Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Summer Solstice Tradition – Latvian

Nationality: Latvian
Age: 26
Occupation: Graduate Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA (Current)
Performance Date: April 25, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Latvian

Summer Solstice:

“It’s also called John’s Day – because it’s the most common name. It’s really geared towards young adults, for them to find their second half. It’s all about celebrating the sun. We stay up all night to greet the sun. At night we dance around the fire, singing songs, drinking beer, eating cheese; and then jump over the fire with man and woman—if you accidently hit the fire, and it stirs, the pictures will tell you how you would be as man and woman.”

“I learned through doing it. I learned it through family member and friends. The older people just pass it on to the younger. I think it’s a very important activity; not that it’s going to show future, but really brings the community together. If you’re brace enough to do it, it shows that you care about your culture and tradition.”

The informant is originally from Latvia but has been living in Los Angeles for more than five years. She practices Latvian Neo-Paganism. Paganism is a religion that is passed down from generation to generation through folklore, and as such it is rich in folk beliefs.

The summer solstice is an important time in the cyclic calendar, which Paganism observes. Also, the festival is meant to bring together younger couples, a characteristic typical of summer festivals. Festivals are often characterized as “not normal time” and as such “new normal” behaviors are practiced and accepted. By jumping over the fire together, they are testing what their future would be together. This is an example of sign folk magic.

Summer Solstice Tradition – Latvian

Nationality: Latvian
Age: 26
Occupation: Graduate Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA (Current)
Performance Date: April 25, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Latvian

Fern Flower

“You look for the fern flower on Summer Solstice. Young couples—man and woman—go off into the forest to find the fern flower. There is actually no such thing as a fern flower, but it might not be an actual flower because there are a lot of sexual connotations to the stuff going on during the solstice. But if you magically find it, you will have the greatest luck for your whole life. It only appears on Summer Solstice. And you can never look back when you’re looking for it because evil spirits will follow you. And when you find it, evil spirits will still try to take it from you. So when you find it, you must take a stick of wood and draw a circle around you with it while singing or just saying a folk song—I don’t remember it. But no one can come in the protective circle. It’s like Pagan religion, you either set yourself up to be afraid or not—because you can feel safe if you trust that no one can come in your circle.”

“Learned in elementary school and before school from tales and from parents and grandparents. Also from TV a little bit. Officially in school.”

“I think it’s a very nice tradition, keeps it fun. I don’t think it really acutally physically exists, but it exists as a symbol of something else—symbolizes love between man and woman. I think it’s a very important activity; not that it’s going to show future, but really brings the community together. If you’re brace enough to do it, it shows that you care about your culture and tradition.”

The informant is originally from Latvia but has been living in Los Angeles for more than five years. She practices Latvian Neo-Paganism.

Paganism is a religion that is passed down from generation to generation through folklore, and as such it is rich in folk beliefs. The summer solstice is an important time in the cyclic calendar, which Paganism observes. Also, the festival is meant to bring together younger couples, a characteristic typical of summer festivals. Festivals are often characterized as “not normal time” and as such “new normal” behaviors are practiced and accepted. These behaviors are typically a way of performing identity; in the case of the youth during the Summer Solstice, they are performing the fact that they are looking for a life partner as well as the fact that they are in a liminal phase between childhood and adulthood. Also, the connotations of the tradition can not be overlooked– flowers typically represent the feminine or virginity. Walking into the woods to find it and coming back without having found it can be seen as a reference to intercourse. This tradition also features the use of protective folk magic, for it one finds the flower, one is supposed to draw a circle around oneself.

Folk Belief – Serbian

Nationality: Serbian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA (Current)
Performance Date: April 27, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Serbian

“If you see a chimney man—sweep—you’ll have good luck.”

“There is no chimney sweep [jokingly]. There are in some in older areas. In some really old areas. It’s just like a generally known thing in Serbia.”

The informant is originally from Serbia but has been attending university in Los Angeles, CA for the past two years.

Chimney sweeps are also considered lucky in the British Isles and Germany. They are paid to attend weddings there because they are considered a sign of luck (Monger 64). Chimney sweeps are documented as signs of luck in “A Dictionary of Superstitions” in a multitude of locations, especially in London. The example presented show people exclaiming that they are in luck upon seeing a chimney sweep, dating from 1887.

Monger, George. Marriage Customs of the World: from Henna to Honeymoons. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004. Print.

Opie, Iona Archibald., and Moira Tatem. A Dictionary of Superstitions. Oxford England: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.

Joke – American

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 26, 2011
Primary Language: English

“Three blondes were driving in a car to Disneyland and they saw a sign that said Disney Left. They turned around and went home.”

“I think it’s funny. I learned it somewhere in high school. That’s pretty much it.”

The informant is a Los Angeles college student originally from Tampa, Florida. She is not blonde–she’s a brunette.

The joke is an example of blason populaire of the stereotype of blondes. Blondes are stereotypically considered dumb and this joke mocks them for that. However, unlike some blason populaire, the dumb blonde joke has become so widespread that it is okay not only for blondes to tell them, but all of society. It also uses the number three which is very important in American culture.

Indian Folk Belief

Nationality: Indian
Age: 53
Occupation: Businessman
Residence: Nashville, Tennessee
Performance Date: February 11th, 2011
Primary Language: Hindi (urdu)
Language: English

“In India, we believe mostly in homoeopathic medicine. After consulting my homeopathic doctor for many years I have picked up on several habits that we in India believe will elongate our life span. One of these includes not drinking water during a meal, only after one hour has passed since you ate your meal that you should drink water. When I asked for the reason for this, my holistic doctor explained by example. Cows, which are believed sacred in India, do not mix water with food. They eat grass as much as they want, and when an hour passes, they find their way to a water source and drink, and so they live a healthy, sacred life, and we should do the same. I follow that tradition to this day. “

I had learned this lovely folk tradition from Mr. Grewal when I had first met him. We were sitting at lunch and I was wondering what drink I should order, and consulting my friend, and his daughter, Ash. Mr. Grewal then explained to me that it is best not to drink anything at all when eating. When I asked why, he described the before mentioned tradition that he had learned from his homeopathic doctor. I found it very fascinating, especially since I had never heard of anything like it before. In fact, I decided to do some research on the matter to see if anywhere else there has been mentions of it and indeed I stumbled upon an article that described the impact of drinking during eating. The article was posted on a site named “The Reluctant Eater” and was written after an interview with Christa Orecchio who had a holistic medicine practice in San Diego. Christa explained, “’ drinking liquid during our meals dilutes our precious digestive enzymes that help us digest and absorb the nutrients in our food. Most Americans (especially if you are eating processed foods) are severely deficient in digestive enzymes which contributes to weight gain, constipation, bloating and overall low energy’”. This brings a more scientific, though still holistic, aspect to the tradition, but it still supports the fact that it exists.

Although I have never considered myself a great believer in holistic medicine, I find facts and traditions like this captivating, and I do believe that some aspects of holistic medicine definitely do work. Yet, I am still confused by the “cow example”, as I am aware of the fact that there is a significant difference from the human digestive system to that of the cow, which makes the comparison less convincing. I tend to believe that as Indian people worship this animal, the holistic doctor saw it as a good way of conveying his message, as I believe cows tend to act this way. And if he gets healthier patients, then this way of convincing them is a blessed one.

Annotation: Wanger, Ryan. “Don’t Drink Water (or Anything Else) During Meals.” The Reluctant Eater — Remember Food? 19 May 2009. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://www.thereluctanteater.com/2009/05/dont-drink-water-or-anything-else-during-meals/>.