Tag Archives: ritual

Knocking on Wood

Interviewer: “OK, personally some rituals i’ve grown accustomed to and practice are mostly related to theatre. Superstitions such as avoiding naming the play “Macbeth” in the theatre, never wearing your costume outside of rehearsal and performance, and a created folk song that was local to my high schools theatre department. What are some rituals or superstitions you believe in?”

AB: “I always knock on wood when I say something I don’t want to jinx, I don’t really even think about it anymore its more of an automatic reaction out of fear or something”

Interviewer: “Why do you think that works, like why do you use it?”

AB: “I don’t know, it makes me feel like i’m undoing evil energy, like your correcting it before some karmic lesson is taught to you, its like proactive.”

Context: The informant learned this practice from her parents. Her parents are very spiritual and superstitious and thus this, among many other practices, have become common place in her life. She recalls using the practice of “knocking on wood” since she was very little, around 9 years old. She is unsure if this practice has a tangible affect on her life, however she still uses it as a method of providing comfort to herself, proactively “saving” herself from an event before it occurs.

Analysis: This interview highlights how folk beliefs persist even when individuals do not fully rationalize or consciously believe in them. AB repeatedly framed their practices, such as knocking on wood as accidental or habitual, suggesting that these rituals function more as a medium to grant oneself peace of mind rather than superstition. This suggests that these rituals function less as explicit belief systems but more as engrained cultural behaviors where the action of knocking on wood takes less energy than the worry that accompanies bad karma.

Telling the Bees

LH: In my families old farm in the Midwest, whenever a family member passed away someone had to go out to the backyard and ‘tell the bees’. You have to knock on each hive and whisper the name of the person who died. If you don’t tell them, the bees,

Context: The informant is a close friend, and he learned this folklore through ancestral tradition through the maternal line, originating from English Immigrants who settled in the Midwest. We were disscssing ecology for another class when he told me this story. To the informant, this custom represents a deep “ecological contract” in which his family is keeping the bees in the loop because they regard them as family due to their facilitation of plant life. Its an honor code as they believe the bees deserve to be a part of the mourning process.

Analysis: Telling the bees is a profound example of a folk custom that illustrates animism, the attribution of living should to plants, inanimate objects, and animals. The ritual serves a vital functioning purpose in the grieving process: it forces the bereaved to step outside the domestic sphere and engage with the natural world, providing a structures, meditative task during a time of emotional chaos. Historically, this piece of folklore responded to the high stakes of rural survival. The loss of bee colonies is a significant economic blow, highlighting how some folklore practices arise out of necessity,

Sweeping Ritual – Chinese New Year

Age: 21

Collection Date: 03/26/2026

Context:

During an in-class fieldwork activity, my informant, “R,” told me about a ritual tradition his family practices. The ritual is one of many that his family practices during the Chinese New Year season.

Text:

R: During the Chinese New Year, it’s a very cultural and ritual-heavy period of the year. One of the things that we’ll do, and that a lot of the families will do, is you’ll sweep your house, and then you’ll sweep the things out the front door. So you’re basically sweeping out like, you know, the bad spirits or, you know, all the bad luck. You’re getting that out of your house.. So you’re kind of like cleansing the place. So, like, all the bad luck, all the evil kind of goes out the door, you know. 
It’s kind of like putting a physical touch on a spiritual belief.

Interviewer: Yeah

Interviewer: Yeah. Is that like more of like a, is it a, like a metaphorical thing or are you like actually sweeping out like dust and like cleaning as well? Like, is it kind of like dual purpose?

R: Yeah, it’s definitely dual purpose. Yeah, like Chinese New Year, you’re definitely cleaning the house, you know, putting up like decorations and stuff like this. 
You put out like little clementines and stuff, but. Yeah, you’re definitely sweeping like actual dust out. But with that, you know, you’re sweeping out the evil spirits and all that. There’s more behind it than just like simply cleaning.

Interviewer: So there’s more meaning behind it then just simply cleaning.

R: Double entendre. Exactly.

Interviewer: Is that something that you’d be doing, like your parents would be doing or like the the whole family’s getting involved? What’s that look like?

R: I wouldn’t say that. I mean, I’ve never swept, but like, obviously.

Interviewer: Could you vacuum? 


R: No, like, I’d be cleaning around the house, but it’s my mom that’s sweeping mainly.. But, like, you know, we all help out. It’s definitely, like, a big, big family time. Like you want to help out. You want to spend time with your family. So definitely, yeah. 


Analysis:

The ritual seems to be a form of imitative magic in which the performer performs a physical action that has an “intangible” effect on the spiritual world. The idea, then, is that the change made in the spiritual world would positively impact the real world. The act is also representative. So it would seem to be homeopathic; the performer is literally sweeping the dirt out while also having a profound spiritual effect. This suggests that their culture may view dirt and dust in the house as impurities that do not belong and, like evil spirits, should be dealt with to prevent disorder.

The use of a broom is also interesting. I didn’t get to ask whether it was a special broom, but brooms are seen as having magical elements in English and American culture as well. I’m thinking about the witches’ broomstick, a magical and important element we associate with Halloween. Even in our culture, brooms are symbolic of magic and the spiritual world. But perhaps in Western culture, witches’ association with brooms has more to do with gender norms. Brooms symbolize cleansing and purity, and in most cultures, cleanliness is next to godliness. It seems then that the same idea is kept in Chinese folklore. A clean house has no crevices for demons to hide.

The ritual also functions as a way for families to bond. The ritual and cleaning ceremony bring them close together to achieve a common goal. These are also traditions that are passed down from generation to generation, so all ages are involved and can relate. Older generations might find this a great opportunity to connect with their kids and share some identity. It also seems to help offer some agency over the uncontrollable. My informant explained that it might help prevent bad luck and evil spirits, or smooth out the uncontrollable elements we face in our daily lives.

Based on what I collected, men, women, and children can participate in the ritual. So it is all inclusive and reflects the culture’s view on women and gender roles. Perhaps, this wasn’t always so, but we learn that customs change and adapt to time. The tradition itself has been passed down; my informant views the memory positively. But, it likely isn’t the same ritual his grandparents performed. That highlights the idea that folklore is multifaceted and varied. No two rituals are completely alike, even within the same family.

Chinese New Year Tradition of Making “Dern”

Text:

“On the 15th of the Chinese New Year, my grandma would make something called “dern.” “Dern” is like a bun shaped in the form of our Chinese Zodiac. She would make the “dern” for all family members. She would make seven of them, and they are all in our corresponding Chinese zodiac. So, if I’m born in the zodiac of the chicken, then she would make a chicken. This is practiced on the last day of the Chinese New Year. All of our animal characters would be on the same big bun; there are usually three big buns in total. She would also make two fish on one of the big buns, corresponding to the proverb “May you have abundance/surplus year after year.” After I got a boyfriend, my grandmother started making his “dern” as well. It is referred to as “dern” in the Shandong dialect. To be honest, sometimes it is hard for me to recognize which animal is which after she made them. Another thing is that we have to eat it. We have to bring this gigantic bun back to our own house and place it on our table for a day, and then you eat it. I’m not sure why we put it on the table for a day, but if you eat your zodiac, that just means that you are safe and good, and you have to eat the parts with the pieces of gold as well, which means that you can earn a lot of money in the upcoming year.”

Context:

This text was collected from a Chinese international student from Beijing, China. She learned this tradition through direct participation in her grandmother’s annual practice and shared it with me in a casual conversation as she spoke from personal memory. Her grandmother was from Shandong province, and dern is also a word describing decorated buns in the Shandong dialect. The tradition takes place on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year (the Lantern Festival), which marks the final day of the celebration period. The grandmother serves as the sole maker of the buns, crafting zodiac-shaped figures for every family member. A significant detail is that after the informant began dating her boyfriend, the grandmother started making a bun for him as well, suggesting the practice functions as an informal way of welcoming new members into the family. She interprets eating one’s zodiac as ensuring personal safety and prosperity in the coming year.

Analysis:

This piece exemplifies material culture, more specifically when it functions as a family lore, which shows how a broader regional tradition becomes personalized at the household level. This reminds me of Carl von Sydow’s concept of oicotypes: in this case, the family’s specific variation — seven individual buns, three large bases, fish for prosperity, a one-day display — represents a local adaptation of a wider Shandong practice. The variation is shaped by this family’s particular values and composition. Moreover, the ritual also aligns with Frazer’s theory of homeopathic magic: eating one’s zodiac animal and the golden pieces embedded in the bun not only symbolize safety and wealth, it also enact them. Corresponding folk beliefs like those exemplified through the shape of the “dern” collapse the boundary between representation and outcome. The grandmother’s decision to include the boyfriend’s bun is especially interesting, as it functions as a vernacular act of admitting family membership, which comes before any official social recognition of the relationship.





Ouija Board Experience

Age: 19

Interviewer: Well first off, what is an Ouija Board?

CJ: The Ouija board is like a board full of numbers and letters to help, um, What’s it called? To help speak to people who have passed away. They help you learn more about that person. [The ghosts] could be good or bad.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm. And um, okay, who, who related to you uses the board?

CJ: My mom, friends. A lot of people around me actually.


Interviewer: So, okay, so when your mom uses the board. Who would she use it with? Would she use it by herself?

CJ: She was younger when she would use it. I don’t think my mom has an Ouija board anymore, but she would use it with, um, like her, her siblings. Like, they were really into that stuff.


Interviewer: What were the stories that you heard from her or any one of them about the board?


CJ: When she was younger, and like, when she used the board, she would try to talk to her mom’s mom. My great grandma. She was trying to um, figure out her name.


Interviewer: Mm-hmm.

CJ: My grandma wouldn’t tell my mom her great grandma’s name. I don’t know why. I feel like something followed her from the Ouija board because I feel like they were really young when they were doing that shit. There’s rules to it. Me and my cousin Isabella would always talk about how there was something in the house and like, my grandma heard stuff in the house.

Interviewer: You feel like a ghost followed your mom?

CJ: There’s just always weird vibes around her house. I think. I kind of stay far away from that shit because I get scared.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm. Can you explain some of the rules? Of the board?

CJ: I think you put your hands on a mold. Put the um- it’s kind of like a, it kind of looks like an illuminati symbol. kind of. You put it on the board and you put your fingers on it and kind of ask questions.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm. To the ghost?

CJ: Yeah. And the ghosts will guide your fingers on that mold across the board to help communicate.

Interviewer: Mm-hmm. And then is there a specific way to, like, start communicating and end it?

CJ: Um, I don’t know the way to end it, but you kind of just- you- I think you kind of have to put yourself in that headspace to communicate with ghosts, and that’s how you start it, but I don’t know how you end it. I think you’re supposed to say like, goodbye to like, completely disconnect yourself from those bad spirits. I’ve never done it personally. I’ve never touched anything like that before because I don’t want to play with my life like that.

Interviewer: Yeah.

CJ: But, um, my mom did something to herself because of it. We’ve all felt bad stuff in her house. I think that’s why they don’t talk about it though, because, my Tia Miriam also used to do tarot cards. It’s similar to what my mom was doing. She said she’s had like bad experiences with seeing um, spirits. In the process of it.

Interviewer: Oh.

CJ: it’s just something she doesn’t really talk about because she got traumatized by it. Um, and like, Um, I’ve seen it at, or- I’ve heard it at my mom’s house.

Interviewer: And what would you hear and see?

CJ: I’d see like- I never saw anything, but I would hear things. Like, for example, like, I’d hear footsteps walking up and down the hallways. Then one time, I tried to use the restroom, but both doors- because our bathroom had 2 doors in it. One door was leading into the, um, like sink room where you kind of wash your hands, and then there was a separate door in that bathroom where the shower and toilet was. Both of those doors closed, like, they slammed shut and locked. I remember, I was thinking to myself like: oh, it must have been the wind. I kind of waited 5 minutes for somebody to come out, but I realized nobody was coming out, so I unlocked it with a penny. It kind of just made me think, like, these doors would never, like- yes, they could close to the wind, but they would never lock on their own. Both of those doors locked.

Interviewer: Yeah. That’s scary.

CJ: You know? And in the middle of the night, we’d hear like, footsteps running up and down the hallways when I was younger.

Context: The informant says a specific ghost has been following her family for years. Her family has a history of dabbling in activities that involve communicating with the dead, or have strong ties with spiritual guidance. Her family very strongly believe in ghosts, and have all shared some paranormal experiences while living together in her mom’s house in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Although her family hasn’t used an Ouija board in years, her mom still practices using Tarot cards for spiritual guidance, and frequently engages in other activities that involve speaking with spirits.

Analysis: Most people encounter an Ouija Board as children. It is a combination of ritual and social experience between participants who use the board. Its used as a ritual for spirit communication, and kind of represents human curiosity about the afterlife. A lot of Memorates emerge from this ritual specifically, and I have found myself recalling many other stories I’ve heard about a friend or friend of a friend’s encounter with an Ouija Board. I also think that its really interesting how individual and cultural experiences and backgrounds can effect how this ritual is viewed. Charlie’s personal experiences makes the idea of talking with spirits dangerous and taboo, while her mom frequently uses various methods to communicate with spirits regularly.