Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Snake Skin on a Fence Brings Rain

Age: 21

1. Text: In Texas, there is the folk belief/ritual that if one puts snake skin on their fence, rain is likely to come. 

2. Context: This participant, born and raised in Texas, spoke of a superstitious ritual that he believes is pretty unique to Texas. He says that growing up, whenever he would visit some of the more rural – or even suburban – areas of the state (he himself had grown up in more of an urban area), he would sometimes see fences lined with snakeskin. When he asked his parents about it after seeing it a couple of times – too often for it to just be an odd decoration or coincidence, he explained – his parents just told him it was an old superstition that the snake skin would bring rain. He never really understood why this would be a belief, and explained that his best interpretation or understanding of the odd ritual was that maybe it was an old Native American tradition or something akin to an old superstition left over from a bygone era.   

3. Interviewer’s Interpretation: Upon initially hearing about this folk belief and ritual from my interviewee, I was similarly confused by the superstition. While I don’t fully know whether or not this is necessarily a ritual from any particular Native American tribe or belief system, I don’t doubt that it could have roots in some type of rain-related ritual, as rain rituals appear throughout countless cultures. Perhaps this superstition is meant to evoke a sort of causality through the fact that snakes might become more visibly present during rainy seasons/storms; it seems plausible that people believed that if rain causes snakes to appear more often, maybe this cycle can be triggered through the use of their skins. Just like how earthworms seem to pop up in abundance after a particularly rainy day, maybe snakes too appear more frequently – and maybe through this, people began to believe if they brought out snakes/snake skins they could evoke this pattern and it would begin to rain. 

Mums

Age: 20

1. Throughout Texas, during highschool homecoming season, girls usually wear large floral arrangements called a “mum”. 

2. This participant, despite not going to high school in Texas, has lots of family living there. She often visits her extended family in Texas, and throughout her many trips to the state has come to learn of this sort of “festival” (if one is to consider homecoming a festival/celebration) ritual through her cousins and their friends, all of whom were fairly close to her age. She herself has never participated in the tradition of wearing a mum, but some of these aforementioned cousins and friends have shown off their own creations and pieces which they wore to homecoming/for homecoming photos. A mum, as the participant described it, is a large floral arrangement that is usually worn around the neck. Sometimes, these arrangements are further embellished through the use of ribbons, tinsel, and other decorative craft materials. The way she sees it, mums are just Texas-sized corsages. The participant believes that this tradition is meant to show off who can achieve or afford the largest display of school spirit. She surmised that it was a tradition rooted in the deeply-entwined love for football – even at the high school level – that is essential to Texas.

3. Interviewer’s Interpretation: Similar to the participant of this interview, I believe that “mums” are a part of a costume ritual meant to display one’s school pride and social status. Given that the mums are worn during homecoming season – a season/celebration that is centered around a specific football game in which traditionally alumni of the school are invited to come and celebrate – it only makes sense that a display of pride is of utmost importance at this time. Not only does it work to boost team morale, but it helps create a sense of community and identity based upon the high school you attend. I think they could probably also be used to communicate social status in a way, as upon looking up images of mums, I found that some of the more extravagant looking ones were absolutely humongous in size, and even included stuffed animals, bejeweled fabrics and ribbons, etc. – all materials that added together could be costly to put together – especially for just a celebration of a football game.

Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary

Age: 22

Text/Story: “In middle school, we all dared each other to say ‘Bloody Mary’ three times in the mirror. We were too scared to try it alone, so we did it at sleepovers. We thought we’d summon a ghost or maybe just freak each other out. Even though it was a joke, we kind of believed it and it was a huge bonding thing between us.”

Analysis: The Bloody Mary ritual is an urban legend with folkloric roots, typically performed by children or teens. Originally, it was a divination ritual that dared young women to walk a flight of stairs backwards with only a candle and hand mirror in a darkened house. If you saw a figure other than yourself, it was a sign you’d die before getting married (a popular fear at that time). Despite being largely theatrical, it’s a popular choice for social rite of passage: a test of bravery and conformity. In modern times and in modern media, it’s seen as an initiation into friend groups or a scare tactic for bullies. It’s seen as a strong example of how fear and imagination can impact group dynamics and echoes how older superstitions around reflections and spirits have been passed down for generation. It’s not tied to religion but shows how rituals convey deeper psychological and cultural meaning.

Twelve grapes under the table before New Year

Context

Originating in Spain, the tradition of eating grapes at the stroke of midnight is believed to welcome good fortune and prosperity in the new year. The custom began back in the late 1800s but was popularized in the early 1900s when farmers in the Alicante area produced an overabundant harvest and needed a way to increase grape sales. As the sweet tradition goes, you’re supposed to eat the grapes one at a time at each clock’s chime. If you can finish all 12 grapes within a minute, you’ll see luck, success, and positive energy in the new year.

Content

The informant recalled how she and her three sisters would go under the table and eat 12 grapes before midnight on New Year’s. They would imagine the success they wanted while eating the grapes. She knew it was not likely it would work, but she didn’t want to take the risk of not eating the grapes and not getting the luck for the new year. She also said it was a fun tradition connecting her to her sisters. When her sister got proposed to, they all blamed it on the grapes. 

Analysis

This tradition blends superstition and emotional bonding. As Appadurai (1988) the text suggests that this tradition’s origins can reveal how economic practices can become cultural customs. It is not a necessity because they believe in it, but they fear the consequences of not participating in the tradition. The grapes become a symbolic ritual that, like in Bruner’s (2001) work, creates shared meaning and family intimacy, especially among the sisters, who use the tradition to frame events like marriage as fateful.

Diablos danzantes de Venezuela

Context

It is a June festival that dates back more than 400 years and is celebrated in different locations in the central region of Merida, Venezuela. It usually happens before Corpus Christi, a liturgical solemnity celebrating the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This is a very popular tradition since it is connected to Catholicism, the most popular religion in Venezuela. 

Content

La festividad de los Diablos Danzantes empieza el miércoles previo al Corpus Christi, en ella los hombres se disfrazan de diablos enmascarados que danzan en forma de penitencia, en tanto, un grupo de la iglesia católica avanza hacia ellos y lleva el santo sacramento. Todo esto bajo el ritmo de la música de influencia africana. En el momento final de la celebración, los diablos se rinden ante Dios, simbolizando el triunfo del bien sobre el mal.

De nina me daban miedo ver a la gente disfrazada y bailando y colocandose las mascaras grandes, y la musica era de tambor, entonces me parecia que era muy fuerte y satanica cundo las personas disfrazadas de demonios bailaban a esa musica. Pense que cundo seria grade se me iba a quitar pero haun hasta hoy tengo miedo de verlo porque de nina me traumatizaron. Pero me gusto que mis padres estubieran hay para consolarme. Entonces la tradicion se volvio un tiempo para que yo y mis padres nos acercaremos mas. 

Translation

The Dancing Devils festival begins on the Wednesday before Corpus Christi. During it, men dress up as masked devils and dance in penance, while a group from the Catholic Church advances toward them and carries the holy sacrament. All of this is accompanied by African-influenced music. At the final moment of the celebration, the devils surrender to God, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil.

As a child, I was scared of seeing people dressed up and dancing and putting on large masks, and the music was drum-like. It seemed very loud and satanic to me when the people dressed as demons danced to that music. I thought that when I grew up, it would wear off, but to this day, I’m afraid to see it because it traumatized me as a child. But I liked having my parents there to comfort me. So, the tradition became a time for me and my parents to grow closer.

Analysis

This tradition is emblematic in Venezuelan culture because of how strongly religion is tied to Venezuelan people. It merges the most important aspects of this community, dance, music, and Catholicism, into one ceremony dating way before this generation. Drawing from Bascom’s idea of folklore as a vehicle for teaching moral values and reinforcing social norms (Bascom 1965). 

This tradition uses the dramatization of the victory of good versus evil to further their religious beliefs. This is achieved with the use of a very embodied, physical performance that both evokes fear and fascination with the use of African-influenced drumming. This makes the ritual serve as a ritual of transformation and spiritual penitence. The ritual’s structure reflects Levi-Strauss’s analysis of mythic binaries, good vs. evil, sacred vs. profane, where the symbolic surrender of the devils to the Eucharist enacts a resolution of spiritual tension (Levi-Strauss 1955). For the narrator, the traumatic childhood fear of the devils’ masks and music stayed the same over time but it also allowed for a bonding experience for the family, aligning with Bruner’s view of authenticity as a personal experience within tradition (Bruner 2001). This illustrates how folklore does not merely preserve the past but actively shapes personal and collective identities, and “phantoms of romantic nationalism”, rituals that anchor a people to both nation and mythic continuity