Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Superstition – Chinese/Korean

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 17
Occupation: Student
Residence: Glendora, CA
Performance Date: May 2007
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Don’t stick utensils vertically into your food.

Jaywon learned this superstition from her parents while growing up.  As she went to school with other Asian children, she also learned that it is known across the Asian culture to never stick the utensil directly into the food.  Her mother said that this superstition started with never sticking chopsticks into the rice, but after she came to America, the superstition was converted.  The chopsticks became any utensil used and the rice became any food eaten.  Jaywon says that sticking chopsticks directly into the rice is inviting death to the table.  In some funerals, the chopsticks in the rice symbolize an offering and is put on the alter of the shrine.

The Chinese culture has many superstitions about death and luck.  In this belief, avoiding putting the utensils in the food is also a sign of good manners at the table.  By improving one’s etiquette and shunning death from the table, this proverb shows much popularity in the culture.  Although the ceremonial sticking chopsticks in rice during funerals is not very common now, the action is now considered rude.  Anybody who does it is looked down on and taught not to do otherwise.  The Chinese are very traditional in their manners and are very respectful of one another.  Respecting their ancestors is also very important to them; the tradition to stick the chopsticks in the rice on the ancestral shrine is an old sacred ceremony that should not be imitated at the table.  The Chinese revolve much of their culture around food, so it is expected that there are many superstitions about avoiding death at the dinner table.  Because of this, the action of sticking any utensil into one’s food is both bad luck and bad manners, a combination that any Chinese would want to stay away from.

Annotation: This superstition was found in Deborah Steinborn’s “Cross-Cultural Training Gains,” in the Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Apr 4, 2007. Retreived from Proquest database.

Myth – Chinese

Nationality: Cantonese-American
Age: 34
Occupation: Engineer
Residence: Anaheim, CA
Performance Date: May 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese

To achieve the desired sex of a baby, the husband should eat meat in order to have a baby boy or eat seafood to have a baby girl.

The informant first heard this myth after he got married.  His parents wanted him and his wife to have a baby boy to carry on the family name, so they fed him a lot of meat.  Carl says that only what the husband eats determines the sex of the baby, not the wife.  The male has the Y chromosome that decides whether the baby is a boy or girl, whereas the female has both X chromosomes.  In his experience, Carl does not believe in this myth because he has two boys of his own.  For the second baby, he tried to eat more seafood, but still had another boy.

Since Carl was born in California, he did not believe in a lot of the myths that were brought over from his parents.  For this myth, the meat could symbolize a male because it is tough and strong, which will make a healthy boy.  The seafood is more gentle and soft, which could symbolize a healthy girl.  In this way, the Chinese culture has a latent belief that the sexes have different roles in society.  Because the girl is gentle, she will be more submissive to her husband, who is more tough and will make the big decisions.

Although these myths were believed, the maximum effect can never be achieved because the husband will probably not restrict himself to only meat or only seafood.  Therefore, this myth cannot be fully proven and thus remains a myth to this day.  Since Carl was born in the American culture, he learned from science that the odds of getting a boy versus a girl is at random, and that one cannot be favored over another.  This dichotomy between science and belief is evident, and in the Western faith, most people believe in science over myth.  The Chinese culture believes in the ancient legends and myths and follows it in hopes of getting what they want.  If they do not get the favored results, then it only means that they did not follow the myth correctly.

Belief

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: May 2007
Primary Language: English

If one receives a chain e-mail, then one has to follow its instructions to pass it along.  If it is not resent to more people, then one will have to suffer bad outcomes.

Carolyn knows this belief from middle school but does not believe that it is true.  She says that when she first started receiving chain e-mails regarding crushes, she would respond to it and forward it to as many people as she could to ensure her safety in future relationships.  She said that the e-mails would seem cursed, especially because it would build up suspense as the reader would scroll down to the bottom.  When she reached high school, she realized that the bad luck that they specified, which included loss of love and friendship, did not really come true.  Because of her age, however, she believed it when she was in her early teenage years.

It is very common for pre-teens and early teenage children to trust anonymous emails that tell can foretell one’s future.  Just like a fortune-teller, a chain e-mail has the same effect in that it decides the magnitude of one’s love based on how many people it is forwarded to.  The influence of technology on the 21st century has brought beliefs to an entirely different level.  Now that the internet is the fastest way to transport information, it is expected that folklore is passed down in this fashion.  It is expected that these chain e-mails exist because of their quick diffusion throughout society based on people’s eagerness to avoid more trouble.  These constantly circulated chain e-mails are common in the young teen generation because of their gullibility and naivety.  Because the influence of lust and love begins in middle school, the presence of chain e-mails regarding luck in relationships is highly abided by.  The transition between elementary school and high school is a rite of passage that all adolescents have to go through in order to reach adulthood.  In this transition stage, there are many beliefs such as the chain e-mail that young teenagers trust in.

Children’s Rhyme/Superstition – Los Angeles, California

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Residence: Beverly Hills, CA
Performance Date: February 3, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“Step on a crack break, your mother’s back”

Eric is a 23-year-old USC graduate. He grew up in Beverly Hills and now continues to work in Los Angeles as an accountant. Eric and I were discussing childhood riddles and superstitions when he remembered, “step on a crack, break your mother’s back.” Eric first remembers learning this superstition from his parents. His parents, who are also born and raised in Los Angeles, remember learning the saying when they were kids themselves. Eric explained, “well I think it made walking more interesting, especially on my family trips when we would do a lot of walking.” He continued on to say that “it made no sense at all, but I used to wonder if I did step on a crack by accident would something really happen?” Eric shared this childhood superstition/riddle with me when we were out to lunch at Mulberry Street Pizza. The restaurant was crowded so we had to talk loudly. Eric was animated when he shared this superstition with me, and he was also laughing because of how seriously he took it when he was very young. There was a woman, probably in her 30s, at the table next to us that overheard our conversation and chimed in about how she used to avoid all cracks because she was convinced that it was true.

For Eric, learning the superstition was only part of it, but then actually practicing it was what made it important. He avoided cracks since he was about 4-years-old and continuing for about 5 years, but he says that sometimes even now if something reminds him of it, then he’ll avoid big cracks in the ground if he can. There is something about childhood superstitions that is extremely convincing and exciting. With this particular superstition, it is almost that little kids are given some power because it is up to them to protect their mothers’ backs. I am sure Eric was compelled to share the item with me because it was such a huge part of his upbringing and because for him, it was something passed down from his parents. I also remember this superstition and how my friends and I would skip and still try to avoid the cracks, we made it as complicated as possible so that it was more of a game and more challenging.

Folk Craft/Superstition

Nationality: American
Age: 50
Occupation: Wife, Mother
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2, 2007
Primary Language: English

“The Worry Doll, well I actually have multiple dolls, probably about 40 in total. They were a gift, brought back for me from El Salvador. The tradition is that the dolls are supposed to be carried by their owners at all times… so I have one in my car, one in my purse, and the rest at home. I tell the dolls my worries, and they serve as protectors and are believed to bring good luck.”

Pamela is a native Californian, though she has traveled throughout the world, and even lived for short periods in other countries like Germany and Japan, she could never leave California. Her mother was born in Arkansas and her father in Minnesota, they raised Pamela and her two brothers in the Hollywood Hills. Because she is my mom, I also have worry dolls and follow the same practice as her. My mother has passed many things on to me but the dolls are definitely a favorite treasure that we both value. Our housekeeper, Gladys, who is originally from El Salvador brings us home Worry Dolls each time she visits. The tradition according to Gladys is that the dolls are handmaid and then given as gifts by their creator, “El regalo… es muy muy importante porque la muñeca es una extensión de la persona.” Although my mom and I don’t make our own dolls, we have still given dolls to close friends to carry on the tradition of the worry dolls.

My mom admits that she occasionally shares her worries with the dolls, but rather she relies on them for protection. She keeps the dolls by her bed at home to also ward off bad dreams. Though the dolls have an intended meaning for Gladys, my mom has adopted many of those uses but has also enacted her own superstitions onto the dolls, like the protection from bad dreams. The dolls are supposed to make life more enjoyable and safer and I suppose their purposes depend on the particular person.

For my mom and I, the doll is a constant, there isn’t a day that we don’t carry dolls with us so I was certain that she would want to be interviewed about them, “They are now a part of my existence, and I have passed them on to friends that I feel need a little extra support in life.” My mom and I discussed the dolls at her home in Beverly Hills. After further investigation of Worry Dolls on the Internet, I mostly found Worry Dolls from Guatemala and have yet to find more information about Dolls from El Salvador.

Worcester News reported on Worry Dolls…

“Worry Dolls Help Neal in His Quest for the Title.” Worcester News 19 Apr. 2007. 24 Apr. 2007.

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/wnsportroundup/display.var.1342308.0.worry_dolls_help_neal_in_his_quest_for_the_title.php.