Tag Archives: demons

Ancient Chinese Architecture Folk Belief

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20
Occupation: Waitress
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/18/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

So basically, in Chinese – in ancient Chinese architecture, the roofs are – each tile is curved – and the roof is built in a jagged way, so that it’s uneven. And the point of that is to keep the demons from sitting on your house, because if your roof is slanted or flat, the demon will be comfortable there.

My informant also told me that many roofs today are still built with curves and slants. Even people who are really impoverished and live in shanty houses, will build their roofs with several pieces of tin or wood to make sure that there is still a slant. My informant said that when her family moved into an apartment complex, her mother believed that the “place was fucked” (as my informant put it) and that misfortune would befall those who lived there because the roofs were all flat. Buddhists believed that curved roofs would ward off evil spirits believed to manifest as straight lines. So the ideas of traditional Chinese architecture have been passed down and people still hold deep beliefs concerning them.

more information can be found here: http://library.thinkquest.org/10098/china1.htm

Jehovah’s Witness Dungeons & Dragons Legend

Nationality: Latino
Age: 19
Occupation: student, officer worker in a shitty office
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/7/2012
Primary Language: English
Language: some Spanish

It’s supposed to be a warning tale. Basically the story is that back in the seventies, there were some kids that were Jehovah’s Witnesses that got really interested in Dungeons and Dragons and played it a lot. They got the idea that it would very cool if they could trap a demon themselves. So they decided they would glue a bunch of Watchtower magazines to this box and the walls or something – they were in a garage. And then they would do a summoning incantation to summon the demon…and they happened to summon a demon, but it wasn’t as easy as catching the demon in a box. And the boys were stuck in the garage for a long time, like quite a few hours, umm…but when their family finally got them out, one of the boys was dead and two of the other ones were like insane basically, and they were never okay after that.

I’m not sure how far outside of California this story goes, but there are different people I’ve talked to that have kind of said that story or some version of it that those people were alive in the seventies and stuff. And I got to hearing it because, you know, there are different card games and stuff that you grow up with that are usually kind fantasy based like, every generation seems to have them now. So when I got interested in certain card games, that was a kind of story my dad would tell me to get me to not play or throw it away or why he would throw it away. Funny thing, like, he liked Lord of the Rings a lot, but he kept it really hidden, really quiet cause he didn’t want other people in the church knowing, because it was satanic. It had magic in it and it had monsters and stuff like that.

 

It’s pretty clear by what my informant said, that this legend is meant to scare kids, and probably adults too, away from anything associated with the occult, magic, monsters, or anything deemed unnatural and dangerous by the congregation. My informant heard this legend from multiple people, particularly his father and stepmother as well as people who claimed to know the congregation where the legend occurred. The purpose of legends like this, with their essences of possibility and truth, is to keep people in line and keep them obedient. I’m skeptical of all organized religion, but particularly those that foster a culture and lore of fear to keep the followers “faithful.”

Belief – Indonesia

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 30, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin, Indonesian

So like there are these small little demons in Indonesia that run around and like steal things. They’re not really humans – I forgot their name – I think it’s like Tukul. But like they’re really small, like half the size of a human. And people like raise them with Black magic and they steal money and things from other people for them. Then the people pay them blood in return. A lot of people I know have seen them. So they’re real. I haven’t seen any though, no. They are really common in the kampongs – the villages. They have red eyes and they’re really scary. They look like naked toddlers but they’re not.

Elizabeth admits that she believes in Black magic, and she believes that it is very frightening. She repeated her fear many times and emphasized the scariness of Black magic. However, she feels that if a person does not tamper with the subject, the person should not be harmed. She said that she learned most of her knowledge of Black magic when she was very young from her maids that raised her in Indonesia. She grew up with these dark notions and horror stories. She specifically mentioned that they were Muslim, which is common for maids in Indonesia. Also, she is convinced that all of her maids could “see stuff,” meaning they felt the lingering of spirits and knew when Black magic was present. When asked if she feels that Muslims tend to believe more in Black magic, she responded that she believes Asian cultures generally tend to believe in this type of matter and actually practice it more than Western cultures. According to Elizabeth, Western cultures are more modern and have an attitude and mindset that “I can do something about it,” while Asian cultures tend to be more spiritual, religious, and submissive. This causes Asian cultures to be more susceptible to belief in these types of subjects.

The belief in these demons that was expressed by Elizabeth resides in the realm of witchcraft and magic. It is considered magic because the people actually engage in actions. It can also be considered folk belief because the existence of these creatures has not been scientifically proven. Despite how widely and strongly this belief resonates within Indonesian culture, it is still a belief nonetheless. Yet, this belief greatly affects the mindset and everyday lives of the people.