Mount Tam

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

This is a conversation recorded from a participant and a friend. The participant is marked NH, the friend is marked ED.

NH: “Um so I live next to a mountain called Mount Tam, and there’s like this…I guess it might be classified as a legend…um, where the mountain was actually a woman sleeping”

ED: “That’s from Hawaii”

NH: “No, it wasn’t it was…”

ED: “Yeah”

NH: “I mean yeah that is from Moana, but like, it was also in our town and if you look at it you can kind of see… um, like the shape, like people like say like it’s because she’s like a woman, like a princess sleeping.”

ED: “Wow”

Context:

My friends and I were discussing the different legends from our hometowns while eating dinner one night, the participant shared this with us.

Background:

The participant was born and raised in Mill Valley, California and is currently a second semester freshman engineering student at the University of Southern California. This was a common legend in her hometown told to her by her family.

Analysis:

Many legends exist which refer to nature and the creation of it. In this case the mountain is formed by a sleeping lady, this is a common legend as many cases of this same story can be seen all across the world. Claiming the mountain to be a lady, adds a sacred value to the land and gives a more interesting history to the area.

Hoarder Home

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “Well, you see, there’s this home in my neighborhood, and… a hoarder lived there so basically…there was like always like all this stuff just like lined up outside of the house and like, so they couldn’t even get in the doorway… and the superstition was…once you go into the home, you never come out.”

Context:

My friends and I were discussing the different legends and ghost stories from our hometowns, the participant offered up this popular story from her old neighborhood.

Background:

The participant is a freshman accounting major at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She grew up in Seattle, Washington where her family still currently lives. This legend was shared with the participant at a young age by the other kids in her neighborhood. This was a common belief and story shared by them all.      

Analysis: 

Almost every neighborhood has its own unique stories. Most often they relate to a house which looks uncared for or abandoned and the kids start making up a variety of stories. In some cases, a witch lives in the house, in others its haunted, but in almost all cases it stems from children’s imaginations. Most often, the house is nothing more than ordinary, but the legend serves as a shared bond and connection between the kids of the community.

Three Times a Bridesmaid

Nationality: British
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: 

This is a conversation recorded from a participant. She is marked AS, I am marked CM.

CM: “Tell me about your superstition”

AS: “which one… the three times?”

CM: “yeah”

AS: “um, three times a bridesmaid, never a bride. Basically, if you’re a bridesmaid three times that means you’ll never actually have your own wedding”

CM: “Where’d you hear that from?”

AS: “My mom, I don’t know, she always said it because she was joking the other day that I’m going to be asked to be a bridesmaid and it’ll be my third time”

CM: “Oh and then you’ll never get married”

AS: “I’ll never be a bride (laughs)”

Context:

The participant in this situation is my roommate, I overheard a phone conversation in which her mother was telling her about another one of their family friends engagement. Her mother then joked with the participant that it will be her third time being a bridesmaid. After the phone call ended I asked her what her mom meant by that and she informed me about this superstition they have in England.

Background:

The participant is originally from England and just recently moved to the United States as an international student. She is a second semester freshman at the University of Southern California in the Cinema and Media Studies Program. This superstition is common where she lives and was originally told the her by her mother.

Analysis:

It is very common to have superstitions that go along with major events especially weddings. In this case the superstition is not focused on the success of the bride and groom’s marriage but rather the future of the bridal party. This is similar to the common superstition where whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to get married but in this case, the superstition leads to them not getting married. Being a bridesmaid three times would have no correlation to you getting married, yet many single women still fear being a reoccurring bridesmaid.

Fraternity Seal

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “In fraternities, you cannot step on the seal that’s painted on the sidewalk until you are initiated because it’s disrespecting your elders and there’s a superstition that you’ll get kicked out of the fraternity” 

Context: 

The participant, I and a few of our friends were discussing Greek life an all of the interesting rules that people have to follow in order to be a part of the house. The participant then shared this superstition with us. 

Background: 

The participant was born in and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and is currently a second semester freshman at the University of Southern California. She is a Law, History, and Culture major with a minor in Art History. Both of the participants older brothers are in a fraternity and they informed her about this superstition.          

Analysis:

Within Greek life there are often many random superstitions and traditions which houses uphold as part of their fraternity’s culture. In many cases, braking these traditions can result in severe consequences. Even though most people know that logically stepping on the house seal would never directly cause you to be thrown out of the house, many of the uninitiated members will still avoid stepping on it at all costs. Superstitions often defy logic but are followed simply out of a fear that it could possibly be true, people often see superstitions with a better safe than sorry mentality.

Carrots for Eyesight

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Participant – “My mother told me as a kid that I should always eat all my carrots so that my eyesight was fantastic, but she probably just told me that because I had terrible eyesight just like everyone else in my family.”

Context:

The participant was having a discussion with me about what we liked to eat as a child and what we refused to eat. This led her to bring up the ways her mom would influence her to eat her vegetables.

Background:

The participant was born in and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and is currently a second semester freshman at the University of Southern California. She is a Law, History, and Culture major with a minor in Art History.           

Analysis:

This is another common phrase told to many children in order to get them to eat their vegetables. I was also told this as a child, as were most of my friends. Although eating carrots does not directly improve one’s eyesight, there is some scientific basis behind this belief. This is often how folk medicine and folk beliefs comes to fruition, they stem from some place of truth and develop into something more elaborate.