Category Archives: Signs

Prognostications, fortune-telling, etc.

Even VS Odd Flowers

Text: The excerpt below is a performance describing the even vs odd flowers Romanian superstition.

Interviewer: Do you have any folk beliefs of what brings good or bad luck?

Interviewee: And, so like, I brought this up in class on Tuesday, but it’s the, uh, when you bring someone flowers, if it’s an even number, that’s bad luck, because you only bring even numbers to funerals, when you are mourning someone, in Romanian culture, so you’ll always bring odd flowers [when going to an event that is happy].

Interviewer: Do you know where you heard of these beliefs?

Interviewee: Yeah, they’re from my parents, it’s part of the culture, it’s like a very superstitious culture.

Context:

This excerpt is from a conversation during a discussion class of Forms of Folklore. The person interviewed is of Romanian heritage, and grew up in America. They always bring an even number of flowers to funerals, and an odd number to joyous events.

Analysis:

This belief likely is held because the believer likes to feel greater influence over events that they do not affect. The superstition also points to the multiple, competing symbolic meanings of flowers, how flowers are given joyfully to someone you love, but also, they are used to mourn for those who die. These competing use cases resulted in this belief forming, where which circumstance of flowers had to be made clear. It is also interesting how odd is considered lucky, while even is considered unlucky. This folkloric belief, in its focus on odd and even, is extremely similar to and possibly connected to the pulling petals folk activity, where depending on if the number of petals pulled is odd or even, someone does or does not love the ritual performer. Also, the fact that odd in particular is joyful, while even is somber, could have arose from the fact that giving one flower is common, and it would be strange from that to be classified as unlucky, so from there, all odds were made happy, and evens were made unlucky.

Lucky 8 and Unlucky 4

Text: The performance captured below is an explanation of different lucky and unlucky numbers in Chinese folk belief.

Interviewer: Do you have any superstitions or things that bring luck?

Interviewee: Yeah, so for uh, again for Chinese people, we have lucky numbers and unlucky numbers. For some reason that I am not super sure about, the number eight is a lucky number. It, like, signifies good fortune, or whatever, and the number four is an unlucky number. I think the last time I hear it, it’s like because (sǐ 死) in Chinese kind of sounds like death, so that’s uh like why.

Context:

The interviewee is an Asian-American student at USC whose parents are first-generation immigrants from China. First, the student was asked if he held any superstitions, after a while of thinking, his response was as described above. When asked how he engages with this belief, the interviewee responded:

Interviewee: Unconsciously I always try to do things, like in eights probably. Like, if I think about it, throughout my life, like, I do feel like eight’s a lucky number.


Analysis:

These examples explain how language affects folk belief. The belief follows the pattern of homeopathic magic, as due to the fact that 4 phonetically sounds like the word for death in Mandarin, negative folk beliefs and superstitions are placed on top of that number. This example also exemplifies how different cultures vary in how they view specific numbers. The additional belief that 8 is a lucky number showcases conversion magic, as now that the evil number 4 is doubled, its unlucky connotation is inverted, and the new number 8 now carries good luck. The response from the interviewee also showcases how belief exists on a continuum. He does not actively advocate that 8 is actually lucky. However, this cultural superstition still subconsciously affects him, and informs how he acts day to day.

Drake Curse Legend

Text: The interview below captures a student folk performance of the Drake Curse legend.

Interviewer: Do you have any MMA or fighting beliefs?

Interviewee: So, for, like, the UFC, I don’t know if it spans across other promotions, but, for the UFC specifically, there’s a betting system. You can see who bets what on which fighter, uh, and there’s basically this thing called the Drake Curse, wherein whichever fighter Drake, the rapper, singer, uh, puts his money on, that fighter will lose, and that has uh, only a few fighters have broken the Drake Curse, but most of the fighters who he’s bet on have lost their fights.

Context:

This interview was collected from a college student, raised in São Paulo, who is captain of the school’s MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) club after a practice. The interviewee heard about the legend from UFC fight commentary and social media

Analysis:

MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) fights inherently have a lot of randomness. One stray punch, or one awkward position can lead to an upset, so betting on fights contains a lot of risk. Because of this uncertainty, folklore is used to explain and deal with that unpredictability. Now, the winner of the fight is determined by one factor: whether Drake put his money on him. The staying power of this folk speech is evident, as even when Drake does win some of his bets, the reputation of the Drake Curse still endures. The belief is able to permeate multiple folk groups, because Drake bets on a lot of different sports. The interviewed bearer of the legend heard about it both from official fight commentary, and from social media posts. This origin showcases the fight commentator engaging in folklorism, as they take the humorous legend from the digital folk environment, where it originates, and repeat it on the official commentary broadcast.

“Something Blue

Interviewer: “Can you please repeat what you just told me, because it is a great example of a ritual and folk tradition!”

OB: “In my Family, the “something blue” in wedding superstition has to be a blue thread sewn into the hem of the dress in the shape of an anchor. It is supposed to keep the marriage grounded, and supposedly keeps the couple together.

Context: OB’s cousin is getting married in the summer, and she wanted all her family members to sew blue anchors into the hem of their suits. He has learned this tradition for as long as he can remember in his family, however he has never participated himself because it is typically the bride. he is a gay male, and wants to eventually use the tradition in his suit when he gets married, carrying on the tradition in his own way.

Analysis: This is a great example of how a very broad and popularized tradition is localized into a more narrow specific familial tradition. This is an example of material culture, in which an object is representative of a folk belief of a tradition. This could be perceived as a ritual of intensification as it strengthens the bond between romantic partners as well as their families.

Pig Dream

Age: 51

Text: My family informant told me about a long-standing superstition among Koreans, in which having a dream about a pig is viewed as an omen for good luck, particularly for money.

Context: This superstition was told to me by my father over the phone when the topic of dreams came up. He mentioned having a dream with a pig appearing in our apartment, and regretted not being able to buy a lottery ticket the next day, as the dream slipped his mind as he carried on throughout his day with work and other responsibilities. He explained that in Korean culture, a pig dream is seen as a good omen for financial success, and it can be deduced from his regret that he shared this same interpretation. While he could not recall where he first heard this superstition, he said that most people who were born and grew up in Korea know about this superstition. Later on, he sent a Korean blog post that explained the origins of the superstition, with the blog explaining the linguistic background of the pig superstition. Before Korean (Hangul) was created, Koreans used Chinese letters (Hanja), and they noticed that the Chinese word for pig (don) sounded just like the word for money (also don) in Korean.

Analysis: This is an example of a traditional folklore in which its origin cannot be pinpointed to a specific person or time, and is transmitted orally from my informant to me. At a surface level, beyond the language explanation, I could see why a pig dream could be interpreted as fortune. With Korea having a history of famines among the commons, the physical traits of a fat and well-fed pig naturally makes it a symbol of prosperity. In fact, in North Korea, where its aspects like famines and strict social hierarchies mirror previous Korean kingdoms, beauty standards share themes with this pig superstition. While South Korea obsesses over skinny figures, a round face and “healthy” body is seen as beautiful in North Korea, as it signals the individual as well-fed and wealthy. Overall, I believe this pig superstition’s origins offers an interesting cultural and historical insight of Korean communities from its origin that came from a wordplay between two languages, and symbolisms that stemmed from a struggling society.