Tag Archives: luck

Bayberry Candle

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Residence: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My Mother said that growing up, her mother would always burn a bayberry candle on Christmas Eve for good luck and that they would also burn it on New Years Day for good luck. It would burn the entire day until it the wax ran out.

According to my mother, this tradition comes from England, and then was continued as a New England tradition during colonial times. My mother told me that her mother’s side was English, and had the last name of Trasp, which is where the tradition of burning the candle came from in her family. She was not sure why it was a bayberry candle was burned, however.

My mother said that it wasn’t a tradition to make the candle, they usually just bought it. But the candle comes from the wax scraped off the berries of the bayberry shrub, and the bayberry plant is found in both Europe and North America.

This is interesting because in earlier colonial times the bayberry wax would be collected, perhaps because the animal fat used to make candles was scarce. Now the candles are made from other materials, with the bayberry scent, and burned for the sake of tradition.

The interesting thing that I found was that there were many traditional things that my mother did for good luck that came from different regions, and the bayberry candle was just one of them. There were multiple traditions around the holidays and my mother said they did them all, from burning a bayberry candle to a traditional German New Year’s dinner.

Irish Shoe Superstition

Nationality: Irish-American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My informant is of Irish decent, and he told me of an old superstition he learned about shoes in the home. Apparently,  the Irish believe that it is bad luck to put one’s shoes on a table in the house. He has no idea as to the reason for such a superstition, all he knows is that in his house whether you believe it or not you’re afraid to find out if it is true.

The reason for this superstition may be unknown, but there is another version that I have come across on the internet. The other version says that it is bad luck to put one’s shoes on the bed, and the reasoning behind it is that it would bring a death in one’s family.

Irish Purse Superstition

Nationality: Irish-American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

My informant’s Irish ancestry has a belief about women’s purses. It is seen as bad luck for a woman to leave her purse on the ground, even for a second. Many believe that setting one’s purse on the ground will cause all the money in that purse to “run away”, leaving the owner with nothing. According to my informant, taking care of one’s money is very important to the Irish people, and to set it down, leaving it out of one’s attention and control, is seen as practically throwing money away for the very reason that without a hold on one’s purse, it could easily get lost, or worse be stolen by someone taking advantage of one’s neglectfulness. It seems like putting one’s purse down is about as much bad luck as being ignorant is.

No-hitters

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student,
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2007

My informant talked about pitchers and their no-hitters. A no-hitter is the instance when a pitcher throws a complete game without letting one opposing hitter get on base by getting a hit. Most players will recognize if a pitcher has a no hitter going at around the middle of the game, about the sixth or seventh inning. According to my informant, it is bad luck, or a jinx on the pitcher to talk in the dugout about the pitcher’s prospective no-hitter. For example, for someone to look up at the scoreboard and notice the chance of a no-hitter and say something to someone like, “Hey, look at that he’s got a no-hitter going. You think he’ll do it?”, is believed that almost always the no-hitter will end right at that point. In fact, at the first sound of any no-hitter talk in the dugout, you can be sure that someone is going to strike it down very quickly.

Tradition – American

Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Laguna Hills, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

Every Christmas season, Joshua’s family decorates a Christmas tree with ornaments.  On Christmas Eve, his mother hides a pickle ornament somewhere on the tree.  Then, on Christmas morning, Joshua and his sister look for the pickle in the tree.  The first person to find it receives a special gift, which is usually money, and supposedly a year of good luck.

Joshua says his family has been partaking in this tradition for as long as he can remember.  He says that as children, he and his sister would get very into it and would wrestle to try to get to the pickle first.  Ever since they each entered high school, the race has been less heated, with the two of them having a much more laid back attitude.

Joshua says he does not know the true meaning of this tradition, but knows that his mother did the same thing while she was a child.  While he originally thought it came from Germany, he informed me that he read an article which stated that its origins are unknown, and this tradition is widely unknown in Germany.

My informant says this tradition is very important to him.  Although it does not have a greater meaning behind it that he knows of, he says it is important to him because it helps give his family an identity with which they can pass on traditions to their ancestors.

Through research I conducted after the interview, I found out that in fact the origins are truly unknown for this tradition.  Many in the past believed it came from Germany, but few people in Germany know about this tradition.  I think it is important for families to have their own traditions they can pass down to their ancestors as it helps keep the family more together during the holiday season.

I found this tradition at:

http://www.sabineworld.com/12062002.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_ornament