Category Archives: Earth cycle

Seasonal and celetial based

Little Sparrow

Nationality: caucasian
Age: 50
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Residence: San Gabriel, CA
Performance Date: 4/28/2014
Primary Language: English

Little Sparrow

Informant: So there were these animals who were doing whatever they damn well pleased and God got mad at them and said “your not following out rules”, right? And they said “O.K well, we’re going to do what we want”.  Then God got mad at them and shut off the light on earth so that there was no more light on earth. He put a blanket over the sky to do this. So they’re like, “Oh My God, what do we do? Someone has to go and talk to God and tell him that we’re sorry”. They’re like “Well we can’t find God anywhere, it’s too dark”. They all kind of gave up except this one little sparrow said, “I’m not going to give up. I’m going to fly, fly, fly up there and try and see if I can reach God and talk to him”. So everyday he kept flying up there and he poked through just enough, his beak just poked through the blanket just enough, and then he came back down. He didn’t give up. For years and years he was going up there and he only got just far enough that his little beak poked through and he came back down and then the last time he came back down and he died. The little sparrow died . . .  because he was exhausted from trying. All the other animals were like, “ we feel so bad”. So God at one point said, “because of his sacrifice, I will give you light back, but it’s only going to be half the time as punishment and the other half of the time, you will have darkness under the blanket”. And that’s why we have stars. Those aren’t stars; those are the little beak marks poking though the darkness.

Interviewer’s notes:  

This is a creation myth that I found a bit unusual that it was being told at YMCA, a Christian organization’s, camp because they narrative deviates from that of the Bible. Though it is clear to see why the tale is included as the perseverance and God-obedience aspects of the story are in keeping with Christian ideas. The tale itself, however, seemed to be more congruent with Native American folk tales, but the informant had only ever heard it at camp and did not know the origin. Also, the informant’s role as a passive participant is evident through the colloquial language, non-fixed phrases, and uncertainty.

Pust

Nationality: Slovenian
Age: 54
Occupation: electrical engineer
Residence: San Jose, CA
Performance Date: 2014-04-24
Language: Slovenian, English, German, Serbian, Greek

Pust is a pagan holiday that is celebrated in Slovenia in the beginning of every February. Designed to scare away the winter cold, this festival is mounted to celebrate the coming of Spring. Young men are the main arbiters of some of the festival’s central traditions, as they don terrifying masks and large suits made of animal furs. Most of the masks represent different characters that recur in Slovenian folklore which are generally localized to particular regions, the principle character being called the “kurent.” [the informant could not offer any more examples of such characters and what they represent.] These costumes are paired with belts from which hang many cowbells, and the young men enter the center of the village in a procession of aggressive dancing and grunting. The idea behind this is to scare away the dark, evil spirits of Winter, in the hopes that Spring will bring good tidings and a prosperous year of harvest. Pust usually takes place in the rural villages of northern Slovenia, the Gorenjska region especially.

More modern exhibitions of this festival in different parts of Slovenia allow all children to participate and go door to door begging for candy and money, much like at Halloween in other parts of the world.

Born and raised in former Yugoslavia, what is now known as Slovenia, the informant was continuously exposed to folk traditions that originated and permeated this region. The festival is a kind of protective ritual to ensure a short winter. It is riddle with celebratory symbols of dominance and fertility. For example, the suits are made from the pelts of animals these young men had killed, demonstrating their capability of providing for the well-being of the village.

Chinese New Years

Nationality: British (Hong Kong), American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 24th, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Chinese New Years

The informant who told me about the traditions associated with Chinese New Years was born and grew up in Hong Kong for a great part of his life. He speaks fluent Chinese and has had significant exposure to Chinese culture, given the fact that he and his family still speak the language and practice many of the traditional customs. He moved to the US in 5th grade.

Chinese New Years usually takes place during the end of January or in the beginning of February based on the Gregorian Calendar, because it is lunar based in comparison to the Western Calendar and therefore follows the moon. It is formally a fifteen day celebration, however, the informant’s family usually doesn’t celebrate past the second or third day and then the fifteenth day because it is significant in its own right. Throughout the New Year’s celebration, there is a tradition of saying auspicious phrases, which are usually 4 character phrases, related to good luck and happiness in every situation (See entry: Auspicious Phrases for Chinese New Years).

On New Years Eve there’s a big dinner, where the family eats a lot of food. The informant’s family, like a lot of Chinese families, places a lot of emphasis on abundance so the meal is a lot about saving up to have an abundance and then not wasting it. It is traditional to clear the table of food. There are puns, given that some of the foods have significant meanings – for example fish is eaten during New Year’s Eve dinner because fish sounds like the Chinese word for “abundance”. Tonal difference again is important. You eat foods like this to get good luck, homeopathically. In a more modern context on New Years Eve, you turn on the TV to a station that is celebrating. It is a really big deal, with people doing traditional plays or traditional performances like the dragon dance, which all come from stories about monsters and how New Years originally was a way to scare away those monsters with noise and fireworks. According to the informant, there is not too much of a liminal sense to the way in which his family celebrates New Years, other than making noise. Although here in the US there are stricter regulations on fireworks, back in Hong Kong, streets explode with fireworks, especially in more rural areas where the tradition stays really strong. New Years Day is a day when the entire family spends time with the fathers side of the family. Visiting his father’s parents is very convenient for the informant, given that the informant’s grandmother lives with them. It is therefore a pretty normal day, however there is a tradition for the elders to give kids red pockets or red envelopes. Giving a red envelope with money to a child meant that you hoped they would live long enough to use it. It used to be a reality that before the age of 1, many children in China died. The giving of red envelopes was an assurance that they would survive. New Years Day also involves more food, but it is a different set of food. This includes a vegetable that sounds exactly like the Chinese phrase for good luck or prosperity.

The Second Day, you visit the mom’s side of the family, which can be difficult for some people like the informant’s family since his mom’s family lives in Hong Kong. Instead he calls. The third day is called ‘Red Mouth’ which is connected to the fact that you are not supposed to talk to people that day. In a modern context, no one really practices that anymore, but it used to be practiced because apparently you risked making inflammatory remarks, angering people, and ruining relationships. The informant’s family doesn’t observe it. In fact his family primarily observes only Day 1 and Day 2 because that is all about visiting family and congratulating everyone for making it to the new year. An interesting fact is that in China, instead of saying “Happy New Year” you say “Congratulations”. This is due to the belief back in the old days that there were monsters that terrorized villages, and to escape being eaten by the monster on New Years Eve and to survive and make it to the new year was a big deal. Fireworks have something to do with why monsters don’t exist anymore, because they scare them off and starve them to death. The informant doesn’t really know what happens from day 4-14, given that his family doesn’t observe these days. Day 15, however, is the end of the New Year period, and it is celebrated with the lantern festival. Traditionally people would make lanterns with riddles on them. Its all about riddles, poetry and also eating dumplings, since the word for these dumplings is a pun of “lantern festival” in Chinese. The informant knows that in China and Hong Kong give breaks from school for students, but due to the fact that it is not the case here, he and his family work around and celebrate the most significant days of it. As he says, “It’s Chinese New Years in a very light sense.” He also said that his family used to dress traditional dress during this time, but after immigrating to the US a lot of things got watered down because people do not have the time. The informant has celebrated the traditional Chinese New Year for the entirety of his life.

Auspicious Phrases for Chinese New Years

Nationality: British (Hong Kong), American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 24th, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Auspicious Phrases for Chinese New Years

“These are nice, compacted ways of wishing very generic and relatable positive thoughts during New Years. They are usually 4 character phrases… It is interesting that there is an entire canon of what you’re supposed to say at the event of greeting people during the New Year. There’s a certain ring to the way these phrases are said. And to be able to say these things, the more you’re able to say and the more pertinent they are to the recipient, the more impressive they are. Also, the more metaphorical they are and the more artful they are, the more impressive they are to the recipient.”

The informant who told me about these auspicious phrases was born and grew up in Hong Kong for a great part of his life. He speaks fluent Chinese and has had significant exposure to Chinese culture, given the fact that he and his family still speak the language and practice many of the traditional customs. He moved to the US in 5th grade.

 

出入平安 “Chu ru ping an”

“May you have peace wherever you enter and wherever you exit”

“Peace and safety to all who come and go”

This is said to someone who travels a lot, because it means you have peace both in and out. It is also popular to put over entranceways.

 

学业进步 “Xue ye jin bu”

“Improvement in studies”

This phrase is about good luck and success in academics. People say this when they greet each other during New Years, especially to younger people, students, who are indeed studying.

 

恭喜发财 “Gong xi fa cai”

“Congratulations on your luck”

People wish each other congratulations on New Years because of the old belief that there was a monster called “Nian” (which is a pun in and of itself because the Chinese word for “year” is “nian”) that would come out every New Year’s Eve and eat villagers. To survive that was good luck and something to be celebrated. In a more literal sense, the phrase is a pun, since it means “surviving” the year as well as surviving the monster. This is the traditional way of wishing “Happy New Year”, and is used most frequently in China.

 

新年快乐 “Xin nian kuai le”

“Happy New Year / New Year Happiness”

This is the modern way of saying “Happy New Year”. It is used more commonly now due to the fact that it comes closer to the meaning of the wester phrase of “Happy New Year”. This phrase is used more frequently in Hong Kong and the West.

Festival de Amancaes

Nationality: Peruvian
Age: 22
Occupation: student
Residence: Lima, Peru
Performance Date: February 15, 2013
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Informant is a Peruvian friend who was visiting me this week. She first heard of the Amancaes festival from her grandmother. The Fiesta de San Juan was a festival that took place in the hills of the Amancaes located in the seaside Rimac district of Lima. The Amancaes are bright yellow flowers that grew on these hills during the months of June and July.
The Festival of Amancaes evolved from the pilgrimage site because of the beautiful Amancay flowers that blossomed during the months of June and July and covered the hills in their entirety. In these celebrations, limeñans of all classes and races came down to the hills for unlimited food, music and dance. This celebration went on until 1952 when it was discontinued because the hills of Amancaes were invaded by squatters coming from the outskirts in search of better opportunities in the capital.
This festival was meaningful because Limeñan society has always been very stratified and segregated by class and race. Limeñans of European descent always looked down upon the indigenous and African populations, but on this one day (like Mardi Gras and the Ancient Roman’s Saturnalia) all of these social mores are forgotten and people of all races and classes would party together and share food and drink. Now, there is a festival that was started two years ago called Mistura, this is a gastronomic festival organized every year in Lima and it has become so popular that tickets are sold out almost immediately after they go on sale. This festival is doing the same purpose that the Festival de Amancaes used to do which was to bring society together by providing them with something that people of all ages, races and social classes enjoy: good food.