Category Archives: Gestures

GRANDPA’S FIRST EXORCISM

Age: 19

For this story, I spoke to my friend. He told me this story that he got from his grandfather. The following is told from his first person perspective about his grandfather.

INTERVIEWEE: “When my grandpa was 25 years old he was a deacon at a church in Riverside, California. During his time, he had some house calls regularly. He was a deacon until he was around 40 so he saw a lot of different stuff at peoples’ houses. They would typically send him to houses to pray over new houses, old people, deceased, etc. However, one time he was asked to come to a home to perform a literal exorcism which was very out of the ordinary for him.

He thought this was unusual because he had never done anything like this before. One day, the church sent him to this house to perform the exorcism on this teenage girl who was spasming out, blaspheming, and acting really funky in general. The parents had no idea what to do so they called up my grandpa who and some other people with then church. My grandpa showed up with a few other priests. The other priests must have brought a bible, a cross, and some holy water.

They went into the house and the parents directed them into the room where the teenage girl was. She couldn’t sit still. They did something and they got the demon out of her; repeating a prayer or splashing holy water on her. She tried to jump away from it, but eventually she hit the ground and started shaking and screaming for a couple minutes. During this, the priests recited the prayer again and again. Then she passes out.

The girl didn’t wake up until the following morning super exhausted. She ended up being totally fine afterwards, with no signs of possession or evil spirits holding inside her anymore yet having no idea what had happened. This actually was the last and only exorcism my grandpa had to perform during his time being a deacon; this being a very different experience for him.”

My thoughts: I find it super interesting that his grandfather never did another exorcism after this, nor having done one prior. Around this time, which was maybe the 1970’s, the first Exorcist film came out, which made exorcisms more believed in during this time perchance, which may be why he got this house call in particular. With this, the details such as the girl forgetting everything that had happened, as well as the possession itself, it makes this story very unique; especially in the perspective of someone who has never experienced something like this.

Pre-show ritual – Will Bundy

Text:

CS: We would gather… usually it was before every opening. We would all gather together, um, like, everyone on the crew. And the stage manager, who would be calling the show, would say a prayer to the theatre gods. And we would all have out hands on their head in a circle around them. And then they would say like, “I just hope this show goes well, everyone did so good…” usually it was something along those lines. And once they were done, we would all raise up our arms and go “whoooooooa, Bundy!”

Context: CS is a college student in Southern California who attended an arts high school in Santa Ana. This school had conservatories focused on different art forms, and CS was in Production & Design (P&D), which focused on technical theatre and design elements in live performance.

CS: I have been told conflicting things.My brother, he says that it’s like how in The Mighty Ducks, the movies, they would say “quack, quack!” Like, that’s our “quack, quack.” But, um, the lore that I was told is that Will Bundy was the first P&D student admitted to Production & Design. Like, top of the roster, “B,” Bundy, top of the alphabetical order. And so we’re like, honoring him by saying Will Bundy. And it’s either “whoa, Bundy,” or “Will Bundy,” depending on who you ask.

Analysis:

I think this is a very interesting pre-show ritual. It contains some marks of common pre-show theatre rituals–the standing in a circle, touching hands, a “leader” figure within the group saying some kind of affirmation or “prayer” hoping for a good show, as well as recognizing the work of the people around them–but the chant is one I’ve never heard before. I think the supposed connection to the first student of the program is very sweet, and represents a kind of honoring of the work of the students of the program through all the years of its existence. It’s almost a celebration of the technical theatre program and all the unrecognized work that these students would do.

Frozen Faces

Text:

Parents would tell their children that if they make funny faces too much, their faces will be stuck like that forever.

Context:

The informant was told this as a child, and noted that it was said generally either in jest or as a light way to discourage them from being immature/disrespectful and making faces all the time. They also carried this on and said it occasionally to their own child, though mostly in teasing.

Analysis:

This phrase was and is used by parents as a funny but somewhat “scary” way of keeping their children from making faces all the time. It shows how certain beliefs are born from ways of keeping children in check rather than innately from fact or fear.

Trevi Fountain

Text:

If you ever visit Trevi Fountain in Rome, toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountain. This is so fate will bring you back again.

Context:

This is a commonly referenced tradition for tourists to do when visiting the Trevi Fountain. The informant for this article was told this in preparation to visit, and again when at the fountain.

Analysis:

This is a fun and very specific tradition that brings tourists together and makes them feel more connected to the Trevi Fountain. It also connects them to one another, as they see others doing it, they tell their friends who have done it before and trade stories, etc.

Feeding Birthday Cake

AGE: 21

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 4/19

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: Canadian 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: Westlake Village 

Text

Interviewer: What’s a tradition you and your family have done during the holidays or certain celebrations?

SA: “One small but meaningful tradition in my family happens during birthdays. I only recently learned that this is an Indian thing–but the person whose birthday it is feeds cake to the people closest to them, and they get fed cake by those same people. It’s a simple act but deeply rooted in affection and closeness.”

Interpretation

A lot of the rituals, superstitions, and other traditions that SA had described to me in her family and her culture surround concepts of love, devotion, and affection. I think it’s so beautiful that there are so many distinct rituals that surround the concept of love and adoration. The only rituals or traditions I can think of at the moment in American society is either Valentine’s Day or someone’s anniversary. But on the topic of birthday rituals, in Korean culture it’s typical that the person’s family will make them birthday soup. The next chance I get to interview SA, I would love her to expand on how she found out it was an Indian tradition and whether she would like to continue this tradition with her family in the future. Since it involves cake, did this tradition begin as the modern world developed or has cake replaced something else used in the past? Either way, what a beautiful and familial tradition.