Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

A Monster Lives in the Sink

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/12/2012
Primary Language: English

When the informant was a little boy, his parents would have a babysitter come over to take care of him and his sister.  After the informant and his sister finished dinner, they would bring their plates to the sink to wash them.  The baybsitter would say, as they approached the sink: “A monster lives in the sink, below the drain.  Be careful!”  The informant and his sister would very carefully wash their dishes, being sure to not let their hands go near the drain.

Years later, the informant now realizes the babysitter was simply protecting him and his sister from sticking their hands into the garbage disposal.  The informant thinks this was a good way to keep him and his sister out of danger.

I would add that this superstition also tapped into many children’s fear of darkness, making it an even more effective “safety-superstition.”  The scary noise the garbage disposal makes when run is the icing on the cake.

 

 

 

So that they wouldn’t put their hands down there

Good way to keep out of danger—potential harm

The Menehune

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 72
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Kaneohe
Performance Date: 4/24/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: None

This is a Hawaiian legend dealing with the Menehune or night walkers which are small spirits.

One day a family in Hawaii decided to build a wall around their garden. After it was done the parents could see their son sitting on the wall and it looked like he was having a conversation with himself. They asked him what he was doing and he said the Menehunes or night walkers were upset because they wall stopped them from being able to walk through the garden. The Menehunes were small spirits who were known to cause problems if given a reason. Not wanting to upset the spirits the family went to a Kahuna to see what they should do. The Kahuna told them to do two things first to put salt on the four corners of the wall as a defense measure and secondly to cut a small hole in the wall for the Menehunes to walk through. The word of the Kahuna proved true as once those steps were taken the family had no further trouble from the Menehunes.

This seems to be a typical ghost story with a local twist as the Menehunes are spirits particular to Hawaii and actually were only seen post interaction with the western world. This story also features the powers of a wise person in order to keep the wrath of the spirits at bay showing that people can forestall harm to themselves if taking the proper steps. This element makes people respect the supernatural while giving them the steps to protect themselves.

Kadomatsu

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Kaneohe, Hawaii
Performance Date: 4/24/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: None

Giving a Kadomatsu for the New year

A new year tradition that exists in Hawaii is the giving of a kadomatsu. It is an arrangement of bamboo and pine that generally has the tallest piece of bamboo in the center flanked by other pieces, but this isn’t always the case. For my informant the kadumatsu were expensive and difficult to find so she did not have one every year and when she did it was something special. Having a kadumatsu by one’s door around the new year is supposed to bring good luck in the coming year. My informant said that while the tradition started out as important to her ancestors it is not something that she feels is that important anymore. In her mind the tradition is continued mainly to honor their ancestors.

 

This is a gift giving tradition in Hawaii that originated in Japan. It is hard to tell from this telling what exactly led to this tradition other than the need to celebrate the new year. Leaving it by the door probably has a connection to entering and leaving and during the new year one is leaving the old year and entering the new one.

Full Moon Craziness

The full moon makes people go crazy

My informant has heard since he was child that people go crazy on a full moon. Not everyone would go crazy but it would make the chance of encountering someone doing something crazy much more likely. People will drink too much or become stressed out and act aggressive or drive dangerously. My informant said that if he encountered a bad driver at night he would always check to see if it was a full moon because that could be the reason for it. He cannot remember where he originally heard the belief, but he said he has always grown up with it and it was treated as a fact.

The full moon comes only once a month and has always been a fairly important event. People have attached significance to those dates and it could be that because people expect others to act crazy on a full moon just makes them pay attention to events that they otherwise would just ignore as random. The belief could be true, but whether it is or not my informant said that he experienced events that made him a believer making the scientific proof of the matter not as important.

 

Annotation: This folk belief is the basis of the episode 13 “My Full Moon” in season 8 of the television series Scrubs. In this episode the doctors at the hospital have to deal with crazy patients on the night shift during a full moon.

Three to a Match

Nationality: American
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Residence: Chino Hills, California
Performance Date: 4/25/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: None

Do not have three people light a cigarette with the same match: My informant said he heard this expression originally from a family member who was a former smoker. According to this belief having a third person lighting a cigarette from the same lighter is considered bad luck. This belief stems from WWI when soldiers would light cigarettes with matches at night. When the first solider lit the match an enemy sniper could notice the group. While the second one lit his cigarette the sniper would prepare himself and aim down the sight. The third man would be the unfortunate man shot by the prepared sniper because having the third man light his cigarette gave the sniper enough time to take a shot. This belief persisted long after WWI ended and my informant said his relative continued following the rule until the relative quit.

Don’t have three people light a cigarette with one match

This story seems like it could have some truth to it, but it also seems to have been build up over the years as well. Maybe it could have led unnecessary death, but once the war was over there would be no reason to continue. However, it did showing that meaning beyond practicality was eventually assigned to the ritual. There are also factors that make the original story seem a little unlikely. For instance the first two cigarettes would still be lit and the third soldier would just have to use a different match according to the custom. This could still lead to an enemy sniper waiting for a new match, but no mention of that is made in the custom, just that 3 to a match is bad luck. Either those problems were not addressed or they weren’t deemed important enough to be part of the ritual.