Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Protection made out of green stones

Age: 20

Story: The main character is C.Z., and she’s originally from Zhejiang province, China. She was born with a congenital heart disease, and she has almost always been in and out of hospitals. She’s weak, pale, and skinny, the skinny that looks unhealthy, not the type of skinny that makes others jealous. She has had at least 5 surgeries on her heart, although most are minor surgeries; a couple of them were pretty intense and serious. She said that if something had gone wrong on those, she could’ve died in her early childhood.

C.Z.’s grandmother was one of those superstitious people. She believed in all kinds of spiritual things, like amulets, psychics, and fortune tellers. Basically, anything that would “protect” and “enrich” the family and herself, she would spend thousands of dollars on it, although money isn’t an issue because C.Z.’s family is loaded. C.Z., however, thought all that was nonsense. She said that if this stuff really worked, then places like hospitals wouldn’t exist, and people wouldn’t have to work. All they need is some sort of supernatural beliefs.

On her 13th birthday, her grandmother gave her a green jade necklace as her birthday gift. The grandmother claimed that it was passed down by a generation of some spiritual masters, which makes it consecrated, and that it would protect her and make her healthy. C.Z. obviously thinks it’s all bullcrap, but she still thinks her grandmother for the effort of getting it. Also, she admitted that aside from the story behind it, the jade did look beautiful. So she kept it and wore it as an accessory.

A couple of weeks later, C.Z. was just coming home late from her art lesson. She stepped into the elevator alone, and just when the doors closed, the jade necklace that her grandmother gave her shattered. C.Z. was surprised and stunned by the sudden event. She claims that nothing else touched it. It was just hanging from her neck, and it felt like something had punched it from the inside.

C.Z. said that she was trying to figure out what happened, and she noticed that the elevator doors didn’t shut properly. She tried to open and close the door by hitting the buttons, but it still didn’t work. After a couple of tries, it finally managed to close, but then she suddenly felt a strange chill that crawled up her spine. She felt something was wrong, and she didn’t know why, but she stepped out of the elevator immediately. She stood there for a few minutes, thinking whether or not she’s overthinking it and scaring herself, but eventually she decided to take the stairs instead.

That night, all the residents were notified that the elevator had issues and had crashed while operating. A couple got injured, and the boyfriend was sent to the ER immediately after the accident. Luckily, the couple didn’t die, but C.Z. was stunned by the unexpected news. She sat and started to connect the relationship between the event and the broken jade. The more she thinks of it, the more she’s terrified about it. C.Z. told her grandmother what happened, and her grandmother was so relieved that C.Z. was wearing the necklace that day. A couple of days later, the grandmother gave C.Z. another jade necklace out of nowhere, claiming that it was “consecrated by that same spiritual master.”

Since then, C.Z. has worn the necklace 24/7, no matter what. She said that after wearing the necklace, she hasn’t needed any surgeries since then. C.Z. said she doesn’t know if it’s her condition is improving or if she is getting “something” from that piece of jade.

Context: This story occurred in Zhejiang province, China, in early times of April 2018. C.Z. was in an international school, and at that time she was in 7th grade. When the event happened, she told this story first to her grandmother, then to her family, and to her friends in middle school. When she studied for a few years in Saipan (my hometown), she told this story to me a couple of times, and some of her friends, and our English teacher.

Teller’s thought: So she doesn’t have a super crazy thought on the story because no “spirit” actually appeared. However, there was some sort of power that protected her from the event, and she said that she was really relieved that she chose to step out of the elevator, or else her body condition, that elevator would’ve killed her right on the spot. She’s also really grateful to her grandmother for believing in those superstitions, and she couldn’t believe that those superstitions saved her life some days. She also claims that ever since wearing the necklace, she feels like she’s getting very lucky, and she noticed that her life has become more wonderful. Nevertheless, she credited these feelings to her own optimism, but she does believe that her optimism is solely from the necklace and her grandmother.

My Thoughts: Although I have known her for 2 years, I’m like one of her best friends, and she’s one of my best friends. So her story I find to be true, because it’s really trustworthy. I’ve also received jade necklaces from my grandmother (it’s really like a tradition in Chinese cultures, where the elderly give you something valuable that’s been passed down from generation to generation), which was claimed to protect me from the evil spirits around me. I honestly can feel that some kind of power is surrounding me and, in a way, supporting me throughout my life. Also, I’ve seen some of the accessories her grandmother gave to her, and they were pretty and shiny. I tried them a couple of times, and to be honest, I feel nothing. But this doesn’t change the fact that it’s a good story.

Turkish Circumcision

Age: 21

Text:

“When I was getting circumcision, all the people was watching me, actually. If I remember, I was in my parents room and a doctor came, and he started, doing a circumcision, to me – actually, that day, my grandpa. called me like my grandpa was over there. They give me a shot to my balls, like local anaesthesia, and I was six, and I remember I didn’t feel anything there, you know. And I was like, freaking out. And I escaped from the house. I started running, and my grandpa catch me, and he told me that, ‘hey, you’re not gonna do it right now. They’re gonna do it in the army. They’re gonna do it in the military, and they do it with the axe, when you’re 20.’ I was like, what? I’m like, I was so scared, you know, I’m like, ‘Okay, I should go back, I guess.’ Because I was so scared. In Turkey, military is mandatory, you don’t have a choice. I was like, forcing, and I went back, and I just made them do it. And as I said, I was like, six, – I have a video too. When I was getting a circumcision, and my aunts were coming in the room, my uncles were coming in the room, you know, they were just watching me. I’m like, and I didn’t know that much, you know, what’s going on. I remember, we do have food and stuff. People is coming more like our inner circle people, like Inner Inner Circle family. They come in and they eat some stuff, you know, and be celebrating that in the hall, in the home, too.”

Context:

“I didn’t know if it’s, like, very important thing, you know, and I didn’t know that much, but I knew that for my grandpa, for example, it was very important”

Analysis: 

This account of the Turkish sünnet (circumcision) ritual, emphasizes both its emotional weight and its communal significance. The informant’s memory blends fear, confusion, and performance, as the procedure becomes not only a medical event but a public spectacle within the family home. The presence of relatives, the filming of the moment, and the celebratory food all reflect the integration of private bodily transformation with familial observation and tradition. His grandfather’s comment—framing circumcision as a necessary precursor to avoid a harsher military version—reflects how elders use symbolic threats and traditional authority to uphold cultural rites. While the child at the center doesn’t fully understand the ritual’s meaning, he perceives its importance through the seriousness with which his elders treat it. 

Turkish circumcision wedding

Age: 21

“We got a circumcision wedding in Turkey. When you’re a kid, and you’re a boy, you know, and you get a circumcision, you do a wedding for him. Here [in America] usually you get a circumcision when you’re little kid, like a baby, but in Turkey, it was like, when you were, like, six, seven years old, they were doing, they were doing that. For example for me, I got a circumcision when I was six, and my parents did a wedding for me. Said we call circumcision. Wedding is for the boys and, like they invited a bunch of people, like in my wedding, that was like four or 500 people. Like 400 300 at least people in my circumcision wedding, and they give you money, and people is, having fun, you know, and that kind of stuff. 

So in the morning, when it was like one to 2pm in the afternoon, we’re doing a convoy. And probably, like, as much as the cars they come in, it’s like 20, 30 cars. They were like 35 cars. You know, we go one by one like everybody follows each other. It’s just one line. And everybody’s like, using their honk. And it’s like, sometimes being like, 20 cars, 30 cars, for the cars, you know, yeah, and people is coming, they following you. You being in the first car, usually. And, you just, like, telling the people who doesn’t know you, oh, I got the circumcision, you know. It’s a tradition too. Yeah, it’s on the wedding day. after that you just get them prepared. Youhave, a specific clothes that you should wear, and you wearing that clothes, and you just getting ready.

They are like traditional clothes. 

In the wedding, usually we have a pasta. not a pasta, actually, it’s a dessert we call pasta, but it’s like a cake, like a birthday cake, but a really big one, like, maybe, 200 people cake, you know, they can eat, slices, you know. And you have that and you dancing. And after, like, a couple hours, you have a different, you just not changing the clothes, but they give you something, and you wear something, and people is coming, and they starting to give you gold or, like money, but on the clothes, they put with the needle. Yeah, they give you money, they give you gold, whatever they give you, like, and you just thank them like, ‘Thank you.’ and your parents are in the same line. You ,your parents, your grandpa, you know, you’re waiting in the same line. And people is like giving you some stuff, presents, I’m coming from the Aegean side, we have a specific, like a dance for the Aegeans. And we did, that actually, (the zeybek dance).”

Context: 

This is a widespread traditional rite of passage in Turkey called sünnet düğünü. The traditional dance referenced is the zeybek dance. The informant said he didn’t understand, but knew it was important to his grandfather. 

Analysis:

This ritual is a public celebration of the informant’s transition towards manhood, and social recognition, and religious belonging. The convoy announces this to the broader community. The pinning of gold or money to clothes is present in other Turkish celebrations, like weddings and births, and ritualizes support and symbolic investment into the informant and his family, who are in line to receive gifts with him. In many ways, the celebration is for the family just as much, if not more, than for the informant who at that age, didn’t understand what was going on or why. The celebration as a whole ties Muslim identity (religious duty of circumcision) and regional community to the boy’s identity.

Artist’s Morning Pages

Nationality: American

Age: 21

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Mason, OH, USA

Date: 4/29/2025

Language: English

Description

Okay, so I used to do, uh, the Artist’s Way morning pages. Uh, the Artist’s Way is a book by Julia Cameron, I believe. And in this book, it’s sort of like an artist’s like creative process book where you are supposed to go through this program, and each day of the program you are supposed to write three pages before you do anything. Like you wake  up and you immediately have to write three pages. You cannot even take a second to wake up. It’s like you get up, you turn over, grab the pen and paper, and you write three full pages of anything. And that’s a ritual that I used to do. I did it every single day for when I did the program, which is like, I don’t know, like, 10 weeks. I did it a few years ago, and I continued the morning pages for a bit after that, and you would just fill these notebooks and notebooks full of like chicken scratches that made no sense. Like reading back, you’d be like what the fuck was, I thinking, what was I doing? Um. But occasionally there would be a thought or two, uh, unlocked through that process that you were, like, oh, that’s kind of interesting I didn’t know. I think about that, or I didn’t know I think this way about this thing. But yeah, that’s that’s sort of the. Morning Pages. That’s what it is. 

Subject’s Opinion:

Interviewer: Do you think that helped you keep track of your journey in that time? 

Subject: Yeah, definitely, I think. There were many issues and topics that my brain kept circulating, like, just on a day-to-day basis. Like, I would keep on thinking about the same sort of things, and finally writing it down, I was able to…understand what exactly was persisting in these ideas. And find a way to move past that sort of. Circular thought, and also like, maybe not even like, get rid of it. But, like, know that it’s there, and that I’ve written if I’ve written three pages about it, it’s like I don’t have to be thinking about it all day. Um, so it’s almost like a purging of some of your immediate thoughts so you can move on to some things that you never really were able to to get to.

Analysis: 

It is rare to encounter a form of ritual that’s only shared with oneself. But due to how intimate and reflective the nature of the ritual is, I believe it to be valuable to examine how one can share a ritual with only their past self. The throughline of the morning action is clear and intense—the subject is likely always in a daze when he performs the ritual, with the freshness of each day be colored by a train of random thought. In this case, the ritual honors qualities within, and the attempt to discover one’s hidden thought patterns that may lead to heightened awareness and creativity. 

“The Hebrew Baby-naming ceremony” 

Nationality: American

Age: 22

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Orange County, CA, USA

Date: 4/30/2025

Language: English

Description: 

When you’re Jewish and you’re a baby, your parents are supposed to take you to Temple for, like the baby naming ceremony. What that means is you get your Hebrew name. It’s like a really big deal, and you do it in front of the whole congregation, and they give you like a little pamphlet thing that has your name. So, when I did it, I did it with my sister who was a baby at the time, which means that I was a lot older, which is not super common. But it was also just kind of like there was something very collective about doing it with my sister that made it kind of nice. When you have your baby naming thing, they have a blessing, but I can’t really remember what it is. And then you get your name. So essentially, like, my dad had his baby name. Which I don’t really remember what it was…it’s bat Matityahu something. So, basically, what they do is they’ll take your dad’s name if you’re a girl, and they’ll translate your name from English into, like Hebrew, and then they’ll name you after your father. So, like my Hebrew name is bat Matityahu, which means daughter of Matthew. I don’t remember what my sisters is…her name is Alexa, daughter of Matthew, too. 

Subject’s opinion:

Subject: I always have issues with that, because I always wanted my own name. I wanted to be separate from my dad. Because when you’re a boy, you get your own name. It’s separate from your parent. So, my dad’s is different from his dad’s, etc, etc, etc. Um, I think it’s. 

Interviewer: How does that reflect on the culture? 

Subject: It’s a very communal experience. So when you’re named when you have your Hebrew name at your Bat Mitzvah. When you’re called to read the Torah, you’re called by your Hebrew name. So, like when I had to go up for my Bar Mitzvah, they didn’t say. Uh, reading passage three is [redacted subject name], it was…they have a chant that they sing, and then they sing, uh, your name. It is kind of one of those things that plays into every facet of your life as you get older in the temple or, like, in the cult Hebrew culture. And it’s not something that’s talked about a lot until it’s kind of…necessary to be talked about. So, like when my dad had to come up and read a blessing from my Bat Mitzvah, he was called by his Hebrew name, his. His brother was called by his Hebrew name. It’s just that’s kind of how it is, so it’s when you’re in that space. Everyone also has that alternate name in a way. Oh yeah, just kind of, I don’t know. It’s kind of communal, and it’s not really ever talked about. It’s just. You’re kind of aware that if you’re there and you’ve had a Bat Mitzvah, you have a Hebrew name. 

Analysis: 

The subject highlighted both her intimacy with this Jewish tradition as well as her sense of emotional distance from the roots of the ritual. By reflecting on her role as a passive participant in this communal experience urged on by her family, the subject’s exposure to her cultural heritage is palpable, which clearly led to increased curiosity about her family’s past as a Jewish-American.