Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Superstition – Belize

Nationality: Belizean-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Deerfield, IL
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English

“Depending on which one of your hands is itching, you will either get money or give money away.”

Subject’s Analysis:

Suzanne told me this one while laughing and calling it ridiculous. She said, “It’s so stupid some of the things that my parents believe in.” She doesn’t believe in this superstition. Like many other habits/superstitions that she has learned, she acquired this one during childhood, from her Belizean parents. She also added that as the superstition goes, if you itch the itch then the omen becomes null and void.

Collector’s Analysis:

I think that this superstition is not true in the slightest. However, how would I know? Who doesn’t scratch their itches just on reflex alone? When something itches it is only natural to scratch it immediately, as a matter of comfort, even while asleep people itch themselves. This suggests that it is merely subconscious. I wouldn’t know if this ite is true or not because I have never actually tested it.

I think that this superstition deals with the worlds stigmatism of left vs. right. According to a wikipedia article about “Right-handedness” somewhere between 70-90% of the world is right handed. The ariticle goes on to note that, “ The left hand is used in times of inauspiciousness, as a sign of disrespect, and for wiping oneself after using the bathroom. In Islam as well, one is required to use the left hand for tasks such as wiping oneself after using the bathroom, and the right hand for eating.” In addition the word “right” also has positive connotations, and can be used to reply to something in the affirmative. So it is only right that a culture with a stigmatism towards things that are “right” would believe that the right hand brings in money(good), and the left hand loses money(bad).

Citations:

“Right-handedness” wikipedia.org. 14 apr. 2008. 30 Apr. 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right -handed>.

“Muslim Restroom Etiquette.” Truthandgrace.com. Jan 2002. 30 Apr. 2008.

<http://truthandgrace.com/muslimrestrooms.htm>.

Joke/Riddle/Blason Populaire

Nationality: Black
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Las Vegas, NV
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Question: “How do you hide something from a black person?”

Answer: “Put it in a book.”

Subject’s Analysis:

“It’s funny and embarrassing because it’s true to the stereotypical extent. I learned this joke watching a movie, I think. It was when I was in my teens, I believe it was a progressive movie, like a satire. I don’t feel comfortable repeating it around other races or demographic, most black people don’t.”

Collector’s Analysis:

Being a member of the African American community, I have mixed feelings about this entry. I feel that it is untrue of me, however, I know of others who do not read frequently if at all. As we discussed in class though, jokes like this can become a self fulfilling prophecy. The more that people joke about blacks being uneducated and illiterate, the more that the community will feel that it is okay to be such. So while I felt that this joke was slightly humorous, overall I don’t think that it is very funny, it is supposed to have that effect for black people I think. If Jeremiah saw it in a conscious movie, then it was intended to illicit shame from blacks who were watching, and possibly encourage change.

Folk Medicine – Belize

Nationality: Belizean-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Deerfield, IL
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English

Limes for Body Odor

“In order to get rid of armpit body odor, you use warmed lime juice. Take a lime, cut it in half, heat it up face down in a frying pan until it sizzles. When the face of the lime has browned a little, rub it under your armpits, then shower, and it gets rid of unpleasant body odor.”

Subject’s Analysis:

Suzanne dictated this entry to me with a straight face. She told me very calmly that this was a serious folk remedy for removal of body odor. She noted that this was specifically the type of body odor that was not easily removed by deodorant, or simple showering. She suggested that by taking this lime and applying it, you could eradicate strong body odor. This was a Belizean remedy that she learned during her childhood, at age 10 or 11. She was taught this process by her mother.  She said that she has tried it and it has worked.

Collector’s Analysis:

I think that this folk remedy sounds very reasonable. I believe that this remedy might work. However, what makes it folk medicine is that this claim has yet to be scientifically proven even though it is confirmed by some who have tried it. What makes this method even more believable is the fact that lime scented cleaners are commonplace in the world today, suggesting that somewhere along the line the power of lime to neutralize odors was revealed as a truth. This is also feasible because if the fact that limes have a strong fresh scent that would be able to mask body odor if not eliminate it,, when paired with a good shower.

What makes this claim unbelievable is that in order for the remedy to work, the subject must take a shower after using the lime to get rid of the body odor. So this brings into question whether the lime has any effect at all or if the shower is the determining factor of the treatment.

Superstition

Nationality: African-American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Torrence, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

“In my household, I was told as a very small child that non-family members that are on their menstrual cycle are not allowed to hold babies. It was said that the pain that the woman is experiencing in her womb, is transferred from her to the child. In turn the child will get sick, and receive colic.”

Subject’s Analysis:

“I think that it’s true, I find myself doing it at times as well.” She also added that she has learned this from her female family members since an early age. She said as well that she learned it from the women on the Venezuelan side of he family, and it was passed down from her grandmother.

Collector’s Analysis:

I think that this superstition is probably not true, because of the fact that it has no basis in science. It is simply that pain would be transferred from a stranger, which I feel is almost impossible. I believe that it exists merely because of the fact babies come from the womb, and that if someone who is unfamiliar is in pain in the womb. It’s just that connection.

Superstition – Belize

Nationality: Belizean-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Deerfield, IL
Performance Date: April 26, 2008
Primary Language: English

Dream Analysis

“If you have a dream about teeth falling out, this means death.”

“If you have a dream about rotting teeth then it means sickness.”

“If you have a dream about weddings or a big poofy white gown, this means death.”

“Dreaming of death means long life.”

Subject’s Analysis:

Suzanne told me these beliefs while constantly smiling. She told me that she believed the superstitions to a certain extent, but that she didn’t think that they were ironclad, or scientific. She learned these superstitions around the house from her Belizean mother and father when she was coming up. She said that whenever she had a bad dream her family would encourage her to talk about it, and then make analyses of them. Most times it would mean nothing but she was told what the above dreams were connected to.

Collector’s Analysis:

I think that these dream analyses are merely superstition. They do not come as a surprise, especially because I have heard similar variations of the same notions in my own household (Jamaican/African). The trend that I did notice was that these dreams deal with a lot of things that mean opposites. For example, happy dreams of weddings and pretty dresses mean death, and morbid dreams of death mean life. In addition the superstitions have some basis in logic for example: teeth falling out are often a trait that older people exhibit and being old is often associated with death, so I can understand the connection.