Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Remedy

Nationality: Caucasian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Hilsboro, OR
Performance Date: April 05, 2008
Primary Language: English

Original script/version:

“I was told that gargling salt water when you have a sore throat will help it feel better and heal sooner.”

When I asked Holly where she heard this, she said she had heard it from her 7th grade P.E. teacher who was originally from Great Britain. She had a really bad sore throat and when she asked to sit down during class, the teacher gave this advice. She has continued to gargle salt water when she has a cold ever since.

Holly was born and raised in rural Oregon, but she said that this piece of folk medicine originally came from somewhere in northern England. I think putting salt on an open wound hurts badly but also cleans it. I don’t how this would translate to a sore throat, my initial reaction would say it wouldn’t help, but I have never tried it.

Superstition – Oahu, Hawaii

Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Merced, CA
Performance Date: March 31, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Hawaiian

On the island of Oahu in Hawaii there is a curse that comes upon anyone who brings pork with them on the Pali road at midnight. If they do it is said something bad will happen, such as your car stalling out or angry spirits coming to taunt you. The Old Pali road connects Waikiki to Waimanalo but has since been turned into a highway. The curse of taking pork over the Pali at midnight relates to a feud between Pele, the goddess of the dry side of the island and Kamapua’a the half-man, half-pig god of the wet side of the island. When you take pork over the Pali, from the wet side over to the dry side of the island, Pele is angered because you are bringing Kamapua’a into her domain. Therefore, as the saying goes; Don’t bring pork over the Pali at midnight!

Sam’s father is a native Hawaiian, and although Sam was born in California he spent much of his childhood frequently visiting Hawaii with his family. Sam cannot remember exactly when he was told about this curse but he guessed it was when he was very young, around 5 or 6 years old. He said it was a family tradition to sit around in the evening and sing songs and tell stories about the islands, especially the close ties with nature.

When Sam was a teenager he said he and his friends went on the Pali road at midnight with a piece of bacon. They hiked off of the highway onto the old road that was not paved over. After about thirty minutes of snooping around with their bacon in hand, nothing had happened. The boys left in their car.

Sam does not really take the curse seriously because he rarely is driving around the Pali highway with pork in his car at midnight. Also, because he has tested it out and nothing happened, he believes its just an old superstition used to scare little kids and keep teenagers off the deserted road late at night.

Hawaiian superstitions are very closely tied with the identity of the Hawaiian people. Because the tourism industry is so prevalent and the “authentic” Hawaiian experience is exploited, superstitions such as the pork over Pali tradition serve more as ways to remember the roots of the Hawaiians and the Polynesian beliefs versus a scare tactic to keep kids from being on the highway late at night.

Furthermore the story behind the superstition serves as a constant reminder of the Polynesian belief system. Because the objects are very specific in relation to the superstition the reason behind it is more easily remembered. I think parents tell this folklore to their kids because at a young age they are more impressionable and the story will likely make a bigger impact on them then it would on a adolescent who is less likely to take their parents seriously.

Superstition

Nationality: German
Occupation: Student
Residence: Seattle, WA
Performance Date: April 05, 2008
Primary Language: English

When you are on a boat or ship a lot of sailors think its bad luck to have bananas on board. Bananas at see are bad luck and can bring bad fishing/ bad catch and sickness to the crew. We never had bananas on board our ship the captain wouldn’t allow it.

Julia learned this about this superstition when she spent a semester at sea through the semester at sea program this past fall. She spent three months sailing around the world but never once was allowed to bring bananas on the boat. She said it was one of the rules associated with traditional nautical superstitions. She was told by the crew how the superstition came to be.

About a hundred or so years ago banana boats used to travel really quickly between the Caribbean and the east coast ports in the United States. The boats traveled fast to keep the bananas from going bad before the reached market. The boats traveled so fast that fisherman never caught anything when trolling for fish from the banana boats. Therefore fisherman believed that bananas on board a boat meant a bad catch.

Julia also said that she was told by some less superstitious crew members that bananas, if grown with out pesticides, often are home to lots of bugs and parasites some which can make the people on board really sick. So it is better to not bring the bananas on board period. It just keeps the crew and passengers from the possibility of a banana related sickness.

I find this superstition very unique. Julia’s explanation of the origin provides a terminus post-quem for the folklore. Folklorists know that this superstition must have started after the discovery of the Americas and American occupation in Cuba, Puerto Rico and/or other tropical islands close to the East Coast based on this specific story of its origin. I would not be surprised if the superstition dates back even earlier because sailing is an ancient practice and it is difficult to determine if the superstition were around based on a different reason before the banana boats came to be.

The term banana boat has infiltrated consumer society in the United States and the tourism industry in beach vacation destinations. A popular sunscreen brand is named Banana Boat and has a wide variety of products all advertised with a beach vacation lifestyle. Banana Boats are also popular tourist attractions in Mexico. Usually Banana Boats are a modified inflatable inner tube in the shape of a banana that 3 to 4 people straddle. The banana boat is tied to a larger boat with an engine that pulls the banana inner tube around at high speeds with the objective of seeing who can stay on the boat the longest.

This superstition, like many others is probably not going to go away soon. Although the original banana boats are no longer in use and are no longer associated with a bad catch the fact that this superstition has been around for so long and is still held by many sailors and crew (who tend to take superstitions very seriously) makes me believe that it will stick around for many more years to come.

Tradition – Russian

Nationality: Irish
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Quicny, MA
Performance Date: April 01, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Russian

Traditionally, in Russian weddings receptions there is a tradition to determine who the head of the household will be. The bride and the groom both are given bread and salt from their parents. Together they (the bread and salt) are supposed to symbolize good health. The bride and groom have to take a bite of the bread and whoever takes the biggest bite of the bread supposed to be the head of the household or family. Sometimes the bread and salt are given after the civil ceremony, depends on the family.

Tom first heard about this custom from his Russian professor here at USC. Although he has never attended a traditional Russian wedding his professor has talked extensively about the differences between Russian weddings and American weddings. Tom thinks that the bread and salt were first used during the communist regime when bread and salt were scarce items and highly prized. Giving bread as a gift came to symbolize wealth, prosperity and good health (if you could afford the bread and salt you were probably in good health is the assumption Tom made).

Similarly Tom thinks that who ever can take a bigger bite of the bread, symbolizing a bigger part of health and prosperity and therefore heading the family. Usually this would be the man as men tend to have larger jaws. Tom also mentioned that if a woman took the bigger bite it might mean that she would have lots of children. Because she would be home with the children most she might be seen as the head of the household. Tom says this tradition is still carried on today but is merely for entertainment and fun rather than a means to predict a couple’s life together.

Traditions and customs in weddings are usually meant more for entertainment and are usually taken lightheartedly. This attitude however, differs depending on the religious association with the wedding. In Russia, the government does not recognize religious weddings therefore a civil ceremony is required. Because religion is removed from the ceremony, I think, Russians take more liberty in providing entertainment for entertainment’s sake rather than rituals based on religious orders. The Russian wedding traditionally is more focused on the reception and the playful nature between the bride and groom, the families, and friends. This tradition exemplifies the nature of the Russian attitude towards weddings.

Folk Item/Folk Remedy – Sicily, Italy

Nationality: Italian-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Colorado Springs, CO
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English

Italian Folklore- Talisman/ Folk Remedy from Sicily

“The bull horn is worn as a talisman to guard against demons and protect its wearers from the evil eye. Another similar symbol worn in Sicily is the image of a fist with the thumb and pinky fingers pointed outward.  These symbols come out of a superstitious culture, and Gramma says as good Catholic people we are supposed to trust in God to protect us and shouldn’t rely on old superstitions.  They continue to be worn however because it is tradition, and even Gramma has them.  One of them is in the form of a keychain and resembles a red chili pepper more than an actual horn which I find quite amusing.  Whenever I ask Gramma about old traditions she dismisses them saying, “What do we know, we’re dumb immigrants” and this sentiment reflects how, as for many immigrants of the early twentieth century, it was more important to become Americanized and adopt American traditions then to hold on to the old Italian ones.

Another tradition I recall Gramma telling me about is her famous folk remedy to cure ear infections. She was around five at the time she used to get pretty regular ear infections and ear aches. Her mother used to take her down to nursing mothers at the hospital and they would spray breast milk in her ears. Because she was so young, she doesn’t remember if the home remedy worked or not. I don’t think she uses this remedy anymore. She doesn’t get ear infections anymore, but more importantly, she abandoned a lot of her old Italian ways the more she accustomed to American traditions.” – Mary Z.

Analysis:

Mary later told me that the talisman, which looks like a chili pepper, evolved out of the phallic symbols of pre Catholic Italy, which she learned on the History Channel. More women than men wear this talisman as a way to ward off the evil eye, which is the blanket term for a curse that someone might cast on someone else’s family. Although her grandmother does not believe in the talisman’s power to ward off the evil eye, she continues to wear the amulet out of tradition. Her quick abandonment of Italian rituals probably had to do with the fact that she settled in Cleveland, Ohio, a city that does not particularly have a high concentration of Italian immigrants. This talisman, also known as the “corno,” which translates into “little horn,” can be coral, gold, or silver. The horn part of the amulet is always gold or coral. It is common for non-Italians to mistake this amulet for a chili pepper. At the same time, many Italians today don’t know the full origin of the corno and its homage to both the Lunar and Sea Goddess (Wikipedia.com)

Rose Scurria, Mary’s grandmother, is 89 years old and was a homemaker her whole life. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but spent her childhood years travelling back and forth between the US and Sicily. Her family lived in the small mountain village of Lonngi. Lonngi is one of several poor mountain villages in Sicily, where residents wash clothes on rocks and essentially live backwards lives. Constant travelling and prior experience living in the mountain village of Lonngi has given Rose a wealth of knowledge as far as folklore and folk remedy go.

While I do not have a solid understanding of Italian culture, I can relate to the culture in terms of its belief in superstition and the power of talisman. I wear a cloth bracelet that I got from Brazil, which honors a saint in the Northeast city of Bahia. While the bracelet does not ward off evil spirits, it supposedly brings the person wearing it good luck if they tie the bracelet three times in a knot while making a wish. If anything, I wear the bracelet as a constant reminder of my Brazilian identity and belief in the good luck it brings.