Fairy Civilizations

Nationality: USA
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: 4/22/19
Primary Language: English

My sisters used to make fairy civilizations… little cities, houses. They’d use little Barbie furniture items, give them chairs to sit on, swings to play on, baskets of these little berries from this bush in our backyard to eat. They could never see the fairies— they were shy, my sisters would say—but they would leave the little fairy homes out overnight and come out the next morning and things would have shifted or disappeared, and they were convinced fairies had come to visit while they were sleeping. I was always convinced it was the wind or opossums or my parents pulling a ‘Santa Claus’ to make my sisters happy. But my sisters were very serious about these endeavors. And they would get so upset if my mom tried to clear out their backyard fairy creations before, like, a party or something. The fairies would get angry, my sisters said, if their houses were destroyed. They’d like, throw tantrums because they were scared of what the fairies would do. It was bad luck or something. So my mom would just leave them in our backyard, in the plants. They were there for like, years, until we remodeled the backyard and they had to go. The gardeners would work over them and stuff up until then. My sisters were probably fourteen when the fairy houses were removed. The next day, one of my sisters broke her arm. That same day, my other sister’s boyfriend broke up with her. They had a bad week. It was probably just coincidental, but they swear it was the fairies.

J knows this story because it happened to his sister and the fairy civilizations were a big part of his childhood. His sisters were obsessed with mythical creatures when they were young, particularly fairies, and he was often dragged into helping them build their little houses for them. He never believed in the stories, but his sisters still bring it up to this day.

.I’ve always heard that fairies can be ruthless, like when people get caught in a fairy dancing circle and then when they come to, eight years have passed. So, I’m sure a fairy would be upset if someone built a house for them and then destroyed it. When I was little I used to make fairy houses with my friends at school, but we would always take them down after recess and bring our Barbie furniture home with us. I don’t remember having much bad luck as a result—or maybe I did and all the bad things that ever happened to me are a result of that!

Letters to Monsters

Nationality: USA
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English

I used to be scared of monsters when I was little, so I’d always have my parents check under my bed and close my closet before I went to bed. It got so bad that I couldn’t get through an entire night’s sleep, and I would end up in my parent’s room every night. I tended to kick in my sleep, so my dad started sleeping in the guest room. It had to stop, so my mom had me write a long letter to the monsters in my room who were scaring me, telling them I wasn’t scared of them and they didn’t hold any power over me. Then she had me flush it down the toilet— they lived underground, she said, so that’s how they would be able to read it. They’d find it in the sewers. It actually worked. I stopped being so scared and was able to sleep in my bed again. Harmony was restored in my home.

This is special to J= because it is something he plans on passing down to his kids if they are ever scared of anything lurking around in their room. It was a sweet way his mom made him feel like he had power over the things that scared him, as well as a way to allow herself to have a full night’s sleep again.

This is a cute way to give a child power over their demons—by being able to send an angry letter to where they dwell in the sewers. I’ve heard of writing letters to your enemies and then flushing them down the toilet, rather than sending it, but never to the monsters crawling around under one’s bed.

Hiccup Cure

Nationality: USA
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English

My siblings used to jump and try to scare each other in order to cure hiccups. We’d hide behind corners in our house and jump out at each other, like… “BLAH!” and try to scare each other real bad. Supposedly that was supposed to get rid of our hiccups? Now that I say this out loud it sounds very weird.

“Scaring” hiccups out of each other was a normal part of J’s childhood, and when he gets the hiccups nowadays, he is inclined to have someone scare him. Since that seems strange and unconventional, he only does it with his family members.

I actually used to do this myself when I was younger, among other strange, supposed “cures” like holding my breath and drinking water upside down. I’m not sure any of them actually worked, but I’ve never met another person who tried to “scare” the hiccups out of themselves.

 

Irish Cold Cure

Nationality: USA
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: USA
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English

When I was young and felt a cold coming on, my mom would give me a shot of whiskey that she heated up. I don’t know if it actually did anything to cure my ailments, but I definitely started feeling better shortly after taking it. And I knew when she gave it to me I wasn’t going to school that day. We’re Irish…figures.

J comes from an Irish family, and his mom was a huge proponent of natural remedies to cure sicknesses. He still to this day takes a shot of hot whiskey when he feels a cold coming on, and does remain convinced it has medicinal powers.

I’m not sure whiskey has actual medicinal powers, but I’m sure a little buzz helps you forget you’re not feeling well. If you’re looped, it is probably hard to mind a little cough and runny nose.

Venezuela: Los Diablos de Yare

Nationality: Venezuela and Miami
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 22 1018
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Informant: Los Diablos de Yare are a religious festival celebrated in Venezuela during Corpus Christi. I remember being introduced to this in school as a child. Every time the festival approached, we would make masks designed to look like devils. Then we would wear the masks and dance around. Even though the masks were designed to look like devils or monsters, they were all extremely colorful. This festivity is a yearly tradition filled with joy, family, and friends. Basically, the whole festivities are made to celebrate good over evil. This is why the masks are made to look like devils and the tradition is considered religious; the whole point is to demonstrate how good will always beat out evil. I don’t remember the origins of it exactly, but I know that it has been a Venezuelan tradition for centuries and that it has obviously evolved over the years. 

Analysis: 

This festival seems to be a very important part of Venezuelan culture. I think the reason why it is so prominent in Venezuela is because its religious. This would explain why schools make a whole celebration out of it and why the tradition has been able to survive for hundreds of years.

I wish the informant would have been able to provide more information as to where and how the tradition originated exactly, but I understand that she has been around it for so long that she just takes it to be a yearly ritual. It’s very intriguing to me that the festival depicts devils in order to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. This demonstrates a very strong imagery that plays with perceptions. It is almost as if the use of devil masks make the devils less intimidating and demonstrate to people that they are stronger than evil. In other words, the creating of this masks can work as a metaphor for taking control over ones own demons. Overall, I really liked this piece of folklore. The vivid colors used for the masks and the dances that happen all around town make it pretty clear that this festival is a time for celebration and family.