Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

White Nail Markings in Bangladesh

Nationality: Bangladeshi-American
Age: 19
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Atlanta, GA
Performance Date: April 20, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Bengali

My informant is the daughter of immigrants from Bangladesh. She told me about a folk belief from when her mother was a teenage girl in her home country.

Occasionally, one will find small white marks on their nails. According to this folk belief, this mark appearing on a girl’s nail means that she will receive a new dress. This has particular significance around the Muslim holiday of Eid, where it is customary to wear many new outfits when visiting different relatives. This is also significant in Bangladesh because there is more widespread poverty and new dresses are more difficult to come by. Because of these reasons, young girls in my informant’s mother’s neighborhood would become ecstatic when they discovered white markings on their nails.

This is interesting to think about when learning of the scientific reasoning behind these white markings, because all they indicate is that there was previous injury to the nail bed. However, folk beliefs are often used to explain things that are not widely understood, and most people are not aware of the true meaning of these marks.

Lucky Finger

Nationality: Bangladeshi-American
Age: 19
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Atlanta, GA
Performance Date: April 20, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Bengali

My informant is the daughter of immigrants from Bangladesh.

A common belief in Bangladesh is that if a person is born with a sixth finger, they are considered to be a lucky person. If they are born with six fingers on both hands, then they are extremely lucky and blessed with a good life. My informant’s mother had a friend while growing up in Bangladesh who had an extra finger, and she recalls everyone mentioning this girl in conversations as having a lucky charm.

Interestingly, this belief is not specific to just Bangladesh. I have a close friend whose family is from India, and her mother has six fingers on both hands. Her nickname growing up in India was “Lucky”, and she was frequently told as a child that it was a great blessing to have these extra fingers.

Considering the fact that Bangladesh has only been around for a couple of decades, and that it was created as a haven for Indian Muslims, it is not surprising that there are shared cultural beliefs between the two nations.

Romanian Bear Dance

Nationality: Romanian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Riverside, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Romanian

My informant is the daughter of Romanian immigrants. She has spent much of her childhood visiting relatives in Romania, in an area that she describes as “Romanian hick country”.

There is a traditional Romanian dance known simply as the Bear Dance, in which Romanian men dress themselves in real bear skins and dance through the streets of their town. This tradition takes place some time between Christmas and the new year, as a way to ward off evil spirits and welcome in a safe and prosperous new year. Everyone in the town comes out and watches this dance, even though it is the dead of winter and freezing cold. Romanian winters are similar to Russian winters, and these people are not dressed in the heaviest of clothing. My informant speculates that this was most likely a pagan celebration that has over time become “Christianized” as a holiday ritual.

I’m curious as to how these people acquire so many bear skins – I asked my informant and she admitted that she had no idea.

Romanian Superstition

Nationality: Romanian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Riverside, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Romanian

My informant is the daughter of Romanian immigrants. She shared with me a superstition that he heard from her mother.

According to my informant’s mother, if you’re sewing something, you need to keep a string in your mouth. Otherwise, evil spirits will sew your mouth shut, Alternatively, you could lose your wits and become stupid.

I can relate to the entirely unfounded feeling of security found in these practices while performing tasks like sewing. It reminds me of the discomfort I feel when I am performing a task that could go badly, and I do some strange unrelated gesture that convinces me that I am protected from this bad outcome.

Bizarre Elementary School Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Seattle, WA
Performance Date: April 26, 2017
Primary Language: English

My informant went to an elementary school in Seattle, and she told me about a very bizarre yet fascinating belief and tradition that was specific to her school. Here is a transcription of our conversation:

Informant: “So, my elementary school building is like really big, it’s like this old brick building.”

Me: “And what’s the name of your elementary school?”

Informant: “It’s called McGilvra Elementary School. And, uh, it’s like a few blocks from my house. And, it has like a really giant attic with really high ceilings, and there’s like this one door on the top floor where the fifth graders’ classrooms are that leads to the attic that’s always closed. And there is like… this very mysterious door that the fifth graders would always talk about a lot. And so every year the fifth graders would get to go on a tour of the attic, and every time someone went up there, uh, there is this plastic mannequin leg that is super glued to the floor in the middle of this giant attic. And it’s like, this giant attic- it’s a giant attic but it has one thing in it which is this plastic mannequin leg.”

Me: “What is the significance of this plastic mannequin leg?”

Informant: “And so they tell all the fifth graders every year: ‘This is the leg of our founder of our school, Mr. McGilvra. And, uh, Mr. McGilvra haunts the school and if you go into the attic, uh, by yourself without permission he will take your leg and super glue it to the floor.'”

This particular story is so bizarre but so hilarious to me, and I appreciate the fact that no matter how outlandish it might seem, elementary school kids will develop their own folk beliefs around their school and take them completely seriously.