Category Archives: general

Reyes Mago

Text:

“Basically it’s in early January and it’s supposed to symbolize when the 3 kings came and gave gifts to baby Jesus. The kids get gifts and a big dinner is held–Basically if ur kid you just get gifts and food, but if ur d enough you have to eat from a ‘rosca‘. The ‘rosca‘ will have little plastic babies hidden within, and if you end up pulling one, you now owe everyone else there a party where you’ll host dinner. This is done until all the babies are found. Kids can participate too, but their parents are responsible for throwing the party.”

Context:

The informant has participated in this since they were a young child.

Interpretation:

The celebration commemorates the biblical journey of the Magi—also known as the Three Kings—who brought gifts to the infant Jesus shortly after his birth. This religious narrative ties the holiday closely to Christian traditions, particularly Catholicism, which has been a dominant spiritual and cultural force in Spain and many Latin American countries. Furthermore, Reyes Magos centers on children, highlighting innocence, hope, and continuity. Families often gather for a special meal, share the Roscón de Reyes (a sweet bread with hidden figurines), and spend time together; this family-centric structure underscores kinship and tradition in Hispanic cultures, and emphasizes the importance of treasuring children, reinforcing communal bonds, and intergenerational continuity. And, by celebrating figures from a distant, symbolic past, Reyes Mago helps elevate storytelling, moral lessons, and myth as powerful forces of social cohesion to teach the next generation.

Hongsam (Red Ginseng)

Text:

Hongsam is an herbal tea made from the root of a red ginseng plant. It is supposed to raise your body temperature, giving you energy and improving blood circulation, and getting rid of infections/illnesses and boosting natural immunity.

Context:

The informant grew up with their own mother giving hongsam to them. As Korea began to modernize, they began to see hongsam change from a medicinal herbal tea to more widespread consumption types(tea, capsule, powder, and even candies)

Interpretation:

Hongsam is very popular among today’s generation in Korea. I personally think this is an interesting phenomenon, as many other traditional medicinal practices are usually met with skepticism and a growing mistrust, or are simply dismissed as pseudo-medicine/treatment. However, unlike some traditional remedies that have declined in popularity, hongsam has sustained and even increased its status due to both cultural trust and the Korean government investing heavily in researching and standardizing ginseng products, showing a blending of traditional knowledge with modern science. The industry is both a point of national pride and a strategic economic sector. Its success reflects Korea’s broader tendency to commercialize and globalize cultural assets—turning tradition into a competitive modern product, much like K-pop or Korean cosmetics. It also shows how wellness has been integrated into consumer behavior.

Annual Eastern Orthodox Church Festival

Text: “[At the festival], they have a “Middle Eastern” dance in a circle and everyone throws money into the middle to raise money for the church. Women cook ahead of time and men work the pots and pans during the ceremony. They sell baklava and hummus to raise money for the church. My dad and I [used to] work the games of chance.” 


Context: my informant is a Syrian-American and was a practicing Eastern Orthodox Christian as a child. He grew up in New Jersey, but went to a majority Middle Eastern Eastern Orthodox church where they would hold this festival. 

Analysis: As was described above, this was an annual festival held by my informant’s church when he was a kid. While he described it as simply an “Eastern Orthodox” church, it is important to note that he and the other people at his church were all of Middle Eastern descent. This is why he specifically mentioned hummus and “Middle Eastern” dancing: he was trying to communicate the idea that this festival relied on common Arabian heritage in a way that would make sense to my Western perspective. Heritage aside, this seems like a festival centered on fundraising. Every aspect mentioned above relates in some way to raising money for the church. The dance was meant to attract donations, the cooked goods were made to be sold, and the games of chance were meant to win money from gamblers. However, to my informant, he was simply recalling good memories of his childhood. He also never mentioned it being tied to any specific holiday, perhaps identifying the festival as something specific to that church. The festival, from an outsider’s perspective, seems to be a way for the church to raise money to stay afloat while also fostering the sense of community that truly keeps a church alive. 

Sports Hoodie

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: United States
Language: English

Text:

“Anytime ACFC is playing I have to wear my ACFC hoodie or else it’s a guaranteed loss.”

Context:

The informant started doing this in freshman year because nobody cared about women’s soccer and they wanted to market for it. They state that it’s important to them to encourage people to watch women’s soccer and also believed in doing this after wearing it watching their first game and their team won because of it.

Analysis:

This idea marks magical superstition as a ritual behavior is performed with the hopes of influencing the game. More specifically, this acts as sympathetic magic, where the action of wearing the hoodie will influence and help boost the chances of the team winning, and apotropaic magic with the idea of warding off bad luck. In addition, if the person fails to wear the hoodie then the game would be doomed from the start, creating a sense of avoidance ritual by continuously wearing the hoodie so there will be a chance for a victory. Besides representing magical superstition, this also emphasizes material culture with the hoodie. Some people, most that are outside of the sports community, would believe this to be a normal hoodie that one wears with market value, but the informant has a deeper connection to the material. They find it to have a deep personal meaning to the object that makes it invaluable and even giving power to the hoodie, which now acts as a talisman associated with good luck. This ritual behavior establishes identity with the sports folk group as well as acting as a tool that eases anxiety towards a game. It might also act as an explanation as to why a game won or failed with whether or not the hoodie was worn. Because there was a correlation between the object and the victory, the object then develops more power and is seen as something that influences the outcome of a game.

Come On! [Player’s Name]

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: United States
Language: English

Text:

“One superstition is when I’m watching volleyball and our team is serving I have to say ‘Come on’ and player’s name before they serve but I can only say it once and then if I do that then it won’t be a server’s error.”

Context:

The informant says they started doing this in the fall watching women’s volleyball after their friend did it once and ended up getting a service ace. They then started doing this in hopes of changing the outcome of the game. It’s important to them because there are a lot of service errors in the sports games and has a need to control what can’t be controlled.

Analysis:

This represents sports behavior tied to superstitious beliefs with the sports community being the folk group and this behavior the lore. The idea is orally speaking out loud about something happening in the game in hopes of changing the outcome of the match, despite knowing that the people on the screen can’t hear you. The ritual is held verbally with its own rules and distinctions like having to say the player that is serving and only doing it once. This is similar to sympathetic magic, where the action of calling out will influence an outcome and ensure the player being able to complete the serve. They adopted it from another friend, showing how this spreads socially especially within this folk group of sports. The informant even hopes to use this to spread to those outside of their group. This makes the game they’re watching seem interactive, despite being in a completely different location with no ties to those watching. This ritual offers a chance for watchers to help their team win and give them a sense of controlling the outcome in a game that is wildly unpredictable. These behaviors are used in the sports community then to ease one’s anxiety over not being in control and the uncertainty of the future. As a psychological function, this acts as the idea of finding correlation between two events that may not have an existing connection. This behavior formed due to the fact that it worked once, inviting this idea that because it happened once it may happen again. It’s interesting as well as the tradition is both personal and communal as the action is specific enough to pertain to a few people, but it still offers connection or similarity to others’ own personal rituals to the same activity.