water. We then take multiple droplets of olive oil and put them into the water. If the olive oil rises to the top of the water, the person we are testing for mati does not have it. If the olive oil sinks or lowers, maybe disappearing in the water, then the person being tested definitely has it. Water and oil are supposed to separate – if this doesn’t occur, then its clear that the individual has been cursed. If they have mati, they must remove their clothes and put them in the wash, shower themselves and clean their bed sheets. They must wash the evil off themselves and get it out of everything around them. Once they’ve cleansed themselves and taken time to rest, the dark spirits will leave them. The only way someone can learn to perform the mati test is through ritual. I am the only one in my family who knows how to conduct it. I can only pass it onto a male member of my family on the Holy Thursday before Easter. It’s only at this time that I can teach the prayer that goes with the water and the way to apply the olive oil. I tried to pass it onto my grandson this year, but he wasn’t home for the Holy Thursday. If I passed it onto him, he would then only be able to pass it onto a female member of our family, also on the Holy Thursday before Easter. That’s how I was also taught these practices. My father taught me how to use the olive oil and water and what prayer to say alongside them.
Collectors Interpretation: I believe the cultural and historical connotations behind the evil eye tradition are fascinating. So much of what the informant described is a folkloric metabolization of cultural concepts regarding envy, jealousy and vindictiveness. There has long been considered an issue of in-fighting in Greek culture, dating as far back as the Peloponnesian Wars that wreaked havoc on the nation. The evil eye is a manifestation of a culture that is deeply weary of spitefulness. As a piece of magical folklore, much of what the informant discussed about the mati lore is both homeopathic and contagious. The actual act of one person impressing the mati (evil spirits) onto another person by being jealous is clearly an example of contagious magic. Moreover, the ritual in which someone diagnoses mati through water and olive oil is an example of homeopathic magic. Not just that, but the concept of mati also implies that purity is necessary for health. In order to rid oneself of the dark spirits, they must clean themselves and everything they own, almost as if to say that jealousy, envy and spite are filthy qualities. It also implies that these hateful emotions can be spread. The deeper meaning behind this might be that misery loves company, and when one person hates another its easy for those ideas to proliferate amongst communities of people.