Category Archives: general

Protection made out of green stones

Age: 20

Story: The main character is C.Z., and she’s originally from Zhejiang province, China. She was born with a congenital heart disease, and she has almost always been in and out of hospitals. She’s weak, pale, and skinny, the skinny that looks unhealthy, not the type of skinny that makes others jealous. She has had at least 5 surgeries on her heart, although most are minor surgeries; a couple of them were pretty intense and serious. She said that if something had gone wrong on those, she could’ve died in her early childhood.

C.Z.’s grandmother was one of those superstitious people. She believed in all kinds of spiritual things, like amulets, psychics, and fortune tellers. Basically, anything that would “protect” and “enrich” the family and herself, she would spend thousands of dollars on it, although money isn’t an issue because C.Z.’s family is loaded. C.Z., however, thought all that was nonsense. She said that if this stuff really worked, then places like hospitals wouldn’t exist, and people wouldn’t have to work. All they need is some sort of supernatural beliefs.

On her 13th birthday, her grandmother gave her a green jade necklace as her birthday gift. The grandmother claimed that it was passed down by a generation of some spiritual masters, which makes it consecrated, and that it would protect her and make her healthy. C.Z. obviously thinks it’s all bullcrap, but she still thinks her grandmother for the effort of getting it. Also, she admitted that aside from the story behind it, the jade did look beautiful. So she kept it and wore it as an accessory.

A couple of weeks later, C.Z. was just coming home late from her art lesson. She stepped into the elevator alone, and just when the doors closed, the jade necklace that her grandmother gave her shattered. C.Z. was surprised and stunned by the sudden event. She claims that nothing else touched it. It was just hanging from her neck, and it felt like something had punched it from the inside.

C.Z. said that she was trying to figure out what happened, and she noticed that the elevator doors didn’t shut properly. She tried to open and close the door by hitting the buttons, but it still didn’t work. After a couple of tries, it finally managed to close, but then she suddenly felt a strange chill that crawled up her spine. She felt something was wrong, and she didn’t know why, but she stepped out of the elevator immediately. She stood there for a few minutes, thinking whether or not she’s overthinking it and scaring herself, but eventually she decided to take the stairs instead.

That night, all the residents were notified that the elevator had issues and had crashed while operating. A couple got injured, and the boyfriend was sent to the ER immediately after the accident. Luckily, the couple didn’t die, but C.Z. was stunned by the unexpected news. She sat and started to connect the relationship between the event and the broken jade. The more she thinks of it, the more she’s terrified about it. C.Z. told her grandmother what happened, and her grandmother was so relieved that C.Z. was wearing the necklace that day. A couple of days later, the grandmother gave C.Z. another jade necklace out of nowhere, claiming that it was “consecrated by that same spiritual master.”

Since then, C.Z. has worn the necklace 24/7, no matter what. She said that after wearing the necklace, she hasn’t needed any surgeries since then. C.Z. said she doesn’t know if it’s her condition is improving or if she is getting “something” from that piece of jade.

Context: This story occurred in Zhejiang province, China, in early times of April 2018. C.Z. was in an international school, and at that time she was in 7th grade. When the event happened, she told this story first to her grandmother, then to her family, and to her friends in middle school. When she studied for a few years in Saipan (my hometown), she told this story to me a couple of times, and some of her friends, and our English teacher.

Teller’s thought: So she doesn’t have a super crazy thought on the story because no “spirit” actually appeared. However, there was some sort of power that protected her from the event, and she said that she was really relieved that she chose to step out of the elevator, or else her body condition, that elevator would’ve killed her right on the spot. She’s also really grateful to her grandmother for believing in those superstitions, and she couldn’t believe that those superstitions saved her life some days. She also claims that ever since wearing the necklace, she feels like she’s getting very lucky, and she noticed that her life has become more wonderful. Nevertheless, she credited these feelings to her own optimism, but she does believe that her optimism is solely from the necklace and her grandmother.

My Thoughts: Although I have known her for 2 years, I’m like one of her best friends, and she’s one of my best friends. So her story I find to be true, because it’s really trustworthy. I’ve also received jade necklaces from my grandmother (it’s really like a tradition in Chinese cultures, where the elderly give you something valuable that’s been passed down from generation to generation), which was claimed to protect me from the evil spirits around me. I honestly can feel that some kind of power is surrounding me and, in a way, supporting me throughout my life. Also, I’ve seen some of the accessories her grandmother gave to her, and they were pretty and shiny. I tried them a couple of times, and to be honest, I feel nothing. But this doesn’t change the fact that it’s a good story.

Turkish Circumcision

Age: 21

Text:

“When I was getting circumcision, all the people was watching me, actually. If I remember, I was in my parents room and a doctor came, and he started, doing a circumcision, to me – actually, that day, my grandpa. called me like my grandpa was over there. They give me a shot to my balls, like local anaesthesia, and I was six, and I remember I didn’t feel anything there, you know. And I was like, freaking out. And I escaped from the house. I started running, and my grandpa catch me, and he told me that, ‘hey, you’re not gonna do it right now. They’re gonna do it in the army. They’re gonna do it in the military, and they do it with the axe, when you’re 20.’ I was like, what? I’m like, I was so scared, you know, I’m like, ‘Okay, I should go back, I guess.’ Because I was so scared. In Turkey, military is mandatory, you don’t have a choice. I was like, forcing, and I went back, and I just made them do it. And as I said, I was like, six, – I have a video too. When I was getting a circumcision, and my aunts were coming in the room, my uncles were coming in the room, you know, they were just watching me. I’m like, and I didn’t know that much, you know, what’s going on. I remember, we do have food and stuff. People is coming more like our inner circle people, like Inner Inner Circle family. They come in and they eat some stuff, you know, and be celebrating that in the hall, in the home, too.”

Context:

“I didn’t know if it’s, like, very important thing, you know, and I didn’t know that much, but I knew that for my grandpa, for example, it was very important”

Analysis: 

This account of the Turkish sünnet (circumcision) ritual, emphasizes both its emotional weight and its communal significance. The informant’s memory blends fear, confusion, and performance, as the procedure becomes not only a medical event but a public spectacle within the family home. The presence of relatives, the filming of the moment, and the celebratory food all reflect the integration of private bodily transformation with familial observation and tradition. His grandfather’s comment—framing circumcision as a necessary precursor to avoid a harsher military version—reflects how elders use symbolic threats and traditional authority to uphold cultural rites. While the child at the center doesn’t fully understand the ritual’s meaning, he perceives its importance through the seriousness with which his elders treat it. 

Turkish Blood apotropaic – protection for car

Age: 21

Text:

“So what we do is, when we buy a car, usually, or when you buy a new thing, something new, it’s kind of brutal, but what they do usually it’s either chicken or like, sheep or something. They cut it and they put the blood in the front of the car, in the hood. They think it’s protected, like, the car, you know. It’s not religious. It’s just like a turkey. It’s just a Turkish thing.”

Context:

This custom seems to stem from animal sacrifice, though the informant insisted the practice today is just a “Turkish thing” and isn’t religious. According to him, this superstition/practice isn’t very popular with young people. 

Analysis:

The blood in this custom functions as an apotropaic, meant to protect a new object. Cars in this example carry special weight because they are very expensive in Turkey, around 2-3 times that in America, so it is a big life shift to purchase one. Though people are distancing themselves from the practice or original belief (first from Islamic tradition, then young people from older superstition) they still perform it. 

Predicting the future with Turkish coffee grounds

Age: 21

“After we finish the coffee, some people, some people will read coffee, cups, or to read someone’s coffee cup. You know, we are reading and they are trying to predict their future. You wait for 15 minutes and then you are gonna see some symbols in the bottom of the cup. You cannot read your own future, only someone else’s. My mom was a reader, one time all my aunts, my relatives, were coming to our house.They all drink Turkish coffee, and after they finished, they put two coffee cups upside down, and they are waiting for 15 minutes. After that, my mom takes all the cups, and step by step, my mom was trying to read the coffee cups with symbols inside of the coffee and telling them what’s going to happen, but she never says bad thing. She was saying, in three months you will get a big surprise from someone that sort of thing, right? Yeah, you will go abroad next year. Or some special person, one special person will visit you in

five months. My mom once told my aunt, you’re gonna get big money from somewhere in the next year. And that year, my aunt won the lottery.”

Context:

The informant didn’t believe in the validity of the readings, even though his mother predicted his aunt receiving a large amount of money. This practice is called kahve falı, and the “symbols” referenced are the patterns of the coffee grounds in the bottom of the cup. This is still very popular in Turkey and its youth, partially just for entertainment and partially because of belief in the contagious magic. 

Analysis:

The coffee grounds being believed to provide insight into the future of the person who drank from that cup is an example of contagious magic. The structured performance of the reading, creates a setting in which the mother, is awarded authority as a folk specialist, with which she offers optimistic predictions to family members. Her refusal to make a negative reading highlights the emotional and protective function of the tradition, especially in female-centered gatherings.

Turkish circumcision wedding

Age: 21

“We got a circumcision wedding in Turkey. When you’re a kid, and you’re a boy, you know, and you get a circumcision, you do a wedding for him. Here [in America] usually you get a circumcision when you’re little kid, like a baby, but in Turkey, it was like, when you were, like, six, seven years old, they were doing, they were doing that. For example for me, I got a circumcision when I was six, and my parents did a wedding for me. Said we call circumcision. Wedding is for the boys and, like they invited a bunch of people, like in my wedding, that was like four or 500 people. Like 400 300 at least people in my circumcision wedding, and they give you money, and people is, having fun, you know, and that kind of stuff. 

So in the morning, when it was like one to 2pm in the afternoon, we’re doing a convoy. And probably, like, as much as the cars they come in, it’s like 20, 30 cars. They were like 35 cars. You know, we go one by one like everybody follows each other. It’s just one line. And everybody’s like, using their honk. And it’s like, sometimes being like, 20 cars, 30 cars, for the cars, you know, yeah, and people is coming, they following you. You being in the first car, usually. And, you just, like, telling the people who doesn’t know you, oh, I got the circumcision, you know. It’s a tradition too. Yeah, it’s on the wedding day. after that you just get them prepared. Youhave, a specific clothes that you should wear, and you wearing that clothes, and you just getting ready.

They are like traditional clothes. 

In the wedding, usually we have a pasta. not a pasta, actually, it’s a dessert we call pasta, but it’s like a cake, like a birthday cake, but a really big one, like, maybe, 200 people cake, you know, they can eat, slices, you know. And you have that and you dancing. And after, like, a couple hours, you have a different, you just not changing the clothes, but they give you something, and you wear something, and people is coming, and they starting to give you gold or, like money, but on the clothes, they put with the needle. Yeah, they give you money, they give you gold, whatever they give you, like, and you just thank them like, ‘Thank you.’ and your parents are in the same line. You ,your parents, your grandpa, you know, you’re waiting in the same line. And people is like giving you some stuff, presents, I’m coming from the Aegean side, we have a specific, like a dance for the Aegeans. And we did, that actually, (the zeybek dance).”

Context: 

This is a widespread traditional rite of passage in Turkey called sünnet düğünü. The traditional dance referenced is the zeybek dance. The informant said he didn’t understand, but knew it was important to his grandfather. 

Analysis:

This ritual is a public celebration of the informant’s transition towards manhood, and social recognition, and religious belonging. The convoy announces this to the broader community. The pinning of gold or money to clothes is present in other Turkish celebrations, like weddings and births, and ritualizes support and symbolic investment into the informant and his family, who are in line to receive gifts with him. In many ways, the celebration is for the family just as much, if not more, than for the informant who at that age, didn’t understand what was going on or why. The celebration as a whole ties Muslim identity (religious duty of circumcision) and regional community to the boy’s identity.