Roxana told me she heard this Magical Superstition from her Mother when she was quite young. She was playing with compact mirrors at the time, so Roxana estimates she was about seven when she first heard this superstition in her home in Orange County, California.
She says, So I was young and sitting in the living room and it was really sunny. I had a compact mirror in my hand, one of those stupid toy princess ones and I was playing with it in the room, making reflections with the mirror on the walls. And she said, Dont do that. When I was little I did that and someone told me not to do that, because if you reflect the sun with the mirror, then your father will die a week later. And a week later my Dad died. So then I got freaked out because her dad Did die, you know? So I got freaked out and stopped.
Now, Roxana says if shes standing by a window with the sun coming through it, shell stand facing the sun so the mirror isnt reflecting the suns light. I believe being told this superstition at such a young age makes it hard for her not to believe it now, whereas those of us who have never heard this superstition will likely find it hard to believe in. I also believe the severity of the impact upon Roxanas family her grandfather dying a short time after her mother was seen reflecting the sunlight and chastised for doing so as connected to this piece of folklore makes it difficult for Roxana to simply disregard the action.
Category Archives: Folk Beliefs
Persian Evil Eye Protection Superstition
Roxana cant even remember the age at which she learned about the Evil Eye and how to combat it, but she is certain she learned this folklore protection superstition from her parents when she was growing up in Orange County, California. She believes both her parents learned their techniques to rid the Evil Eye from their own Persian parents, and passed the knowledge down to her. The context in which this folklore is performed, Roxana says, is, If my Mom hears people complimenting me, shell burn esfand for me so I dont get [evil eye]. Like when I broke out freshman year, she said, People have jinxed you. Theyve looked at you with evil eye, with jealousy, so bad fortune has come onto you. This is what shell do to prevent it. Literally, when bad things happen to me, she says, its the evil eye Although her parents have been warning her about the Evil Eye since she was a young child, she recalls an incident that occurred in 2007, when she was 18 and had just gotten into college. Roxana remembers, We went to a family party, and I saw a bunch of people I hadnt seen in a couple months. They did their usual, Oh Roxana, you look beautiful, youre such a nice girl, youre in college, youre going to be so successful. Then we go home, and my mom turns on the oven and puts on esfand – its like an herb that smokes a lot – and she says, Come here, and started waving all the smoke in my face. And she says, They jinxed you at the party. This will take away all the chemsh (evil eye). Roxana says she believes in the power of the Evil Eye, and incorporates it into much of her art. Although this is a tradition that has never been a part of my life, I see why Roxana and so many people believe in the power of this folklore performance to take away bad vibes. I believe that bad mojo and jealously from others can indirectly interfere with ones own personal goals and good intentions, so I can appreciate the action of using smoke and herbs to force the negativity away. Annotation: This Evil Eye Purification Ceremony is also seen documented in Living Tradition of Irans Crafts, a book published in 1979 by Jasleen Dhamija.
Mexican Folk Remedy- Stomachaches
The informant is a 47-year old civil engineer working in California, originally from Michoacán, Mexico. He lived a modest life as a young adult, studying to be an engineer. He then moved to the United States with his wife to raise their family and make his career. He primarily speaks Spanish with English as a second language. He shall be referred to as JB.
JB states that in his household, spongy bread served medicinal purposes. For a stomachache, the spongy, inner part of a French roll was soaked in rubbing alcohol, then rubbed and place on the childs stomach.
JB notes that his household, while not wealthy, was better off than some other families. Most of his neighbors could not afford bread. Thus, particularly in comparison to the other folk remedies in this collection, this presents a group of people taking advantage of resources at hand. While this family also did not come from outstanding means, they did indulge in a luxury they could enjoy (bread). This may have been a way of demonstrating their relative wealth, while still taking full advantage of humble resources. I expect that as JB grew up in a Catholic community, there was a willingness to take part in practices that didnt appear to make any scientific sense (there is no medicinal explanation for the bread or rubbing alcohol that he is aware of). As the community is faith-based, there was no strict intolerance of pseudoscience as there is in the United States. JB also testifies that both solutions served their purposes without fail. Again, the faith-based nature of a Catholic community embraced such simple solutions, as they are far more based on familial traditions than they are on any scientific roots.
Folk Remedy – butter for burns
Lizs grandmother taught her that a remedy for burns is butter. If you burn yourself you are supposed to apply butter to the wound in order to help it heal faster. Liz burned herself while cooking with her grandmother one time and this is when learned about this folk remedy. Liz does not believe in this remedy because she tried it one time and did not find it particularly useful.
She thinks that her grandmother learned this remedy as a child when they did not have access to antibiotic creams and other medications to help with injuries like burns. It also makes sense that butter, a common cooking ingredient, would be used for burns that are most frequently obtained in the kitchen from ovens and stoves. Some folk remedies are difficult to make sense of although this one applies well to the situation and circumstance of the injury.
Ritual Iran
The practice as described by Tara: If you feel like the evil eye is near you, you burn this weed called esfand (laughs). Its different in other parts of Iran but my moms Turkish so she has to say this prayer thing in Turkish. And you let the smell of the weed take over the house, and it kills the evil eye.”
Tara said she learned this tradition from her mother, who burns esfand often. She said that most people she knows do this in Iran on important occasions like on the date that their children are being circumcised or if their children are sick. However, her mother does it for more common occasions. For instance, if someone gives Tara or her mother a lot of compliments, they burn the weed because it seems like someone is really interested in them and they might be getting jinxed. Taras family moved from Iran to the United States almost ten years ago, but they still perform this ritual in their house in Los Angeles.
Tara said that she doesnt understand the practice exactly but she likes to burn the weed because it smells really good. She also said that people probably do this because it’s a tradition and gives you a true sense of comfort. She said that she does believe in the evil eye even though she knows its illogical. She says it might sound stupid to other people (this is why she laughed in embarrassment while explaining the tradition, which she did in a room filled with Americans uninformed about the evil eye), but she still likes burning esfand because it makes her feel good.
Tara’s analysis seems accurate. Even though many people believe that the evil eye couldn’t logically exist, they still fear its power because they grew up learning about it. The evil eye is a common fear among many nations and groups of people, so this seems like yet another way to prevent it from causing harm. Superstitions like this one have been a part of Tara’s life since she was growing up, so the practice of burning esfand provides a consistent sense of comfort.