Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Soccer: End Game Thanking

Nationality: Brazilian-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

My informant stated that after his previous American coach had left, his soccer team received a new British coach that added a new ritual at the end of a game win or lose.

My informant states:

“My senior year of high school, we got a new head coach who was British. He did a lot of stuff differently than any coach I ever had. One thing that he specifically made us do was line up as a team and run the field width wise to thank every one who came to support us after the game was over. It was simply to show our gratitude to the people who came out to watch us play. I had never done anything like this with any of my previous American coaches, so it was very interesting that this was so important to my English coach. He said it was important that we thanked our fans as they came out to watch us even if we lost or won and to remember who we were playing for. This really struck me as an important ritual after, because I remember some games were not even worth watching. As a captain, my senior year, I reiterated this ritual to the younger players on my team, who had also never done such a thing. What is also interesting is that in the English Premier Leagues and even the German Bundesliga Leagues, some of the teams do a similar thing.”

My informant stated that he believed this ritual showed the difference between American and European cultures. He stated that in England, he believes that soccer is considered a gentleman’s sport, thus the players should act classy and such. He also stated that support is very important in England and that the fans break or make the team.

My analysis of this is that it was a important ritual to the coach, that he spread and wanted to continually spread throughout his regime as a coach. The fact that my informant bought in showed how important this was to both the coach and the players. It was also interestingly a ritual that became important to the players that it even hindered the game experience as my informant states that he hated to do it when he lost, thus this pushed the players to try and win.

Legend of Blackstar Canyon

Nationality: Caucasian- American
Age: 27
Occupation: Student
Residence: Irvine, CA
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English
The Warning Sign

This sign warns individuals that the county is not held responsible.

My informant tells me that there is a very eerie hiking path within a canyon in the city of Orange. This canyon warns it entrants that the area is not maintained by the city and also the government is not responsible for any injuries or loss that occurs in this place. He states that this was a local spot to hang out in during high school, to either go do drugs or go and get scared. My informant states that kids in high school would take flashlights and cameras, to go and take pictures of the haunted landmarks while night-hiking.

The landmarks that are known are the haunted tree, overturned bus, the forsaken campsite, and also man known as Blackstar Bill. The haunted tree is supposedly haunted by the ghost of many unfortunate people that were punished with nooses there by white supremacists. These ghosts are miserable and angry and if you do something disrespectful to the tree, ghosts will appears. My informant stated that his friend decided to urinate on the tree and they heard noises, thus they ran away as fast as they could. The overturned buss is another landmark that is known for being haunted, as children died there unfortunately as the bus driver loss control. The forsaken campsite is known to be a very eerie-looking campsite that looks like it has been left alone for a long time. Supposedly there are very insane people that live at this campsite that are the remnants of an abandoned mental institution. There also is reasoning that this campsite is home to Satanists and White Supremacists who meet here. Lastly Blackstar Bill is a deranged mountain man that lives within a cabin in the woods. He will shoot at you with no regard for human life and will state that you are trespassing on his property, thus he has the right to kill you. These are the landmarks that kids usually try to get to a night and take pictures of. My informant states that he once went there and saw odd red eyes within the overturned bus and never has gone back. He also states that there are signs along the hiking trail that state that police will not help you beyond these points.

My informant states that the Legend of Blackstar Canyon is still prevalent within many Orange County high schools. He states that he told his younger brother about this myth and that he already knew about and also ventured there before.

This definitely is a legend quest that offers high school kids on a boring night a thrill. What is interesting is that the landmarks are shared by many different high schools, yet with different stories at some parts. An example of this would be the haunted tree; instead of summoning a ghost when you anger the tree, another version is that you summon a very demonic creature that resembles a chupacabra. This could possibly be a latino spin on the legend, but this demonstrates how legends change for different people. What makes this a legend is the fact that there have been sightings of Blackstar Bill by many people. However the meeting site for occultists cannot be proven. Either way high school kids perform this ritual to state that they have been there and survived. It is basically a rite of passage for these high school kids, once they can drive and get there.

Cigarette Ritual

Nationality: Japanese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

My informant states that he and his close friends share the practice of choosing a cigarette in a freshly purchased pack of cigarettes and flipping it over, so that out of all the cigarettes that have the butt sticking out, there is one odd white one. This supposed cigarette that is odd one out is a lucky cigarette. My informant states that he always save this cigarette for a bad day and once he smokes it he will either have a good day or a great night. But the one catch is that the buyer of the pack cannot choose the lucky cigarette, a friend must always be at the time you purchase a new pack and also choose it at the point to get the luck charm.

My informant believes in this whole-heartedly and thus tells this to all of his friends and makes sure that they follow the rules and also reap the benefits of this superstition. He states that he was told about this through his older friend, when he bought a pack of cigarettes for the first time.

This is an interesting piece of folklore, as it is a fun practice for such a bad habit. I believe whoever started this piece of folklore was trying shed a positive light on smoking cigarettes. It is also an interesting ritual started by visuals as the image of a cigarette just being the odd one out in a pack of cigarettes is like finding a four-leaf clover in grass. The visual of picking a certain “blessed object” appeals to people to brighten up their day.

The Meaning of Greens

Nationality: Japanese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2012
Primary Language: English

This piece of folklore is actually a custom among Marijuana smokers. This custom states that whenever it is someone’s first time smoking that they get to “greens.” Greens is basically a name for a custom where a person gets to light the marijuana first whether it be in a pipe or a rolled up joint. My informant states that he heard this through his friend who is a big fan of marijuana. He states that offering the person who either put the weed in the pipe or rolled a joint is a huge deal and demonstrates a large amount of respect for the person that did the tasks.

He states that greens is important to smokers as it demonstrates their kindness and also is a common courtesy for guests when the smoke for the first time or smoke with the group for the first time. He states that it is comparable to offering someone a drink of water when they enter your home. He also states that by explaining greens and passing it on, that everyone now is a part of it and keeps the cycle going.

I think this is a very interesting piece of folklore due to the stereotypes users of marijuana have in our culture. They are known as lazy and selfish people, yet this illustration demonstrates that friendship and courtesy that there is in smoking. It is also interesting that the drug culture always seem to have rituals or ways of order to not mess something up. It basically proves that among drug users that there is a personal courtesy or secrecy among them, thus users can decipher first timers from consistent users easily. For example if a first-timer did not offer greens or did not know what greens was.

Smacking for Luck–Magic and Football

Nationality: Italian-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Park Ridge, Illinois
Performance Date: April 19, 2012
Primary Language: English

“Outside the Loyola Academy locker room, in the hallway, they have one of those motivational signs that saya, you know, ‘Play Like a Rambler Today’ (the Rambler is the football team name) and it was just put up there in the locker room, but kids took to pounding it as they walked out before the game. When we walked in the hallway, there was the sign at the end. No one would think about going by it without smacking it. If you all smacked the poster, then the game was going to go well. If you didn’t, well…”

 

This practice probably started as one player just deciding to smack the poster once for fun and then being mimicked by the other players on the team. However, it has since evolved into a form of folk magic. By smacking the poster, the players are hoping that their opponents will also be smacked down. Because so much of the outcome of a football game is the result of chance (if the wind was blowing right at the right moment, if a player was left unguarded at the perfect opportunity to score, etc), the use of folk magic allows the players to act as though they have control over these moments of chance. If the entire Loyola Academy team smacks the poster, they have ensured that those moments of chance in the game will go well for them. It also provides them with a scapegoat in the event that the game does not go well. “Well, x wasn’t here today, so he didn’t smack the poster. That’s why we lost.” Any failure on the field, whether it was something that the players could have controlled or not, is now attributed to whether the poster was smacked by the whole team. It releases the team as a whole from blame and culpability.