Tag Archives: good luck

High Tide and a Full Moon

Nationality: American
Age: 70
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2000
Primary Language: English

My informant for this piece of folklore is my friend’s grandfather, who grew up in Arkansas and Missouri and spent much of his free time as a boy fishing.  As he and his siblings grew up, they carried this hobby with them and taught it to their children.

As the informant relayed the story, there is a lunar cycle that makes for excellent fishing.  When there are two full moons in a month, the second full moon, at high tide, brings catfish to the surface of the water.  This event must occur at night, when catfish are more abundant anyway, and this makes the catfish so easy to catch that one could barely get their bait in the water before a catfish was on the hook.  This event, which would occur about 2 times a year, and the night that was supposed to have the second full moon of the month became a tradition on which they would all go fishing together.  My informant mentioned that much of the reason for their excitement about this tale, especially as they all got older, was not so much the interest in the folklore, but as is so often with folklore, it became a reason for them to continue a tradition, which became the satisfying part of the experience.

My informant explained that he was told this story by his father, who had heard it from his father, and so on.  Certainly, it is scientific fact that the lunar gravitational pull affects the tides of Earth’s oceans.  My informant, along with his siblings, tested this theory many times.  He admits that as children, they were all skeptical about it but were willing to believe it based on the word of their father.  Sure enough, each time they tested it, they found an unusual abundance of catfish in the water, which always 5 or 6 feet higher than normal.  This was one of the things that made them enjoy fishing so much and each of the siblings relayed this piece of folklore to their own children, passing it along.

Whistle When Passing a Cemetery

Nationality: American
Age: 70s
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2002
Primary Language: English

My informant for this story is my friend’s grandfather.

He was a Methodist minister and used to preach at churches across North and South Carolina.  At each church, there was, of course, a cemetery.  He would tell his children, when they were young, to whistle every time they passed the cemetery.  He said that whistling while you passed a cemetery kept the devil away and prevented him from stealing your soul.  This was interesting to me from the first time I heard it, mainly because of the idea on which it centers–that the devil or an evil force resides within a cemetery.  I find this interesting because I have always seen cemeteries a little differently, as peaceful and solemn places in which our loved ones could find eternal peace, though I know many people see cemeteries as a little scary because of the simple fact that there are a number of dead bodies buried in them.

Interestingly enough, since he told me about this concept many years ago, I have heard other people tell similar stories, with slightly different variations.  For example, the most prominent variation suggests holding one’s breath while passing the cemetery rather than whistling.  This is the only difference in the story.  This is fascinating, in my opinion, as it suggests some credence to the superstition and its prevalence.  In other words, it is not simply a strange tale made up by one family or in one local town.  The variations of it suggest that there is some historical significance to it and that many different people have heard about it.

Vietnamese New Year Celebration

Nationality: Vietnamese American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/12/12
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

The informant is a 20 year old, Vietnamese American female. She is a junior at the University of Southern California, but was born in Boston, MA. Both her parents are Vietnamese and were born in Vietnam.

Over lunch, the informant told me about the Vietnamese New Year celebration that occurs at the time of the lunar New Year, the same as the Chinese New Year. The particular celebration that my informant is familiar with starts a week before the actual day of the New Year. This week is devoted to cleaning the entire house. Then, families make a tree with yellow leaves, a mai tree, and hang red envelopes from it, which contain money. When the New Year finally arrives, the envelopes are opened and the recipients get their money. Traditionally, married couples are the ones that give out the money, and little kids are the ones that receive it. Before a child gets his or her envelope however, he or she must say, “Happy New Year, may the New Year bless you” as a type of chant almost. The envelopes are red because it is the color of luck and is meant to promise a lucky year for the recipient.

While this is all my informant had to say about the celebration, I had a few more possible interpretations for elements of it. First of all, I’d never heard that cleaning the house was part of a New Year’s celebration. The informant mentioned that the Vietnamese traditions borrow a lot from Chinese traditions, so maybe the idea of cleaning a week before the celebration has to do with the fact that seven is a very important number in the Chinese belief system. After thinking about it some more, the only conclusion I could come to was that starting off the New Year with a clean house was to indicate a fresh start in life for the following year. Also, the importance of the mai tree in the celebration may similarly reference the idea of newness, or maybe even Spring, which will arrive shortly after the start of the New Year.

Korean Dream Superstition – Pigs

Nationality: Korean
Age: 51
Occupation: Nurse
Residence: Cerritos, California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

“A dream about a pig is a very good sign promising riches.”

 

My informant first heard about this superstition from her mother when she was about eight years old, living in Pusan, Korea.  Her mother told her that pigs were a welcoming sign because it would mean the household would flourish with wealth.  That is why dreams with pigs in it were always a delight in Korea.  Her mother was discussing that if she married a man with the Chinese sign of a pig, she would most likely live in riches.  My informant also told me that many people are carefully strategizing to become pregnant in the year 2007 because this is the year of the Golden Pig in the Chinese calendar.  The Golden Pig is unique to the ordinary pig sign because it only comes once in a thousand years.  People believe that if they are to bear a child in the year of the Golden Pig, that child will bring propitious results.

I am not surprised pigs are considered the signs of wealth in Korea because of the nature of the animal.  Pigs are stereotypically obese, food-grubbing, and filthily self-indulgent.  Having a dream about a pig reminds the dreamer about his or her self-indulgences or greed.  Since most people are in a great desire for more money, the pig’s self-indulgence for food would mean indulgence in money for people.  Pigs also provide very good meat, pork.  Therefore pigs can conjure the image of meatiness, sufficiency, and fullness.

Lucky Horseshoe

Nationality: German/Irish-American
Residence: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My informant described to me on of the good luck charms, (perhaps superstitious), that her sister used when she was younger. She would keep an actual horseshoe by her bed and hang it so that the horseshoe was like the letter U on the wall. It was hung this way to make sure that luck did not literally pour out. For whatever reason, my informant’s sister hung it up to keep the luck in, whereas in some cultures the horse shoe is hung upside down so that luck pours down on a person.

I asked my informant if she knew the history about the horseshoe, why it was used, and what region the horseshoe as a good luck charm originated. She was not certain, but she thought maybe it was from their Irish heritage.

Upon further research I found that horseshoe, made out of iron, was originally used to ward off faeries as part of Celtic tradition. Since then the tradition as been adopted as a good luck charm and the symbolism of the iron in the horseshoe is no longer an essential part to the good luck charm.

It should be noted that my informant told me her sister was superstitious and that she used multiple luck charms from multiple regions, though most of them were European. The informant’s mother even had an elephant pointed at the front door, which was said to bring good luck. I speculate that this might be an American adoption of multiple customs and luck charms.