Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Baba Yaga (Campfire edition)

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 25
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/22/15
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

This was a story that my informant heard while he was on a camping trip with his friends near Los Angeles. Rather than telling scary stories, which was the usual tradition, the theme was just interesting stories that they found interesting that someone told them.

Once there was a Russian witch named Baba Yaga. She had a house in the middle of the forest on stilts with chicken feet attached to them. One time, an orphan bot was wandering in the forest and he saw this house. He opened the gate and it creaked. Then he saw Baba Yaga who caught him and put him in a cage so she could eat him. Then he came across a hungry cat who asked “Can you feed me?” When the orphan boy does that, the cat becomes satisfied and asks him for anything he wished. The boy asked if he could open the lock. So the cat did. Then while he is running to freedom, he comes across a rug which seemed very dusty. He decided to dust it since Baba Yaga was nowhere in sight. At this moment, the carpet comes to life, thanks the boy and flies away. The boy, too terrified about Baba Yaga, decided to keep running to the gate. On his way, he decided to grab a stick of butter, thinking that it might come in handy at a later time. When he reached the gate, he realizes the gates were creaky so he decided to oil them. The gate also comes to life, thanks the boy, and allows him to go out. But on his way out, he encounters Baba Yaga coming out of the forest. Her teeth glistened in the sun and at the reflection she started to chase the orphan on her flying broomstick. But the carpet comes back and aids the boy, who gets on his back, and flies across a lake. Baba Yaga, being unable to control her broom, falls into the water and melts. But she somehow manages to revive through remolding herself at the lake’s edge. But by that time the boy had already ran far enough that she couldn’t chase him. She shook her fist then went back in the forest.

Analysis

The story seems like a regular campfire story, which implies that there are some exaggerations and changes involved in the story. The story seems to be based off the Russian folktale of Baba Yaga, which can be found here (http://www.jstor.org/stable/1497406). But in this version, there seems to be some other stories mixed in. For example, the flying carpet can be traced to an Arabian origin, while the three trials was an addition from Propp. But there also seems to be some additions from the original tale, like the forest and her cannibalism. Nevertheless, this story seems to have a mixed origin and reflects a garbled story which is told at a campfire for entertainment.

Waking up the Dead

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hawaii
Performance Date: 04/21/15
Primary Language: English

The informant was a high school classmate that graduated the same year as me and also is studying at USC. We met up for a snack at one of the cafes on campus and, then sat outside to catch up and exchange news and stories.

Informant

Specifically in Hawaii, you are not supposed whistle at night or walk on your knees at night. Supposedly, when you whistle, you are calling the dead, and if you walk on your knees, it is like walking on the bones and spirits of the dead and waking them up.

The informant learned these two superstitions from a close friend, N, who is very superstitious, and tells her all sorts of myths and legends relating to Hawaii, as well as things to watch out for or to not do.

The informant herself doesn’t completely buy into the superstitions, and has even whistled at night or walked on her knees at night and nothing bad has happened. People who are very religious, superstitious, or carry strong ancient beliefs, are more likely to take heed.

Background & Analysis

The informant was born and raised in Waimea town on the Big Island of Hawaii. N is a very close friend who is native Hawaiian, and her family is very traditional. Many of the stories and superstitions passed down through N’s family were shared with the informant over the years.

Even though I was raised in Hawaii, I had never heard of these two particular superstitions, so I was very excited when the informant shared them with me. In Hawaiian culture, there is a strong belief in ethereal spirits, especially evil or vengeful ones. These are probably just another two of many superstitions about the dead and the afterlife in Hawaii.

The Dove

Nationality: American
Age: 54
Occupation: business litigator
Residence: Illinois, USA
Performance Date: April 12, 2015
Primary Language: English

When my mom died, you know, she died of cancer at home. And all of us kids were home…and she died early in the morning. Aunt Pat was screaming and we were all really upset.

But we all went outside together. And there was this uh, these tracks, this railroad, between the yards and we sat on them. All my brothers and sisters were out there.

And we looked up at the roof of our house and there was a white dove. It just sat there on top of the house.

It was a sign, you know, that she had risen…if you look up the significance of doves, you know, they mean, uh, Resurrection and life.

And that really stuck in our minds as a sign that we was watching over our house…she was okay.

It’s sad, but it’s happy, you know.

It meant that our mother was, a sign, you know that even though she had died she was living on and watching over us. Kind of like an angel…she was still there.

Why do you think we retell this story?

It actually was very comforting. It was weird, uh, we’d never seen anything like that. Just a beautiful bird just perched on the peak of our roof.

It’s true, too.

I’ll try to that for you when I die (laughs).

context: 

I went home for Easter and the informant, my father, delivered this one on one.

thoughts:

I had heard this story before, because their mom died when they were all very young, years before I was born, and they (my informant/father and his siblings) tell and retell stories about her to preserve her memory, often speaking of her like people describe saints. This is a good example of that, as she sent down the dove as a sign and his emphasis on the truth of this story.

The Loch Ness monster!

Nationality: American
Age: 49
Occupation: executive assistant
Residence: Santa Monica, CA
Performance Date: 2/16/15
Primary Language: English

“The Loch Ness monster! He’s the creature that lives in the depths of Loch Ness, Scotland. Uh, we think we saw him when we were young. Um, and it’s really and it’s in a loch, and it’s really deep, and it’s um, hazy and fuzzy and stuff, so it seems like there’s creatures all around, and they saw that her name is Nessie.”

 

The informant is an American woman, born in California. She grew up there for the first 10 years of her life, then moved to Belgium when her father was stationed there, and stayed there for 6th through 8th grade. She stayed in an American neighborhood, but there was still interactions with European culture, and her family would take frequent trips to the nearby countries.

 

The story was provided after asking after urban legends that the informant believed in, or has perhaps even encountered at some point in her life.

 

The Loch Ness monster is one of the more infamous legends known internationally, comparable to the Chupacabra or the Yeti. Most people know at least of the monster, that some serpent, dinosaur-like creature who lives in a very deep, very murky lake in Scotland. Commonly referred to as “Nessie,” she is Scotland’s national urban legend. There are festivals related to the monster, t-shirts and knickknacks for the tourists who come trying to see the monster. The Scottish are very defensive of Nessie and a large percentage of the population believes that she exists.

There are also those who kind of believe in the legend, but with a twist. She is a common source of conspiracy theories. mostly that the government is testing submarines in the lake or something similar. For them, this is a more believable explanation than a primordial monster. Regardless of what the creature actually is, many people believe that something exists beneath the waters of Loch Ness.

The informant is one such person. She likely had heard stories about the monster when she was growing up, and when she went to the lake in Scotland, she was looking for the creature. So, whenever she saw something even vaguely resembling the monster, she was convinced that that is what she was seeing. Or she did see the creature. That’s the thing about urban legends—they might very well be true. As the informant says, the lake is very murky. It is located deep within the mountains of Scotland, a place that seems magical, where everything could be possible. There could be all sorts of wonderful creatures hidden in that lake. It is certainly possible that Nessie exists.

 

For another version of this story, please see: “Legend of Nessie.” The Ultimate Loch Ness Monster Site. Web. 30 April 2015. <http://www.nessie.co.uk.>

Cooking with Eggs

Nationality: Guatamalan
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/15/15
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

If you have a mole in your eye and you look at a dish that involves eggs while it’s being made, it won’t turn out well, especially when the recipe involves stew. The possible accidents can range from the egg popping to the stew ending up going bad.

Analysis: This is a type of contagious magic that my informant’s family believes. My informant actually does have a mole in his eye and this actually occurred multiple times. He believes the mole came from his mother’s side and that all these incidents are actually coincidences. However, whenever an egg stew is being made, his family tells him specifically to get out of the kitchen. I think these are also coincidences, since I’m sure the recipe has gone wrong more than once when the informant was not in the kitchen. The informant was never told how having a mole could mess up the recipe, so this seems to be without evidence.