Tag Archives: nature

Some Cherokee beliefs about incoming storms

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA; Indiana
Performance Date: 4/29/15
Primary Language: English

When my friend told me she was part Cherokee Indian, I was curious to hear what kinds of traditions and pieces of wisdom were passed down to her. The following is what she had to say.

“So, my grandma, her mom is a Cherokee Indian, and some sayings that she passed down that my grandma always says is that, if the pine tree has a bunch of [pine]cones at the top of the tree, then that means it’s gonna be a really tough winter, and if animals have really thick pelts, then that also means its gonna be real hard because the animals have to fatten up I guess. And if you see the backs of the leaves, then that means a storm’s coming.”

I have heard several folk beliefs about when people think there might be a storm coming, or other types of natural occurrences. Native Americans seem to be particularly in tune with nature, and my friend told me that she thinks the above folk beliefs are true because so far she’s witnessed them to be true.

Minnows can be beauty salon employees

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/26/14
Primary Language: English

My friend told me one folk tradition she and her sister used to do as children.  They would sit on the edge of a pond and stick their feet in the shallow water.  After a while the minnows would come by and they would start biting at their feet, removing the dead skin.

We were watching a documentary on sea life and she volunteered this tradition.  She claimed it feels like small pokes and was not painful at all.  She said that the practice was also used by Asian spas, which would stick your feet in buckets of water with minnows in them.

The process seems to be an at home beauty solution which incorporates nature.   It’s much cheaper, although somewhat more inconvenient that buying something to exfoliate your feet for you or paying for a spa visit. It makes sense that this originated as an eastern tradition since eastern medicine is known for incorporating natural remedies.  It is interesting that it was adapted as a practice for children since it is also almost a daredevil game because it places children in a much closer relationship with nature than they would normally be.  Minnows are not inherently dangerous but using them to clean your feet you are mastering nature.

Source: http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2007/08/15/new-spa-treatment-fish-eat-your-dead-skin-cells/

French Gardens

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student (Fine Arts Major)
Residence: California (Primary)
Performance Date: April 27, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: French

“So French-style gardens are very exact in their layout, they’re supposed to ache, like there’s definite vegetation areas, and there’s gravel stuff, and they’re really into doing intricate designs, and you’re supposed to see different things the farther up you are. What you see on high is supposed to be different from what you see, you, know, at straight-ahead level. And the whole theory of it—you know, they have like, multiple level terraces and whatnot, so you’d see, like, a curlicue design if you’re standing inn, like, eagle eye, but if you’re actually staring just straight at it, it looks like different levels of topiaries.

“So the whole theory behind it is that, um, gardens are supposed to be man’s demonstration of his power over nature. So it’s a whole exercise in controlling, you know, what would otherwise be wild nature. And so, it’s about making sure each path is—strictly delineates between, um, say vegetation and gravel, because it demonstrates that man is ultimately at, by God’s design is at the top of the food chain and is therefore able to control any and all elements, and so the more control that you have, and the more intricate the designs, the better demonstration of man’s control over nature.”

 

The informant said that the purpose of the two different views was to further demonstrate skill: if you can trick the eye into seeing one thing from one place, and another thing from another, it was a good demonstration of power. She found that this belief is “in line with French thinking,” which often favors the art of precision and links that with divinity.

She learned about the gardens from one of her teacher’s in France in 2012, (and she found more evidence of the belief when she researched it on the internet). She discovered it started with Italian gardens and tree carving. The informant learned that it is a sort of big game to see how much you can do with plants in a controlled environment, and it was a way for royalty to demonstrate their power (the head gardener for such people was actually a very respected position).

This belief is compelling because it is so widely accepted it doesn’t exist on the margins of French culture, but in its center. The informant said that magazines and other publications exist solely to teach how to garden in the French style. It seems that the original purpose of the gardens (to demonstrate man’s power over nature) has fallen away in a way that it is not obsolete, but it is no longer truly important. The ideology has been totally absorbed by the culture.

“French Children’s Proverb”

Nationality: French-American
Age: 50
Occupation: Professor
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2013
Primary Language: French
Language: English, Spanish

            A current professor of French at USC, the informant first learned this proverb from her grandmother when she was in grammar school. Now that she has a daughter of her own, the informant has repeated the proverb to her, and explained that most French parents say the proverb to their children from time to time after the child has had a rough day.

           In fact, the proverb was actually appropriated by the Countess of Ségur, a 19th century French children’s book author, for the title of a novel. Published in 1871, her novel Après la pluie, le beau temps is about the trials that befall a dysfunction French family.

 

            “Après la pluie, le beau temps” is a French proverb that means, literally, “After the rain, better weather.” Of course, as you can imagine, we use it to mean that, after a bad time, there will come a better time. There is a reason that adults say it to kids a lot, you know? Because kids are not used to bad times, they need to learn how to deal with them, really, they do. Maybe, then, the ending of the proverb is too optimistic? I don’t know. But to them, bad times and problems are like mountains, so the proverb gives a little perspective.

 

            The informant concisely unpacked much of the meaning that lies behind the proverb. It is true enough that children are often unsure of how to handle and overcome negative experiences, and so the proverb addresses not only the fact that we must all acknowledge the existence of bad times, but also that better times are waiting on the other side. The proverb does not say “When there is rain, there is better weather,” instead just stating rain as a given fact: “After the rain, better weather.” This way, children know to expect hardships and obstacles in their lives.

            However, the proverb also relies on an analogy to weather, introducing the theme of cyclicality and unpredictability. For one, the proverb suggests that rain will come in waves, time and time again; the bad times are just that―plural. Thus, children understand that, like the weather cycle, difficult times will arise periodically throughout life.

Ladybugs and food predict the weather

Nationality: German
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/18/13
Primary Language: English
Language: German

In Germany there is a saying that if you don’t eat up all the food on your plate then the weather will be bad the next day. And it was told to us kids, and since we were scared to have bad weather the next day we always ate up all the food. Um… unfortunately it didn’t’ always work…surprise. Another thing—a similar thing—um… is with ladybugs—if they land on your hand and they fly away from your hand then the weather will be good the next day. And I learned that when I was really young, but, unfortunately, that didn’t always work, so… it’s still just a tale, but I still believe in it.

 

Every culture seems to have superstitions that relate to the predictions of weather. Before sophisticated technology was available, people used to predict the weather by observing animals, the sky, and other aspects of nature. People used to think that higher clouds meant a long stretch of good weather. If a full moon were shining brightly on a perfectly clear night then frost would form, as people believed that the earth had no protection [by the clouds] from the chilling moon.

 

Some of the early folk beliefs that pertained to weather eventually were backed by scientific experimentation. Lucky guess, perhaps, by the early people?

 

What intrigues me most about Sophia’s superstition is that she continues to believe in it even though it is not true in any sense. No scientific evidence has been cultivated to support this claim. In addition, she even concedes that this superstition has essentially been invalidated by its success to failure ratio. She admits that,  “more often than not, these occurrences have nothing to do with the weather.”

 

From a young age it was impressed on her mind that this superstition rang with truth. For many years she accepted it without questioning its truth-value. Even now that she understands the truth with a rational clarity she still holds onto the belief. Perhaps it is out of sentimentality? Perhaps thinking of ladybugs as indicators of change gives her this twinge of nostalgia for the days of her childhood. I would postulate that it brings her back to a place of innocence and happiness, to when things were simple and when imagination was valued over the cool logic of reality.