Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Greek Compliments

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/30/14
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

In Greece it is customary that if you give someone a compliment you must immediately spit on them, making a sound like “p-th p-th”

My roommate is half Greek and she learned this tradition from her mother.  She explained that the spitting is to prevent the compliment from going to their head and inflating their ego.

This is interesting because it promotes a humitity above all else.  This custom illuminates a light on a culture which retains a mentality that people are ordinary and must always remember that.  This seems to be particularly strong in Greek culture where they had a theological system where gods were very similar to humans, they experiences human desires and intereacted with humans on a regular basis.  As a result people were very aware that they were less than gods, who weren’t that special to begin with, leading to a humility and a custom that exists to prevent egos from being inflated.

Ghost Captured in Photo

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, from Wisconsin
Performance Date: April 29, 2014
Primary Language: English

Informant is a theatre student at USC who was raised in Wisconsin and comes from 65% German heritage. 

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Ghost story.

This is something my mom actually experienced. There’s a little bit of backstory to it as well. She and her boyfriend went to this old lighthouse – they actually- they got lost, they were looking for something else and they found this old lighthouse. And they were just taking a whole bunch of pictures. She snapped a couple pictures, looked back at them, and was like “holy shit! I think I just caught a picture of a ghost!” and her boyfriend was like “what? No. try it again.” So she took another picture. “There’s absolutely nothing in front of-“ and you can find these pictures on her Facebook.  I can get you the link or something so you can see them. It looks like an old man. It seriously does. And it’s kinda hard to explain. Because like – it was colder outside, but she had the windows up in the car. It wasn’t a flash on the window; you would know what that was. And we don’t think it was her hair, because hair is pretty easily recognized even if it’s like “ghostly footage” or whatever – it still is pretty easy to see if it’s hair. It’s really strange. My mom does not have the skills to photoshop anything so pretty sure it’s real.  They came back the next day, asked around “is there any history with this lighthouse?” they weren’t actually supposed to be up there, so that’s a thing.  And they were like “well, I mean the owner’s wife died there – I don’t remember if she died gruesomely or not, but he – we assume it was him, the owner, that they had caught.  Or like the original owner- that they had caught on film because it was definitely – I thought it was a guy, my mom thought it was a guy.  Some other people disagreed, but I thought he had a mustache.  There were at least one, maybe two deaths there.  So we think it was probably a ghost.  And very interesting.  They asked around and they were like “yeah, she was killed there, she died there,” near the barn, or the silo or something, I don’t know.

When did you first see the pictures? 

She posted it, probably 2012.  A couple years ago.

Where were they?

I think it was at a lighthouse in Northern Wisconsin.  Kinda close to Green Bay.  You know there’s that mitten that’s kinda like up here – peninsula there.

Were you there?

No, I wasn’t.  But my mom is not one to lie, so I believe her.

How soon after the trip did you see the picture?  Did it get posted right away?

Yeah, like the day after.

My cousin kept trying to debunk it, and my mom kept throwing up roadblocks, so there really isn’t an explanation we can think about.

Is your mother a superstitious person?

Sort of, not majorly.  She’s kinda like me, where she’s not the most superstitious, but sometimes there’ll just be those moments where you like “holy crap” and you freak out.  She’s religious, so if you count that as a superstition – with some people, my sister, do – then I then I guess.

[Informant discovers the photo and shares it]

It’s like hair is the only thing it can possibly be,  but there such a clear face in there.  It’s not in any other picture and she snapped the first two in one go. So if her hair fell over the lens it would have had to do it like super quick.  Once you get down into this area it’s very much so a face.  I don’t know what to believe.

Got any other pictures?

Not of him.  That’s the only one where it appeared.  This is where they were – the Sherwood Point lighthouse.  It’s actually a coast guard owned building now, so I think they weren’t supposed to be up there.

Pretty neat, right? My family’s one and only ghost story.

Did that picture in any way affect your level of belief in ghosts? 

I think I’ve always really believed in them. Not so much in the “Ooh, something’s haunting me” kind of way, But I think that there’s definitely a level of anger that someone can hold towards something that’ll keep around.  I don’t know, I’m a little superstitious. When I was a kid, my sister used to tell me “When you go under bridges, you have to hold your hands up, and when you go over bridges, you have to lift your legs up. When you go past a graveyard, you have to hold your breath” – you know, things like that. So I used to do that as a kid. Now I don’t anymore but there’s a little part of me that’s like whenever I go under a bridge that’s what I think. Whenever I go by a graveyard I involuntarily take a deeper breath, and I’m like “I didn’t need to do that,” but I still do it.

Actually, you know what? I am totally superstitious. I walked past a crow the other day, it was right in front of me, it seemed super chill for a crow. It just kinda looked at me and was like “’Sup,” and kept going.  I freaked out, ‘cause I thought that was super meaningful. And I went and did a whole bunch of research on crow symbolism.

—

 

Informant did not have a direct memorate but rather gave a second-hand account (given that they weren’t there, and it was their mother’s story). The story still had an effect on them and they were quite sure the photo contained a ghost.

Burning Sage – Ghost Protection

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Sorority house? Los Angeles. From Oregon and Washington.
Performance Date: April 30, 2014
Primary Language: English

Informant is a student at USC. Theatre major, girl, brunette, an older sister, a cat mother, a child of divorced parents, and a resident of multiple states – CA, OR, WA, TX.

—

You said you wanted to share ghost stories. Have you had any personal –

No. Luckily, no. It’s like my biggest phobia, is ghosts. But my mom and my sister have seen them.  So I believe in them, because they wouldn’t lie to me. So, basically – our last house in Oregon was haunted. And I didn’t even know it until after we moved out, and they were like “By the way, it was haunted.” There was a ghost in my room. And in my mom’s room. And, they were really mean.

And they were really mean?

They were mischievous, as my mom puts it. But – that means mean to me. ‘Cause I don’t like pranks. And I don’t like ghosts playing pranks on me. So, basically, it was terrifying. For this newest house – in Texas – I made my mom – before I showed up, we had to burn sage around the house. And then when I got there we burned more sage. And we’re gonna have a preacher bless the house and everything. Basically anything to get rid of the ghosts.

What is this thing with the sage?

Supposedly when you burn sage around the house, in like – definitely in the corners, and you say positive things, like “Go away ghosts, this is a peaceful home,” it convinces them to go away. It also smells really bad. And then your entire clothes smell like you’ve been smoking cigarettes. But also, you can do that – and then you – it’s basically in the corners, and around windows, and door handles. Just so they can’t get through. It makes ghosts stay away. Or you can have a preacher bless the house and get rid of ghosts. Or I think you can burn oil on the door handles as well too.

Why in the corners?

I don’t know, maybe they can hide in corners.

Aren’t they supposed to be able to go through walls?

I try not to think about that. We just basically ran it all the way around the room. And said positive things, like “Go away ghosts.”

That’s a positive thing?

“This is not a good home for you? We’re too nice of people?” I don’t know. We got rid of the ghosts. That’s all I care about.

How did you learn about this ritual?

Mmmm, my mom’s friend knew about it. I think it’s just like – I feel like it’s an old wives’ tale kind of thing? But I don’t know – I had never heard it before. It was just something that I was told from my mom, who heard it from a friend.

Did you make your mother do it, or…?

I just freaked out enough so that she decided to do it. ‘Cause otherwise I wasn’t gonna visit her.

And then you did it together.

Yes.

And you felt better about going in the place.

Yes.

There’ve been rumors of any hauntings of the place? Or was it just a precaution?

Not yet. Just a precaution. And I think in Texas you have to – before you can buy or rent a house, you have to say whether someone’s died in that house before. It’s not a law in Oregon, but I think in California and Texas and some other places it is. So no one’s died in the house, but I mean I was a little afraid because apparently the owner’s wife died – not in that house, so, y’know, just a precaution.

 

—

Informant took part in a ritual to lay her fears at rest, because her belief in ghosts was threatening to interfere with her relationship to her mother. Informant recognized the irrationality of her behavior, early on using the term “phobia.”  Informant was a folkloric poster child! “I believe in [ghosts], because [my family] wouldn’t lie to me.” “This was something I heard from my mom who heard it from a friend.” Awesome.

Green Man of Portland

Nationality: American
Age: 25
Residence: Washington / Oregon
Performance Date: May 1 2014
Primary Language: English

Informant grew up and lives in a town neighboring Portland, OR. He now often travels for work, but has and continues to spend time in the titled city when possible. He has a degree in architecture and currently works as a surveyor’s assistant. He likes British television shows, reading, and exploring Portland’s restaurants.

 

—

 

There exists a thing called The Green Man of Portland. It is in the Old Town area, and you can buy paraphernalia of the guy.

The informant previously thought it was like the area’s own private bigfoot and never knew the full details, but the idea is that you perpetuate it yourself.

The informant recalls, “My personal story is that I came to this spot, having not known about the whole Green Man thing for quite some time, and followed the circuit telling the whole story of the Green Man down 5th and 6th Avenue. And then participated in an even smaller tradition of getting a small Green Man knick-knack and hiding it in the area so that someone later can ‘discover,’ or have a sighting of the green man.”

“You can get ‘I have seen the green man’ items, or little sculptures you can hide so others can find the green man around Portland. I have hidden one. I don’t know if someone found it, but I have to imagine they did since it was still in downtown – that’s part of the charm, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leave a memento not to be found by you, and pass it off to somebody else.”

The informant has not since found a green man that others have hidden.

 

After checking up on the story, the informant found this description:

The legend goes like this: ever since Portland’s founding there have been sightings of small green archers. Whenever the archer hits someone her vision changes: flowers grow from the heads of passerby, a building called “The Greenwood” appears where there was no building before, and a giant tree towers over the city. On certain nights a great white celestial stag is spied in the skies over Portland. The piece has two components. There are two sculpture and eight “story markers” told as a poem over ten blocks of Old Town and Chinatown. The images in the panels combine the visual language of seventies horror comics and WPA posters. Pedestrians and riders come upon the story in fragments based on their routes through the neighborhood. The neighborhood has a layered, rich history. The legend encompasses all the varied, transitory communities that call that neighborhood home.

 

And here is a picture of the Green Man sculpture that the informant went to see:

 

 

—

 

Upon further investigation, this shows to be a piece of fakelore – the conception of the story and the placing of the markers downtown is somewhat recent and by a particular artist. But it is working its way into the local folklore – the markers are becoming places of interest, and there is a built tradition of a form of hide-and-maybe-seek (with these objects) that visitors can participate in. Based on the kind of community that exists in Portland, I’m guessing there are already people who like to believe in the story at least a little bit. It fits in well with the eco-conscious attitude of the area.

Softball Ritual

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 29, 2014
Primary Language: English

Informant’s self-description: “Both my parents were born in Canada but both my parents on either my mom or my dads side were born in China or in Wales so I identify pretty equally with both of those cultural backgrounds. Even though I didn’t really get a chance to get to know any of my grandparents because they died when I was very little. So I don’t really know that much of the cultural background from those sides but I would like to explore it sometime. Mostly just Canadian though. Born and raised. Very Canadian. Obnoxiously so.

“I do a lot of sports. I grew up playing – my mom wouldn’t let me. I tried to play hockey but she wouldn’t let me. She told me my brain hadn’t finished growing and I would damage it by falling down skating on the ice. And I could start playing when I was twelve. But the thing is is that by the time you’re twelve, you’re already so far behind on the skating skills that catching up then becomes a mess and its not even worth starting, which she probably knew. So I never played hockey. I played soccer and softball and volleyball growing up and I did gymnastics for a while until my mom made me pick between that and soccer. I chose soccer. I’m also into fandom culture and general nerdiness. I’m in the cinema fraternity at USC. Also a social sorority somehow. I don’t know how that happened. ”

—

Are there any rituals among your sports things that you took part in and continued?

Softball and baseball are very superstitious sports, not sure how much of that you’re aware of. But some of the general ones including not stepping on the chalk when you’re starting a game – in the on deck circle and the batters box, ‘til the game starts you don’t step on the chalk. And then in tournaments once you slide or get your uniform dirty, it’s lucky dirt – you can’t wash your uniform. Some people take it to the point where they can’t wash their socks either, between days of the tournament. Which is kind of gross. Like after you play five games in one day and then you go to play five games the next day. But usually our team would change the color of the socks we were wearing so that you could wear different ones. ‘Cause they stank.

Did that happen to you where you couldn’t wash your uniform?

I generally subscribe to the belief that it was unlucky to wash my uniform. Yeah, It’s like a lot of smaller rituals. I wouldn’t say there’s a big one but probably the not-washing-the-uniforms is the biggest one.  But also stepping into the batters box the same way each time, like when you’re sitting up in the field – or I used to be a pitcher, so when I was standing up to pitch it would be the exact same motion every time. Which is kind of a muscle-memory comfort thing.

Talk about one of them in particular. Which one did you ascribe the most to?

Aside from not washing the uniform between games, I think the biggest one would be the batters box. [Informant demonstrates] I’d always sort of scrape the dirt up, of the box and sort of make sure I”d have – with my cleats and make sure it was a nice flat surface. And then I would go like – back foot in first, then touch the far side  – the outside of the plate with  the end of the bat. Front foot in, and sort of dig myself in, set up, put my bat out – and get into batting stance. And I would do that every time and then sometimes when I would step  out, I would knock off the dirt between my cleats with my bat. And I would feel weird if I didn’t do it for whatever reason.

Did someone tell you about this ritual? Where did you first hear about it? Do you remember?

Most of the players have a sort of getting-in-the-box ritual that they have, that’s different from player to player. A lot of it is just from watching the national teams play when I was little or watching the professional league – like you’d want to emulate your favorite players. So you’d kind of adopt what they did stepping into the box until it became your own habit, and then you’d adapt them a little bit as you got more comfortable with your own batting style. So I’d say it definitely – from players on team Canada that I would admire growing up. I have no idea where they got it from.

Did you ever talk about that to your teammates?

A couple times. We’d always say like, “yeah I always” or “[Name A] always taps her helmet when she gets in the box.” Or “oh, you always do that when you get in the box.” “Yup, it’s weird if I don’t” A lot of us who took the sport more seriously would discuss our weird little habits on the field that we always do – like [Name B] always spits in her glove, and she has this old batting glove that has holes in it and smells like rancid manure but she doesn’t throw it out because it’s her lucky batting glove, even though it’s mostly just a strap of a glove now ’cause it’s so worn down – like all of the – like the entire palm is gone but she still wears it in her glove. And then [Name C]  always twirls her bat when she steps into the batting box even though it looks kind of dumb. But she can’t stop at this point. It’s definitely something we talk about.

You said you do it as a comfort thing. Does it get you prepared, mentally?

Yes? I’m not sure if the action itself gets me mentally prepared – it’s more like the absence of the action makes me feel unprepared.

—

 

Was not able to take video, but the demonstration of the batters box movement was very specific. Informant described each part as they did it.