Hispanic Funeral Customs

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 58
Occupation: Retired Federal Officer
Residence: Henderson, Nevada
Language: English

Text: Traditional Mexican funerals are very different that those in the United States. They last anywhere from 2-3 days, and involve lots of food, alcohol, and music. One of the most prominent customs involves the carrying of the the casket to the cemetery site. I can recall numerous funeral services, all in Mexico City, that I would describe as being more fun that sad. This differs from my funeral experience in the United States, which is centered more around the mourning of the deceased.

Context: Informant describes bearing witness to these hispanic funeral traditions many times while attending services in Mexico City. However, they have never witnessed such actions occur in the United States, even at Mexican- American funerals. Informant acknowledges the differences in ideologies between many Americans and Hispanics to be the fundamental reason for this observation. They claim that the people of Mexico do not view death to be the end of ones soul, but the transition into an afterlife. Because of this, their physical loss is met with a celebratory sequence, ackowledging the continuation of their soul.

Analysis:

As someone who has never attended a funeral in general, I was quite shocked to here of the funeral traditions of Hispanic weddings. I was especially surprised to hear about how the coffin is carried throughout the street to the cemetery. At an initial glance, from the perspective of someone born in the United States, I thought it was slightly disrespectful. However, this exposure has helped me understand how many hispanics view with cycle of life and the issue of death. By seeing death as the departure of the soul to an afterlife, rather than the elimination of the soul, these customs become very understandable. The difference in customs between cultures also allowed me to see how customs are a product of people, just as much as people are a product of customs.

Elopement Vows

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 58
Occupation: Retired Federal Officer
Residence: Henderson, Nevada
Language: English

Text: When I decided to get married to my, now, ex-husband we decided to have a small wedding. So small that the only people present were him, the priest, and myself. Although their were no guests, we still prepared our Vows for one- another and spoke then when directed to. It was a beautiful ceremony, all that I had hoped for, and keeping our vows between each other deepened our connection.

Context: Informant describes the decision behind why they decided to have an elopement. Due to clashing cultures, that of a Hispanic woman and of a Kashmiri man, the informant was nervous of the traditions that would have to take place at such a diverse wedding. Because of this, the informant decided the wedding should be held with only a priest present. Informant understands that this choice was rather unorthodox, but discusses her need for traditions of a wedding, such as the exchange of vows, still being present. To the informant, this shows that weddings do not need to follow all customs and traditions that are culturally approved, but the ones a couple sees fit.

Analysis: I think this piece is elegant in its way of explaining how folk- tradition, such as weddings, is an event that can undergo changes based on those who are performing it. It portrays how folk traditions remain resilient through variation. This specific examples does not relay the story of those who reject traditional wedding practices, but adapted them to fit their own personal needs. In doing so, it became clear that folklore is an always changing genre that accommodates the needs of a changing society.

Sports Hoodie

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: United States
Language: English

Text:

“Anytime ACFC is playing I have to wear my ACFC hoodie or else it’s a guaranteed loss.”

Context:

The informant started doing this in freshman year because nobody cared about women’s soccer and they wanted to market for it. They state that it’s important to them to encourage people to watch women’s soccer and also believed in doing this after wearing it watching their first game and their team won because of it.

Analysis:

This idea marks magical superstition as a ritual behavior is performed with the hopes of influencing the game. More specifically, this acts as sympathetic magic, where the action of wearing the hoodie will influence and help boost the chances of the team winning, and apotropaic magic with the idea of warding off bad luck. In addition, if the person fails to wear the hoodie then the game would be doomed from the start, creating a sense of avoidance ritual by continuously wearing the hoodie so there will be a chance for a victory. Besides representing magical superstition, this also emphasizes material culture with the hoodie. Some people, most that are outside of the sports community, would believe this to be a normal hoodie that one wears with market value, but the informant has a deeper connection to the material. They find it to have a deep personal meaning to the object that makes it invaluable and even giving power to the hoodie, which now acts as a talisman associated with good luck. This ritual behavior establishes identity with the sports folk group as well as acting as a tool that eases anxiety towards a game. It might also act as an explanation as to why a game won or failed with whether or not the hoodie was worn. Because there was a correlation between the object and the victory, the object then develops more power and is seen as something that influences the outcome of a game.

Come On! [Player’s Name]

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: United States
Language: English

Text:

“One superstition is when I’m watching volleyball and our team is serving I have to say ‘Come on’ and player’s name before they serve but I can only say it once and then if I do that then it won’t be a server’s error.”

Context:

The informant says they started doing this in the fall watching women’s volleyball after their friend did it once and ended up getting a service ace. They then started doing this in hopes of changing the outcome of the game. It’s important to them because there are a lot of service errors in the sports games and has a need to control what can’t be controlled.

Analysis:

This represents sports behavior tied to superstitious beliefs with the sports community being the folk group and this behavior the lore. The idea is orally speaking out loud about something happening in the game in hopes of changing the outcome of the match, despite knowing that the people on the screen can’t hear you. The ritual is held verbally with its own rules and distinctions like having to say the player that is serving and only doing it once. This is similar to sympathetic magic, where the action of calling out will influence an outcome and ensure the player being able to complete the serve. They adopted it from another friend, showing how this spreads socially especially within this folk group of sports. The informant even hopes to use this to spread to those outside of their group. This makes the game they’re watching seem interactive, despite being in a completely different location with no ties to those watching. This ritual offers a chance for watchers to help their team win and give them a sense of controlling the outcome in a game that is wildly unpredictable. These behaviors are used in the sports community then to ease one’s anxiety over not being in control and the uncertainty of the future. As a psychological function, this acts as the idea of finding correlation between two events that may not have an existing connection. This behavior formed due to the fact that it worked once, inviting this idea that because it happened once it may happen again. It’s interesting as well as the tradition is both personal and communal as the action is specific enough to pertain to a few people, but it still offers connection or similarity to others’ own personal rituals to the same activity.

Knock on Wood

Nationality: American
Age: 55
Occupation: World Oil Leader
Residence: United States
Language: English

Text:

“Knocking on wood, this is believed to ward off bad luck or ensure good fortune. You knock on wood when you’re talking about something good but don’t want to jinx it so you knock on wood but if no wood is around you knock on your head. I usually use my head and knock 3 times.”

Context:

The Informant says they learned this from their grandma, but also recounts that people at work say it all the time during their meetings. They’ve had experience with this before of having bad luck if they don’t ‘knock on wood’ and really has a connection to the idea of three. They believe in this idea of bad luck in threes because it continues to happen in their life with accidents, sickness, and deaths.

Analysis:

This is represented as superstition, but more specifically, magical superstition. Magical superstition focuses on the idea of influencing an outcome with an action rather than predicting it. The idea is that if you knock on wood or your head it might influence or ward off misfortune or a ‘jinx,’ but doesn’t exactly predict it. In Frazer’s belief, this can be seen as sympathetic magic, where an action is taken to influence an outcome. Knocking on wood is apotropaic magic, a type of sympathetic magic, where the action of knocking on wood or your head will ward off evil influences or ‘bad luck.’ It’s a protective ritual with the hope of protecting one’s self from negative outcomes by knocking on wood. It’s also a very social aspect, where even the informant states that they use it with their coworkers during meetings, connecting them together with a familiar action which even becomes automatic. People might partake in this action in order to relieve anxiety and stress over possible negative future outcomes and prevent the opposite of whatever they said from coming true. The idea of knocking three times also is significant as its seen in many other cultures as well as this idea of bad luck comes in three, where knocking on wood prevents this three times.