Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Donna Maria’s Enchanted Gardens (Sawfar)

Nationality: Lebanese
Age: 68
Occupation: Seamstress
Residence: Lebanon
Performance Date: April 4, 2023
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English

My informant is a family member in Lebanon that has lived in the mountains for her entire life which plays a large role in this important narrative that has “become part of her identity forever.”

Narrative:

Wedding at Donna Maria Sursock Gardens

My informant states that they “lived in a village named Sawfar, far into the mountains of Lebanon. Although, it wasn’t different to many other villages, on top of our mountain stood a castle that belonged to our beloved Donna Maria.” The woman who was known to be “the most generous and beautiful of all” lived in a small castle built by her husband, Albert to live out her fairytale dreams. However, after the passing or disappearance of the family for some unknown reason, the castle was “torn apart by the militia in 1975 and left in ruins.” My informant describes her childhood on the open castle grounds as magical and “some of the best moments of [her] life” even in it’s fractured state. After many years, weddings had begun to take place in the castle gardens and some describe “seeing Donna peering from the balcony, sending her wishes to the newlyweds and then it became a tradition, blessing each couple that keeps her memory alive.” The music of the weddings “erupted through the valleys, filling the mountains with the magic of Donna’s castle” However, the informant describes playing in the grounds once as a child and revealing part of the house that had been covered, “it was a dungeon filled with unknown bones. Nobody had known until [she] found it and it became a horror, even Donna may have had a darkness to her and skeletons in her basement”. 

Context:

She states that this became known to the entire village but the weddings never stopped, because it would tamper the ‘magic’ that Donna had given them. Her story and castle history was passed on for generations as children were even brought to learn about Donna and her past as “she is a vital part of Sawfar history” It has become an integral part of her family history and her children’s lives as she says “even though I never met Donna, her descendants and their ground are a big part of my upbringing in making me the person I am today” The castle is not only grounds for the descendants of Donna Maria but the rest of the village to enjoy and pass the joy that the bricks and gardens brought to others.

Analysis:

The narrative that my informant presents seems to be a pivotal part of her upbringing in the village as she had lived through most of the experiences at the Donna Maria castle. The element of the fairytale castle on top of the mountain allowed Donna and her family to thrive and incorporated that into the village. When the story was described, the informant said she passed it on to her children and brought them to the castle grounds to experience it. This allows the children to gain a sense of what their heritage is and a glamorized version of a story such as a castle encourages the learning of their culture and gain a patriotic view of their country and specifically the village. Adults are able to have a stable grounding in their village, even in unfortunate circumstances such as wars and attacks on their homes, they are able to look to the withered castle, with so much mixed history, and see it still standing. The castle represents the hope of what their village was, what it still is and what it will continue to be as the beauty of the story and the gardens is presented to residents of the village, their descendants and tourists who hope to see the history of what brought this village together. The ‘ghost’ of Donna Maria symbolises the blessing of eternal life, especially for married couples and children that still have growth to come as they not only learn about her beauty but also the dungeons that lie beneath her gardens. At times when married women struggled with events in their lives, they regret not getting married at the blessed grounds and being led by Donna who seems to have been viewed not only as a privileged woman but a queen atop the village that was a guiding light in the darkness of wars in Lebanon. Even after all the trials and tribulations that the entire country experienced, Donna’s damaged castle stood as a landmark in the people’s hearts and identities.

Cash gifts ending in 1 or 5

Nationality: Indian-American
Age: 59
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Richmond, VA
Language: English

Ritual:

A cash gift in India will end with the number 1 or 5. So, if giving money as a gift, the amount will be 11, or 21, or 31 and so on. Even higher amounts like 51, 101 – the extra rupee or dollar is for good luck.

Context:

JG is 59 years old and my mother. She grew up in India with a very religious Hindu family, before immigrating to the USA. Her parents were spiritual and superstitious. As a child, she participated in lots of rituals that were believed to provide good luck.

Analysis:

First of all, now I know why whenever a family member gives me money for my birthday, it’s always $51 rather than $50, for example. I have always wondered that but felt awkward asking.

Second, I relate to the practice of having lucky numbers. Personally, mine is 13 because of Taylor Swift. I have done something similar myself. When I was donating to a GoFundMe set up by a fellow Swiftie, I added an extra 13 cents to my donation (because they would understand). The 13’s are more for fun than anything else, but from my understanding, the 1’s and 5’s are said to ward off evil spirits.

There’s no logical link between numbers and good luck, but sometimes we like to think there is one. Whether that is for fun, or to relieve our anxiety about a situation, lucky numbers definitely play a huge role in a lot of cultures.

Eating yogurt before leaving the house

Nationality: Indian-American
Age: 59
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Richmond, VA

Ritual:

If you eat a spoonful of plain yogurt before leaving home for something important, it brings good luck – including job interviews, tests, long vacations, etc.

Context:

JG is 59 years old and my mother. She grew up in India with a very religious Hindu family, before immigrating to the USA. Her parents were spiritual and superstitious. As a child, she participated in lots of rituals that were believed to provide good luck.

Analysis:

I vaguely remember my mom doing this ritual with me when I was in elementary school. I had always assumed it was for nutritious purposes – because I know we give milk to kids to help them grow taller, and yogurt is processed milk. However, I was surprised to learn it’s part of a superstition. Lots of people incorporate small rituals into their routines, especially on important days.

Upon further research, I learned that another variation of this superstition is eating yogurt mixed with sugar. This one has a somewhat more logical explanation that is based in Ayurvedic tradition. In this way, it is a folk medicine practice. The yogurt is a coolant for the body and the sugar gives you instant energy.

There is no logical connection between eating yogurt and having a successful job interview, for instance (even if there’s a correlation, that does not always equal causation). But, we like to think there is one in order to relieve our anxiety. It makes us feel like we have control over the results in more ways than we actually do. Our decisions about what to do, especially on important days for us, aren’t always rooted in logic that can be proven.

Wearing the same shirt to all tests in nursing school

Nationality: White
Age: 28
Occupation: Nurse
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Primary Language: English

Ritual:

When AH was in nursing school, she would always wear a specific Brett Eldredge shirt to tests. She believed that it brought her good luck.

Context:

I met the informant, AH, through friends when we saw Kelsea Ballerini together. She likes many other country artists as well, including Brett Eldredge. He is her favorite singer and he feels like a good luck charm to her. Plus, wearing his merch gives her a sense of comfort as she walks into stressful situations like nursing school tests. AH started doing this on her own early in her nursing school years.

Analysis:

I related to what AH said, as I have done the same with Taylor Swift shirts during big tests for school. The superstitious belief that certain things we wear, especially if we associate them with people we love, can bring us good luck is very common. Realistically, there is no direct link between what we wear and how well we do on our tests – there might be a correlation, but that doesn’t always equal causation. But, we like to think there is one in order to relieve our anxiety. It makes us feel like we have control over the results in more ways than we actually do. Of course, this is done after hours of studying, but when you value academic performance as much as AH and I do, you’re under the mindset that every little thing helps. Neither of us are very religious, but this ritual does reflect our belief in luck and superstition, to an extent. Our decisions about what to do, especially on important days like test days, aren’t always rooted in logic that can be proven.

Latin American Home Remedies

Text: 

Menthol and “The green liquid”

Context: 

Informant: “Menthol, or what Americans call Vapor rub, was a huge remedy for me as a child. My grandma would use it on me anytime I was sick, and she would put it everywhere. She’d apply it on my nostrils, chest, and back, and it always gave me a feeling of relief.“

Collector: “My parents and grandmother would do the same thing, we think that stuff can cure anything. It kind of felt icy hot when applied, and it smelled medicinal, it would also give me immediate relief.“

Informant: “Icy hot is a great way to put it, and yes it smelled herbal. And speaking of herbs, did your grandma also have this green, herb-infused liquid that she’d place on you for like good luck or good health? It looked nasty and brownish but smelled really good.“

Collector: “Yes! My cousins and I would call it the money water, but my grandma never really gave us a formal name for it.“

Analysis:

In the case of Menthol and the mystery greenish/brown liquid, we have an instance of monogenesis, the diffusion of folk to different locations. What’s interesting in this case, is that HR’s grandmother was a Christian woman, while mine was a practitioner of Santeria, a fusion of witchcraft and religion. Although they both have different belief systems, it seems they share customs and folk medicines. I am not entirely aware of the origins of the heavy use of either form of medicine in Latin America, but they mostly stem from the interaction of European faith with indigenous belief. Latin America is a colonized land, and thus a lot of its culture is a fusion of some sort. When HR mentions the herbal smell or use of herbs within Menthol and green liquid, I was immediately reminded of Indigenous cultures and their ties to herbal remedies. Native cultures are known for being highly adept to use of herbs for rituals, medicines, and even good luck. When taking a step back and considering a diachronic perspective, one can see how Indigenous culture has diffused into Latin America over time.