Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Persian Wedding (Custom)

Nationality: Persian
Age: 20
Performance Date: 2/27/16
Primary Language: English

My informant is Mondana. Mondana is a 21-year-old student at California State University of Sacramento. She was born and raised in Sacramento, California but her parents and ancestors are from Iran and they are all Persian.

 

Do you have any Persian traditions or customs?

Mondana: “Yeah weddings have a lot of traditions, for the bride whenever she gets married we set a table for her and the groom and on the table are spices and herbs and decorated objects and other gifts. Things like honey and sugar that represent good, sweet things. Then during the ceremony there’s a part where we drape the bride and groom over with a sheer linen and all the other married woman in attendance go up to them and rub sugar together and drop sugar on them so they’ll have a happy marriage”

Is this at every wedding?

Mondana: “Every Persian wedding that’s traditional I have seen it at”

When did you first see this custom?

Mondana: “Well probably the first wedding I went to when I was like 3 years old”

Are you going to have this at your wedding? Is it important to you?

Mondana: “Yeah I will. It is important it means a lot to my mom and my grandmother”

Is the meaning more significant or the fact that you want the good luck?

Mondana: “Oh I think, well I’m very superstitious and I want the luck, but it’s just tradition and a lot of cultures have them and it makes you closer to yours when you keep tradition”

 

Persians are a very large group of people that are very culture oriented from my experience so it is not a surprise they would have a custom at every wedding such as this one. I think it’s interesting how large a part of the ceremony the draping and dropping of sugar is compared to a Western marriage superstition like something borrowed, blue, old and new. Mondana takes pride in this custom and is adamant that she would do this at her wedding, to appease her mother and grandmother, but also because she is superstitious and custom. This custom will undoubtedly live on as Mondana has seen this at every wedding and she has no plan to discontinue the custom. I think it is a great gesture and a heart-warming feeling to know you are having the same wedding and practicing the same customs as your ancestors, and they would be proud.

The Dance Studio (Myth)

 

My informant is Laura Gabrielson. Laura is an 18 year-old, female student at USC. Laura is white and grew up in Denver, Colorado her whole life.

 

Laura: “So at my dance recital place, it’s like a community college for people with disabilities but they have this huge stage and it was where we would perform. And I guess a long time ago the stage manager was in a wheel-chair so he had to be lifted on to different parts of the stage by elevator. I don’t know if it was a hand pull one or electric but yeah an elevator. But one time his wheels weren’t locked in the elevator and he rolled off and fell and died into like this huge pit kind of thing, and now they have these boards taped out over it and no one will ever walk on it. Like you have to walk around it”

What happens if you do walk on it? Like bad luck or what?

Laura: “I think it’s just like creepy like he died there. He’s down there”

Do people think his spirit is there?

Laura: “No, literally people think he’s still down there. When the story was told it was like he’s still down there so you are gonna walk all on him”

Did you believe in it?

Laura: “I believed someone died there but I don’t think the guy is still down there. I definitely never walked on it though it was too creepy and no one did”

 

This myth is about an old man dying under a stage but it just sounds like drama superstition to me. Laura doesn’t recall any details about the man or the story and basically he just died there and is said to be down there. It’s interesting how everyone continuously refuses to step on that spot and even more interesting how normal it is. I think like with a lot of other folklore people don’t believe it but go along partially with the crowd and partially out of fear that something will go wrong. They don’t want to test fate.

 

Las Fiestas de Noviembre

Nationality: Columbian
Age: 18
Primary Language: Spanish

The informant, S, is 18 years old and from Miami, Florida, but he grew up in Cartagena, Colombia (Northern, Columbia). His mom is from Barranquilla, Columbia (Northern Columbia), while his dad is from Cartagena, Columbia. He considers himself a Latino Columbian and is majoring in Civil Engineering Building Science.

 

S-“So where I’m from in Cartagena, Columbia we have the whole month of November called Las fiestas de Noviembre (the November parties) where it consists of having different parades for different days of the week where all the main streets are closed and they are usually used for parades. There is traditional music. Kumbia, and ballenato is played. People go on the streets and they you know celebrate for las fiestas. Another big aspect of it is having this called bolcitas de agua (little water bags). What happens is everyone in the city usually has ammunition of little bags filled with water so wherever you are in the street you just have to be ready to like get hit with bags of water “

Like giant water balloon fight?

S-“Yea it’s this giant thing so like during the fiestas different neighborhoods get together and like fight each other with like the water bags or balloons if you want to call them. I remember like when I was little with my cousins we would get up on my balcony, and we would have tubs filled with little balloons and just like throw them at cars and people walking by. It’s cool because everyone knows and has the general consensus that it’s ok to do so. “

Do you know the history behind it or how it originated it?

S-“I do not”

So there is different parades at different periods?

S-“It’s just during the whole month. So like there is this big parade called el Bando and that day they just close the big streets and they throw maizena (corn starch) and water everywhere. Live music, a lot of fireworks. Do you know what a busca piez is?

Yea I think so

S-“It’s like the thing that you light up and throw it on the floor and it goes all over. Which is a bad thing because a lot of injuries happen. Like during this month there are people missing fingers and missing hands, but it’s a cool month.”

Analysis- The constant and long celebration would appear to many as waste of time and water, but to the people of the area it means much more. The events only happen in Cartagena, Columbia and the regions around it, for the festivals are meant to celebrate the independence of the area. The water throwing was not originally part of the idea of the festival but quickly merged with what people believe was the original plan. Today, however, as more outsiders move in, these things may be changing as they do not agree with everything that happens during the festival. Water throwing, for example, is banned from November 1-17 as well as fireworks from November 1-15.

For more information see: EL UNIVERSAL (2014, Oct. 30). Cartageneros Hablan de las Costumbres Novembrinas mas Irritantes. Retrieved from http://www.eluniversal.com.co/cartagena/cartageneros-hablan-de-las-costumbres-novenbrinas-mas-irritantes-175431

A Mexican Christmas

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Primary Language: English

The informant, K, is 19 years old. She was born in Long Beach, California but was raised in Los Angeles. Her dad is from Guadalajara, Mexico (Southern Mexico) but moved to the United States when he was 2. Her mom was born in Obregon, Sonora (Northern Mexico) but grew in Mexicali (a US-Mexico border town), and she moved to the United States when she was 18. She is majoring in Applied Mathematics with a Computer Science Minor. She considers herself Mexican-American (or Chicana).

K- “For Christmas every year my family makes tamales and posole. My mom’s side makes tamales and my dad’s side usually makes posole. We celebrate it Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Depending on the family since we interchange every year. One day we have posole and the other we have tamales. When it comes to opening the gifts, we always wait until 12 midnight. We basically start on Christmas Eve and end at midnight. If we have little kids, we let them open their presents up at 10. And that’s it, only the little kids. Everybody else has to wait until 12.”

What is a tamale and posole?

K-“Ok a tamale is like maza (corn dough) with meat inside, or it can be cheese and chile, or sweet with pineapple or strawberry. Posole is like a soup with grano (white hominy) and we make ours red because there is usually red, white, and green. We always do ours red. You can put cabbage and onions and chile if you want, lemon, or radish.

How long, that you are aware of, has this tradition been going?

K-“Since I was born. Before I was born. “

Analysis- This Christmas tradition gives some background into the way the informant’s culture functions. They are a culture centered around family that likes to maintain its traditions. They like to include everyone by switching families every year. Even though the family is no longer in Mexico, they continue to have the traditions that they grew up, which will be later adopted by their children. They also belong to a culture that likes to celebrate and enjoy every moment together. It is very good that everyone is part of the tradition, even the small children.

Salud, Dinero, Amor!

Nationality: USA
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Culver City
Performance Date: 4/26/16
Primary Language: English

Folklore Piece

“So I went to a Spanish immersion elementary school; everything was taught to us in Spanish except for English. Um, and so, when anyone would sneeze, as kids usually do, there’s this  Spanish saying that correlates sneezing with health. I guess, you could say. So if you sneeze once, you say ‘Salud’, if you sneeze twice you say ‘Dinero’, if you sneeze three times, ‘Amor’. So you’re wishing someone health, money, and love after each time that they sneeze.”

 

Background information

“I don’t know why I did it. I guess I was sort of caught up in it. I mean, if you’re a little kid and someone’s screaming at you in Spanish, but it’s a happy scream, you’re like ‘Yeah! I’m a happy screamer too!’ But like everyone’s just happy yelling at each other. Which I think is a lot of the Spanish language. I learned that when I was really young, I mean I started Spanish when I was in kindergarten.”

 

Context

“I don’t really say it anymore, but yeah, in general, people say it any time you sneeze, like saying ‘bless you’. But I guess it doesn’t really change in English. But I think it’s the same idea.”

 

Analysis

I learned about this in my Spanish class in high school as well. Much like the term ‘Bless you!’ many of the native Spanish speakers I know weren’t sure why they say it. Generally, it’s to wish someone good luck: health, money, and love.

My family does something similar where we change our “bless you’s” each time. The first one, it’s just a mild “Bless you.” The second, a bit louder, “Bless you!”, and the third “Take a sick day!” Each and every time.

These sneezing rituals are not uncommon; as we talked about in class it used to be believed that when someone sneezed, a bit of their soul left their body, hence the phrase “Bless you!” This general sentiment of wishing someone good fortune when something bad has happened to them could be the reason for the extension to this Spanish saying that the informant is talking about.

Interesting, too, is the informants reaction to being asked about its origins. She had no idea, didn’t claim to have any idea, and removed herself from the culture entirely. Even though she attended a Spanish immersion school, spoke in Spanish for a large portion of her life, and learned and celebrated an immense amount of Spanish culture, she still speaks of it as if it were entirely removed from herself.

This deals a lot with our class discussions about cultural identity and heritage. I think the informant might feel that, because her heritage isn’t of Spanish origin, she doesn’t claim ownership over the Spanish culture. There’s no right or wrong answer to this dilemma, only that the informant acts in the way that she feels most comfortable, which evidently is not identifying herself with the language or culture.

Knocking on wood

Nationality: American
Age: 44
Occupation: Massage Therapist
Residence: Pasadena, CA
Performance Date: 4/25/2016
Primary Language: English

After declaring something positive regarding his or her future, an observer of this tradition will knock on wood to ensure that the future does not turn out the opposite. Knocking on wood is a way of avoiding a jinx, or the opposite of what one hopes to happen turning into a reality after one expresses that original hope. An observer of this superstition will say “Knock on wood,” literally knock on wood, or do both in order to avoid an ill fate.

My informant always does both, and with a laugh to accompany it because he knows others view it as silly. He doesn’t believe that it literally wards off ill fate, but he does believe that it affects his mental space in a way that manifests into a more positive reality.

I asked him to describe this effect and he said:

“It doesn’t matter whether anyone else is into it, it just matters to me. As long as I get my head ok, then everything else is fine.”

I asked if he learned it from anyone else, to which he said:

“No, I figured it out on my own.”

I asked if anyone else in his group of friends or family observes the tradition to which he replied:

“No, I’m the only freak.”

My informant is a 44-year old massage therapist who lives in Pasadena, CA. He struggled with OCD as a child, and ever since then, has worked hard to maintain a calm inner life. Those with OCD often have their thoughts manifest themselves into ugly realities. They think something irrational, and then they do something irrational. So it makes complete sense that my informant would use this tradition as a technique to avoid that very pattern. I imagine for many, knocking on wood is not just an abstract superstition, but a small yet effective way of quieting their minds.