Santa Lucia

Background: Informant has a Norwegian background from his fathers’s side and was raised being told about these Norwegian traditions and holidays, and this anecdote was told to me in person.

Informant: It’s a Swedish tradition, it’s like mid-December. Saint Lucia was a martyr and her name is after lux, the Latin word for light. The Santa Lucia celebration is a celebration of light in mid-December when it’s really dark in the Arctic in Scandinavia. You sing this song about her and then you walk down the aisle and everyone carries candles and little lights. 

My informant sung a portion of the song as well for me.

Thoughts: It’s interesting what exactly is the most meaningful to different cultures in different parts of the year. For instance, in Scandinavia, it’s dark almost every hour of the day in the depths of winter, and it makes sense that Scandinavian people would want to celebrate light in the darkness. It’s also interesting to me how many Scandinavian countries have so much in common culturally—even though my informant is Norwegian, and not even from Norway, he has a lot of knowledge of other Scandinavian holidays and culturally important events because they’re all so related.

Don’t Go to Bed With Wet Hair

Background: Informant spent his whole childhood, from age 2 to 18, in China. This was told to me over a FaceTime call.

Informant: One of my Chinese friends never goes to bed with wet hair. She said it’s a superstition that you aren’t supposed to.

Me: Why is that?

Informant: Like… you’re not supposed to shower before bed since your hair will be wet when you go to sleep. Going to bed with wet hair is bad luck and you could get sick from it, which is bad luck.

Thoughts: This is an interesting superstition, because there’s really some truth in it. It is possible to get sick from being cold and wet, however going to bed with wet hair probably isn’t enough for that to be the case. What I find even more interesting is that being sick is associated with bad luck.

Waste Not Want Not

Background: Informant is my mom, a middle-aged woman living in Seattle, raised non-religious, and this story was told to me via a phone call.

Informant: My dad always said “waste not, want not,” my entire childhood, about anything. Sometimes it was compounded with other phrases, like, if I wasn’t done with my dinner he’d say “there’s still a lot of meat on those bones” and that could sometimes be followed by “waste not, want not,” as well. He never said so, but it definitely came from him growing up in the depression era and growing up during World War II. 

Thoughts: I feel like the concept of “during the war,” is so familiar as World War II was such a massive event, however it’s not often talked about today just because it’s beginning to feel far removed. Especially from the perspective of someone who merely lived through it without any pin-pointed atrocity or horror story, but the general mindset of “waste not, want not,” and to be conservative and frugal. It’s also interesting to interact with someone who did fairly well for themselves and is living in a comfortable retirement to have that mindset and continue to be frugal and careful with money in a way that isn’t very necessary, but is also something that probably isn’t even greatly considered, just second nature.

Korean Fanda

Background: Informant was born and raised and Seattle and is not religious and of white descent. 

Informant: My mom picked up on a Korean superstition that if you sleep with the fan on it’ll kill you…Korean fanda

Me: Interesting… do you know where your mom picked up on that? 

Informant: Yeah, she backpacked in North Korea after college.

Me: Ahh, I see. So… do you ever sleep with a fan on still? Does she?

Informant: Well, I always sleep with a fan on. It blocks out my tinnitus. But she never does. She hasn’t since.

Thoughts: I love how little superstitions are picked up on and spread just like that, and superstitions above anything else are most likely to stick, as they always include a negative outcome if something isn’t done. Whether or not it’s something that is wholeheartedly believed by people after hearing it once, it’s something that will undoubtedly be remembered and likely spread again, even if only as a little fun fact. Even though my informant continues to sleep with a fan on, it’s interesting to me that his mother still does not, and clearly it’s something he still thinks about.

Moth Man

Background: Informant was born and raised in California, right outside of Los Angeles. I was told this story in person.

Informant: Alright, so… the legend of the moth man is that people see him…it? On the street at night, in like, unlit country roads in New Jersey. They just see these glowing eyes. Ummm, and uh yeah. People would see these eyes and see it as an omen that they would crash afterwards or something like that. It was like… only people driving would see it. 

Me: Interesting… do you have any connection to New Jersey or?

Informant: Hellllll no. I think I just picked it up from somewhere, I just know some weird stuff.

Thoughts: These superstitions and ghost stories are the ones that affect me the most, personally. Something about the unknown and the dark always have a bigger affect, since it’s always in the dark and later at night where it’s easy to fabricate things and see things. I wonder if the “glowing lights” seen by people were headlights of other cars, or eyes of animals that are getting reflected from their own headlights, and it’s right before they crash. It’s always interesting to think about the tricks that your brain will play on you in those situations, and almost even more interesting to think about what those tricks may be in reality.