Category Archives: Myths

Sacred narratives

St. Joseph Miracle — Family Legend

Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2, 2023
Primary Language: English

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“My great great grandfather from Sicily prayed to St. Joseph for a favor. I believe he had a near-fatal illness and needed healing. Anyways, he got better. So every year on St. Joseph’s day (March 19) he promised to have a big feast in St. Joseph’s honor and invite friends and family to celebrate. He also had a large St. Joseph statue in his home, which now belongs to my great uncle. 

“More widespread, I believe St. Joseph’s day is celebrated in March because it is believed that praying to him brings rain and bountiful spring crops. Creating a table or altar of offerings is commonplace in Italian tradition, but my family goes above and beyond with the festivities to recognize this family legend.”

Context

SR is a 20 year-old college student from Thousand Oaks, CA. Her family is Catholic and has Italian roots. She first heard the story of her great great grandfather’s miracle when she was very young.

“I believe it was first told to me when I was five or six years old, around the first time I met my extended family in New York,” she said.

The extent of her belief in the family miracle/legend has decreased alongside her religious belief.

“I considered it a miracle at the time, but given how little evidence I have for it actually happening and how I’ve sort of grown out of the Catholic faith, I’m definitely skeptical,” she explained. “However, that doesn’t change the fact that I cherish the tradition and plan to share the legend — as something that may or may not have been true — with my own kids one day.”

Analysis

This miracle slowly devolves from a personal experience of myth (sacred truth) to a legend, reflecting the shifting truth value of the story. In this way, this testimonial is a great example of how the major distinguishing factor between a myth and a legend is its truth value to an individual. SR’s skepticism means that she still values the story as a legend and as a site of tradition, regardless of belief. 

The story of a relative experiencing a miracle functions to strengthen a myth (sacred truth) by bringing it closer to an individual. Additionally, SR learned this story in a familial context, which functioned to link myth (religious belief) with family. Social networks have a strong influence on belief.

The myth also functions to naturalize an aspect of SR’s culture, the St. Joseph’s Day celebration, by endowing it with a sacred origin story of why they celebrate the feast day. These family myths/legends function to create a more personal experience of religious (mythic) belief.

From legend to myth: the Legendary figure of Guanyu and the God of loyality and courage

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 21

Context:

The informant shares a legendary figure that later transformed into a god with mythic characteristics. The context of this legend takes place during the Three Kingdoms period in China, around the years 220-280. This is a period of upheaval characterized by distinct individuals. The protagonist of the legend, Guanyu, is one of them, serving under the Shu dynasty. Other two kingdoms were the Wu Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty. It was a time when the three nations fiercely struggled for the orthodox king of China. Guanyu was a fearless warrior and was also the sworn brother of the king of Shu.

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“Guanyu was captured by Lu Meng, a general in the Wu Dynasty. After he captured Guanyu, he beheaded him and sent the head in a box as a gift to Cao Cao, the king of the Wei Dynasty. He did this because at the time, Wei was the most powerful kingdom, and Wu wanted to befriend Wei to fight Shu. When Cao Cao opened the box, he found out that it was Guanyu’s head. The head of Guanyu jumped out of the box and tried to bite. It scared Cao Cao so much that his headache attacked. But regardless of the hostile relationship between Shu and Wei, Cao Cao admired Guanyu as a warrior of great courage and loyalty. He buried Guanyu with great honor and built temples in his name. Some say that it’s because Cao Cao was afraid of the fury of the Shu Dynasty for losing the King’s brother; others say that Cao Cao truly admired Guanyu. But that’s where the legend ends.

However, the myth of Guanyu starts there. Guanyu had been woven into Taoism and become one of the Taoist gods. He is the one that represents loyalty between friends and brothers. Many of the gang members in China would worship Guanyu as a sign of the bond between their members.”

Analysis:

The transformation of Guanyu from a legendary figure to a mythic god can be seen as a natural progression in the process of cultural storytelling. In folklore, legendary figures often embody the values and qualities admired by the society that creates and perpetuates their stories. As these values become more deeply ingrained in the culture, it’s common for these figures to take on a more divine or supernatural aspect.

In the case of Guanyu, his legendary status as a courageous and loyal warrior made him a powerful symbol for the values of loyalty and brotherhood. By incorporating Guanyu into the Taoist pantheon as a god, he became a representation of these values in a more profound and spiritual way. This transition allowed for a more profound connection to Guanyu’s virtues, as people could now seek his divine assistance and protection in their lives. Also, it becomes a mythtic figure because it teaches people how to behave in life and what to believe, without the fact that many people live up to the tradtions of Guanyu, he would remain a legend.

Interestingly, Guanyu as a mythtic figure was viewed differently in different groups. In Taoists, Guanyu was one of the four great protectors of Taoism. In Buddism, Guanyu was the Galan Budda, which resembles the chief of police in the world of budda. In the business world, merchants and ordinary people view him as Martial God of Wealth who save guard their wealth and good luck. Others view Guan yu as Guandi, God of war who controls over evil spririt of the world.

La Nahuala

Age: 21

Context
VS is my friend here at USC. They are from San Jose, California, raised by parents who were born and raised in Mexico. They travel to Mexico multiple times a year and consider it to be like their second home. They translated the story into English for this interview.

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DO (Interviewer): Do you have any ghost stories that you remember as a child?

VS: Yes dude. There was one that always scared me. My parents would tell me and my sisters it and I would have nightmares about her sometimes. The story is called La Nahuala. Apparently, some lady, well, La Nahala, sold her soul. She wanted to be beautiful and young forever because she was conceited. When she sold her soul the devil didn’t make her pretty. Actually, the opposite. He turned her into some ugly monster thing. Because she was obviously upset by this she wanders around Mexico and tries to get revenge on people she feels like wronged her. 

DO: What does she look like? Is she described in a certain way?

VS: She’s like dressed in all white, which is already super creepy. But then she’s also a skeleton and has dark hair and her eyes glow. My dad also told me that she can like change into different shapes like spiders and cats. I think the point is that she can turn into animals and stuff that people think are creepy, since she’s a ghost and all.

DO: Is this a famous story?

VS: I’d say yes. Obviously it’s more of a Mexican thing. I think it’s mostly told to kids to scare them because La Nahuala is known to snatch up kids and like younger people. I think there’s even movies about her. 

Analysis

This myth has cultural ties to Mexican culture, specifically Oaxacan culture. I believe that it serves the purpose of frowning upon and discouraging vanity and being conceited. Because this character wanted more beauty and youth she was punished and given the exact opposite. It can be a metaphor for showing that while she used to be externally beautiful she was internally “ugly” for being vain. As a punishment, she was then forced to be ugly externally as well. It can also show Mexican ideas on religion. This story showcases someone selling their soul to the devil and then being tricked into something terrible. It can be told as a way of discouraging people, especially children, from the occult and anything that goes against religion and God.

The Ghosts of the Congress Plaza Hotel

Nationality: Puerto Rican
Age: 46

Context

MO is my mother. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois in the 70s. She was born to two Puerto Rican parents who came to America in their teenage years. Her father is from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, and her mother is from Moca, Puerto Rico. They go visit Puerto Rico every summer and have done so for decades. 

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DO: Chicago’s an old city, do you have any myths or legends that are specific to us?

MO: The old hotel over on Michigan Ave in downtown is apparently haunted. 

DO: The Congress?

MO: Yes. Apparently there’s a bunch of different ghost stories. The famous one is the story about the man with the peg leg. You know I love true crime so my favorite one is about the bellboy that’s a ghost. 

DO: Can you tell me about them?

MO: I think they called the famous ghost Peg Leg Johnny. He became an alcoholic after some accident where he lost his leg but then he did work at the hotel. Like maintenance stuff. People have said they’ve heard knocking on the door and then seen a man with a peg leg. The bellboy one is about a young kid who worked there and everyone loved him. Then one day he just went missing and nobody ever saw him again. Some people say they see him pushing the luggage carrier things and waving at people then he just disappears. Me and your dad actually have stayed in that hotel

DO: Really? What was your experience like? 

MO: Well we stayed there before we knew it was haunted. Your dad swears he did hear anything, but I heard people knocking on our door. I didn’t see anything thank God. After we stayed there we heard all the stories. 

Analysis:

All cities have folklore narratives that are unique to their major landmarks. The Congress Hotel in Chicago is no different. This massive hotel is hard to miss, seeing as it is on our most popular street downtown and is distinctive. The hotel has an old look to it which further encourages ghost stories to be told about it. After talking to more of my family each of them had their own ghost story that has been passed down by other Chicagoans. If you live in Chicago this hotel is pretty well known. These ghost stories bring Chicagoans together to talk about a landmark that they share as common knowledge.

El Cucuí

Nationality: Puerto Rican
Age: 46

Context

MO is my mother. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois in the 70s. She was born to two Puerto Rican parents who came to America in their teenage years. Her father is from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, and her mother is from Moca, Puerto Rico. They go visit Puerto Rico every summer and have done so for decades. 

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DO (Interviewer): I know you’ve told me lots of stories that Lelo and Lela would tell you growing up, do you have any that you think have stuck with you until now?

MO: El Cucuí. I was also so scared growing up that he was gonna get me. Even when I grew up more, I was always a little scared in the back of my mind but I would never admit that. As a teen, I was like get it together you’re too grown for this. As I got older I asked Lelo and he said Abuela would tell it to him and his brothers.

DO: El Cucuí is basically like the bogeyman in other cultures. 

MO: Mhm. Basically it’s used to scare kids into behaving when they’re acting up. God knows we needed it as kids. 

DO: Can you explain the story a bit? Like more background and context.

MO: He’s like this scary monster that’s supposed to live in the shadows and in the dark. But the story goes, he only eats children who are acting up. Your grandpa would say he was really ugly and had red eyes and claws. Lelo would say “¡Mirar! Si no paras El Cuco – that’s another name for it – te va a venir a buscar.” If you were bad, he’d come get you when you’re sleeping at night. 

DO: Did this work on you?

MO: Of course it did. We lived in an old house so there were a bunch of corners and noises at night so I made sure I was on my best behavior. If one of your Tios acted up, I would think I’d wake up to find them gone the next morning. I would make fun of them and tell them the Cuco was hiding in their closet. Me and your Tias would run to their room the next morning and check. 

Analysis

I believe this myth of the Cucuí would count as children’s lore and Puerto Rican folklore. This story’s main audience is children and is used to ensure good behavior from them. As mentioned, not only do adults tell this story to children, but children tell it to each other. In Puerto Rican culture it’s also a story that is passed down from generation to generation. It was used on my grandfather as a child and even though he knew this wasn’t real as an adult, he continued the tradition and used it on my mother, aunts, and uncles to get them to behave. My mother would try and use it on my brothers and they in turn have used it on my nephew.