Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Ravioli Day

Text

“My family and I celebrate Ravioli Day every year during early December. It’s a family tradition passed down in our family for more than 100 years now. When it hits Decemeber my mom’s side of the family gathers at my grandparent’s house where we all bring ingredients for ravioli and cook as one family. This past year my family brought the cheese and my personal job was add the filling to the pasta dough that is rolled by my grandma, mom, and aunts. Sometimes when me or my cousins mess up the filling the ravioli explodes and it becomes a funny blame game to guess who did it. Everyone in the family helps whether its making the dough, rolling the dough, making the pasta shapes, making the filling, or making the sauce. Once we finish cooking everything we save it and enjoy it together for Christmas dinner.”

Context

“I never really found out about this tradition besides the fact that I have been doing it since I was a baby. My mom did tell me that it has been in the family for at least a hundred years and even she did not know when it started because she has been doing it since childhood as well. Ravioli day ties to our Italian culture and makes Christmas and the entire month of December unique to my family. I love to see all my relatives during December because they are all scattered throughout the US compared to my grandparents and I who live in California.”

Analysis

Traditions like these represent family customs that act as folklore because they are informally passed down through generations. As in this story, the folk group which is his entire family shares a common cultural identity of being Italian-American. The use of ravioli is a symbol of their ancestry due to the food’s origins and in that sense they are carrying on the legacy of their predecessors who created this tradition. This is called foodways because culture and memory is preserved through the sharing of food. Like him and his mother who learned about this tradition simply by habitually doing the tradition each year since birth, many of us don’t recognize the many things we do daily that are forms of folklore because it is so normal to us. From an outsider perspective, however, this family tradition is unheard of and is specific to their folk group.

The Star and Crescent

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“In my fraternity, Kappa Sigma, every new member must memorize a historic passage called the Star and Crescent. Besides other responsibilities as new members such as getting to know every brother in the house and earning their trust to become their fellow brother, the Star and Crescent must be memorized to perfection and able to be recited aloud. Once we can repeat each line to the brothers and have fully earned their respect, we are free to be initiated as official members of the Kappa Sigma chapter. I remember me and my boys, particularly —- and —–, would stay up late at night in one of our dorms just reciting it together. Not only was it something every brother has to do but it taught us how to be a good member of the frat. I remember my anxiety as the day to recite it in front of our executive came. I was so scared to mess up that even after I memorized it I still would practice at least 30 minutes a day following that.”

Context

I first learned about this passage when one of the brothers, —-, told us we had to have this memorized by heart before we could be initiated into the chapter. I remember seeing a large print version of the text framed on the wall. When I read it I knew it was specific to every Kappa Sigma, so I was not surprised when we were told to memorize it. After reading it over and over I came to appreciate its message about the honor of being a Kappa Sigma and the fact that not everyone is suited to be initiated into this chapter. It tells you that a man must be intelligent, honorable, truthful, and worthy to wear the star and crescent.

Analysis

Rites of passage such as this account of his fraternity shows how certain folk groups around the world require initiation rituals that are either physical or verbal. Shared knowledge of passages by memory create shared culture and identity between members of these groups. In knowing each and every member went through the same process and held the same requirements, they can share mutual respect because each knew what it took to join. Shared experiences that are turned into folklore help those in the folk group bond and create memories for life. This rite of passage is an example of an initiation ritual that represents members commitment to the fraternity. Beyond just memorization, is the history and shared journeys behind reciting these words, distinguishing the brothers as one folk group. This process before becoming a brother reveals a folk concept known as liminality because it is the middle ground between a non-member and a brother of this fraternity.

Cheese Touch

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“When I was in like elementary school a lot of us would mess around with a game called the cheese touch like if you said cheese touch when you were tagging someone then they would have it. And the only way to prevent it would be to have your fingers crossed. And once you have it you have to give it to someone else or you’re stuck with it. So, I remember we would always have our fingers crossed because anytime was fair game. I remember getting frustrated because kids would lie and say their fingers were crossed when they got tagged. Me and my friends would team up in secret and promise we wouldn’t tag each other if we got the cheese touch. In my senior year of high school, we played senior assassin which gave me flashbacks to the cheesetouch because of the safe rules and the lies that would be created after someone got out. I was completely into both games because they brought out the inner kid in me and my competitive nature.”

Context

I first saw this game when I watched the Diart of a Wimpy Kid movie. I remember being at my friend’s house in his living room watching with my childhood friend group of 4 guys. When we saw the cheese touch scene with thought it was funny but also disgusting because the cheese was rotten. Other kids at our elementary watched the movie too and one of them copied the movie. Since we were immature kids who just wanted to have fun, the mention of the cheese touch got everyone riled up and the game began.

Analysis

The cheese touch game shows the diversity of forms that folklore can come in. It is a variation of another folk belief known as the “cooties” because they both involve infecting others with a negative thing. While it originated in a movie, kids around the US adapted the game into their own and transformed a silly game into a national form of folklore. Folklore is highly prominent in the younger generations because with social media and televesion, kids are prone to copy what they say without questioning its validity. Similar to Alan Dundes’s idea, folklore functions socially within groups that share similiarity giving mutual trust in this scenario. The secret alliances he formed with his friends show the strength of culture through folklore. Regardless of the rules of the game, their tight knit folk group shaped by friendship and a collective interest to not get the cheese touch led to them bending the rules and creating shared identity.

The Pen Spirit (笔仙)

Context:

Me and the informant became friends in middle school due to our common interest in ghost stories and spiritual ceremonies. We decided to summon 笔仙 (a spirit that can be summoned through the action of two or more participants holding a single pen over a sheet of paper), and to let them answer some of our stupid questions, and it actually worked, somehow.

Text:

“笔仙 (Pen Spirit) is a very popular folk ritual in China,” the informant recalls, “even for people who are not into spiritual study, it’s almost safe to say that whenever people think about spiritual rituals, they would immediately think about 笔仙. Like any other folk ritual, the 笔仙 ceremony has multiple variations of how to perform it, but what we did was we wrote the alphabet on a piece of paper. We held a pen in our hands and chanted an incantation and start drawing in circles. If the spirit has been successfully summoned, the pen would start moving on its own, and then it is time for us to ask whatever questions we want. However, there are limitations, of course. You can’t ask how the spirit that is summoned died, or else it would be considered disrespectful. In addition, after you finish all your questions, you need to respectfully ask the spirit to leave.”

“And the spirit you summon can be random. For everyone who is performing the ritual, you are not summoning the same ghost. It varies—some can be friendly, some can be hateful toward us. So I’m really surprised that back then we even had the courage to actually do the ceremony, because if we were ever to summon a spirit that wanted us dead, they could potentially curse us. But he was so friendly (the informant was referring to the spirit that we successfully summoned). We didn’t ask any questions regarding his death, of course, but we did ask him something about his past life and the reason why he is still around on earth. I remember he said he actually spoke some English, and he went to college, and I think he died at a young age.”

“He was very generous with our stupid questions”, I said.

“Yeah, because I remember we were asking questions like who would be the next president of the United States. It was back in 2020, before the presidential election. He said it would be Biden, which he did get right. Many people summon 笔仙 to predict things, you know, but I don’t think the spirit that we summoned had that much power or energy to do so. We just asked a lot of random and silly questions, and we let him go, as if we were chatting with a friend or something. This is still a totally crazy experience, you know—we were two crazy middle schoolers.”

Analysis:

The interview highlights how rules and boundaries play an important role in shaping folk rituals, even among young participants. The informant describes clear limitations, such as not asking about the spirit’s death and the need to respectfully dismiss it, showing that the ritual follows an understood structure and moral code. At the same time, this experience reflects a coming of age moment, where engaging in something slightly forbidden or risky becomes a way for middle schoolers to test boundaries and bond with each other. The mix of caution and curiosity suggests that the ritual is not only about contacting a spirit, but also about navigating fear, respect, and social connection. And for sure, me and the informant became closer after this experience.

Not Kicking the Flag Pole

Context:

The informant is a member of the Trojan Marching Band at USC. At the same time, the informant is a strong supporter of USC school spirit and marching band traditions, and is very knowledgeable about band “lore” and internal practices.

Text:

One of the most well known game day traditions at USC is kicking the pole before leaving campus through Exposition Blvd to attend the football game. This tradition is said to symbolize luck, some even say that if you don’t perform it, you will bring bad luck to the football team.

According to my informant, the marching band does the same thing as well. As they march in formation and pass the pole, all members stop the cadence for a second and kick the pole. Upperclassmen even make sure that freshmen who are catching up with the tradition perform the ritual in time.

However, after the game is finished, when the marching band is marching back to campus and passing by the same pole, people are not allowed to kick it anymore. It is the total opposite this time—if you kick it, you would give bad luck to the football team for their next game.

“The worst thing is,” the informant said in exclamation, “the general fans are not aware of this tradition. They would kick the pole on their way back in front of us! That always annoys me!”

Analysis:

The “pole kicking” tradition at USC illustrates how folk rituals create meaning through collective practice, timing, and shared knowledge. Although the action itself is simple, its significance changes depending on context. Within the marching band, the ritual also functions as a form of group coordination and identity, reinforcing shared participation through performance. At the same time, the informant’s frustration with general fans unknowingly breaking the rule highlights how such traditions can serve as markers of insider knowledge, distinguishing those who understand the “correct” practice from those who do not.