Category Archives: Protection

El Salvadoran Bedtime Story

Age 20

Text:

“So there’s this story that my mom would always tell me. It was like when she was growing up in El Salvador in the 90s. And it was this story — I’ve heard it before, but the way she tells it, she actually kind of lived it. People always said that you had to be in bed by, like, 8 or 9, because around that time this cart — a cart with cow skeletons — would come in, and they would take children away if they were out of bed or misbehaving. So it became really prevalent during the war, because there were a bunch of dead people just because of the war.”

Context:

The informant’s mother grew up in El Salvador during the Civil War (1979 – 1992), a conflict that claimed over 75,000 lives and left detrimental social trauma in its wake. The “cart for cow skeletons” closely resembles La Carreta Chillona (The Screaming cart). In the well-known legend across Central America, a ghostly bone-driven cart haunts the night and brings death or punishment to those who encounter it. 

Analysis:

This legend is an example of how folk narrative can absorb historical trauma. The mythic threat is engulfed by real environmental violence: disappearances, death squads, curfews, etc. The cart became an idiom for real danger and genuinely unsafe streets. The legend thus serves as a practical protection function. For the informant, growing up in a post-war period invokes a liminal space for the story to exist in, as both a piece of his mother’s history and a threat that no longer applies to him. This intergenerational quality is a trait of traumatic folklore: that survives the conditions it was generated it and carries emotional residue long after danger has passed.

Clapping to Reverse Bad Luck: Eye Twitch

Text:

Informant: “So, like my mom is very superstitious. She’s, um, Vietnamese, and she has a Buddhist background.

So, like, she heard from her parents that if your eye twitches, your right eye twitches, it means something bad’s gonna happen, or, like, more bad luck for the day. So, to reverse the bad luck, you have to clap twice until the twitching stops.

And then the thing is, like, if the left eye twitches, it’s good luck. Something good is going to happen.

I don’t know where she learned that from, or how that happens, but she told me that.

Whenever my eye twitches, I perform the clapping. Which is all the time.”

Context: The informant is a Chinese-Vietnamese-American USC student whose mother has a Buddhist background and is very superstitious. She learned this belief from her mother, who heard it from earlier generations. Even though she grew up in the U.S., she still follows the practice when it happens.

Analysis:
This is an example of folk belief and a protective ritual. The idea that an eye twitch signals good or bad luck functions as a sign, where the body is seen as predicting future events. The act of clapping twice to stop bad luck is a simple, repeated behavior meant to reverse or control that outcome. Even if she doesn’t fully understand where it comes from, she still does it, showing how superstitions are passed down and continue through habit and family influence.

Holding Breath When Driving By a Graveyard

Age: 20
Hometown: Ponte Vedra, FL
Location: Graveyards

Context:
My friend who goes to USC told me this superstition when I was mentioning some of the ones I had. She is originally from Florida and was first taught about this as a small child from her older sister. She told me that her sister thinks she first heard it when she was really young in elementary school.

Content:
Interviewer: You were telling me about a certain action you have to take when you are by a graveyard, can you tell me about that?

Interviewee: ” Yeah, so I always hold my breath when driving past a graveyard so any spirits like in the graveyard so | don’t breathe them in.”

Interviewer: “Do you remember where you learned this or how long you’ve been doing it?”

Interviewee: “I learned this from my sister as a kid she told me about it and ever since then I’ve been doing.”

Analysis: This is a superstitions folk belief that brings together a physical action with protection from a spiritual danger. Holding your breath turns a fear of spirts that seems a bit abstract into a simple behavior, allowing a person to have a sense of control over the unknown. The idea of “breathing in” spirts reflects how invisible threats are made tangible through bodily actions. Overall, it shows how folklore helps people cope with fear by creating a simple and repeatable ritual tied to a specific place.

Punching Roof of Car Ritual

Age: 19
Greenwich, CT

Context:
I met the person who told me about the ritual here at USC. She is originally from Connecticut. She told me about this ritual when we were talking about driving because my family happens to have a similar one. She said she learned this from her friends rather than her family at around age 15-16.

Content:
Interviewer: “Can you repeat what you were telling me about your car ritual?”

Interviewee: “Yeah, when you’re in the car and you’re running through, not a red light, probably yellow light you punch the top of the car ceiling just to give good luck in the hopes of not being pulled over.”

Interviewer: “I think I’ve just learned from my friends as it’s not specific to my family.” 

Analysis:
This is a folk ritual tied to luck and risk-taking. The physical action of punching the roof after running a yellow light is used to influence a certain outcome. Punching the car roof also turns a moment of anxiety into a controllable act, helping reduce stress and create a sense of agency in the moment. Because it was learned through friends, it reflects peer-to-peer transmission and how informal traditions have the ability to develop within social settings like friend groups. Overall, it shows how people create small, shared rituals to cope with uncertainty and stressful situations.

Knock On Wood

Age: 22

Context: While at a coffee shop, my friend shared a practice she’s followed since she was a kid to avoid bad luck when making a statement about something good.

Text:

“You know, even growing up, even if no is around, I’ll still knock on wood. Yeah. And like, yeah, if I think of something, and I really don’t want it to happen, or if I’m scared that I put something out into the universer that I don’t want out there, or that I might jinx something, then I’ll knock on llike a wooden table.

Even if there’s no wood around, I’ll knock on something. Like in my car. You know, I’ll be like, ‘traffic is going really nice right now,’ and then I’ll knock on the car.”

Analysis:

Similar to what we’ve discussed regarding important preventive measures to ward off evil, this is a method I even learned as a kid. What’s even more memorable about this method is the instant flash of fear that crosses a lot of our faces when we realize we might’ve jinxed a situation. This also aligns with Kapchan’s description of performance and how we act out, physically, the notion of protecting our fate. Even if there’s no wood around, something has to be knocked on.