Greek Orthodox Easter Egg Game

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Chicago
Performance Date: April 24th, 2019
Primary Language: English
Language: Greek

The following Greek Orthodox easter tradition was performed in New/North  on April 24th, 2019

According to the informant, the Greek orthodox church also has traditions involving eggs.

“There’s a game I love to play where we dye eggs red, which is meant to be the blood that Jesus sacrificed. Then you hit two eggs top top, bottom bottom and crack them against each other.” The game ends when an egg cracks, and the uncracked egg wins.

“ Whenever you do it you say “christós anésti“ which translates to “christ is risen”, and then other person says back “pragmatiká échei anévei” meaning “truly he has risen.” This game is fun for kids but also has serious meaning with the red dye symbolism. Children grow up learning about their faith because of the games attached, just as the informant did.

 

A Nickel in Your Shoe: German Wedding Custom

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Ohio
Performance Date: April 12, 2019
Primary Language: English

The following German wedding custom was performed in the USC Village on April 12th, 2019. On the German side of the informant’s family, there was a wedding tradition passed through many generations. “In the shoe bride wore, a junior bridesmaid or flower girl would put a nickel in shoe. The nickel was passed through the family as good luck charm for a happy marriage and happy health.”

 

“My grandma on my mom’s side, her youngest brother was 16 years younger than her. So when Uncle Danny, my mom’s uncle but I call him uncle. When Danny got married my mom was in his wedding because she was perfect bridesmaids age. They had a daughter and when she was getting married, I was perfect age for flower girl. So it kept going back and forth that we were in each other’s weddings.”

 

The informant says she will always remember the tradition because it’s something “I’ve been apart of since I was a little girl and my journey with it is only half over until I get married one day”. This tradition is a wonderful way of keeping the family involved in every wedding. Everyone will get their time to shine and is made to feel important for two ceremonies.

 

Norwegian May Baskets

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Texas
Performance Date: April 24th, 2019
Primary Language: English

The following Norwegian tradition was performed in New/North: 

The informant’s mother is from Norway and grew up making May baskets, which are woven cones full of flowers and spring items that gets left on the doorstep of a neighbor on May’s Eve, or April 30th. It’s a play on the saying ‘April showers bring May flowers.’

“In Norway people weave their own baskets but that wouldn’t fly in Texas. But my mom did bring the tradition to Texas and got the whole block on board”

The informant remembers the excitement of putting together the baskets and picking what each would have inside. She hopes to continue the tradition with her family and bring the tradition to wherever she ends up. The baskets are a nice signifier that the rainy days are over and May will bring sunshine, flowers and positive vibes.

Filipino Funeral Rituals & Superstitions

Nationality: Filipino American
Age: 26
Residence: California
Performance Date: 5/1/2019
Primary Language: English

Context:

The informant is a 26-year-old male of Filipino descent. He will be referred to as DY. DY and his family lived in Hawaii for a time, and he currently resides in California. His piece of folklore comes from a memory he had in Hawaii and is described in the main piece in his own words:

Main Piece:

With my family, growing up I had a few family members pass away and I realized as a kid that our grieving process was different. Prior to the funeral we would go through a 9 day prayer process but what stood out to me after all of that is that we would do this ritual where my family would boil guava leaves, water, and vinegar together and the person closest to the deceased would rub this mixture on every member of the family’s face. I asked my mom why we would do that, and my mom told me that it’s because It’s one of the final steps that we need to do in order to help the dead move on or else they will still linger onto this world and attach themselves to anyone who didn’t partake in the ritual. If anyone starts to feel some sort of sickness around the time of these prayers, they would do this thing we called “Ano ano” where my aunt would knock on the forehead of the person feeling sick because it was a sign of the dead trying to hold onto that person. My mom never believed in it because she never felt any kind of dizziness or sickness, but a good chunk of my aunties is superstitious in that way so if you felt any sort of dizziness you had to have it happen to you.

Background:

DY heard the folklore from his mother, but it appears that the folklore is common knowledge among the elders in the family. It’s something passed down to the children to continue the tradition.  DY believes that through spiritual experiences he’s had with the passing of his grandmother, that he believes the rituals have magical properties but that he doesn’t really participate in them so he might not continue the tradition with his own children.

Notes:

The act of these rituals seems to be more than just the action of doing them. These rituals and traditions are important in keeping the family united. It is a social experience that of course, serves a purpose, but it also brings the family closer together. The use of guava leaves in a basin can also be used as a wash when people leave the funeral or cemetery, they rinse their hands in the basin to remove the spirits that may have attached themselves to the living.

 

Filipino Folklore: The Maligno

Nationality: Filipino American
Age: 29
Residence: California
Performance Date: 5/1/2019
Primary Language: English

Context:

The informant is a Filipino American woman in her late twenties. I asked her if she knew any stories or folklore from either friends or possibly any folklore from her family and her culture. She mentioned her mother knew many stories about spirits and creatures in the Philippines. The main piece is told in her own words:

The Main Piece:

So, my cousin’s friend decided to set up an apartment for drafting for their upcoming architecture firm. Her friend apparently had a sixth sense, looked out the window, saw a tree in the neighbor’s yard, and suddenly left and didn’t want to return. Apparently, she said there was a tree full of Maligno. My mom said it was a bad area.

Background:

The informant knows this piece from her family and folklore from her own culture. She is Filipino and her mother shared these stories with her and her siblings. She states, “My mom told us about this story while we were in the Philippines. We were visiting some of the old houses where my mom and relatives grew up, which were supposedly haunted. One of the houses had some crazy scratches on the wood floors and little footprint markings. The she started talking about folklore and how they could have been made.” She says it’s interesting because the stories explain what happens when certain areas create bad feelings or if someone has a certain ailment, certain creatures in the Philippines are responsible for them.

Notes:

Namaligno is a term used by Filipinos for someone being affected by something magical or supernatural. Maligno are spirits that haunt places or people. They can also disguise themselves as regular people. If the Maligno takes a liking to a certain individual, it can cause harm to them. For example, in the Philippines, when someone comes down with a sickness or ailment, it is because the Maligno is attached to that individual. Filipinos believe that certain diseases can be caused by the intervention of a magical or supernatural entity. This is usually due to a disease, sickness or ailment that cannot be explained or has no apparent cause. An example of this is Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome, a common occurrence in the Philippines. Due to the lack of explanation as to how people die from this, Filipinos will connect the cause to Malignos. It is an interesting concept because we, as humans, always need and explanation for things. The unknown is an unsatisfactory answer for why certain things happen, so to cope with the unexplained, we search for reasons why. This would explain how in many different cultures, there are creatures or spirits that are to blame for unexplained phenomena.

 

 

For another version/story of Maligno, check out: http://phspirits.com/maligno/