Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Tradition – Columbia

Nationality: Columbian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: New Jersey
Performance Date: February 11, 2007

SPANISH

Si quieres viajar en el ano suguiente, en diciembre 31 alax 12 am sal a corror con una maleta alredeolor del barrio.

DIRECT TRANSLATION

If you want to have travel more, on December 31 at 12 am run with a backpack around the block.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

If you want to travel a lot the following year, on December 31 at 12 am you should run around the block with a backpack at hand.

I came across this Columbian tradition when my friend’s boyfriend was visiting her from New Jersey.  We had been talking about traveling and it had just been the New Year going into 2007, as it was only February.   Therefore this piece of Columbian tradition came up in conversation.

The above saying translates to, if I person wants to travel a lot in the upcoming year, then on New year’s eve at midnight they should take a backpack (it does not need to have anything in it) and run as fast as they can around the block.  Like most traditions on New Years the person hopes that their wish is going to come true in the New Year.  Ironically for David it did, this is what made this tradition so interesting to me.  He ran around the block with his backpack at midnight on December 31 1999.  In the year 2000 his entire family moved to the United States.  When they moved here their lives changed.  They moved to a suburb of Philadelphia in New Jersey.  David and all of his sibling were now able to attend college and live a new life.

Ritual

Nationality: Indian
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angles, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Bengali

Superstitious Ritual

Nojor, loosely translated, “the Devils eye”

This is an act performed by elder women of the family to the children.  The woman will simply take the hand of the child, and firmly bite the smallest finger to prevent Nojor.

The informant explained to me that the idea here is that someone will look at the perfect, angelic child and will therefore become resentful and jealous.  Consequently, to protect the child from this curse, the mother or grandmother or other women of the family will bite the child’s finger, cause the child to cry or somehow distort their face.  The noise and facial distortion elicited from the child now make it imperfect, thus protecting it from the devil’s eye.

It is interesting how this is a demonstration of such a deep, ingrained superstition has actually become very ritualistic.  While most superstitions are nothing more than a verbal warning, the mother, in this case, skips the warning all together and simply takes it upon herself to prevent the curse that is surely approaching.

This act may be performed on any occasion, but in particular, according to the informant, on occasions that would warrant jealousy of the child.  For example, before the child is to perform or appear in front of a crowd in a any public display of talent or beauty.  The informant recalled one instance, quite late in his life, when his mother bit his finger before he went to his highs school prom.  “ You know, I can remember when my mom stopped doing it to me… yeah, there is a direct correlation between the time I stopped parting my hair on the side and the time she stopped biting me.”  Apparently for the informant’s mother, un-parted hair was enough imperfection so as to ward off evil on its own.

The cultural reflections of this act are dichotomous.  On one hand  there is a great deal of pride, I would indeed say arrogance that is shown by the older woman acknowledging that the child is worthy of jealousy; on the other hand it as if she is preventing the consequences of hubris in her own child.  With her older wisdom, she indeed can recognize the angelic qualities of her child, but sill forbid them naively over-displaying them.  Additionally, because this is such a common practice, from serfs to royal upper class, there is a cultural assumption that generally all children need protection from evil.  Thus we see the sacredness of children in this culture.

Greek New Years Customs

Nationality: Greek
Age: 50s
Occupation: Software Designer
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/15/11
Primary Language: English

The informant is a male in his 50s. He was born to two Greek parents in New York. He was brought up in the Greek Orthodox Church. He lived in the Bronx for most of his youth before moving to the suburbs in Connecticut. He has worked as a journalist for most of his life, a job in which he spent a good deal of time in the Middle East as a foreign correspondent. He now lives in Southern California as a software developer. He is divorced with three children.

Following are two New Years customs from the Greek community the informant lived in as a child.

Custom #1:

When growing up, there was a tradition in the informant’s family and the Greek community at large that the adults would always gamble on New Years eve. All the families would gather, as New Years is a family occasion, and the adults would bet on cards while the kids played. The believe was the gambling for money would bring luck for the coming year; it was an auspicious practice to handle money at the very threshold of the New Year.

Analysis: The handling of money at the beginning of the year probably owed some of its origin to ideas of sympathetic magic. The act of handling and interacting with a lot of money as the New Year begins is an enactment of the what the people wish to happen for the rest of the year; they hope that for the upcoming year they will have a lot of contact with money, and thus be prosperous. Gambling at New Years is a type of ritual, although most of the people participating probably think of it as a good luck ceremony. That the ritual magic implications of the gambling are more important than the more straightforward attempts to win money are supported by the fact that it is a whole family affair, including children.

Custom #2:

It was tradition in the informant’s family and the Greek community at large to throw a piece of iron into the house on New Years. Iron horseshoes are usually used, as they are the most common piece of iron around the house. The informant does not remember exactly why this was done, but he remembers learning that it should be done through the stories the old Greek women would tell him. They would explain their cultures traditions to the children, telling them stories and legends. They were the main transmitters of tradition in that social network.

Analysis: In the Greek community that the informant grew up in, the stories were transmitted by the female elders. The informant says that it is through the stories of these women that the young in the community learn who they are. These women are the active bearers in the community. It is their place in the social construction of the Greek society, rather than personality or personal preference, that determines who are active bearers of lore and who are passive. The childrens’ roles are as passive bearers. But this position switches with age, although not sex. The position of those who tell stories is regulated in the Greek community.

Chicken Adobo Recipe

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Toledo, Ohio
Performance Date: 4/10/11
Primary Language: English

The informant is a 19 year old Filipino female. She lives with her mother in Toledo, Ohio and has one older sister. She was raised Roman Catholic. She is currently a student at a university in Southern California. The informant is the co-president of the club volleyball team at her university.

Chicken adobo is a traditional Filipino dish, although there is a lot of variation in the exact ingredients depending on the region of the Philippines. The informant’s mother made chicken adobo for her and her sister all throughout their childhood. The informant saw her mother making the dish as a child, but never learned to make it until she went college. The informant specifically asked her mother for the recipe because she missed having the dish. At home her mother makes the dish about twice a month. The informant herself makes it at least once a week. The informant uses prepared adobo seasoning for her chicken because it saves time and doesn’t contain chiles, which she does not like. Her mother makes her own seasoning, including cloves, chiles, garlic, salt, pepper, etc. The informant’s mother fries the chicken pieces until crispy. The informant herself prefers to bake the chicken.

Recipe: Take chicken pieces, thighs, drumsticks, breasts, etc. Marinate in soy sauce, lemon juice and adobo seasonings. Place chicken pieces on a piece of foil on a baking sheet. Bake until done. Serve with rice.

Analysis: This account illustrates how important foodways are in constructing ideas about home and identity. The informant never learned or tried to learn how to cook chicken adobo until she was separated from her home and family. After being away from home, she purposefully learned how to cook this dish from her mother. Now, living away from home and the seat of her childhood identity, she cooks the dish much more often even than her mother did at home. It is likely her desire to learn how to cook chicken adobo, and the frequency with which she prepares it, represents a need to reestablish ties with her home, family, and cultural background. That she associates this dish with her home is reinforced by the fact that she specifically requests her mother cook this dish every time she spends time at home. For the informant, it is this foodway that reconnects her with her childhood and family.

Folk Belief

Nationality: Hispanic; Mexican; American
Age: 70
Occupation: Cosmetologist
Residence: Three Rivers, CA, USA
Performance Date: March 24, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

It is common in the Catholic Church to make the sign of the cross when praying and other important, specific instances during mass. Nowhere in doctrine does it specify that one has to make the sign of the cross when passing a Catholic church or emergency, though my grandmother does. She replied when I asked her about her doing this with, “It is what Catholics do – we…or I guess my family at least…have always done this…we show that we are Catholic as a reminder not to other people, but to ourselves.”

I can agree with this, but will also point out the variation and deviation from doctrine involved in religious practice that is present. It may be another example of seeking agency against the structure of a dominant religious denomination. Either way, as with belief in ghosts and aliens, we see people choosing to act as they wish and believing what they want, even if it is in contrast to or modified from the norm. Again, I will suggest it is an attempt of individuality and identity creation.