According to Lebanese folklore, my informant said, bad dreams should be interpreted as signs of good fortune. (This would be reassuring to me, as I have had my share of them!). The superstition says that once a scenario is played out in a dream, it will not be repeated in reality. Thus, it is also reflexive: a pleasant dream should not be received as a sign of good fortune to come.
My informant was not aware of the origin of this sign-superstition. He learned it from his family, none of whom he says actually believe it. I would most likely postulate monogenesis as a model for the origin of this superstition, as it is unique and counterintuitive.
This is indeed a unique perspective on dreams, one I have never encountered before hearing the superstition from my informant. As with many superstitions, odds are that there is some element of belief somewhere back in my informant’s family. Otherwise, it would be unlikely that the superstition would have been passed down and remembered by succeeding generations.
Tag Archives: magic
Korean Superstition – The Ill at Funerals
“The physically ill in Korea do not attend funerals in fear that death will find them.”
My informant first heard about this superstition when about a decade ago, she was puzzled by her mother-in-law’s unwillingness to attend her (as in the mother-in-law’s) brother’s funeral. When Gwi questioned her opposition to attending, her mother-in-law who is from the rural city of Daegu in Korea, explained that she was already ill. Spirits at the funeral could sense an ill person’s presence and would follow her home. She was afraid of the spirits following her after the funeral to take her with them, so she avoided going. This kind of superstition is wide spread among the country folks in Korea. They would never attend a funeral no matter how beloved the deceased was to them if they are ill because they believed the spirits would mark them as the next to die.
If I were battling a fatal disease, I would feel too vulnerable to go to such a gloomy and morbid ceremony. Not necessarily that I believe spirits would follow me home, but I would be afraid to watch a funeral because death would just seem so real and closer to me. However, I would still find the courage to attend a beloved’s funeral because perhaps I may find consolation in that death does not have to be so scary and remote as many people make it out to be.
Korean Crow Superstition
If a crow cries in front of your house, death is near.
My informant first heard this when he eleven years old, living in the rural city of Daegu, Korea. He had woken up early in the morning not to the rooster’s crow but to the cawing of a crow. His father also awoke to chase the bird away. His father cautioned him to be careful for the rest of the week because crows usually caw in front of a household that has death in its near future. The cawing of these birds struck such fear in families.
The crow is not a welcome omen in the American culture, either. I would think so because the crow is a fowl that is completely black. Usually black is a sign of something ominous, evil, and more specifically death – hence, people wear black to funerals. In Korea the term for crow has the meaning “blacky.” I remember pulling into our driveway with my mother, and she was disconcerted to see a crow resting on our porch. She chased it away as he described his father had done. The black ominous figure casts a shadow over people who believe the crow brings news of death.
USC “Fight On” Gesture
Sports fans at the University of Southern California take their traditions very seriously, even right down to the Homecoming Game tailgate on campus. There are certain things that the football fans of the Trojans, (USC’s team name), do before, during, and after the home games.
USC has become a very big partying school in the sense that the day of home games are the only time that you can have open containers of alcohol on campus. It has become such a tradition to party before the game that the school has recognized this and allows tailgating on campus.
My informant told me about the rituals involved in attending the games. First, everyone walks over to Exposition Park, which is near the Coliseum where the team plays. On the way there, everyone kicks one of the light posts that are on the very edge of campus before crossing Exposition Blvd. As a matter of fact, my informant told me that if someone does not do this, other fans to kick the light posts sometimes turn them back. This is just a superstition to ensure that the team wins. My informant did not know when this tradition was started, just that it has become so widespread that all students, fans, and alumni perform the ritual.
Another tradition is to make the fight on sign with your right hand. It looks like you’re giving a peace sign, but it is actually a symbol of the team’s slogan, “Fight On,” and is often shaken to the beat of the fight song that the band always plays at the games.
When the game is over, everyone walks back across Exposition Blvd. and once again kicks the light posts for good luck for the next game or the next season.
Traditional dress is the school colors, Cardinal and Gold, and sometimes traditional food is labeled as ‘death dogs,’ the hot dogs that local vendors sell right before and after the game all along Exposition Park.
Luck Charms in Lacrosse
My informant plays soccer and lacrosse at Allegheny College. I asked her if she knew of any of good luck charms or if there were any superstitions involved with her teammates. She humorously told me that the most popular good luck charm with her teammates on both soccer and lacrosse is to have a pair of lucky underwear that they wear for games. Also, they usually follow a routine before every game, even down to what they eat.
The most interesting routine is with Lacrosse goalies. My informant explained that, because they there is not much movement involved with their position, every move counts, so they take their routines and good luck charms very seriously. My informant had a friend that one day had two hot dogs before a game that she had played particularly well. She kept this routine up for a straight seven games, (until the team lost), just in case it might affect her game and give the team good luck.
My informant said that goalies in sports are particularly superstitious, though she thought it was more because she felt they were slightly crazy, because there are things in the game that cause the team to lose and have nothing to do with the goalie.
I found that players are more particular about clothing that they wear during the game, like ‘lucky underwear’ or as my informant told me, their spikes, or athletic gear that they wear or use. This is centered around the movement of the game, which to them is what affects their performance.
When I asked my informant if she had noticed any similarities from high school to college sports she said lucky charms in the form of sportswear were common, but that she really felt that lucky routines were more centered around the coaching staff and atmosphere surrounding the team.