Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Jewelry as part of initiation

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 4/9/18
Primary Language: English

When talking to one of my roommates Braxton, I asked if he had any sort of initiation type things associated with his family.

 

Braxton said that, “Every man in my family on my dad’s side, including me and my brother, when they turn 16 get a necklace that has our family crest and a Swan on it.” (Pictured Below)

 

 

Background Info: Braxton is originally from Pittsburgh and now lives in Los Angeles. I always see him wearing this and never knew what it was, but Braxton made it clear to me that when a man in the family received this necklace he was “initiated” into the manhood club in the Swann family tree. It is something that goes back in many generations.

 

Context: I asked Braxton about this while talking to our class in a conversation about family initiations.

 

Analysis: I think this is a very cool way to integrate a sense of initiation and belonging to a group in a family, Braxton knew that he was going to get this necklace when he turned 16 so he had something to look forward to. I think I want to integrate something similar in my family and be the one to start it because I love this idea.Screen Shot 2018-04-10 at 3.05.24 PM

Family/Life Cycle Tradition

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: LA
Performance Date: 4/9/18
Primary Language: English

 

I asked one of my roommates Kyle if there was anything that he could think of in the theme of things being passed down in his family. He immediately mentioned something that has been going on in his family for a long time

 

Kyle said that, “The oldest living male in the family gets my great-great grandfather’s gold pocket watch. When the person who has it passes away, the next male gets it. My grandpa has it right now, so when he dies my father will get it, and when he dies I will get the pocket watch. Its something that will continue to be a tradition in my family”

 

 

Background Info: Kyle said that this is a tradition started by his great-great grandfather who wanted to keep something special going along the life cycle of the male generations of the Messinger family. It is a small gold pocket watch that his great-great grandfather would always carry around since he was a child. Kyle thinks this is a very special tradition in his family and knows how important it is to keep the legacy going when it comes his time to own the watch.

 

Context: Kyle told me about this during dinner at our fraternity house.

 

Analysis: I think this is a very cool tradition in Kyle’s family. It reminds me of something that is done on my Mom’s side of the family—similar thing except it is a necklace that my grandmother wears that was given to her by her mother. I think having a family life cycle type tradition like this is very important to have.

Life Cycle/Celebration

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: New Jersey
Performance Date: 4/10/18
Primary Language: English

I asked one of my good friends from school if he had any celebrations in his family that he was proud of and wanted to share. What he told me was very interesting and related to my family as well.

 

Jo said that, “My great grandpa was a German exile, and traveled to the east coast near New York and New Jersey area. That is where he primarily grew up. When he got older, he wanted to open a restaurant so he opened a steak house near where he grew up. His signature dish was the T-bone steak, and whenever he would eat it, he would grab the T-bone by the top of the bone and eat it with his hands, it was his way of celebrating the meal and celebrating life. He passed away a while back, but my whole extended family and I always go to eat at the steakhouse which is still there once a year. What we will do is order one T-bone, and pass it down the table for everyone to take a bite from it while holding the bone in their hands, it is our tradition of celebrating my great grandpa as well as celebrating being together in that moment at a family owned restaurant.”

 

Background Info: Jo’s family is from the New Jersey area, but his great grandpa is from Germany so he has ties to parts of the country. His family still owns the steak house and he still partakes in this tradition/celebration every year.

 

Context: Jo told me about this fascinating family celebration during lunch between classes.

 

Analysis: This was one of my favorite collections from my 20 that I gathered. I think that the celebration is cool to pass on, but I was very fascinated by the bigger meaning of the behavioral action of eating the T-bone with your hand, the meaning of celebrating life and freedom as done by the care free action of eating with your hands.

Pomlázka Celebration

Nationality: Czech
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: N/A
Performance Date: 4/13/18
Primary Language: Czech
Language: English

Informant: On every Easter Monday it is a Czech tradition for men to create a Pomlázka, which is an approximately one meter long wooden stick. This stick is then used to whip women on the butt.

The whipping is traditionally accompanied by a song, its purpose is to cleanse the woman of diseases and they are rewarded with sweets if they are children and alcohol if they are old enough to drink. Then, in some parts of the country, it is also a tradition for women to spill or pour a bucket of cold water on men as a reaction.

The songs usually are something along the lines of “give me eggs”, referring to the overarching tradition of Easter eggs. The most commonly song is something like: “Hody, hody, doprovody, dejte vejce malovaný, nedáte-li malovaný, dejte aspoň bílý, slepička vám snese jiný”, which I believe roughly translates to: “Hey, hey, give us coloured Easter eggs, if you don’t have coloured ones, give us at least white ones, your hen will give you new ones”

Context: My informant is a nineteen year old Czech national attending school in the United States. He’s lived in Prague for most of his life, and Czech is his first language. The interview was conducted face-to-face in a college dorm room.

Background: My informant actively participates in Easter celebrations in Prague, where this tradition is widely practiced. According to him, most people find it ridiculous, but nevertheless entertaining, a view which he shares. He believes that this is an important expression of Czech culture, as this tradition dates back generations, but also thinks that it is practiced mostly for entertainment.

Analysis: This was one of the first holiday based customs I encountered while collecting elements of folklore. I was surprised that, despite occurring on Easter, the custom is actually relatively devoid of Christian symbolism, instead focusing on the egg element of the holiday. This seems to reflect a less-dominant role of religion within Czech culture, as Easter Sunday, a not unimportant day for Christians, is celebrated without the mention of Jesus or the resurrection at all. There are, however, some religious undertones, as the whipping sticks used by the men supposedly “cleanse” the women of their diseases.

Hazing

Nationality: Guatemalian
Performance Date: 4-22-18
Primary Language: English

 Main Piece: So in the wrestling team we also did kinda have like another ritual. I mean it was kinda hazing but everyone had to do it or else they wouldn’t really be considered part of the team. It wasn’t like harassment or anything (he said this with a joking tone and giggling at the same time). Well after… each year after tryouts whoever made the team would have to get the old singlets from like people who had been in the team and wear them for an entire day. It’s like a tradition we have… well more like an initiation. For us it symbolized like following in the footsteps of more senior teammates. I am pretty sure though it is also for fun. Context:  I arranged with Bryan at a Starbucks. It was pretty loud and their seemed to be a business meeting a few tables away. Bryan was talking loudly so I could hear. Background: Bryan was born in Guatemala but came to the Unites States when he was a baby. He was raised in a predominately Hispanic community. He is currently attending California State Long Beach where he is studying Philosophy.  Analysis: In Bryan example of hazing, we can see a type of folk ritual called initiation. Before any person is accepted to the team, the need to be initiated by symbolic tradition. It is very similar to other types of initiations in which a person must pledge themselves by doing some kind of an embarrassing act. For example, this ritual is similar to sororities initiations that allow them to be part of their group.