Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Marine Corps Blood Stripe Ritual


Background on Informant:
My informant is a Marine Corps veteran who lives in the Inland Empire and now owns an HVAC business. I spoke with him over the phone about Marine Corps traditions and rituals. He explained that when Marines are promoted, especially within infantry units, they sometimes take part in what is known as the “blood stripe” ritual. He described it as a tradition where Marines line up and the Marine being promoted walks through a gauntlet while others use their knees to strike his thighs, symbolically earning the blood stripe worn on the dress uniform. He experienced and witnessed this during his time in the Marine Corps.

Text:
Interviewer: Can you tell me about the blood stripe ritual?

Informant: Yeah, so when you get promoted, all the Marines line up to form a gauntlet, marines are on either side of you. As you pass each one, they knee you in the thigh. Like a serious Charlie horse these guys aren’t letting up their goal is to make it so you cant walk properly for a few days to a week.

Interviewer: Why do they do that?

Informant: The Marine Corps is a special collection of men, ALL believing in the traditions of survival of the fittest and steel sharpening steel. In this way as you are promoted you must be made worthy physically and mentally, But it also symbolizes the blood from the men who fought in Montezuma.

Interviewer: What is that like, does anyone refuse?

Informant: Hell, it’s like walking through Hell, each step you get closer but each step the pain increases. In my unit and during my time in. It was pretty common, at least in infantry units. I never saw anyone refuse; however, I did see certain units not implement it, some command called it damage of Government property.

Analysis:
This is a clear example of occupational folklore and a rite of passage. This ritual functions to mark a Marine’s transition from junior enlisted to NCO (non commissioned officer), which reflects what we learned in class about rites of passage. During the ritual, the Marine is in a liminal state, no longer holding their previous rank but not yet fully recognized in the new one. The act of being struck by fellow Marines creates a shared experience of pain, which builds communitas, or a strong sense of group unity. Overall, the blood stripe ritual reinforces key values of Marine Corps culture, such as toughness, endurance, and belonging.

New Years Kiss

Main Text:
New Year’s Kiss

Background on Informant:
My informant is my younger brother, who graduated from UC Davis. While in college, he was part of a fraternity and regularly attended social gatherings and parties. I asked him about any traditions he could think of, and he brought up the New Year’s kiss at midnight. He explained that it is something he first experienced and learned about during his time at UC Davis but he truly believed in it.

Text:

Interviewer: Do you have any traditions you follow on New Year’s Eve?

informant: Yeah, the New Year’s kiss at midnight.

Interviewer: What is that exactly?

informant: When the clock hits midnight, you’re supposed to kiss someone.

Interviewer: Where did you learn that?

informant: The first time I really learned about it was at Davis. Everyone was talking about who’s going to be your New Year’s kiss, and I was like, “what?” Then my friend told me you got to kiss a girl at midnight to start the new year right or you’ll have bad luck with girls next year, like a serious dry spell.

Interviewer: Did you get a kiss that night?

informant: Of course, and let me tell you my freshmen year was outstanding! After that I always made sure to set up my new years kiss.

Interviewer: have you ever not had a new years kiss?

informant: yes, sometimes it just doesn’t work out, and those years I definitely notice a difference.

Interviewer: I wonder how much of that is maybe manifestation from belief?

informant: Hmm, that’s a fair point. I don’t know but I notice a difference for sure.

Analysis:

This is customary folklore due to a certain behavior that seems to repeat during a specific event, New Year’s Eve. It is believed to bring good luck, especially in relationships, which shows symbolic thinking. The tradition is learned through horizontal transmission, since the informant picked it up from friends in a college. He believes in it because of the experiences he has had, such as the difference he noticed in years when he wasn’t able to follow it. It also functions as a way of stimulating social interaction and increasing the bonding between individuals on New Years through shared beliefs.

Black Milk Tea

Text: Below is a performance describing the consumption of black milk tea family ritual.

The Interviewee was asked to recount any folklore or superstitions he remembered.

Interviewee: Another, I guess, family tradition or superstition we have, you can also call it a superstition, like, uh, my Grandpa on my Dad’s side of the family always, he would always make black milk tea, brew, almost boil, these black tea leaves, concentrate it super, super hard, and then, like, add evaporated milk to it, and would alway add two cubes of sugar to it. That was just like his tradition.

Interviewer: And what was that supposed to bring, or, what is the purpose of that?

Interviewee: So, actually, like my Grandpa, and especially, like, my Dad’s side of the family, like, they, uh, suffered a lot during the Cultural Revolution in China. I’m not going to go through that, but there’s, like, a whole thing you can look at it. Um, it was also even hard to get black tea leaves during the Cultural Revolution during that time, so like for them, those black tea leaves that they had was, like, almost like sacred to them. Even though now it’s like fifty years later, and, like, that chaotic time is now passed, even I still, like, brew black tea leaves the way my Grandpa used. So, it’s like, I guess it’s like a tradition that, like, I’ve held on to even though he’s passed it on.

Context:

This excerpt is from a conversation with a grad student studying Biology after a MMA (mixed-martial arts) practice. The student was raised in Walnut, California, and has parents that are Chinese immigrants. Currently, the ritual consumption of black milk tea is performed by his father and grandfather whenever they want to bring about good luck, but historically, during the Cultural Revolution in China, it was performed rarely, only every once in a while, when they could find black tea leaves, living in extreme poverty.

Analysis:

This example illustrates how tradition can endure as context and place change. The original habit of consuming black milk tea was informed by extreme poverty, where the consumption of the tea’s ingredients could only happen rarely due to the circumstances of famine. Now, the tradition endures as a ritual consumption of the black milk teas, to recall that time in the past, and signify the surviving that took place. The original creation of this black milk tea could only happen when interviewee’s father and grandfather were lucky enough to find the ingredients, so now, even though the ingredients now take no luck to find, the tradition has held on to that feeling, as it now conveys good luck and fortune.

Seven Waves New Year’s Tradition

Text: Below is a student’s performance describing a New Year’s tradition.

Interviewer: Are there any traditions you follow for New Year’s?

Interviewee: Yeah, so for New Year’s, in, like, Brazil, just as the clock strikes midnight, uh, we, people that are at the beach, we all, like, jump seven waves to rid ourselves of any bad luck that comes with the previous year.

Context:

The interviewee is a college student, who grew up in São Paulo Brazil. This interview took place after a conversation about Holidays, and a discussion on if there were any unique ways he partook in Holiday celebrations. At first, he could not think of any particular folk traditions, but eventually he remembered this one. He participates in this ritual when he is on the beach in Brazil for New Year’s Eve.

Analysis:

This folk habit represents a commonality of New Year traditions, which consists of preparing for the future year. Some traditions seek to bring good luck, for example, by eating grapes to bring fortune. However, this particular tradition engages in conversion magic, seeking to remove bad luck built up from the previous year. The habit of jumping, in particular, seven waves showcases how the number 7 is viewed as lucky in Western cultures. This action reflects a similar New Year’s tradition, the Times Square Ball Drop, where excitement over the New Year’s is also shared in large groups.

White Vans Superstition

Interviewer: “I’ll give an example to start turning the gears in your head. A superstition my friends have is never splitting a pole because it gives you bad luck. Can you think of any similar practices?”

MA: Yea its kind of niche, but in high school there was this really bi superstition that if you wore shoes or white clothing when taking a test your mind would go blank and you’d perform poorly. If anyone was wearing white they always would dirty their clothes or shoes very slightly in order to do well on the exam.”

Context: MA is a sophomore at USC, however she is the youngest of her siblings and cousins who all attended the same high school. When she learned about this ritual, she was wearing white shoes to class, and her cousin, who is her age, scuffed her shoes slightly and told her about this practice to help her destress for the test they were about to take.

Analysis: This functions as a control ritual. In high stress environments like midterms, tests, exams etc, students often create causal links in order to relieve stress or justify grades. This functions as a folkloristic mechanism to manage anxiety, often employed by students across various cultures.