Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Days of “Mourning” and Night

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 22
Occupation: Teaching Assistant/Undergraduate Student
Residence: Altadena, CA
Performance Date: 3/4/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish and Danish

“There are numerous methods in which diverse cultures mourn for the death of a loved one. In my culture, we have a particular method of dealing with the dead. My family mourns the death of a loved one as a community. After the death of a loved one, my family finds a place to gather and mourn for the death of the person who has passed away, typically a relative’s home. The mourning process can last days to weeks. During each day, there is a praying session followed by a gathering. The mourning process ends on the day of the funeral when everyone says their final good-bye’s.”

My informant is of Mexican descent and finds his culture’s death-related folklore to be the most interesting to him. He learns the lore of his culture primarily by remembering those that have some relation to death. He informed me about a time that he was able to use one of his culture’s folk rituals to mourn for the death of a family member. He found it interesting that his family was able to integrate this ritual into U.S. culture, where apparently, mourning rituals differ greatly. During the mourning process, family members take time off in a day to pay respects to the deceased person. He indicated that there should be no excuses for not coming unless the person was ill; however, they would have to be chronically ill. He joins in performing this type of ritual out of a sign of respect and, interestingly, as a method to cope with his own issues. The death of a family member can be very difficult to overcome. Therefore, spending time with the family provides an alternative way to deal with such tragedies. Moreover, during the time of mourning, prayers are performed to bless the body in the afterlife.

The informant learned this as a child from his mother, who introduced him to this ritual after the death of his cousin. His mother described it as a custom they performed in their hometown of Colima, Mexico. He mentioned that children don’t really understand death in a way that is positive. Rather, they find it to be horrifying. As he grew up and witnessed deaths of his own loved ones, he came to realize that mourning the way his culture did helped him become more comfortable with the event.

My take on this ritual is that I notice these types of mourning rituals to be highly used in cultures that believe in life after death. These rituals may be used to alleviate the fear and irrational emotions that comes with an unfortunate event. It can help maintain sanity for people who have to deal with these outcomes. One can observe a similar rendition of this type of death-related ritual in the Filipino culture, for example. I remember after one of my grandmothers died, we spent exactly a week after her death visiting a particular family members home. Each day of the week, there was a different event scheduled, such as an initial gathering, speaking about the positives about the deceased member, reciting chants and prayers, etc. Together, these rituals have provided a way for people to see death in a different light and as a way to acknowledge this person for the positive things about them. Hence, it can be perceived as a commemoration for that individual rather than as a time for pity.

The Aswang

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 56
Occupation: Accountant
Residence: Glendora, CA
Performance Date: 4/21/12
Primary Language: Tagalog
Language: English, Ilocano

“In the Philippines, there are three islands in the Philippines, and one of the islands, Luzon, are big believers in the Aswang. The Aswang is half vampire, half man. Man by morning, vampire by night. At night, he turns into his evil half and hunts for victims, especially children and pregnant women. You can see the Aswang if you see a half-body flying; the other half of the body stays on the ground. When it catches pregnant women, it eats the unborn child inside their stomach. This is based on an old Chinese myth. Because in China before, some emperors used to cut the stomach of pregnant women and eat their children so they can become immortal. The Aswang does this to become immortal and fully human. If you eat Filipino dumplings and ballout, it is similar to eating the unborn fetus of pregnant women. People in my province (Ilocos Norte) believe that the Aswang can be driven off from pregnant women and children by surrounding them with burnt animal horns and bagacay (bamboo). There are also ways to avoid them if you shoot a gun, wear garlic necklaces, or wear the cross (crucifix)…. Its funny because I saw it on the news, and they’re still searching for this Aswang thing. People seem to believe that it still exists.”

My informant comes from an island of the Philippines which believes largely in the Aswang myth. He heard it as a child from his parents who sought to instill fear in their children, so that they would not engage in any misconduct, such as going out at night. I recall hearing of the Aswang as a little girl from the informant during Halloween. The informant was dressed in a half vampire suit to resemble the mythological character. I had asked him to recite the piece again, and he was able to provide me the myth with a twist. That is, he told me about how it relates to a Chinese myth, which I have never heard before but found interesting. Even if he does not believe in this myth himself, he believes it serves some importance to the Filipino culture. He mentioned that there are distinct myths that are prevalent in each island of the Philippines. For instance, in Visayas, natives believe in werewolves. People of Mindanao believe in leprechauns. And people of Luzon believe in the Aswang. In a sense, the Aswang could be used to identify people based on the island they inhabit. The informant stated, “Everyone in Luzon will tell you that they know or even that they saw an Aswang.”

I found this myth and the informant’s explanation of the myth particularly compelling. It identifies with a large group of individuals, and it can help distinguish Filipino islanders based on the types of myths they associate with. Moreover, he gave a possible explanation for how the myth originated, which was thought to be from an older Chinese variant. This remarkably displays the idea that pieces of folklore can be represented in variations. The Aswang myth has become such a large part of identifying the people of Luzon as well as the Filipino culture that it has been instituted in popular culture. Movies both local and foreign have the Aswang in many horror and action films, which include Aswang (1994) , which is a foreign horror movie that features the aswang, and Maximo D. Ramos’ The Aswang Complex in Philippine Folklore (Phoenix Publications). Alternatively, having the Aswang appear on public media and forums can be used as a way for tourists who visit the islands to identify themselves with the Filipino culture, that is, by knowing their folklore.

 

 

Don’t Vacuum Past 6 p.m.!

Nationality: Salvadorian
Age: 50
Occupation: Registered Nurse/Clinical Administrator
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 4/12/12
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

“You don’t vacuum or broom after 6 p.m., because this will give you bad luck, and results in less income coming into the home.”

My informant was told this superstition as a little girl. It was supposed that females would be the ones conducting all the domestic work in the household, so this superstition was told mainly to females. She remembers sweeping her floor one evening in her home and her mother slapping the broom from her hand. Her mother is a huge believer in superstitions and avoids breaking them at all costs. She said that the family will become poor if they cleaned after six. As a result, all cleaning activities were done before sunset, and any unfinished cleaning was carried out the following morning. She continues the tradition and shares it with her family and friends, because she believes it to be a creative way to instill values about hard work.

I believed this superstition to be particularly interesting, because I thought it was ridiculous growing up. However, it could be used as a kind of way to help people avoid developing bad habits. It is analogous to procrastination, where one often does things the last minute. It could also be used in an economic way to help people understand proper work ethics, where working in a time-oriented fashion can be a more effective means to produce the most profit.

Body of Christ

Nationality: Irish/Italian
Age: 20
Occupation: student
Residence: Los Angeles, from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Performance Date: 4/18/2012
Primary Language: English

My mother was told – and believed- that if she bit the uh Eucharist wafer or whatever, it would bleed forever and that you would drown in the blood. Like it would just fill your stomach. I guess you wouldn’t drown, I don’t know what would happen if your stomach was just forever filled with blood, you’d probably get sick.

 

My informant was told this by his mother who heard it at church as a girl. What’s interesting is that this could have multiple purposes. Maybe another kid told it to her just to scare her within a religious setting as a form of children folklore backlash against an establishment and ritual associated with parents. Perhaps she was told this by an adult who believed that biting the communion wafer was disrespectful, because it represents the body of Christ and biting it might represent mutilating it, thus s/he scared my informants mother into not biting it.

 

Home remedy: Arnica

Nationality: Hispanic (product of Spanish rule in the Americas)
Age: 21
Occupation: student, front desk worker/ website translator
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/25/2012
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

My informant told me that a tea can be made from the dried leaves of arnica flowers. If you have a cut, you put that tea on it so it doesn’t get infected. You have to put it on as hot as you can bear it to make sure it will work. My informant learned this from his mother, who learned it from her mother. He said he doesn’t know what’s in it the flowers, but that it works and his mother would make it for him as a child whenever he got a cut.

Arnica flowers have yellow and orange petals and have been used medically for centuries before being incorporated into Western medicine. After doing some research, I was surprised by how many things it was used to treat. Not just external wounds, but also uterine hemorrhage, sprains, cardiac insufficiency. The flowers were native to the mountains of Russia and Europe. My informant was born in Mexico, but he is of Spanish descent, which explains why this treatment has been passed down in his family.

 

More information can be found here: http://www.herbco.com/p-1282-arnica-flower-whole.aspx