Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Car Game

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Beverly Hills, CA
Performance Date: April 4, 2008
Primary Language: English

Car game

Game: When running through a yellow stoplight, kiss your hand and touch it to the top of

your car

I learned this trick from one of my friends in high school, around when we both started driving, so around sixteen. We were driving to school one day and we ran a yellow light and she kissed her hand and hit the top of the car. When I didn’t repeat what she had done she seemed to get very upset and I asked her why. She said her mom had told her since she was a child that if you didn’t do something to recognize that you had ran a yellow light, you would have bad luck, most likely a car accident of some sort. Not being a very superstitious person, I didn’t believe it, however, I ended up getting in the habit of doing it and since have told many people the same story thus convincing myself it was true.

My friend believed her mother told her that story in order to make her more aware of driving. She believes that by her mother telling her to do an action every time you run a yellow light, it could make you more cautious about running a light for fear of forgetting to perform the action and thus in turn having bad luck. While I definitely do not believe that not performing the action will cause bad luck, I agree that performing this action does make you more aware of your driving. There have been many times where I’ve ended up running a yellow light and fear has stricken me because I am scared of getting a ticket. However, when I was discussing this particular game with my friend Mandy, she feels that the game is dangerous itself because you’re choosing to take a hand off the wheel while simultaneously speeding up to run the yellow light. I agree that it could be perceived as dangerous since you would be removing one of your hands from the wheel, but I think sometimes in our society, having bad luck upon you instead of just taking the small risk in order to prevent bad luck seems to prevail and that’s why I think this car game has been spread around so much.

Myth – Hawaii

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Waipahu, HI
Performance Date: April 10, 2008
Primary Language: English

The story of Hawaii’s native volcano goddess, Pele, is a common tale, known to anyone native of the islands of Hawaii or anyone who is a frequent or even first-time visitor to the beautiful Aloha State.  Pele is the volcanic goddess who continues to find her home, to this day, in the Halema’uma’u crater on Mt. Kilauea, one of the world’s most continuously active volcanoes, which is located on the Big Island of Hawaii.  There are many tales surrounding the legend of Pele.  Essentially, Pele is the volcano goddess who is, in essence, the most revered mythological figure throughout all of Hawaii.

Izach shared a common rule with me, regarding the mystical Pele.  In Hawaii, whether you are on the laid-back and somewhat secluded Big Island or on the popular island of O’ahu, if you pass an old lady on a highway or on any given street, you must pick her up.  That old lady is Pele in human form.  The old lady will appear as though she is in need of help, and, as a rule, you must help her out in any way she requests.

My family and I are frequent visitors of the islands, and on one particular trip to the Big Island, we heard many stories of Pele while we were on our tours.  One in particular stood out to me.  There was a young couple who lived in an area near the foot of Mt. Kilauea.  One fateful day, they heard a knock at their door.  It was an elderly woman, asking to come in.  Seeing an old woman in need of help, they let her in and entertained her.  She sat with them, dined with them, and interacted and conversated with them.  The old woman then proceeded to ask if she could use the restroom.  They let her into their bathroom…. and the old lady never came out.  They came to the realization that there was no one in the restroom any longer.  It was then that they realized they welcomed the volcano goddess, Pele, into their home.

On a similar note, unrelated or related to Pele, Izach’s brother shared a story with him.  A friend of Izach’s brother, who reigns from the island of O’ahu, was in the restroom to take a shower.  He stepped out of the shower into his hot and steamy bathroom with a fogged-up mirror.  Looking through the haze in the mirror, he noticed a figure standing behind him: it was a man, who was clad as a native Hawaiian warrior, complete with tribal tattoos, and obviously not from the current time period.  Unable to believe the image reflected back to him, he looked behind him and saw no one standing there.

Izach, as a native of Hawaii grew up to naturally revere Pele in the deepest regard.  I feel like the Hawaiians’ view of Pele perfectly highlights the way in which they highly value their culture and respect the laws of their land.  They hold Pele in the highest regard, in the same way in which they revere other natural elements of their beautiful islands, such as the sacred ocean or the majestic mountains.

Annotation:  More about Pele and traditional rituals and beliefs regarding the volcano spirit, Pele, have been documented in

Behavior and Beliefs during the Recent Volcanic Eruption at Kapoho, Hawaii

Roy Lachman and William J. Bonk

Science, New Series, Vol. 131, No. 3407 (Apr. 15, 1960), pp. 1095 – 1096

Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Superstition – Hawaii

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Waipahu, HI
Performance Date: April 10, 2008
Primary Language: English

To add on to the superstitious nature of Hawaiian folklore, there is another Hawaiian superstition that coincides with the myth of Pele.  This superstition is commonly known, even to those who have yet to visit the Hawaiian Islands.

My Hawaiian native good friend, Izach, shared with me another volcano-related superstition.  With Pele being the goddess of volcanoes, to take anything of her possession would aggravate her.  Izach noted that, to take a piece of molten lava or any kind of volcanic rock from the volcano itself, would only be a way of asking for self-inflicted trouble.  Because it is Pele’s property, she will inflict bad things upon you.

A similar circumstance was seen in The Brady Bunch television series.  The Brady clan travels to Hawaii for a summer getaway, as Mike Brady’s job sends him there to visit and check out a building he constructed on location.  The curious Brady boys happen to chance upon a Hawaiian idol, which they find while at a volcanic tourist spot.  The boys take this idol with them wherever they go, and, in turn, bad luck travels along with the Bradys.  They have a turbulent flight back home, as well as a number of injuries occur to the family while they are still on vacation.  This same situation occurs in many other TV shows, aside from The Brady Bunch, including Friends and Sister, Sister.

Again, this superstition continues with the thought that Hawaiians are highly respectful towards those who came before them.  They are aware of their past history, and respect it in every way in their daily life.  As a visitor to Hawaii, such customs and rituals must be shared to the outsiders in order to inform them of the laws of the land.

Folk Medicine – United States

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 9, 2008
Primary Language: English

For mucus congestion/itchy throat:

  1. Gargle vinegar
  2. Swallow it
  3. Mucus should then regurgitate.
  4. Throat is itchy no longer!

My mother and I were both sick with a congested nose and chest for a while.  Over-the-counter medicine was not doing anything for us.  Antibiotics stopped being effective.  We were tired of being sick for too long, so I finally decided to find another means of remedying us to wellness again.

I searched online for medical remedies for an itchy throat.  I came across a website that encompassed all the healing powers of vinegar.  It discussed al the different ways vinegar can be consumed or put to practical purposes to remedy practically any illness.  Oddly enough, this remedy worked for both my mother and me.  We took a chance, tried the method, and both of our itchy throats and congested sinuses were gone once we gargled and swallowed the vinegar.

Superstition – Hawaii

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Waipahu, HI, and South San Francisco, CA
Performance Date: April 10, 2008, and April 5, 2008
Primary Language: English

The Pali Lookout on the island of Oahu, in the state of Hawaii, is notorious for being a hotspot for supernatural activity.  There is the Pali Highway that runs alongside the edge of the mountain, which includes the Pali Lookout.  The highway itself runs through a tunnel.

My friend Izach, who was born and raised on the island, on the Waipahu side, explained to me that people have sometimes spotted a White Lady atop the Pali Lookout.  The origin of who she is or what business she has in that geographic area is not definite, however, a supernatural presence is greatly felt in that general area.  Izach heard a story in which a man drove up to Pali Lookout by himself one night, and the next day, he was found dead.  Whether he came into contact with the White Lady is unsure, however, the reasons for his death were not tangible and seem to have only been the cause of some supernatural force.  Izach informed me that local folklore will warn you against the “Night Marchers,” as well.  The “Night Marchers” are a traveling pack of men who drum in the middle of the night.  If you are in or near the Pali area, and you hear drumming, it’d be best to get as far away as possible as soon as possible.  You must not make eye contact with the “Night Marchers;” by all means, you must avoid looking into their deep red eyes.

My good friend Berna shared another account of a Pali Lookout tale with me.  Apparently, there is a tunnel that is near the Pali Lookout, through which it is absolutely prohibited by local folklore and general precaution, to bring any type of pork through.  There is evidently a force that will not let you take the pork through the tunnel and over the lookout.  If one attempts to do such a thing, to test the spirits in the area, one usually does not come out of the tunnel—if at all, at least not unscathed.

In the early 1980’s, Berna’s uncle and his friends thought it would be funny to test the spirits of the Pali Lookout by bringing a bacon sandwich through the tunnel.  They entered the tunnel, bacon sandwich in tow, and suddenly, all goes pitch dark.  The lights of the tunnel black out.  The headlights and backlights of the car itself go out.  The driver nor the passengers of the car could not see what was ahead of them, nor what direction in which they were headed.  What was heard was insanely loud, jarring screeching noises and it felt as though there was a force charging towards them.  Still unable to see to the end of the tunnel, they put the car in reverse and somehow managed to clear the tunnel through the opening.  When they inspected the damages, the top of the car and all along the sides of the car were covered in deep and distinct claw marks.

As I have observed with other pieces of Hawaiian folklore, such superstitions or legends and myths as this prove the sanctity of the laws of the land to the Hawaiian people.  With such a rich history of mythological events and natural gods and goddesses, they value their land and all it has to offer and personally believe they are in debt to their surroundings.  Therefore, they go to measures to ensure that they are within the right means of going about their daily lives, and not disrupting Mother Nature, the supernatural, and the forces that be.