“The first person who enters the house on the first day of Vietnamese New Year can bring good or bad luck to that household.  If he or she is happy and rich the whole year that household will be happy and prosperous.  Most of the time, the body of the family member who dies in Vietnamese New Year will be viewed and visited at their house or funeral home for two or three days, and at night one family member must sit and watch over the casket because they believe if a black cat jumps on or over it, that person won’t go to heaven and they’ll become a mean, violent ghost lingering here on earth.”

My mother’s younger sister, Thuy, told me about these superstitions while I was helping her prepare the food in the kitchen for our family’s big Vietnamese New Year celebration at my grandmother’s house.  As we were readying the food and setting up the table, she asked if I knew any Vietnamese superstitions regarding the New Year, and proceeded to enlighten me.  In the Vietnamese culture, as exemplified by these superstitions which my aunt picked up on from her own mother and other adult family friends, rituals surrounding the New Year are of utmost importance and not to be taken lightly.  In order to ensure a prosperous and happy new year, so many aspects must be taken care of, such as making sure that even the first person to enter the house is in a perfectly good mood—not the easiest task!  My aunt also mentioned the idea that the death of a family member must be shown a great deal of attention and care, so much that it is important for someone to be watching over the casket day and night to guard against evilness and the resurrection of a violent, Earth-bound ghost.  Evidently, these superstitions reveal a great deal about Vietnamese culture and thought.  While much of the culture is past-oriented, these superstitions mostly focus on preparations for the future to ensure that it is a successful and bright one.  The superstition about the casket proves that while family members are honored and taken care of even after death—a highly important concept in Vietnamese culture—it is also necessary to watch the casket and guard the deceased for the living’s sake.  My aunt’s superstitions still remain incredibly significant to her identity, shaping the way she lives life each day and permanently influencing her beliefs.

“The tokoloshe are like these small, evil little demons that come out and get you.  They’re evil spirits, and you can tell they’re close from little things, like wild dogs barking at night.”

Ruchira, or Rucci as he prefers to be called, said that while he was living in southern Africa, he first heard about the tokoloshe on a school camping trip with his classmates when he was twelve years old.  As they sat around a campfire sharing stories “out in the open, in the bush,” a pack of wild dogs started barking in the distance.  Rucci said that their camping guide then proceeded to explain to them that when wild dogs start barking at night, evil, dangerous spirits like the tokoloshe are close and waiting to prey.  Rucci said that since then, he still has a fear of the tokoloshe and attributes the howls of wild dogs at night to be significant of the presence of lurking demons.

Folk beliefs, then, play a serious part in determining a person’s identity and the beliefs themselves are unique to each individual—so much that perhaps they can even be considered a part of the individual’s religious beliefs.  According to Rucci, the people who are at most risk are those who do not believe in the tokoloshe.  In turn, those who do believe are more likely to pray to God and read the Bible; therefore, the best way to protect oneself is to believe in the evil spirits.  Rucci mentioned that there are also things people can do to prevent being approached by a tokoloshe.  People often visit witch doctors or put something underneath the legs of their bed to raise it and keep it out of reach of the small tokoloshe.  Yet once a person is approached by a tokoloshe, he basically falls completely under the spirit’s control and the tokoloshe will possess him.  Thus, belief in the tokoloshe can actually lead to increased practicing of religion and continue to affect one’s everyday life.

In T. Sharper Knowlson’s book The Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customs, this idea is further reiterated, explaining that some beliefs maintain that the sound of howling dogs is foreshadowing the misfortunes and dangers that are to come to those who hear it.  However, it also slyly points out that “the remarkable phenomenon is the number of people who live after listening to many howlings.”  Evidently, Rucci is one of those people, living to tell of his experiences in gaining new folk beliefs.

Annotation: Knowlson, T. Sharper.  The Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customs.  Detroit: Gale Research Company, Book Tower, 1968, pg. 172-73.

Justin Dove – Seniority

In the same way American’s will say someone’s title before their name (i.e. Mr. or Mrs. Smith). The Japanese have a specific tradition they perform. Similar to Spanish in how there are formal and casual ways of saying the same word depending on whom you are talking to, the Japanese will add a word signifying that they are speaking with someone older than they are. Even if that person is a good friend and only six months older, the proper and polite thing to do in Japanese culture is to say sen-pai after their name. While I find this a commonality around the world to show respect to ones elders, the Japanese take it a whole new level. Children in class will call their instructors by sen-pai. Children will also show this respect to their parents. But the fact that a 13 year old must say this to his 14 year old friend blows my mind. I have friends who are a year younger than I am, but I would never expect them to call me anything other than my name. Justin on the other hand is used to this tradition. I asked him whether it ever was a big deal to him growing up in Japan, but he just said it was second nature. He never thought twice about it.

This tradition of seniority and respecting ones elder can be seen in other ways as well in The younger person must always bow lower than the elder at all times. This is considered common courtesy and shows respect to the elder. These acts of courtesy and politeness only occur between two people of Japanese origin. The Japanese do not expect other cultures to understand theirs and are thus not offended when others do not abide by the same rules they do. The Japanese are a very structured people. They abide by many rules and have many long-lasting traditions that they perform. I believe that all of these factors are main reasons to why their race has survived over the ages. Rules and regulations keep a nation under control. Chaos and anarchy never have the chance to erupt if there is no reason for them to do so. The Japanese are a noble and honorable race who I believe more countries should try to emulate. The traditions they perform and the culture they try to preserve is of utmost importance to them. I think this is why there is still so much folklore buried within the Japanese culture in the 21^st century.