Tag Archives: religious chant

Blessing a New House

Context:

The informant has only moved homes twice in her life. Each time she moves her family does this custom before moving their stuff and furniture into the space. It is a Hindu tradition.

Text:

When the informant moved into her new home, a priest had to ensure the space was good to move into. The priest blessed the home and performed a pooja involving incense, allowing for her family to fully move in. The priest had the family repeat after him to chant in Sanskrit. The informant admits that she does not know nor understand this language.

Analysis:

This practice is a transition ritual, where moving homes involves leaving the old home, a liminal blessing of the new one, and re-introduction into a purified environment. These processes within the ritual reflect Van Gennep’s rites of passage where the pooja holds culturally shared significance. Using incense and chanting, the house is symbolically transformed into a sacred, safe space. In this way, people can manage their anxieties and uncertainty over new environments with such spiritual protection. Additionally, the informant’s relationship with Sanskrit demonstrates an instance of esoteric communication, where meaning is rooted in tradition even if it is not fully understood by participants.

Chants for Good Luck

Context:

H is a spring admin freshman at USC, studying Music Industry. H grew up in Taiwan, but moved when she was 8 to San Jose. 

Text:

H: “Whenever I encounter something bad, I basically chant like something from Buddhism. It goes like ‘大慈大悲, 救苦救难, 管旭音菩萨’ (Pinying: da ci da bei, jiu ku jiu nan, guan yin pu sa; Translation: great mercy and great compassion, save the suffering, guan xu yin bodhisattva). It’s basically what I chant so they can give me power, something like that. I think it’s just telling them I’m in trouble, it’s not asking them to come to me, but I feel like they’re going to do something about it and that’s why I do it.”

Analysis:

H’s chant is something along the lines of a conversion, a superstitious charm that negates or balances out an event. In H’s case, the chant is religious, referring to a god in Buddhism, but meant to offset something bad in her life using her god’s power. Her chanting is ritualistic, in the sense that H will do it on the principle or possibility that her god may be listening, while not knowing if anything will change. Just the act of chanting, the practice of a charm that’s believed to give good fortune, makes her believe that good will come, which is a faith nearly more powerful than the tangible confirmation that there really is a god up there, in my opinion. H creates a sense of order for herself in the midst of a crisis or hardship through this learned chant, and always repeating it to herself, she maintains faith that her chant comes true. Essentially, her ritual chant is believed to bring good luck for her, therefore it does bring good luck.