Tag Archives: demons

A Demonic Presence

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Construction Science Student
Residence: College Station, Texas
Language: English

Informant: “One time, I experienced something I think was supernatural. I was over at my girlfriend’s ranch, and I had a really bad dream. In my dream, it felt like there was some kind of evil or demonic presence. I was able to cast it away and thought nothing of it until my girlfriend mentioned she had a similar dream that morning. I forgot about the dream, and later, I stayed at that ranch again, and I didn’t even remember the prior time. Anywho, my girlfriend and I were hanging out, but for some reason, she commented that she thinks something is in here with us. Weirdly, I was thinking the exact same thing. It was the same room I had that dream in. Man, I never get scared of anything, but that night, I was scared. My skin was crawling. We talked about it for a while, and eventually, the feeling faded.”

Me: “Do you think there was really some kind of evil presence that day?”

Informant: “Maybe. It’s hard to say. The dream felt so real, and what are the chances that my girlfriend had the same one? If I had to guess, I’d say it was a demon. I know you don’t see it the same way, but that stuff is out there. All I know is God protected me that day.”

Context: The informant is a devout Christian, and he recounted to me a time he believes he felt a supernatural presence. Both memorates happened at the same ranch house, and he thinks the supernatural entity in question may somehow be connected to that house, but that God has protected himself and his girlfriend’s family because they all believe in God.

Analysis: Having grown up in the same culture, I can say that many Christians have been taught to look out for the devil. I find it very likely that the informant’s religion caused him to read into a weird, potentially supernatural event as a demonic presence or evil. We went to the same school, and had teachers who told similar stories of encountering a demonic presence. What stood out to me about this particular story, though, was that my friend believes he, in some way, cast the demon away, at least the first time. I think this speaks to a deeper belief he holds that he is, at his core, a follower of God and that God is with him always. Whatever really happened on those two nights, supernatural or not, this belief allowed him to make sense of the situation and move forward without fear. I believe this memorate offers an amazing look into how my friend sees the world and the values that are important to him. It’s not important for him to frame the negative presence as demonic, or even as strictly real, but he made sure that I knew that his belief in God was what got him out of it.

Momotaro

AGE: 20   

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 04/07/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: American 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: Cerritos, CA  

Interviewer: Are there any distinct folktales or myths that you grew up hearing about?

NB: “Tooth fairy…[continues to think]…Oh! Momotaro.”

Interviewer: Who is that? Could you tell me that story?

NB: “The little peach boy. I think it’s something like there were old grandparents who always wanted a kid but couldn’t have one. But one day they were blessed with a peach that came down the river stream who ended up being a baby boy so they ended up raising him.”

Interviewer: When did you hear this story?

NB: “I think when I was 6 or 7 years old.”

Interviewer: What do you think the tale is about? Any life lessons or moral stories you think it’s trying to accomplish?

NB: “Mmmm I’m not really sure. [thinks about it for a little] I think it’s about life blessings maybe?”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

Again, this was yet another tale that I had never heard of, so I went online to do some light digging. This tale is about a hero named (quite literally, this is the translation) Peach Boy. This hero can be found in many Japanese tales, movies, books, etc., you name it. According to my basic online sources, he was the local hero of the Okayama Prefecture. In the version of the tale I found online, he was born from a giant peach found floating down a river by an old, childless woman. As he grew older, he became significantly stronger and eventually left his parents behind to fight demons alongside his friends a talking dog, monkey, and pheasant. In the version of the tale NB told me, there was no mention of his fighting demons, simply just that he was a blessing from the gods in the form of a peach. This tale creates many questions for me, such as: why was he born from a peach? What is the significance of the peach? Why did he go off to fight demons? It also just reminds me of more Asian folktales I have heard of that have really interesting or weird characters (often involving fruit or talking animals of some kind, actually) and that the moral of the story isn’t really quite evident. Sometimes stories are just told for entertainment purposes. Does that still count as a part of folklore if it doesn’t have any deeper meaning behind it?

Greek Mountain Village Tale

Text: In the remote mountain villages of Greece, connected by deserted roads, there’s a tradition: when faced with the unfamiliar, one should make the sign of the cross. A young woman was traversing these paths alone, a rarity as custom dictates that she should be accompanied by a male relative. Along her journey between two villages, she stumbled upon an infant. Initially, she felt no need for the protective ritual because it was only just a child. However, instinct prevailed, and she made the sign of the cross just before touching the baby. To her astonishment, the infant spoke in a chilling tone, revealing itself as a demon. It confessed that had she not performed the sign, it would have taken her to hell.

Context: When he was 12 years old, the informant  heard a story during a coffee hour following a Greek Orthodox church service. An elderly Greek woman, who had grown up in a small village but now lived in the Bronx, shared the tale, alternating between Greek and English. His mother helped translate parts of it for him. He noted that he hates the story and thinks it is “hickish” and backwards. He thinks that it’s very uneducated and the type of thing you would hear in a small town. As a Christian he doesn’t like that type of superstition/ fear element being connected to his faith.

Analysis: This story reflects the deep rooted christian beliefs held by those communities and their diaspora here. Greece has one of the highest rates of Orthodox Christianity in the world and when isolated in small mountain villages, stories like that definitely will arise. I think it reflects the dangerous conditions of the time, the informant specifically made sure to point out that the woman shouldn’t have been traveling alone because it was too unsafe but she was anyway. At the time in these tiny villages The churches were the sources of protection and knowledge for the people living there, and this story reflects that they listen to the Church’s authority. 

Ouija Boards in Portland and Palm Springs

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: SInger/Songwriter, Receptionist, Student
Residence: Portland, Oregon
Performance Date: 4/23/22
Primary Language: English

J. has always had a fascination with the supernatural. From her strong belief in fairies, forest and water spirits, and ghosts growing up, she held onto her belief in the paranormal well into her teenage years.

“The summer after ninth grade, I was gifted a ouija board from one of my mom’s friends. I had always loved horror movies and anything that had to do with ghosts or spirits–people on ‘the other side.’ That summer, I went to Palm Springs for a family trip. That was the first time I used the ouija board. Me and my friend who had come with us sat down to try it out one night, and we contacted a spirit named Dino. He said he was an older man, around his 50’s–he was a nice spirit. He told us that him and his brother had grown up near the area we were staying, and that he remained in that area because he was waiting for his brother to return.”

That wasn’t the only time that J. used that Ouija board. J. was my best friend in high school, and after she came back from that trip and we started sophomore year together, the Ouija board was the main event of every sleepover, birthday party, and even casual after school hang out sessions. The first time we pulled it out in Portland, Dino visited again. He had followed J. home from Palm Springs, saying she was the first person he had been able to connect with from across the grave.

Not all the spirits we encountered were nice like Dino, though.

“I remember we were both here the night of my 16th birthday party. Remember? That’s when all the really crazy stuff happened and we decided to stop using the ouija board.”

I do remember that night. This is how J. gave a run down of the events:

“All of the girls had come over to celebrate my birthday and we couldn’t wait to pull out the ouija board. We were sitting in my living room downstairs, all gathered in a circle on the floor. You were sitting out because you always refused to touch the board–so lame.” She laughs. “Anyways, we started playing and the first spirit we contacted was a 10 year old girl named Rose. You were freaked out because that was your middle name and something only people in your family called you. It started to get scary because she told us that she was outside the door and needed us to let her in. All of us got super scared and I think it was Avery who got up and ran to lock it. After that, she told us she had a message but all of us had to power off our phones so that we couldn’t share her message. Then, she told us that one of our friends from school was in danger–that he was going to be in a car crash that night. All of a sudden, we all panicked, saying we needed to use out phones to call and check on him. She let you, actually, turn on your phone and text [L] to ask if he was with that friend and to make sure he was okay.”

“After that, she started counting down from 10, which we all learned is really dangerous and you’re not supposed to let them reach zero or they could enter the house or even one of our bodies and like, possess us. We had to quickly say goodbye–that’s really important, too. If you leave a spirit without saying goodbye they get really mad and some bad things can happen.”

After the first attempt at the ouija board that night, and our crazy experience with Rose, J. wanted to try again, but this time in her spooky attic. All of her late great grandmother’s old clothes, furniture, and paintings were up, and she thought it would heighten our connection to something across the grave. When we went up there, we came into contact with Dino again, but he soon revealed that he was actually an evil spirit named Zozo. We had heard about Zozo before, and he was supposedly more evil than the devil himself. Long story short, he threatened to break our friend E.’s fingers if I didn’t join in and put my hands on the planchette. After refusing, he wouldn’t let us say goodbye, and we all got really scared before eventually forcing him to leave.

“That was the last night we ever did Ouija. I still carry the board in my car, but all of us are too freaked out to try again.”

For more information about the infamous, malevolent spirit, Zozo, see here: https://www.bustle.com/life/what-is-zozo-read-this-before-you-ever-touch-a-ouija-board-again-12197819

Ouija boards can be seen as a kind of contagious folk belief, because one has to come into contact with the board and the planchette to be able to contact spirits.

Oga no Namahage Festival

–Informant Info–

Nationality: Japanese

Age: 19

Occupation: Student

Residence: Los Angeles, California

Date of Performance/Collection: 2022

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): Japanese

(Notes-The informant will be referred to as NN, the interviewer as K, and the mother as M)

Background info: NN is a 17-year-old student at a High school in Los Angeles, California. They moved here from Japan when they were 13 and remembered participating in this festival. I was told this story at their home over tea, with their mother occasionally interjecting to add detail. She will be referred to as M.

K: Ok, so uh, what’s the name of the festival, how do you know about it, and what’s the context of the performance? Like under what circumstances is it uh performed?

NN: The festival is titled Oga No Namahage, and it is a new years festival. I know about it because I grew up in the region where it was performed.

K: And what region is that?

NN: Oga city, in Akita prefecture. But it’s performed nearly uhm everywhere in Akita Prefecture.

K: Cool! So you said you just wanted to talk about one aspect, correct?

NN: Yes, the namahage visit.

K: Ok, whenever you’re ready

NN: Thank you! Its very simple. Young men, normally around your age (20) dress up as namahage, which are like…

M: Ogres or demons

NN: Yes! Those. They have…big red faces and dress up in these straw uhm…costumes that are cool because if you move slowly, then you are silent, but once they want to scare someone, they make so much noise! *Raises arm and makes whooshing sounds to emphasize how loud they are*

K: So its a scary thing?

NN: Oh yes. They dress up as namahage and sneak up on lazy children, ones who are sleeping or not paying attention at the fire and scare them so bad *laughter*. They will get you every year, they are that good at sneaking

Interpretation:
I really loved hearing about this festival! It’s a relatively small festival and doesn’t have a whole lot of tourism surrounding it, so it stayed pretty faithful to how it’s always been done, down to stories around large fire pits. NN has also mentioned to me later on that at least at her town’s festival, technology wasn’t allowed because it spoiled the fun. I think it’s interesting how deeply ingrained Japanese folklore is with their culture, like with the namahage. This is a scary event, but also fun, so it reinforces the idea that namahage, which can seem almost comical looking from an older point of view, is scary and is meant to be feared. It allows Japanese folklore to exist in a more pure form.