Tag Archives: love

Karwa Chauth

AGE: 21

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 4/19/25

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: Canadian 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: Westlake Village 

Text

Interviewer: Are there any distinct festivals or rituals you grew up around or attending when you were growing up? Are there any now?

SA: “Another ritual I witnessed growing up is Karwa Chauth, a day when women fast from sunrise to moonrise for their partner’s health and longevity.”

Context

[SA provides more context on what happens during Karwa Chauth]

“…the fast is broken by sighting the moon, pouring water from a traditional bronze cup, and doing a symbolic prayer ceremony that includes the elements–something that’s very common in Hinduism. Some husbands fast with their wives, and some women wake up before sunrise to have a small meal.”

Interpretation

As SA also said in her interview, this ritual is such a beautiful representation of devotion and love. It makes me wonder if this would also be a part of a wedding ritual or if this is strictly for married women? Upon some light basic research, this ritual came about also from a folktale about two lovers. I think it’s beautiful how in every culture or every community, there is always a folktale surrounded around lovers. There has always been this obsession and interest in the idea of love since the dawn of time! There also shows significance of the moon and the sun in this ritual as well, another huge aspect of Hinduism and of Asian cultures as a whole. Additionally, Hinduism revolves around the solar/lunar calendar.

Popocatépetl’s Smoke

Nationality: American/Mexican
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: West Covina, CA
Language: English/Spanish

TEXT: “When I was little, my Abuelita would point out the volcanoes in the city where she grew up, Puebla City, Mexico. She would tell me the story of two volcanoes, Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl, the warrior and his sleeping princess.” She told me how the legend went, as they were once in love, but Iztaccíhuatl died before they could be together. In an attempt to honor her, Popocatépetl carried her to the mountains, and the gods turned them into volcanoes so they would be together forever. My abuelita believed that when Popocatépetl started smoking, it was him showing his love for the other mountain. The last time I was in Puebla, about 2 years ago, I looked up and the volcano was smoking.”

CONTEXT: This story is rooted in the traditional Mexican legend of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl, which is widely known in central Mexico, especially in and around Puebla. The legend has been passed down for generations and reflects indigenous beliefs about love, death, and the natural world. In the story, two volcanoes are said to be the transformed bodies of a warrior and a princess, symbolizing eternal love and loss. The narrator shares a personal memory of their abuelita recounting this tale during visits to Puebla City, tying folklore to family, place, and lived experience.

ANALYSIS: The narrative blends cultural tradition with personal memory, making the retelling more intimate and emotionally resonant. The grandmother serves as a cultural transmitter, passing on not just the legend but her interpretation—that the volcano’s smoke is an expression of love. This belief turns a natural phenomenon into a meaningful sign, demonstrating how folklore often helps people connect emotion and environment. The narrator’s final observation—seeing the volcano smoking years later—reaffirms the legend’s emotional power, suggesting that even in the face of loss, love can still be seen, felt, and remembered through nature.

Kaguya – Legend

Nationality: Korean
Age: 20
Occupation: Film & TV Production Major Student at the University of Southern California
Residence: Orion Housing at the University of Southern California
Language: English

Text:

The popular tale of The Bamboo Cutter features an old man who finds a bamboo stalk with a girl inside the stalk. The girl grows to become one of the most beautiful people in the entire empire, catching even the attention of the emperor. To win her over, she makes her suitors do insane tasks. She eventually reveals that she is extraordinarily beautiful because she is from the moon. After falling in love with the emperor, she realizes she must go back to the moon, and offers the emperor immortality so that he may not forget her. However, the idea of being tortured by an eternity where he lives forever knowing he can never be his lover is too much for the emperor to handle and he burns the immortality token she grants him.
Context:

The performer witnessed this lore in Japanese culture originally before looking into its origins within Korean folktales as many “Kaguya” characters in Japanese media are beautiful women who seem out of the male lead’s league. One of the mediums he watched with involved this type of trope was the movie Princess Kaguya. He felt that while the Kaguya trope has many supernatural elements, the idea of being “banished” somewhere such as the moon, the feeling related to the universal duty one sometimes feels toward their “point of origin” (family).

Analysis:

A common theme within East Asian cultures is the idea of family and societal duty. The moon is representative of “home” or family in which Kaguya must return to and sacrifice her hopes of love for in order to serve a power larger to herself.
Additionally, Korean Buddhist ideas of balance, harmony, and impermanence are represented through this tale as at first, Kaguya resists her role of being a “submissive” beautiful object in society. However she can only resist for so long before nature runs its course and that beauty is taken away and sent back to the moon. While bittersweet, this story serves as a tale to remind Koreans to keep their realities in check. Sometimes it’s okay to dream big and long for more, but at the end of the day, family and loyalty to your origin should be at the forefront of one’s values.

Marine Jody

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: College Student
Language: English

Text: 

(Each line repeated once by leader and once by platoon)

Around her head, she wore a yellow ribbon

She wore it in the springtime, the merry month of may

And if you asked her why the hell she wore it

She wore it for that young Marine so far, far away. 

Far away

Far away

She wore it for that young Marine so far, far away

Around the block, she pushed a baby carriage

She pushed it for that young Marine so far, far away.

And if you asked her why the heck she pushed it 

She pushed it for that young Marine so far, far away.

Far away

Far away

She pushed it for that young Marine so far, far away

(3rd verse non PG- song ends after this verse)

Behind the door, her daddy kept a shotgun

He kept it in the springtime, in the merry month of May

And if you asked him why the hell he kept it

He kept it just to blow that young Marine’s ass away

Far away

Far away

He kept it just to blow that young Marine’s ass away

(3rd verse PG- song continues to verse 4)

Behind the door, her daddy kept a shotgun

He kept it in the springtime, in the merry month of May

And if you asked him why the hell he kept it

He kept it for that young Marine so far, far away

Far away

Far away

He kept it for that young Marine so far, far away

(4th verse, slowing)

Around his grave, she laid the pretty flowers

She laid them in the springtime in the merry month of May

And if you ask her why the hell she laid them

She laid them for that young Marine so far, far away

Far away

Far away

She laid them for that young Marine so far, far away

Context:

“This is my favorite jody that I learned in high school in JROTC. It’s passed down by a Prior, which is a Cadet who has been in the program at least for a year, so she was like a year older than me, I was a freshmen and she was a sophomore. And it was her favorite jody and it’s, according to her, originally a Marine jody. Jodies are- I guess I should explain what Jodies are. Jodies are songs you sing while marching, kind of sing, they’re kind of sing songy, but they’re yelling and they’re call and response. So you yell a line and the platoon repeats a line and it’s while marching. A lot of them are story centered, so I want to share one that’s story centered. I love this jody because it’s sad, it tells a story.

“I said young Marine, but when we would say it around our senior Chief, we would have to say Sailor because we weren’t allowed to sing Marines jodies because we were in the Navy unit. And each of the lines is repeated back, I just did it straight through”

“And then the third stanza, there’s two versions. Also, I said hell, but we said heck when instructors were around. And the third one, there’s two endings, one is non PG and one is PG. 

Analysis:

The jody itself is a chant, meant to (in the case of this informant) draw people together within their platoon. Especially as the informant mentions how she was taught this by a classmate in the grade above her, one can see this folk song as a form of mentorship. Learned from the mouth of a more senior individual, the jody is passed between them and gives a sense of identity within the group. The informant even mentions how important the specific branch is. She wasn’t allowed to sing this as a Marine jody normally because they were the Navy unit and therefore could only sing Navy songs. Specificity is important to the practice of this jody even though the rest of the lyrics are unchanged by a change in branch or between platoons. 

Additionally, we can see the influence of some of Olrick’s epic laws within the narrative. Repetition of the chorus and of structures make the stanzas easier to learn, and the chorus itself has three lines. Most ‘scenes’ are between the woman and the soldier, with one between the soldier and the woman’s father. All detail how two characters relate to each other, keeping the story straightforward and in line with the expectations of tales and folk songs. 

The Legend of Popocatepetl & Iztaccíhuatl

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 75
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: Spanish

Text: 

“My grandmother told me this legend about the two highest volcanoes in the hemisphere in Mexico City: Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. When the Aztec Empire dominated the valley of Mexico, it was common knowledge that neighboring towns had to be subject to a mandatory tax. The chief of the Tlaxacaltecas, who were the enemies of the Aztecs, decided to fight for his people’s freedom. The chief’s daughter, named Izataccihuatl, fell in love with Popocaetepetl, who was a warrior. Right before the war, Popocatepetl asked the chief for the hand of the princess. The father agreed and told him once he got back from war, they would have a wonderful wedding. But a woman who was in love with Popocatepetl told the princess that he had died in combat. The princess then died of sadness. Popocatepetl came back and found out that she died. Devastated, he ordered a tomb to be built under the sun, creating a huge mountain. He took the princess and laid her on the mountain. He kissed her lips and died with her. From then on, they remained together, facing each other. Over time, snow covered their bodies, creating two volcanoes.”

Context: 

My informant is from Mexico City, and her grandmother used to tell her this love story about the two volcanoes that they could see from their home.

Analysis: 

The story is a legend that explains the origin of two of Mexico’s most famous natural landmarks: the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. It’s a legend that explains how something of the natural world came to be. It is also a tragic love story that shows how miscommunication and longing lead to death. The mountains facing each other are a symbol of the symbolic permanence of love and grief.