Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

The Woman in the Cold

Age: 52

Interviewer: Dad, did anything strange ever happen when you were growing up?

ES: Yeah, there was one thing. I don’t talk about it much.

It happened when I was maybe… thirteen? Around that age.

Interviewer: What happened?

ES: Back then, we didn’t have much. Our house was small, and at night it got very dark. No streetlights, nothing like that.

I used to help my parents with chores, and sometimes that meant walking out to the storage shed behind the house, even late at night.

Interviewer: Alone?

ES: Yeah, usually alone. It wasn’t a big deal… until that night.

I remember I went out to get something, maybe tools, I don’t remember exactly, and on my way back, I saw someone standing near the edge of our yard.

Interviewer: Did they look like someone you knew? Like, do you think it could’ve been someone from around?

ES: No. That’s the thing.

At first I thought it was a neighbor, but… it didn’t feel right. They were just standing there, completely still.

It was hard to see clearly, but I remember their clothes looked old. Not like what people wore at that time, more like traditional clothing.

And they were facing toward the house… not toward me.

Then, I hadn’t made any noise, but slowly… they turned their head. Not their body, just their head.

And when they looked at me, I realized… I couldn’t see their face clearly.

It was like the darkness was covering it, even though the moon was out.

Interviewer: Did they do anything, maybe say something?

ES: No, not at first.

I just stood there, holding what I had, not moving. Then they took one step toward me.

Just one.

And then I heard it, very faint

“춥다…” (Translated from Korean: “It’s cold…”)

It didn’t sound like they were talking to me exactly. More like… saying it to themselves.

But I felt it. The cold.

Not like normal cold weather. This was a sudden change. Like it went straight through my clothes.

Interviewer: What did you do?

ES: I remembered something my mother used to say. Don’t respond to voices at night.

So I didn’t say anything. I just slowly stepped back… and then I turned and ran inside.

I told my mother the next day. She didn’t look surprised.

She just said, “You didn’t answer, right?”

And when I said no, she nodded and told me not to go outside at night unless I had to.

Interviewer: Did you ever see it again? Or see anything similar?

ES: No.

But sometimes, late at night, I would look out toward that part of the yard… and feel like someone was still standing there.

Context

This story was told to me during one of my visits home after a family dinner. I received it from my father, who used to live in rural Korea before moving to the US for education and work. He stated that the region was naturally superstitious and strongly spiritual, and many other ghost stories populated the area. He mentioned that two large Buddhist temples were there as well. Due to some imperfect English, the transcript was slightly edited to improve flow.

The Informant’s Thoughts:

The informant was disinclined to call the entity he encountered a ghost, and instead preferred to call it a spirit conjured by the struggles of his community. He talked about how encounters with spirits and other supernatural phenomena are more likely to occur when peoples’ futures are uncertain, and that this is especially true in places where life was harder. He discussed how life in rural Korea was very difficult due to poverty and lack of support. He recalled how his village would regularly be flooded during monsoon season, flooding houses, and that farming in the Korean climate was a physically arduous process.

My Thoughts:

I am skeptical of the supernatural by default, making me also not wholly believe the story. I though the happenings could be attributed to local folklore, an active imagination from his young age at the time, or dramatization of a memory over time. However, the idea that spirits appear before us during times of hardship resonated deeply with me. The stress we feel during times of uncertainty makes us more prone to believing in ghosts and superstitions which could bring some stability or consolation. I interpreted the ghost as not a malevolent spirit, but instead a kindred spirit, a companion who shares the suffering of the people in the informant’s community.

Speaking with the Dead

Age: 52

Context

This story was told to me over call while I was catching up with my family. I received it from my father, who used to live in rural Korea before moving to the US for education and work. He stated that the region was naturally superstitious and strongly spiritual, and many other ghost stories populated the area. Because it was conducted over call and not a formal interview, the story is written here more as a stream-of-thought.

The Story

When I was young, your grandfather passed away from a motorcycle accident. I was only just entering high school when it happened. In the time after, all of the members of my family had mysterious encounters, like voices and strange dreams with your grandfather. I think it was because he had an improper death because he died so young. Eventually, when I left to study abroad in Australia, your grandmother and my siblings in Korea visited some sort of mystic, I think he was a shaman. Buddhism was very strong in my village. He set up a pig’s head on a spike, and then shoved belongings of your grandfather up its nostrils. Then, he began shaking, and when he stopped, his entire demeanor had changed. He was talking differently, moving differently; I think he was channeling the ghost of my father. He said that he was cold, so cold. He asked for his coat to fight the cold and his notebook that he carried around with him everywhere in life. We threw them into the fire, and the spirit left the shaman. After that, we never had any of those strange dreams or encounters again.

The Informant’s Thoughts

My father believed that the shaman was being possessed by the ghost of his father. The fact that because the shaman’s demeanor shifted so much and that he requested very specific things from his life, there was definitely a link between the shaman and the world of the dead. He did mention that he was not there for the ritual himself, but heard of it through his relatives and vicariously experienced it.

My Thoughts

I found this to be a fascinating example of spirit possession and using mediums to speak to the dead. It reflects other Korean traditions where the spirits of great generals are invoked by shamans through ritual. In both, the shaman exhibits the personality of the person they are possessed by, seemingly transforming into another person entirely. The use of items connected to the person to connect with them also reminded me of voodoo magic, where related items can connect two disparate things. The idea of improper death also appeared, which made sense to me personally, as I remembered hearing about his passing at the time and feeling that it was all too abrupt and not a true ending.

Virginia Mice Graves

Context:

The informant recalls a childhood tradition in which she and her peers referred to small and neatly arranged stones as “mouse graves.” The group would sometimes pause for moments of silence believing them to be tombstones. The informant is now a student in university and recalls this from her childhood in Virginia.

Text:

“I remember when I was um growing up, back in Virginia, kind of in like a suburban area and we would have like, the car riders, walkers, and like bus riders. Which basically, we’re all grouped based off of like how we got home.



I was sometimes a car rider, sometimes a walker. But when we would walk to home from school, there was like a tunnel system. So we would go down the tunnel to get to the other side of the street without crossing the street. 
It was like a safer way for kids to get to the neighborhoods. And for some reason, when we were younger, we used to, joke like down by the tunnel entrance. I think it was like a storm drain or something like that. It was like this like big, kind of like circle looking, like sewer thing. That was shorter than us, but still, reachable, if that makes sense. 
There were these stones outside of the drain. And, when they were like tiny and they were positioned in the very light organized way. 
I think it was like keep debris from, like crawling down. And I, like me and like the group of friends, would like call them like mouse graves, because, like, they were tiny, like, tombstones.

And so like, we would sometimes have like moments of silence for, like, the mice. And, these mice, so sad that they left this way, but so happy that they get to be together, like, we took it very seriously. 

So that was our, like, I guess, our explanation for tiny things. 
Like everything was, like, it was small. in a spooky area had to be a grave of some sort of animal. It’s not.
”

Analysis:

This example is a form of children’s folklore and a type of legend belief for this folk group. The physical environment, the storm drain and arranged stones, incites the narrative creation, demonstrating how folklore often emerges from interpreting ambiguous or unexplained features in the world around us, especially when were are younger and everything is new to us.

It also reinforces group cohesion as the shared interpretation and ritualized behavior, like the moment of silence, creates a sense of belonging among the children. While the informant now acknowledges it isn’t the truth she states that in the moment is was very real to her. This level of seriousness comes from the frame set around the event and allows children to interact with death in a way that feels safe. It lives in a slightly eerie atmosphere that encourages imagination and allows the ritual of death and funerals to be a part of their life at a young age.

It also shows how anyone, even children, are active bearers of tradition as they perform the ritual for the dead mice. The practice transforms the ordinary stones or manmade features into a cultural place showing how folklore is tied to social integration and imagination. This legend belief and safe place to play gives kids meaning to their surroundings and strengthens their connection to their home and peers and their walk back from school.


Good Luck in Ballet

Age: 21

Context:

My informant is in his twenties and has done ballet since he was young both professionally and competitively.

Text:

“So before going on stage, you say “Merde” to the other people, which means shit in French, and it’s kind of like… break a leg is like negative so you imply a positive. It’s the same thing. It’s meant to be good luck so that everyone has a great performance. 

And even though I don’t speak French, the word merde has a special place in my heart.”

Analysis:

This is an example of performative superstition within a specific folk group, in this case ballet stage performers. It functions like the phrase “break a leg” in theatre among actors, where a negative phrase is used to produce a positive outcome. This reflects a broader belief in the power of language to influence events. While participants may not literally believe that it guarantees success, as my informant seems aware of the fact it is a “superstition,” it also creates a shared understanding of the correct thing to do before a performance and creates a ritual.

This is a sort of verbal folklore where a customary phrase takes on new meaning depending on the specific context. Saying merde to someone on the street will illicit a much different reaction and hold different weight. This phrase is socially reinforced through repetition and performance. This demonstrates how folklore also relies on shared context and specific people rather than “textbook definition.”

It reinforces group identity and belonging as well, I know as a theatre student how I do feel better when someone tells me “break a leg” before a performance. It becomes more of a common courtesy and when someone outside of theatre says it I know that they are somewhat in the group as well. Saying the phrase correctly like “merde” signals membership within the ballet community and years of experience. Additionally it helps create the performance space, it may be the last thing and only thing heard before going onstage and helps signal the start of something more serious that just a rehearsal.

Keys that Connect

Age: 20

Context:

The informant is not a college student who describes a family tradition that began in childhood. Each family member selected an old key and wore it as a necklace. Later, when the informant left for college, the key symbol was reintroduced in a more meaningful way, with the parents framing it as a representation of “home” and ongoing connection.

Text:

“When I was little, me, my dad, my brother, and my mom went to, like, an old home wall store. They had like a bucket full of like old keys. And we each got a key and tied it to like a string as a necklace. 

We were little. We were like young, so it was cute, silly then, but we would say, “Our keys unlock each other’s hearts.” And we all wore our keys. 

Then when I got when I left for college, I got a necklace with a key on it, and my parents told me this is the key to your forever home now. because you can always come home. So I like symbol of keys for me.”

Analysis:

This is an example of material culture, centered around the symbolic use of a physical object, in this case, keys. While the keys themselves are ordinary objects, their meaning is created through shared family interpretation making them a part of her family folklore.

In a broader context the keys work as a type of sympathetic magic where a physical object represents or influences an emotional connection. This connects to a broader cultural tradition, such as love locks places on bridges, where keys and locks are used as symbols of lasting bonds and a connection across distance and difficult waters. In both cases, the object becomes a way of materializing a relationship.

The practice also plays a role in creating group identity. By wearing the keys that share the same symbolic meaning the family establishes a sense of belonging that is somewhat exclusive. We see this often in gang culture with tattoos or friend groups with bracelets they get together. They key marks membership within a group and reinforces their ties materially.

Additionally, the meaning of the keys evolves over time. What began as a cute, playful childhood activity becomes something more serious as the informant grows older and leaves home. This is similar to promise rings, where a couple may be too young to make a formal commitment, so the ring stands in place of an engagement ring. In both cases, the object gains significance over time. It also reinforces the idea that objects in childhood may feel temporary or playful, but as a person gets older, those same symbols can take on deeper emotional weight and meaning.

Overall, this example shows how folklore can transform ordinary objects into meaningful symbols that help people navigate changes in relationships and distance. The key takes on a symbolic, almost magical quality as it maintains connection during moments of separation.