Tag Archives: Mexican culture

Mexican Egg Ritual

Age: 19
Hometown: Rifle, Colorado
Location: Mexico

Context:
My friend told me about this ritual while we were talking about nightmares and bad luck. He is originally from Colorado and moved to Los Angeles for college. His family is originally from Mexico, and thus he got this ritual from them as it was passed down through generations of his family.

Content:
Interviewer: “Can you tell me a little bit more about the egg ritual that you mentioned?”

Interviewee: “So basically in Mexican tradition whenever little kids are having nightmares or anything, like they went through a traumatic event which casues you to have like really bad consecutive nightmares you would go get a limpiar de huevo.

Which is essentially translated to an egg cleaning and like a healer will basically get an egg and she’ll go around your body, like basically glide the egg over your entire body (a whole egg, not cracked).

And then she’ll go off to the side after rubbing the egg down your entire body and crack it into water.

Interviewer: “Are you supposed to see anything in the egg? Like tea leaves?”

Interviewee: “The egg is basically supposed to absorb all the bad energy and then you can see how bad the energy is by how the egg like disperses in the water.”

Analysis:
This ritual is a form of healing folklore, where illness and distress are a result of negative energy rather than physical issues. The egg acts as a symbolic object that can absorb this energy from the person who holds it and turns the invisible problem into something visible and thus interpretable. The act of rubbing or gliding the egg over the patient’s body followed by cracking the egg into water creates a process that gives the healer and the patient a sense of control and a way of diagnosis. It also seems to reflect a cultural belief surrounding the connection between emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being and health. Overall, the ritual reinforces trust in traditional and cultural healing practices and shows how folklore can provide meaning and comfort in response to fear or anxiety around health concerns.

La Llorona

Text:

“Lla Lorona is a weeping ghost who can be found next to bodies of water, like lakes or rivers. She’s constantly crying because she can’t find her children who drowned years ago. If a child walks by the body of water she’s in, she’ll mistake them for her dead children and drag them into the body of water with her.”

Context:

The informant heard this story from their parents, as well as family members from Mexico, when they were a young child.

Analysis:

At its core, La Llorona seems to serves as both a moral warning and a cultural reflection: it reinforces traditional roles by portraying the ultimate punishment for failing in one’s duties as a mother, which is a theme that is shared between many cultures. However, this legend also symbolizes deeper historical and emotional wounds. One possible interpretation is that she represents the collective trauma of colonization—her cries echoing the pain of indigenous peoples who lost their families, land, and identity, serving as a metaphor for cultural loss. She is implied to be a woman of Latin heritage in a time of colonialism, where white men held all the power, and her tragic fate is directly tied to the racist system she existed in. Therefore, she represents the “bane” of an elite, white male demographic in a society where their power and influence finds its foundations in the oppression of those deemed “other”.

“Cuando Cuelgo Los Tenis”

Age: 20
Occupation: University Student
Language: Spanish

Informant Information:

Age: 20

Date of Performance: 2/15/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: University Student

Primary Language: Spanish

Residence: Los Angeles, California

Text: “Cuando cuelgo los tenis”

Translation: “When I hang my shoes”

Figurative Meaning: “When I die”

Context:

Whenever the informant’s mother was upset or disappointed with the informant’s behavior, she would use the Spanish phrase “Cuando cuelgo los tenis” (“When I hang my shoes”). The phrase was used hypothetically, implying that the mother’s death could be a consequence of the child’s actions.

Analysis:

This phrase is commonly used by parents in Mexican Spanish to evoke guilt or a sense of responsibility in their children. When a parent is upset or disappointed, they may use this expression to suggest that their child’s behavior is distressing enough to contribute to their eventual passing. This type of statement reflects a universal theme in parenting, where guilt is employed as a tool to encourage compliance and reinforce family values. While the threat of death is not meant to be taken literally, it emphasizes the importance of respect, familial bonds, and the physical and emotional impact of one’s actions on their loved ones.

Folklorico Dance

Informant Info:

  • Nationality: Mexican
  • Residence: Los Angeles
  • Primary language: English/ Spanish

Text:

E.H has been dancing folklorico since she was six years old. She is a Mexican American college student who has found an important aspect of her identity through folklorico. She has been a part of GFUSC(Grupo Folklorico at USC) since freshman year. She has found that it has been a way of embracing her Purépecha heritage and culture. Her passion for folklorico has led her to learn more about the history of folklorico, the different dance forms that pertain to folklorico, and the way dancers have to dress. E.H now teaches folklorico to elementary students, while also educating them in different regions. E.H and Grupo Folklorico at USC practice different dances for several weeks in order to prepare for the grand performance towards the end of the semester. Throughout the semester, they also hold small performances at different events and festivals to show their appreciation for their culture. E.H is a dance instructor, and she makes sure to teach steps that pertain the specific region in order to maintain as much cultural originality as possible. E.H told me that not anyone can just go ahead and teach Folklorico, one must be educated on the history of the dance form and the different styles of dance it entails.

Analysis:

I hold a personal connection with folklorico, I also dance folklorico with GFUSC. I originally joined for the purpose of embracing my Mexican heritage and learning to dance such a beautiful art form. Through this club, I was able to learn different regions and their distinct styles of dance. Some of these include Sinaloa, Veracruz, Yucatan, Jalisco, etc. Each region has different steps and “vestuario,” or clothing. For example, Sinaloa holds more of the traditional folklorico elements in the dresses, they are very colorful and flowy dresses. Meanwhile, Yucatan has a more box-like structure in the dress, they are not flowy, and are typically a satin white with embroidered flowers. The songs are also picked out depending on the region they pertain to. Performing with other Hispanic and Latino students has allowed me and many others to find a home and community here at USC. 

Quinceanera Celebration

Informant Info:

  • Nationality: Mexican 
  • Residence: Los Angeles 
  • Primary language: English and Spanish 

Text:

E.S said, “In my culture, once a young girl turns 15 they have a big party that could be considered a rite of passage, it’s called a Quinceanera.” This party is meant to symbolize the transition from a young girl to a woman. In the party there are multiple traditional processes that really resemble that of a wedding. As E.S explained, you start with mass at a church, then at the party you have the father daughter dance, the taking off of the shoes and into heels, etc. In some parties, they’re given this porcelain doll that represents or encapsulates their childhood, and at the end they have a surprise dance that’s very entertaining. The quinces in Mexico are somewhat different from the fact that as they move from the church to the reception, the whole group/family parade through the street with a live mariachi to the venue. Sometimes the quinceanera is in a carriage or on a horse. The invite is also not very exclusive as the whole community is invited. E.S recalls one time she attended a Quince, “I once went to a quince in Mexico where we didn’t know anyone, we were complete strangers and they still fed us and treated us like family.” The party allows for community bonding and the celebration of womanhood!

Analysis:

I deeply resonated with E.S’s relation to Quinceaneras because it is a well known tradition and celebration in my culture as well. Quinceaneras are indeed a rite of passage because the whole purpose of the celebration is to acknowledge the young girl’s transition from that into womanhood. Since I was a child, I attended various Quinceaneras from family members and acquaintances. I agree with E.S in the fact that the celebration is pretty welcoming to everyone, even if you aren’t directly related to the young girl being celebrated. I also vividly remember the surprise dances at these Quinceaneras, and they are indeed one of the parts of the celebration everyone looks forward to seeing the most. The Quinceanera does the surprise dance with her Corte de Honor, which consists of Chambelanes and Damas. The father and daughter dance is very special, and it usually makes a lot of people very emotional. While this celebration is very fun, it is also deeply sentimental for everyone because the now young woman is no longer a little girl.