Category Archives: Customs

Customs, conventions, and traditions of a group

Skol!

Text: 

When the informant’s family gathers together for a meal at his grandparents’ house, they all hold up their glasses and say “skol!” at the same time, as a cheers-ing tradition. When they say “skol”, they look into everyone’s eyes before taking a sip of their drinks. When they raise their glasses up before saying “skol”, they are supposed to hold it chest level, as high as their third button. 

Context:

The informant has grown up with this tradition at every one of his family dinners with his grandparents, and is very accustomed to it, although he doesn’t know what the word “skol” itself means. The informant’s grandfather learned it from his parents who are Norwegian. The informant says that the “skol!” tradition is a Scandinavian tradition, and so his grandfather knows it from when he and his parents lived in Norway. 

Analysis: 

This folk tradition within the informant’s family exemplifies the draw that many people feel towards tradition, even if they don’t necessarily know what it means. Most of all, it exemplifies the power that tradition has to bring groups of people together, especially when the traditions feel specific to a certain group.

In this way, traditions operate so much as markers of identity. In fact, perhaps the identity that traditions like the informant’s “skol” tradition gives to those who practice it carries just as much weight to them as the actual purpose/intention of the tradition itself. Additionally, practicing a tradition specific to a certain region/group after leaving said region keeps a sense of identity alive for its practitioners. 

Pre-Dinner Ritual

Text: 

The informant ate sit-down dinners with his immediate family every night growing up. Before they ate, they would always hold hands and say a few words, almost like a prayer.

Context:

While this dinnertime tradition is very common among religious households, the informant’s family is nonreligious, not subscribing to any organized religion. Instead of a typical prayer, the informant’s family’s “prayer” was said to no one in particular, and was often expressing gratitude. 

Analysis:

This tradition is a very common one, however, is usually affiliated with some level of religious background. Seeing it done without a religious background shows a lot about the shared values that both religious and non-religious people have in common. Although the informant’s family is not giving a prayer of gratitude to anyone in particular, it is still important for them to be grateful for their meal. In this sense, the tradition also seems to bring the family together and work as a bonding ritual with which to connect with each other every night through their gratitude. The informant’s lack of religious intent with his prayer shows that when a prayer of gratitude is not said to any particular deity or entity, its ability to bring a group, like the informant’s family, together seems to hold just as much weight as the ritual/prayer’s original purpose.

Driving Through Tunnel Ritual

Text: 

Whenever the informant drives through a tunnel, she holds her breath and honks her horn for the duration of the drive until exiting the tunnel.

Context:

The informant has known this ritual her entire life, growing up in Northern California, where there are many hills and mountains to drive through. Her family has always done it, and she has continued the tradition of this ritual to her friends all over California. The ritual feels like such second nature to the informant that she instinctively holds her breath and honks her horn in any tunnel. In different regions of California, some drivers alongside her do not honk their horns at all, and are alarmed at her doing it. However, where she is from, the tunnels are always filled with honking horns by default, and it is never questioned. 

Analysis:

Upon doing more research about this particular ritual, it is clear that this is just one variation of many similar rituals. To some in different regions of California, the honking of the car horn is never involved, and the ritual only involves holding one’s breath. To others, the ritual also includes saying the first fruit that you can think of as soon as you leave the tunnel. 

This variation in such a common ritual, whether it is regional or just specific to each person and unrelated to geographical location, shows how far folklore can spread when its practitioners all have a shared experience. In this example, the shared experience is driving in tunnels through hills or underground. Whatever the variation of the tunnel ritual is, its existence and popularity shows the discomfort that many drivers must have with driving through tunnels. After all, why else would such rituals be so popular? 

It is very common for rituals to arise out of fear and superstition, and the popularity of this tunnel ritual is a perfect example of our tendency to create rituals that make us feel like we have more control in situations where we feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

Jordan Almond Wedding Favor

Text:

There’s an Italian wedding custom where, as a wedding favor, a couple will place five candied almonds (called Jordan almonds) into a net mesh or piece of lace, tie it up with a bow, and put a tag on them with information about the wedding. The almond net will often be placed inside of something, such as a ceramic angel, a champagne glass, or a ceramic high heel shoe.
Each almond is supposed to have an individual meaning- representing five blessings of health, wealth, fertility, happiness, and longevity for the couple.

Context:

The informant is Roman Catholic, and grew up in the United States. She was exposed to the practice when she was younger and went to the weddings of her Italian family members, where these almonds were offered as party favors.

Analysis:

A common interpretation I’ve seen as to why Jordan almonds are given out at weddings is because they are shaped like eggs, and thus represent fertility. Their taste is also supposed to represent the state of married life, with the delicate balance of bitter and sweet reminding the couple how life can be a balance of both. Either way, this seems to be a form of homeopathic magic- attempting to bring about a desired result by mimicking said result through the ritual. In this case, the desired result is to either have a good balance of bitter and sweet moments in one’s life, or to have a fertile and bountiful marriage. There might be some symbolism in the objects the almonds are placed in as well, those being the shoe, champagne glass, and angel. The high heeled shoe and champagne glass can both be interpreted as representations of the “celebration” at the wedding and a part of the bride, while the angel is more comparable to the Christian aspect of Italian marriage customs. These objects, representing the liminal space that is the wedding ceremony itself, literally carry the blessings (the almonds) that the married couple will receive once this space is crossed.

Matzah Hunt

Text:

During Passover, the informant’s grandparents would hide two pieces of matzo (one for him, the other for his sister) that they would then search for. Sometimes, this would involve a game of “hot or cold”. If they found the pieces of matzo, they would get a bit of money as well.

Context:

The informant is not Jewish, but rather considers themself a mix of various ethnicity, citing Jewish as one, but mentioning that he was mostly Christian and Scottish, with a bit of Native American ancestry.

Analysis:

When looking further into the matzah hunt, I found out that there’s quite a bit of history and symbolism behind it. The bread is part of a group of three matzo, and the one that’s hidden is broken off from the middle one of the three pieces. It is then wrapped in a napkin and hidden somewhere in the house. In terms of symbolic importance, it’s referred to as either representing the sacrifice that was once offered at the temple in Jerusalem, which speaks to the historic and cultural importance of the activity. Alternatively, it can be seen as a way of representing how one must set aside a portion of what they own for the less fortunate. With such an important symbolic represented here, it’s interesting to see it applied to a game for children to play. Judging by the informant’s recollection of the event, I can’t imagine the player of this activity has much awareness of its importance. As a result, they just see it as a game they can earn something from if they win. Perhaps this can be seen as the way folk practices apply in different ways to different people. While the children see a fun game, the adults see a piece of symbolism that represents them as a people, and said children do not learn such symbolism until they are much older.