Context/Background: The informant is Salvadoran and Mexican-American and grew up with folk beliefs such as that of conjuring a lost item. In this piece, she describes the methods of finding something that has been lost.

[Speaking face to face with physical items such as pictures supporting the information described]

“So the thing I’m trying out right now, and this is from Colombia, is um… if you take… let’s say if you lost something, you put a cup… you take a cup, you put it upside down, you fill it with water, throw out the water, put it upside down and whatever you need will appear.”

Introduction: The informant was introduced to this practice through their mother.

 Analysis/Interpretation: This is interesting because I feel like I’ve seen a few different methods of attempting to find a lost item across cultures and a commonality that I’ve registered is the idea of putting energy out which reaffirms that one will find the item seems present. I’ve previously heard of many “speaking it into existence” ideologies where people tend to put forth verbal affirmations in an attempt to conjure this into a real-life, tangible setting. In this instance, there’s a specific physical aspect manifesting this in which I can see people finding comfort and confidence.