The Main Piece
In Korea it is commonly known that if you write someone’s name in red, then they will die. It does not have written in any particular way or on any particular object, but simply in red ink. The color represents the blood of the person as if one was smearing it across the canvass. She has heard several stories of incidents happening where a person has died coincidentally after their name was written in red. While the myth can not be proven to be true or not, these rumors ventilate throughout Korea, keeping people on edge and careful of what they write.
Background Information
My informant is Elizabeth Kim, a current first year undergraduate student and personal friend of mine at USC, she is also a full and third generation Korean. She states that it is because of her almost annual trips to Korea that she has heard of these various rumors, stories, and superstitions. She tells me about how she enjoys hearing these stories just as she enjoys hearing a scary story. There is the possibility that it could be real which keeps her excited. She hears it from her friends that live in Korea and sometimes even cousins or aunts members at family gatherings.
Context
I was interviewing Elizabeth towards the second semester of our freshman year outside of Parkside Apartment at USC. The setting was casual and conversation flowed easily as we discussed the folklore she knew of.
Personal Thoughts
Hearing this piece of folklore actually made me a little nervous at first. I can not count the amount of times I have written people’s names in red. In fact, I have written my own name in red hundreds of times. In elementary school teachers make you correct other students’ paperwork and write “Corrected By: ______.” However, this also makes me consider the fact that everyone dies at some point and one’s name is always being written down. So perhaps it only makes sense or perhaps just coincidence that one dies and their name is written in red.
Category Archives: Folk Beliefs
Turn The Fan Off
The Main Piece
It is common especially in Korean households for people to turn their fans off before they sleep. Despite incredibly high temperatures, there are some superstitious people who refuse to leave their fan on. Elizabeth is one of those people. She refuses to leave her fan on because she is afraid that the air circulation will cause her to die from lack of oxygen. Although she does not believe that will literally happen, she does acknowledge the supernatural world and believes “magical things could be at work and you never really know, so it’s best to be safe.” She was told from a young age that there is a chance that when one leaves the fan on, the carbon dioxide one exhales is trapped in the spinning of the fan. It is because of the accumulation of carbon dioxide Although this belief has never been scientifically proven, many people such as Elizabeth abide by this belief.
Background Information
My informant was my close friend Elizabeth Kim. She is a Korean undergraduate student, born and raised in California. Her father told her this story at an early age, and her father was told it by his parents. Although she suspects this story of simply being a way of them attempting to save electricity, she was extremely scared of not being able to breathe as a child. This childhood fear stuck with her until this present day.
Context
I first learned about Elizabeth’s hidden fear when I slept over at her house. It was extremely hot because it was during the summer, but luckily we had the fan on. When she turned it off as we were about to go to sleep I was confused as to how she could be possibly cold in this kind of heat. When I asked her to turn it back on she replied “no.” When I asked for an explanation she went on to explain the superstition and why she would rather simply just leave it off.
Personal Thoughts
When I first heard Elizabeth’s superstition I thought it would make a superb ghost story, but nothing more. At first I was upset because I was dying in the summer’s heat, but what could I do but abide by her rules. Looking back at it, I find it intriguing that a scientifically unsupported superstition such as that could have that much of an influence on my friend. For more superstitions having to do with fans and death, one can read: Why every Korean kid knows not to keep the fan on over night.
Works Cited
Lee, Kyung Jin. “Why Every Korean Kid Knows Not to Keep the Fan on over Night.” Public
Radio International. N.p., 4 Nov. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
The Banba Doll
The Main Piece
The Banba Doll, the name the Tan family has given it, is said to have the power to “affect the way your day will go. It has seven sides, one for every day of the week and you’re supposed to change its side every day.” This folk practice and object has been performed and passed down for generations. If one forgets to turn the Banma Doll, then the “Banma Doll will forget to give you your blessings.” It is also a metaphor for being sure one has all their belongings and double checking one has done everything necessary before leaving the house. Since the person was so forgetful, repercussions will come. The object has different Chinese characters on each side, each representing one day of the week. Rachel went on to state the importance of turning it over on the right day. “I’m not exactly sure why we had to turn it over on the right day, my grandmother never explained that part to us, but I remember her specifically saying that if we didn’t turn it over on the right day, then we might as well have not turned it over at all.” This action represents the idea that if one is going to do something, then they should do it right.” This is both a folk object and practice as it has been passed down from generation to generation and is a practice done daily.
Background Information
My informant is Rachel Tan, a current undergraduate student at USC. Although she has left it in her home in Singapore while she is away at college, whenever she returns home she is sure to turn the doll over. She says it has become common practice for her ever since her mom gave it to her. “I’m not sure where it all started, I just know it’s been in my family for what seems like forever and no one can seem to get rid of it.”
Context
We were discussing traveling over the summer and she brought up the fact that in her room there is the Banba Doll. I had no idea what that was so she continued to tell me more about it and the significance it held in her family.
Personal Thoughts
I found it odd for families to uphold such tedious practices with a background they were unknowledgeable on. It shows the power folk objects such as the Banba Doll can have on people. I personally would not partake in this practice, but perhaps it is because of its age and ancestry that the practice continues and I am simply unable to relate.
Golem
So this is a piece of Jewish Folklore that I learned while living in Prague. Rabbi Loew is buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Prague, which I have visited many times, and I have a statue of the Golem which I purchased at a stall outside of the cemetery. The Old-New Synagogue, built in the 13th century, still has services for the jewish community remaining in Prague. The Golem story has appeared often in literature and film, including Michael Chabon’s novel written in 2000 called “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.”
A “Golem” is a being formed on inanimate matter, magically animated into a living being. Many examples of Golems exist in Jewish folklore, including the Golem of Chelm, but the most famous is the Golem of Prague. In the 16th century, Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bazalei created a Golem to protect the Jews of Prague from antisemitism. He fashioned the creature from clay taken from the banks of the Vltava river, and animated him using rituals and incantations, and by placing a “shem,” or name written on a piece of paper into the Golem’s mouth. As long as Rabbi Loew removed the “shem” on Shabbat, putting it back at the end, the Golem would protect the Jews of Prague. Finally, the Golem became violent, and went on a rampage – there are a lot of stories as to why this happened, one being that the Golem fell in love and was rejected. However, the accepted version is that Rabbi Loew forgot to remove the “shem” on Shabbat. He was eventually able to remove the “shem,” and the Golem turned to clay. The legend goes that the Golem was placed into the attic of the Old New Synagogue, which was then locked, and there he remains. The attic is still locked, and no one is allowed up there, where the Golem rests until he is needed again.
ANALYSIS:
Coming form Jewish faith myself, I had never heard this piece of folklore before and have actually come to really appreciate it. It kind of reminds me of a piece of Indian God folklore that I once heard while traveling in India. I really enjoy folklore that has to do with magic, I think it is almost childish, but still thrilling.
Santa Lucia
The informant is a 19 year old student living in Utah. She has a rich background from Swedish family. I remembered her telling me when I was younger about this celebration and feeling jealous that she had two Christmas’s! She explains the holiday and why she feels it’s been an important part of her childhood.
- Its called Santa Lucia, but a lot of people call it Saint Lucy, and basically it happens on the 13th of December, and its been celebrated throughout Scandinavia but since were Swedish we do a Swedish version so its a little bit different. So its a Swedish holiday kind of like Christmas but a separate holiday and basically it derives from the Saint Lucia and there was a legend that she would go to the poor early in the morning and she would bring them all gifts and food, and because it was so dark (because it was winter) she would wear a crown with candles on it and she would go and just bring food and presents to the poor in Sweden. So to celebrate that, every 13th of December, the daughter of a family, if they have one, will go and bring gifts to the family or around the neighborhood, and sometimes in schools they would do it too, electing one of the girls in school to be Saint Lucy and she would bring cookies. Actually there is a specific cookie called a Pepperkakoar kind of like a gingerbread cookie that we make and eat on Santa Lucia.
- So my mom does that for us in the morning on the 13th and gets us all little gifts and makes us the cookies. And there is a special tradition with the cookies too, if you put it in the palm of your hand and you take your other hand and crack the cookie with your knuckle, and if it splits into three pieces then you get a wish, but any other pieces you don’t get a wish. And my mom taught us all how to do that and we would all do it together.
- I remember one year we didn’t do it, and it was weird that we didn’t do it. Its something that I really love and reminds me of my childhood.
ANALYSIS:
I had never heard of this holiday before the informant, a childhood friend, told me about it. The part I found most interesting is that young women Sweden actually reenact and impersonate the “Saint Lucy”. It seems similar to the way in which other cultures would do the same with Saint Nick, yet I had never really given much thought to why people do this. I think that having people act as the Saint or figure behind legends and stories helps them to feel closer to the tradition and also helps keep it alive!