Tag Archives: luck

Don’t shake your leg

Nationality: Korean
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 30, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

“If you shake your leg when you’re sitting, you shake off all your good luck.”

 

My informant comes from a Korean family. She had no idea why she was taught this as a child, but recalled her mother being adamant about the dangers of shaking one’s leg (she demonstrated – the saying seems to apply to when one is sitting with one leg crossed over the other, jiggling the foot of the leg on top). There could be some sort of superstition involved in this belief; however, I think it’s likely that people simply wanted their children to stop fidgeting and made up a reason for them to refrain.

Break a leg

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 9, 2013
Primary Language: English

“You can never say ‘good luck,’ you have to say ‘break a leg.’”

 

My informant grew up in the theater. This is perhaps the most common superstition among stage performers. Although my informant wasn’t sure exactly where the tradition comes from, it is likely that performers don’t want to jinx their show by talking about luck or anticipating a good show. Instead, “break a leg” does just the opposite – it wishes harm on the performer so that the opposite will happen.

Summer Lei Luck Ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Laguna Beach
Performance Date: April 12 2013
Primary Language: English

Every summer, Braeden and his family go to the Hawaiian island of Kawaii. On the first Saturday that everyone in his family is together, they gather around the dinner table, and his grandma grabs a bunch of leis. Everyone at the table closes their eyes while the grandma walks around and places a lei on each person. One by one, each person guesses the color of their lei, either pink or white or yellow, and then opens his or her eyes to see if they guessed correctly. If you guess correctly, then you will have good luck for the rest of the time they are in Hawaii. That good luck can entail you being more likely to get the best wave of the day, being more likely to see a dolphin or whale or turtle, or even having a less chance of getting a mosquito bite. There is no consequence if someone at the table does not guess correctly, it just means that they won’t be extra lucky. Additionally, if by chance everyone at the table guesses correctly, then it means the whole family will have luck for the rest of the year. Unfortunately, Braeden says that everyone at the table all guessed correctly. On the other hand, if nobody at the table correctly guesses the color of his or her lei than the whole family will have bad luck for the rest of the year. Luckily, Braeden says that has also never happened.

Feng Shui

Nationality: American
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 25th, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

Informant Background: The informant was born in Los Angeles. His family is originally from Taiwan. He grew up with his parents and grandparents who still speak Chinese, he does too. Many of his relatives are in Los Angeles so they all still practice a lot of Taiwanese/Chinese traditions and celebrate all the Chinese holiday such as: Chinese New Year, Ancestry day, Chinese Ghost day, etc. He said his family still hold many Chinese folk-beliefs and superstitions. He also travels back once in a while to visit his other relatives who are still back in Taiwan.

 

Do not live at the end of a street because all the bad energy of that street will gather at your house and never leave. It is also ideal if you can live with the mountains behind your house, and a steam in front. The mountain represents your family wealth. The stream represents the flow of energy renewing and also cash flows into your house.

The informant said this is a rule many Taiwanese people follow as a rule of thumb when they move into a new house or looking for a temporary place to live. Feng-shui is a tradition in Chinese culture that deals with the flow of natural and spiritual energy in spaces. The end of the street not only collect all the energy and not leave, it also is perceive as a “dead-end” where there is no other direction to go. These natural and man-made representations mostly have to do with wealth, which then leads to the well-being of the family.

 

I observed from my own traveling experience that this belief of Feng-Shui is widely spread and practiced in many countries. Throughout the years I observed that many who originated from China is aware of the concept of Feng-Shui. It is often practice at an older generation. The younger generations then seek advice on the subject matter from the older generation, using it as a rule of thumb before moving to a new place of residence. It also has influences in large developments where the developer will orient his project according to the belief thinking that his project will succeed.

This shows the importance of belief regardless of the truth and practicality in the folk-belief. Believing that wealth will come to your household will create an evidently better outlook in life than believing that your house collects all the bad energy of your street. Similar to how some people “knock-on-wood” because it makes them feel better, living in a proper Feng-Shui oriented house give the household a positive feel that at least their place of living is “correct.”

There have been many books in different languages about principle of Feng Shui. Some written by Chinese Feng Shui Masters, some are translations from collection of principles learned from the masters themselves. There are books written by non-Chinese about the subject matter. An example of that would be Feng Shui Your Life by Jayme Barrett and Jonn Coolidge where they illustrate how the practice of Feng Shui through design can better a home in term of spirits and energies. The author explore similar rules as the informant of the folklore stated above and also some in details to even where in the room to place a plant or to put a coffee table.

Feng-Shui is a belief that affects different scale of things. As mentioned by the informant it can effect a family’s well being through placement and orientation of the house. From the book mentioned above, Feng Shui can have an effect to an individual through placement of small objects within the room. It also reflects how folklore is tangled with everyday life.

Having these rules published challenges the notion of folklore vs. authored literature, even though it is clearly stated in the book that the authors do not claim these rules and theirs. It also challenges the idea of originality and authenticity since these authors are not from China but have studied under Chinese Feng Shui Master.

Annotation:

Barrett, Jayme, and Jonn Coolidge. Feng Shui Your Life. New York: Sterling Pub., 2003. Print

When you flip the fish say “neighbor”

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 13th, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese

Informant Background: The informant is originally from Hong Kong. She now lives permanently in the United States but travels back once a year to visit her relatives in Hong Kong. She speaks both Cantonese and English. Her family practices many of the Chinese traditions, folk-beliefs, and superstitions. She celebrates many of the Chinese holidays through cooking of special “holiday food.”

 

A lot of Hong Kong people used to be fishermen back in the day. So you know when you eat a whole fish on a plate, you have the flip the fish when you finish one side to eat the other…So…when you flip you are supposed to say “neighbor” or “other boat” because the fish is like your own boat and it is bad luck if you flip it you know ‘cause it’s like you’re flipping your own boat. That is why you put the curse on someone else’s boat so your boat is safe and the bad luck will go to other people.

This was taught to the individual by her mother as a common table-side manner. According to the informant, this is still a common table side manner among many fisherman and people who operate at sea. She said it still practiced in her family as well.

 

I think this practice or folk belief is similar to how people “knock on wood” to feel better about what they said even though it will not create change. It shows the effect on belief as an idea where it does not have to be proven but it is done so the individual can “feel better.”

This folk belief is also similar to the idea of homeopathic magic where “like” creates “like.” Similar to how whistling while you are at sea is bad because it will create strong wind; in this case the magic is in the action of flipping the fish where it would be similar to a boat flipping at sea.

This superstition reflects how folklore can be geographically and culturally tied to its context. In this case the tie is occupation. This belief would exist in different form if the people in Hong Kong used to be farmer or miner. It also shows how belief is contextual. If one is not eating near the ocean or on a boat, the fear would be much less in comparison to eating and flipping the fish on a boat in the middle of the ocean.