Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Ritual – Christmas Eve

Nationality: American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA

My informant is Catholic and his family makes a point to go to church every Christmas Eve and then have a family dinner

Pulled from a conversation I had with my informant:

“Every Christmas Eve we drive up to Pasadena to visit my grandma (grandpa is unfortunately not around anymore) and we all go to her church at 5pm. Then we have a family dinner at her house. We say grace and then everyone shares their favorite memory they had with someone in the room from the past year. Then we drive back home that night”

This Christmas Eve tradition is a great example of a family-based religious ritual that blends secular and sacred elements into a meaningful experience. This ritual is considered a “calendar custom” because of it’s tie to the holiday of Christmas. This ritual tradition reinforces shared values, communal identity, and connection across generations. Going to Mass on Christmas Eve is a formal religious ritual within Catholic tradition, serving as a reminder for the family of the sacred narrative of Christ’s birth. Folklorists would call this a “ritual performance” which is a symbolic act that makes this occasion distinct from the ordinary. After Mass, the family engages in a more domestic, intimate ritual centered around having dinner at Grandma’s house. Having a shared meal itself reflects the classic folklore structure of reinforcing social bonds and fostering kinship between family members. Saying grace is a continuation of the previous religious observance but now in the home space, adding a private ritual to the previous public one. A very meaningful part of this ritual then follows, with the sharing of favorite memories. This act is a personalized, reflective practice that serves to deepens the emotional bond between the people present at the dinner. Folklorists would call this a “narrative exchange”, an oral tradition that strengthens collective memory and honors individual experiences. The drive home is a shifting period, back into ordinary time, after a structured and meaningful experience. Overall, this tradition reinforces family bonds, religious identity, and storytelling across the generations.

Kings and Queens Birthday Song

Age: 18

Date of Performance: 4/28/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced a folklore ritual she was taught from a young age in a preschool setting that was used for birthday’s. Each time it was a student’s birthday, they would sing a song saying, “Kings and queens and princesses too, want to wish the best for you, so wish day wash day what do you say birthday! Happy birthday to you!”

2. Context

“Now anytime I celebrate a birthday that song pops into my head and sometimes I will sing it because it was such a core memory for me.”

“Singing this song reminds me of preschool and all the memories I created there, it gives me nostalgia.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that the informant learned at a very young age. It was folklore shared by her community in preschool, among other young students, an artistic expression to wish a good birthday to each other. This example shows how folklore can be used to reflect on the past and incite feelings of nostalgia and reflexiveness of one’s past experiences.

Four Advent Candles

Age: 19

Date of Performance: 4/24/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced the lighting of the four advent candles during the traditional Christmas season in December. It was a religious practice for her and her family and a way to celebrate their annual winter holiday.

2. Context

“Like the four advent candles that lead up to Christmas. You light one each Sunday before Christmas and it symbolizes hope, peace, joy and love.”

“It was just a way to celebrate with family and come together. We would sometimes go to church to do it but mostly just the sweet sentiment is what made it tradition for us.”

“Kind of for as long as I can remember. Yeah, I think we’ve just always done it no matter where we are on Sundays in December.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that is rooted in religious context from the Bible. It is meant to represent a different aspect each Sunday in the preparing for the coming of Christ. For this informant, it was adjusted to have religious undertones, and yet become more rooted in the familial aspect and honoring Christmas tradition. The informant clearly values the large morals reflected by the practice, and how it brought together her family to celebrate a holiday.

Norwegian Lefsa Ritual

Age: 20

Date of Performance: 4/24/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced her family’s ritual of making Norwegian potato lefsa every year for Christmas. Lefsa is a flatbread made from potatoes, cream, flour and sugar. She mentioned how they make it every year and then get drunk afterwards.

2. Context

“Yes, we make lefsa every year to pay homage to our Norwegian heritage. It’s a Christmas tradition. And then not really sure why but, we get drunk after.”

“It started in Norway with my grandma’s grandparents and I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember. I like it, it’s yum.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that is again part of a holiday celebration, honoring Christmas festivities. For the informant, it is part of paying homage to her heritage, and conversely continuing tradition through it. It is a family bonding folklore experience, in that they all create the ritualistic dish together and follow the tradition of drinking together afterwards. They’ve long been practicing it and as the informant mentions, the taste of the dish is important as well in the enjoyment of the ritual.

Pirate Weekend

Age: 20

Date of Performance: 4/24/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced how her family used to go to a nearby bay every year to celebrate “pirate weekend” as a kid. It was a temporary ritual but they treated it as a ‘holiday’ and celebrated it together annually.

2. Context

“We used to drive on up once a year to the bay for pirate weekend when I was a kid.”

“I went from like ages two until eight and I loved it. They had these smoke cannons that always impressed me. It was just bonding time for family but amazed me as a kid.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that the informant’s family turned into something of a holiday. They took a nearby communication of art within a community and adopted it as a ritual to celebrate and immerse in a culture. The folklore fascinated the informant and served as an entertainment ritual at a young age.