Category Archives: Holidays

Holidays and holiday traditions

Hou Yi and Chang’e Legend

Context: The informant is a 21 year old USC student and the daughter of two Taiwanese immigrants. She told me that she was definitely missing some details, but this is the story she learned growing up about the origins of the Mid-Autumn festival. The following are her exact words.

“So, there’s a couple, right, and the guy has like superhero strength – warrior vibes. At the time, there were 10 suns in the sky, and they were so hot that they were burning everything up, so he shot 9 of them out of the sky, leaving only one behind. As a reward, some higher power gave him this magic potion to make him stronger, but in the middle of the night, the day before he was meant to take it, his enemy poisoned it. For some reason, he still wanted to take it, so before he could, his wife drank the whole thing to save him. She ended up floating up into the moon, and so during the Mid-Autumn festival, because the moon is full, people say you can still see her silhouette up there.”

After doing some research, I found out that this is known as the story of Hou Yi and Chang’e, an immortal archer and his wife, the moon goddess before the latter becomes the moon goddess; this seems as if it would count as a mythic narrative. Not only is this the origin story of the sun, but it’s also the origin of the designs present on the moon. There’s a pretty common history of humans seeing faces where there are none (tree trunks) and looking at the moon would reasonably yield the same result. It’s not a story that anyone thinks could have happened, but also not a story that one would disagree with, considering the nature of it. Interestingly, there’s multiple different versions of this story online, including ones where Hou Yi goes mad with power rather than having his elixir poisoned and instead Chang’e must protect others by acting against him. It would be interesting to see if these differences revealed anything about typical historical conflicts that a certain region might have faced or a regional variation in values that might have caused this oicotypical difference.

Ugadi

Informant: RS

Ethnicity: Indian

Primary Language: English, Konkani

Age: 58

Text: [RS] Ugadi is the start of the new year for the Hindu lunar calendar. This year we celebrated on April 9th. There are legends that go along with it…we believe that Ugadi is when Rama came back after his victory over Ravana and became the king of Ayodhya. 

Context: This festival has been celebrated by Hindus, particularly South Indians, for hundreds of years, intertwined with the epic story of the Ramayana (as mentioned by the informant, the belief is that Ugadi marks the triumph of Rama over Ravana). The informant commemorates the festival with his family each year; the tradition has been passed down for generations. The informant also noted that he thinks of Ugadi as the start of spring. 

Analysis: Ugadi is an important cultural celebration that intertwines the agricultural cycle with Hindu mythology. The festival’s role in the agricultural cycle serves as a marker of the beginning of harvest time; following the festival of Holi, Ugadi usually sets the Hindu new year between the months of March and April, heralding the onset of spring. As with many other Hindu holidays, it celebrates the triumph of good over evil, and the new beginnings that follow. With springtime having connotations of growth and renewal, the festival’s date is especially significant to the start of the Hindu new year. Beyond its agricultural significance, Ugadi helps to create a collective cultural identity amongst South Indians, reinforcing a sense of community and a connection to the environment in light of the new season.

Deepavali

Informant: RS

Ethnicity: Indian

Primary Language: English, Konkani

Age: 58

Text: [RS] When I was growing up, every Deepavali we used to decorate the house with flower garlands and draw rangoli on the walls as they are considered auspicious. Oil baths were also important. We were woken up very early in the morning, and our mom would apply herbal oils from head to toe. After an hour, we would scrub the oil from our skin, be fed sweet porridge, and then be sent back to bed.

Context: Deepavali is the festival of lights, celebrating the triumph of good over evil and light over dark. The festival, and in particular, the ritual of the oil bath, was emphasized as being very important to the informant and his family. The informant believes that the oil baths are a way of washing off past sins. He also noted that he thinks of the festival as a time to celebrate new beginnings.

Analysis: Deepavali (also known as Diwali) is one of the most well-known Indian folk festivals, involving several rituals rooted in themes of light and purification. The festival celebrates the light that comes after a period of darkness; the ritual oil baths, which the informant believes to absolve one of sin, are symbolic of this clean slate that follows the festivities. According to the informant, the oils used are typically specific herbal blends, a reflection of traditional knowledge of folk medicine that has been passed down through generations. The practice of eating a sweet after being cleansed from the oil bath is likely to start off with something good to set the tone for the rest of the year. Deepavali provides those who celebrate with a cathartic opportunity to create a fresh start for themselves as well as spend time with loved ones. As a result, the festival is deeply important to Hindu culture and tradition.

A Lucky New Year

“At the beginning of every new year, my mom and dad put an item related to school in front of Ganesha to bless my brother and I for the year to come”

At the beginning of each year, their parents pray and place an item, usually dealing with education, in front of Ganesha, one of the most worshipped Hindu deities or gods. In Hinduism, Ganesha is associated with success and removes obstacles in one’s life. This is done to bring blessings to the kids for the new year and to bring success and well-being into their lives. For her, her mother places textbooks and a student ID in front of Ganesha. Education is considered to be extremely sacred in Indian culture, specifically for her family. Education, and objects pertaining to it, are symbolic of her whole life “in the eyes of Ganesha” and seen as a sacred pursuit, thus the obstacles on this path will be removed. She also emphasized that it is a ritual and tradition she will carry on for her own family as well.

My first interpretation of this tradition was that it would bring good luck and success into their educational journey, and while that has an aspect, it also encompasses practically their entire life, rather than just the education portion. Due to the importance that education has in Indian religion, it can be seen as one of the more important factors to put blessings into. This ritual was learned through the Hindu culture, demonstrating that something like textbooks can be considered a folklore object, and the act of placing them as a gift for a deity is a folklore practice passed down through families and communities. While folklore is often word of mouth stories and myths, it can intersect with religion and the culture that surrounds it, in this case Indian culture. This practice connects her and her family to their heritage just as folklore intends to do, additionally with the prayers spoken by the parents have been passed down through their ancestors, continuing on today.

Elementary School Christmas Craft

Text:

A snowman ornament made in elementary school out of paper; the ornament is in the shape of a snowman and is filled with white, shredded up paper (to simulate snow) and hung on the students’ Christmas trees at home.

Context:

The informant made this ornament in his elementary school over Christmas time. The ornament was a traditional craft to make in his school over the holidays, and the students all made their own versions of it to bring home to their families. The informant still has his crafted snowman ornament now, over a decade later, and it is a very treasured possession to his family as a craft that he made for them years ago in school.

Analysis:

Crafting ornaments like the informant’s snowman is very common in elementary schools whose students widely celebrate Christmas. In these schools, it is very traditional that ornaments/other decorations are crafted for the students’ families. The popularity of taking class time to make ornaments as such for holidays in so many elementary schools exemplifies our inclination toward celebration, festivity, and togetherness, because using class time to make them teaches the students to prioritize such festivity. Schools where ornament making is done like to look forward to the milestones of big Holiday seasons (i.e. Winter, Summer) to break up the normalcy of the rest of the school year, and add variety into their normal lessons. After all, so many American students nostalgically look back at the early 2000’s in elementary school the day before Winter break – the hot cocoa, apple cider, and gift exchanges were some of the best memories of elementary school for so many of us. Taking up all of the class time necessary to have these moments of celebration and crafting of holiday decorations, like ornaments, is the perfect example of our inclination toward the excitement of festivity.