My grandmother explained to me that when you get a bee sting, to soothe the area and to stop the itching and swelling, you must put mud on it. She learned this from her mother who used to put this on the children whenever they had itchy areas and bee stings. It is also supposed to draw the stinger out .
A common household fix for back pain.
When my mother was little my grandmother and the same for my father, would take a regular drinking glass, heat it with a match, then slam it down on the part of the back that was in pain. This was said to suck the pain out of the area for immediate relief. This is something I had never heard of until discussing folklore with both of my parents in which they both agreed that this is what their mothers would do because someone somewhere had told them it would work and take away back pain. I’m sure this method could be used other places than just the back but this is where it was usually used.
Press a wet newspaper against the center of your forehead.
Who ever consults a medical textbook when they get a case of the hiccups? There must be more methods of curing the hiccups (or at least attempting such) than for any other frustration that ails the human body, and it seems everyone has heard and tried at least one of these folk remedies. I have heard of many supposed hiccup cures myself: scare the person with the hiccups, gulp down water rhythmically (seven times in one particular variant), rub your earlobe with your fingers (this one has actually produced results on me – perhaps there is some real nerve connection there or perhaps it is the placebo effect), drink sugar water, hold your breath.
Recently, my roommate (Lebanese) and I, along with a friend of his from Saudi Arabia (my informant), were driving to buy food, and my roommate began hiccuping quite forcefully. Predictably, everyone began reciting the hiccup-cure ideas they had learned growing up. Since my roommate was driving, he unfortunately had to suffer the hiccups (and did for quite some time) until they passed. I asked the informant how he would cure the hiccups back where he used to live in Arabia, and his method was the most unusual I had ever heard. He said his mother used to soak a newspaper and press it against his forehead. The informant did not know why this worked, but claimed it did. Perhaps the cold, wet sensation triggers a reset button in the nerves and stops the spasms, or again, perhaps it is just the placebo effect – and it is doubtful that any medical guide would ever confirm this for us or would address the effectiveness of these traditional remedies.
My paternal grandmother, who is of Italian heritage and a second-generation American, described a folk remedy against headaches that was practiced before her day. She said “When a person had a headache, a friend would obtain a basin of water and sprinkle a few drops of olive oil on it, make the sign of the cross and recite a prayer. That was to chase the evil spirits away.” This was also used to make a person stop gossiping. Obviously, this would have been practiced before her family emigrated and assimilated into American culture. It is closely tied to the Catholic church and Catholicism’s deep roots in the nation of Italy. My informant, while still a devout Catholic (as is most of her extended family), did refer to this practice as a superstition, and is far more likely to resort to Tylenol or Advil to relieve a headache than to attempt to cure it through any spiritual means.
The tradition itself seems to reflect elements of both Catholicism (sign of the cross, prayer) and more obscure or pagan religions (chasing away evil spirits), though perhaps my informant uses “evil spirits” synonymously with “demons.” My informant’s description also seems somewhat vague and incomplete, as though it has been transformed through much telling and retelling over time. My conjecture is that the tradition originated many centuries ago, well before the advent of modern medicine, out of the idea that demons or evil spirits are responsible for physical distress. Certainly “magic superstitions,” under which classification this ritual falls, for curing ailments have existed well before even the Roman Catholic Church, and this one was likely Catholicized like many other pagan beliefs, superstitions, and even holidays. As today’s society (at least in America) tends to favor scientific progress as the solution to medical problems (and a host of other problems), beliefs imported from worldwide have tended to fade out in this forward-looking culture.
“Too much masturbation can result in blindness.”
My informant first heard this urban legend in his middle school in Downey, CA in seventh grade. He was in the locker rooms with some of his friends changing after their Physical Education period. The guys were horsing playing and talking candidly about private issues. After bouts of laughter and socking each other in the arms, some of them settled down on the bench waiting for the rest of their friends to finish changing. One of his friends started talking about pornography and how he started downloading them. Then David asked if any of them had started masturbating. His friend replied that he did but with caution because he heard from his older brother who was in high school that too much masturbation can lead to blindness.
I do not believe this to have any anatomically scientific basis to it – hence, it is an urban legend. I think David’s friend’s older brother was playing a prank on his younger brother. I have heard another variation that masturbating too much results in hair growing on your hand. I believe people have told this urban legend in the past because initially it was taboo for people to engage in what some people, especially religious people, thought to be immoral habits. However, nowadays people are a lot more accepting of this behavior calling it natural.