Tag Archives: #ritual

Dumpster Pasta Ritual

Interviewer: “Thank you for meeting with me can you please tell me more about ritual practices you and your family perform?”

DA: “The one that comes to mind is this tradition we have where we make pasta every week. The pasta is called dumpster pasta because we use whatever is left in the fridge in the end of the week to make a pasta dish. The ritual started when my dad lost his job, money was tight so we tried making unfortunate financial circumstances into fun ritual practices in my family”

Interviewer: “Thank you for sharing that with me, do you still perform the ritual?”

DA: “Yes even though my family is doing better we still do the ritual as an act of gratitude to remind us of our struggles.”

Context: This ritual started in her immediate family and became an event for her and her family to break bread weekly and share a meal together. She mentioned that although her families finances are stable now, that she and her family still do the ritual, and she still partakes from her college dorm.

Analysis: This ritualistic practice spans distance as she still performs it even though her physical connection from her family is severed. It can be considered a ritual of healing for them now, and serves as a sort of liminal ritual as her family transitioned from financial statuses.

“Something Blue

Interviewer: “Can you please repeat what you just told me, because it is a great example of a ritual and folk tradition!”

OB: “In my Family, the “something blue” in wedding superstition has to be a blue thread sewn into the hem of the dress in the shape of an anchor. It is supposed to keep the marriage grounded, and supposedly keeps the couple together.

Context: OB’s cousin is getting married in the summer, and she wanted all her family members to sew blue anchors into the hem of their suits. He has learned this tradition for as long as he can remember in his family, however he has never participated himself because it is typically the bride. he is a gay male, and wants to eventually use the tradition in his suit when he gets married, carrying on the tradition in his own way.

Analysis: This is a great example of how a very broad and popularized tradition is localized into a more narrow specific familial tradition. This is an example of material culture, in which an object is representative of a folk belief of a tradition. This could be perceived as a ritual of intensification as it strengthens the bond between romantic partners as well as their families.

Birthday Spanking

AZ: In my family we do birthday spanks. You get one swat for every year you’ve been alive, plus one to grow. My dad usually does it while we’re all standing around the cake before we blow out the candles.

“Interviewer: I know this is a common folk ritual, however is there anything your family specifically does to modify this practice?

AZ: Now that you mention It we make sure to do the spankings at the exact hour the person was born, in order to “spank” them into the next chapter of their life”

Context: This is a multi generational family tradition passed down from her paternal grandfather. To AZ, this is a nostalgic and grounding ritual. While the act is playful, the family takes the timing seriously. The added later of the timing transforms a general game into a practice of family law. She views the physical sensation as a necessary “spank” into her new age.

Analysis: This ritual is another example of how folklore can be localized through variation and a secular rite of passage. However, the specific modification AZ describes, performing the ritual at the exact hour of birth, elevates the practice from a general custom to a sacred domestic event. Anthropologically, this emphasizes the importance of liminality. This is also connected to sympathetic magic, and the physicality of the action in the present propels the individuals journey into the future.

Throwing Salt Over your Shoulder

Age: 22

“I feel like this is a fairly common superstition slash like, like little thing that you do, um, but this was particularly common on my dad’s side. I don’t know why. He’s from the Midwest, and I think that maybe people are just more superstitious there. They’re like pretty rural Midwestern. My dad was the one who taught me to always throw salt over my left shoulder when I’m cooking. So, if I’m grinding salt from a salt grinder, I won’t do it. But if I pour salt into my hand to put it onto something, you always have to take a few grains and throw it over, specifically your left shoulder. The left is the side of the devil. If you throw the salt grains over your left shoulder, they’ll hit him in the eye, and he’ll run away from you, which I think is also an Italian thing. It’s weird, because I don’t have any Italian ancestry.”

Context: The informant, who is ethnically Irish and grew up in California, recalls an Italian tradition that was taught to her by her dad. She typically does this while cooking, and notes that her family is very superstitious and follow many rituals that center around good and bad luck.

Analysis: I think that it’s interesting to note that Folklore is so strongly spread across cultures and places that even the informant was wondering how her family came across this specific ritual even though she has no Italian ancestry. Different kinds of folklore can be removed from its origins and put into different cultural contexts, even though the Italian ancestry is absent, its still meaningful within the informants family. Folklore has a common connection to good or bad luck based on rituals, and this salt throwing example is no different. Life is very unpredictable, stressful and sad, so it makes sense why this ritual emerged in order to “take control” of the uncontrollable (life). Since it involves protection against the devil from the Bible, I believe this may also fall into Folk magic since it is a way to ward off evil.