Don’t Look into the Mirror at Midnight

Nationality: Vietnamese
Age: 25
Occupation: PhD Candidate
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 3/23/2020
Primary Language: Vietnamese
Language: English

Main Story: 

The following is transcribed between myself and the informant, from this point forward the informant will be known as TT and I will be MH. 

TT: There is this thing in Vietnam where you can’t look into mirrors at midnight. 

MH: Is that like a Bloody Mary reference? 

TT: What do you mean?

MH: Well there is a theory if you look into a mirror at night with the lights off and say Bloody Mary three times she will appear next to you. The “she” being a young girl covered in blood and the assumption is that she murders you I think. 

TT: Oh no, haha. That’s scary. Well, this is similar I guess. If you look into the mirror at midnight exactly then you can get transported to the other side because a portal opens up. 

MH: Is the other side like a spirit world? Like a heaven or hell situation or something different? 

TT: It’s like a spirit world. I’m not fully sure exactly where the myth came from, like if it is christian or not, but I’ve always been told it’s like a waiting room between everything. So maybe kind of non denominational? 

Background: 

The informant grew up in south Vietnam. He remembers a lot of the culture there being surrounded in superstition. This is one of the ones that he still thinks about, and he still doesn’t look into mirrors at midnight because of this. He claims that even though he’s a scientist by trade some things are better left untested. 

Context: 

The informant and I are friends, and the conversation happened organically while I was talking about some of my favorite ghost shows and spooky things. I then asked him if he had any prominent ghost stories or warning tales growing up. 

My thoughts: 

Mirrors seem to always draw some sort of attraction for the paranormal. Like broken mirrors bring bad luck, your fractured image can cause your mind to fracture or a demon to present itself to you etc. I am not sure when this first started, but there is always mystery with mirrors and what is looking back at you (is it really you?) and I find it interesting to see that this spans across cultures all over the world.

Vietnamese Friday the 13th

Nationality: Vietnamese
Age: 25
Occupation: PhD Candidate
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/11/2020
Primary Language: Vietnamese
Language: English

 Main Story: 

The following is transcribed between myself and the informant, from this point forward the informant will be known as TT and I will be MH. 

TT: Are you familiar with Friday the 13th? 

MH: Yes, I am. 

TT: In Vietnam we also have Friday the 13th, but it has a different context then the commercialized one in the United States. The story goes, in the early 2000s there was a storm in a city in Vietnam and that city was semi-destroyed in the storm and many people were displaced. The people in the surrounding regions banded together and came into the town to deliver aid and help out. Then one day, well Friday the 13th, two busses carrying people who were supposed to be delivering aid crashed and almost everyone died in the collision. And now the day is cursed. 

MH: Is there any relevance of Friday the 13th as we know it in America, or like are the two ideas completely separate? 

TT: From what I remember the two are not linked but purely by coincidence. 

Background: 

The informant grew up in south Vietnam, however he moved here for school alone when he was sixteen. While adjusting to America he found this to be an interesting coincidence and parallel between the two vastly different cultures. 

Context: 

The conversation happened over FaceTime during quarantine. We were talking about tattoos and how tattoo parlors do “flash tattoos” (pre-designed tattoos that clients can pick from that usually only cost no more than 50$) on Friday the 13th,  and how often they are spooky themed. This then got us talking about the concept of Friday the 13th and the odd parallel between the culture of it here in the USA versus in Vietnam. 

My thoughts: 

I think the concept of the unlucky number 13 is fascinating as it centers from the western christian ideal of the 13 disciples – the 13th being Judas the traitor of jesus- so there were really only 12 proper ones. The fear around the number  was popularized in the 1890s in England. This trickled in building codes as most western buildings, especially in the U.S. omit the 13th floor. However, my friends and I are familiar with the fear of 13, and Friday the 13th, from popular slasher films in the 1980s-90s. It’s interesting to see the presence of fear surrounding Friday the 13th in a non-western culture.

Shivaji the Tiger and Avzal the Bear

Nationality: Indian
Age: 60
Occupation: Businessman
Residence: Pune, India
Performance Date: April 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi, Marathi

Piece

Alright so this one is the story about how Shivaji survived an assissination attempt. He was going to meet Babur Khan, or was it Avzal Khan haan haan yes it was Avzal Khan! So Shivaji was going to discuss a truce with Avzal Khan. They were going to meet in a place where no weapons were allowed so it would be safe.

But here’s the thing ha, Avzal Khan was a huge man and had arms as big as logs and a chest as big as an elephant’s. So Shivaji was on his way to meet him… and uh… on the way one of Shivaji’s spies came to Shivaji in the dead of night and told him that Avzal was planning on strangling Shivaji to death when they met by giving him a deathly bear hug. Now, here’s the thing ok. Shivaji was extremely clever. He was very smart and knew that something like this would happen. So he said okay to his spy and continued on his journey to the location… of the… of the meeting. 

Anyway, all the while, Shivaji grew out his fingernails and sharpened them so that they were very very sharp. On the day of the meeting, Shivaji cleverly wore a plate mail armour under his clothes. So when the meeting came, Avzal Khan hugged Shivaji and tried to crush him but he couldn’t because of the chain mail. Then Shivaji used his tiger claw hands to tear open Avzal Khan’s chest and killed him instead. 

Background

Shivaji was a warrior king and the founder of the Maratha empire. He is idolized in Maharashtra, a state in India, amongst the people of the state. There are tons of stories, books, and films that center around Shivaji’s cunning, bravery and wit. The antagonists of these stories are the Mughal emperors who are depicted as cruel and evil in most of the stories. This is a story from the vast folklore around Shivaji.

Context

My family is Maharashtrian and this is an example of one of the many stories that my father told me about our heritage when I was growing up. 

Thoughts

It is unfortunate that the main antagonists of the stories are generally Muslim mughals. This has caused a lot of Islamophobia in modern day Maharashtra which has led to some unfortunate political circumstances. This story would probably be told much differently by the descendants of the Mughal empire.

Overturned Footwear

Nationality: Indian American
Age: 19
Occupation: India
Residence: Mumbai, India
Performance Date: April 2020
Primary Language: English

Piece

One of the  most prevalent superstitions growing up in an Indian household was the belief that if your shoes or footwear was overturned, then it was said to cause fights- give off negative energies in the house. So you’re never supposed to- you’re supposed to flip the footwear so that the underside is facing the ground. You know. It isn’t even about the superstition anymore but I, like, subconsciously flip over my footwear because it bothers me now. And I figured- I- brrrbbrr- I figure it comes from the fact that you know, overturned shoes, you know, people used to trip on them or whatever, that’s why.

Background

    N is a close friend from India who grew up in a half hindu, half muslim household. I stayed with him for a couple months and I came to realize parents are rather traditional in their habits despite being progressive thinkers. One of the habits that N seems to have picked up on from his parents is correcting the positioning of shoes.

Context

    N relayed this information to me over a facetime call. It was something that we had discussed earlier in our lives and I had asked him to look back and narrate bits of that conversation.

Thoughts

    N had an interpretation of why this custom could be in place. I agree with him although I heard another reason as well as to why this custom is followed: the dirt from the bottom of the shoe may get into the air or food.

Ram and the berries

Nationality: Indian
Age: 56
Occupation: Corporate Manager
Residence: Pune, India
Performance Date: April 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Hindi

Piece

    On one day of Ram’s exile, he was approached by a woman who was a big devotee of him. She has a beautiful- you know- pure love for him because he had this persona of a warm, loving, kind, wonderful person. 

    So… what she did is… she told Ram that she wanted to host him and give him some fruits that she collected. Seeing the warmth in her eyes, Ram said that he would love to eat in her house. At the house, she had three plates of berries, one for Ram, one for Sita, and one for Laxman. They sat down and started eating. Ram was very happy because all the berries were sweet. The berries were the berr berries you know? This- those berries are either sweet- or sour, red or white but you can’t tell from outside. So he was eating the berries and all of them were sweet. 

But in the middle, he noticed there was a small bite taken from each of the berries. He asked the woman what these bites were so- and she said that she had taken a bite from each berry to make sure that it was sweet for him. Ram laughed and happily ate all the berries. 

Background

    This story is a small sub story from the ancient epic, The Ramayana, which is one of the ancient holy stories about Ram, the 7th avatar of Vishnu. There is a complex backstory for Ram involving being exiled from his own kingdom with his wife and his brother. The story is a classic hero’s journey tale in Hindu mythology and many sub stories have emerged in the folklore of the Indian people. 

Context
    My mother told me this story over the phone after I asked her about stories she would tell my brother and I as children. 

Thoughts

This was a story that my mother would often tell me when I would be grossed out by eating the same food that my brother or my father had eaten. I honestly don’t know if this story is included in the ancient story or if it is a story that my mother’s ancestors might have made up to get naughty children to eat food that has already been touched.

This story teaches us not only to respect everyone and appreciate their gestures, but also to be free and generous with our love and devotion to a good person.