Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Legend – Couch Island

CONTEXT:

P is a freshman at USC, and a good friend of mine. In the United States, children tend to go to summer camps, where they spend time with nature and with older camp counselors who supervise and lead them.

TEXT:

P: So the camp was at a lake and across the lake you could see like, I don’t know if it was an island, it was just another strip of land and there was just a couch there. Just a white couch with nothing else around it, just a couch. Yeah, we could see this couch like we could see it and so we called it couch Island. I don’t think it was an island though. That area of land, we called it couch island because it looked like it was surrounded by water kinda, and so I think the legend was, you should never step foot on couch island because — we had boats, like wooden boats. We have like, you know, canoes and we would canoe around the lake. But you’re not supposed to go on couch Island. Because there’s like some shadow guy, some shit that lives there. And like that’s his couch. You don’t want to fucking sit on his couch. But sometimes the couch would get removed and then there wouldn’t be the couch there. Like I would see the couch. Like it just wouldn’t be there some days other days it would be sometimes it was just like a chair. You know, it was switched out? Yeah, it was weird. I think, really there was a house over there. It was somebody’s house and they would just put furniture out sometimes. But we would never see them sitting there, was the thing so we were like they would always switch out the furniture so it must have been like after we’d left the camp because there was a daycare. But sometimes we would have overnights and we still wouldn’t see who was over there. So people would just make shit like people were talking about this they saw like a shadow man over there one time or whatever. But you’re not supposed to go to Couch Island. That’s what I remember. Don’t set foot on Couch Island.

Me: Did you ever hear stories about someone who stepped on couch Island and got killed? Or got caught by the Shadow Man?

P: Maybe, if anything, it was just like they stepped on the island and then they would never be heard from again. Yeah. Like that’s why you wouldn’t go there. Because if you stepped on his couch, if you sat on the couch immediately either the fog and Shadow Man  or the couch just enveloped you.

ANALYSIS:

Folklore tends to be the most believable for children, who are obviously less knowledgeable on how the world works and are more susceptible to believing legends. In this case, there are clear trends on what is unseen and the legends that surround things. When something is foggy or unexplained, there tends to be more mysticism and magic around it. For the couch, there might be a very logical explanation for it. But because there is so much in the unknown, people, and especially children, are likely to come up with a more fantastical and interesting explanation for it. In many ways, the reveal of what actually happened doesn’t matter — what is real is not what’s important, what’s important is what we believe and choose to believe. 

Swedish Christmas Traditions

Nationality: American, Swedish
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English, Swedish

[E]: During Christmas we have a bunch of Swedish traditions…we eat a lot of food…i’m not gonna say the food is great, it’s more traditional food. It’s fish, peas, potatoes, it’s very…you know…viking. But we do this celebration before we end up opening presents which is always on Christmas Eve and we all hold hands and the person in the front, who’s usually the oldest person in my family so it’s always my grandmother, we all hold hands in a line and sing this song and dance around the house and we go into every single room in the entire house singing this song. It’s basically just talking about how it’s a new year and we’re ridding the house of any negative spirits from the year before or any negative auras, like saying a room but everyone’s in there and we’re all singing together. So then we go back to the kitchen and we wrap around this island in the kitchen and we pass around this big…what’s it called…pitcher of beer and you pass it around to every person next to you and they do that in Sweden to make sure that nobody poisoned the beer because that would be the beer that they’d drink from for the whole night. You say these things, it’s a bunch of Swedish words that mean “can I drink this? Yes you can drink this! Cheers” and cheers is skol.

E is a 20 year old college student who grew up in Pasadena, CA and has grown up visiting her family in Sweden often. She is also very close to her grandmother, who was born and raised in Sweden and who has passed a lot of knowledge down to E.

Based on this interview, it’s easy to see that these Swedish Christmas traditions are deeply tied to Swedish history, ideals, and customs. E refers to the traditional Christmas food as “viking,” indicating that she sees a direct connection between Sweden’s long history and the present. The ritual of going through each room of the house while singing represents a belief in the importance of cleansing and renewal, and the idea of starting the new year with a clean slate. I’d be interested in further exploring what E meant when she talked about “negative spirits,” specifically whether or not she actually believes that there are metaphysical spirits or if that’s just the tradition that’s been passed down. Additionally, the act of passing the pitcher around to make sure that no one has poisoned the beer shows a level of trust and community spirit, as well as a wariness of potential dangers—likely established over a long period of time, when people used to be legitimately poisoned at such gatherings. All in all, these Christmas traditions show that modern Swedish customs and celebrations are very connected to the physical and cultural history of the nation and its people.

La Befana

Nationality: Italian American
Age: 76
Occupation: Retired schoolteacher
Residence: Westfield, NJ
Performance Date: April 3, 2023
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian

[A]: My father spent most of his youth in a small town in the Campania region of Italy…I believe he was 13 when he came to America with his parents. It was so sad…they came here at a time where immigrants were treated very poorly for having accents and…or speaking a different language, so he had lost a lot of his Italian traditions by the time he was married and starting his own family. One of the things that he made sure carried over to our new generation though was the story of La Befana…let’s see if I remember it correctly…in a lot of parts of Italy the big gift exchange happens on January 6th instead of Christmas day…I remember distinctly because I always got more presents the day after my birthday…and the night of January 5th kids would hang their socks or stockings along the chimney in hopes that La Befana (the witch) would come in the night and fill them with candy and all other sorts of treats. If you had been bad that year, supposedly, La Befana left you a hard black candy called carbone (coal) —a lot like what Santa does! I don’t know how much I remember about her background or why she would do this…but I think she was considered a sort of…add-on to the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. If I remember correctly, she lived near Bethlehem and on the night Jesus was born the Three Magi stopped to ask her for directions to the town and for food and shelter. She helped them but before she sent them on their way they invited her to come with them but she…I believe politely declined and so they went on their way. But that night she was awoken by this incredible bright light that she took as a sign to go find the Magi and baby Jesus…I don’t remember what happened in between but she couldn’t find them and the story goes that every year on January 5th she flies all around, still looking for baby Jesus and she drops treats off for sleeping children…something about hoping baby Jesus is with them or safe or something like that. When I was younger I remember my father buying small broomsticks and leaving them outside our doors to try to keep the magic alive…I guess it worked! I can’t believe I didn’t do that for the boys…frankly it’s been many years since I thought about that story.

A is a 76 year old woman who’s spent her entire life in a suburb in northern New Jersey. Both of her parents come from an Italian background, and her father specifically lived in the south of Italy until he was roughly 13.

A is a family member, and I was on the phone with her thanking her for sending me an Easter card when I realized I had the perfect opportunity to ask her if she could think of any stories that would help me with my project. She didn’t totally understand what I was asking at first, so I told her about some of the other pieces I had collected already and when I mentioned ghost stories and monsters she pretty quickly remembered the story of La Befana. She told the story with a kind of reverence and nostalgia that you only feel from someone like an older relative when they recall a magical story from their youth, and I could tell she was so very happy to remember that small piece of her father that she’s lived without for the past 30 or so years.

One of the things that sticks out most to me from hearing this story from A is the power that folklore has. A hadn’t thought about this story since she was a young girl, and although she would likely argue the point, she remembers it extremely well. This tale about a witch from thousands of years ago traveled across the ocean in the early 20th century with a little boy who managed to practically tell it across generations, and now I’ll likely remember the story for years and years to come.

La Befana serves as a sort of Santa-like figure to children, but can also be interpreted as a piece of religious folklore. The story of the birth of Jesus Christ and the 3 wise men is relatively fundamental to most forms of Christianity, but I’d never heard the addition of La Befana before and likely won’t hear it outside of the context of Italian culture. It struck me as both odd and interested that La Befana is affiliated with the story of the birth of Jesus because although I’ve never had much religious education, from what I understand about Christianity, witches and witchcraft is frowned upon; yet, nothing about what A told me frames La Befana in a negative light. She actually seems like a very positive character, as she gave food and shelter to weary travelers.

New Year’s Day Sauerkraut

Age: 24

Text: “On New Year’s day my family eats sauerkraut for good luck. It’s a German thing. We have smoked sausage and mashed potatoes with it. We’ve been doing this since I was a kid, and my mom did it as a kid as well. We do it for good luck. To start the year off right.” 

Context: The informant grew up in Ohio and his parents did as well. His mom is part German, and passed on some of her German traditions to her kids. His mom grew up in Hamilton, Ohio where there is a portion of town called “Germantown” because a lot of German immigrants settled there. The German tradition is thought to bring about good luck and was brought to his Midwest my immigrants.

Analysis: For many people, the new year is an opportunity to make changes, set positive intentions, and start over, in a sense. And so, many rituals often surround the idea of prosperity and good fortune—This tradition does just that. Sauerkraut is believed to have certain healing properties including improved liver function, removal of bacteria and parasite, and is even thought to prohibit the growth of cancer. And so, I believe that the tradition of eating sauerkraut in the new year is done so in hopes of bringing good health and good luck in the new year.

New Year’s Black Eyed Peas

Age: 22
Occupation: Student

Text: “My family is very superstitious and every year on New Year’s Day, we make Texas Caviar which is a dish made up of black eyed peas, black beans, corn, jalenpeños, onion, avocado and a vinaigrette dressing. Everyone who comes over to our house to celebrate the New Year absolutely has to have a bite of Texas Caviar to ensure they’ll have good luck for the whole year. The black eyed peas are what specifically create this good luck. I remember when I was younger, I didn’t really like beans and hated being forced to eat them but my family would always force me.”

Context: The informant grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and her mom is from there too. Her dad is from New Jersey. They have been partaking in this tradition for as long as she can remember. Her mom’s side of the family partook in the tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Year’s Day before her family did, but they ate them straight out of the can rather than in Cowboy Caviar.

The tradition of black eyed peas goes back to the Civil War, when eating black eyed peas was considered a privilege and lucky. They are supposed to symbolize luck and prosperity, and the informant’s family views them as such still. 

Analysis: The new year is a particularly superstitious time for many people and I believe it is because it is the start of a new cycle. People often see it as a reset, a chance for change, and a new beginning. Because of this, the first day of the new year can be extremely important, as it may set the tone, or the outcome of the rest of the year to follow. So, I believe that in partaking in this tradition, it is the informant and the informant’s families hope that the new year is prosperous and brings good luck.