Tag Archives: sign

Hummingbirds

Occupation: Student
Language: English

“One of the signs I look for every year is for a hummingbird. It’s really weird but I can’t consider it spring until I see a hummingbird. So, like, I haven’t seen a hummingbird this year yet. So, I don’t feel like it’s spring and it’s like April. It’s about to be May. So, I’m going to enter May and it’s not going to be spring yet.” 

Context: “It’s really weird but this kind of comes from I think my Nana. My Nana used to tell me that when you see a hummingbird, it means that it’s springtime. I feel like I always did this but I definitely started paying attention more after my nana passed away. Because I feel like it’s almost a sign from her I guess. Like how people believe in certain animals to represent their loved ones. Like I know popular ones are butterflies. Um but I look for hummingbirds. And my nana also passed away in the spring. So maybe that’s a part of it.”

Analysis: 

This seasonal sign is what marks the change of spring, not the date of the equinox, for this informant. I think it is especially important to note that they have not seen a hummingbird yet this year, making this year out of place and off rhythm for the informant. Much like the concept of Groundhog day, the idea of an animal being a sign of seasonal change is both related to the animals’ biological responses to weather and speaks to the individual on a deeper level regarding what spring signifies. The informant mentions the importance of the hummingbird increasing after the passing of her nana, potentially transforming this sign into a symbol of her nana’s rebirth alongside the natural world. As springtime is already associated heavily with rebirth and new life, the correlation between hummingbirds and the spirit of the informant’s nana is perhaps a natural extension of existing similar beliefs. 

Nature’s unpredictable… Or is it? 

Nationality: African American

Primary Language: English

Other language(s): French

Age: 65

Occupation: Management Consultant

Residence: Upstate, NY

Performance Date: 4/20/2025

Context: 

My informant, WB, is a family member of mine who lives in the Hudson Valley area of New York. From what I remember, they’ve always been into signs, aspects of nature that may influence decisions, and a lot of times, they’d be spiritual. I asked her one day, especially as I got more into science growing up, if there were any signs they could explain with science that they’d understand growing up that I may have never heard of, and there were. 

Text: 

“A ring around the moon means it’s going to rain. Growing up near farms 60 years ago before the sophistication of modern weather forecasting, we looked for signs in nature to predict weather. This of course could only be a source for prediction if it was a moonlit night. So when it was not a moonlit night, we listened for crickets to indicate a warming or cooling of the weather.  Also, whistling frogs for the coming of spring. Other indicators of bad weather were if your joints ache. This means a lot to me because it connects me to nature and the wonders around us in the natural world. To this date, I listen for crickets and whistling frogs to predict weather conditions. This was all passed down to us generation after generation. And it turns out that there was logic to this:

A ring around the moon: moisture high up in the atmosphere.

Whistling frogs: a warming trend for the coming spring and the frogs thaw. 

Aching joint: barometric pressure changes.

Crickets: hatch in the late summer.”

Analysis:  

This entry is a beautiful example of weather lore. Plus, it’s rooted in a time before people had access to modern meteorological tools. Though in my research, the belief that “a ring around the moon means it’s going to rain,” is actually one of the most widely known pieces of weather folklore, and has some scientific backing: the ring, or lunar halo, forms due to ice crystals in cirrostratus clouds high in the atmosphere, which often precede storm systems. So in that sense, this isn’t just folklore; it’s observational science passed down through generations. I also love how WB connects this tradition to other nature-based signs, like cricket chirps, whistling frogs, to aching joints. From my analysis of such signs, I found that many of these signs actually do correlate with changes in weather or season. For instance, Cleveland Clinic, in their article, “How Changes in Weather Affect Joint Pain,” explains the barometric pressure to joints, and according to the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities, in their article, “Songs of Spring: A Ribbiting Chorus – Bell Museum,” frogs do indeed become more vocal as temperatures rise, signaling spring. What stands out to me most though is how WB frames all of this as a meaningful connection to nature, especially as our generations start to get lost in the digital age. This entry is fascinating to me because it’s not just about weather predictions, it’s about a whole way of understanding and interacting with the natural world. WB doesn’t just remember these signs nostalgically; WB still uses them, which shows how folklore can remain alive and functional even in a most contemporary context.

Throwing beads

Text (ritual/folk belief)

“Throwing and collecting beads is a traditional practice and brings good luck.”

Context

My informant has lived in Louisiana for 4 years and participated in the Mardi Gras festival twice where this practice occurs collecting many beads to wear around her neck in participation of the celebration.

Q: “What is the significance of beads at Mardi Gras parades?”

A: “The practice of throwing beads on Mardi Gras stems from 19th-century French customs where the king would throw jewels and gold to the ‘common people’”.

Q: “How do you get beads?”

A: “The people on floats are above you at the parade and you can reach your hands out or jump and wave to insinuate for them to throw beads down, or people also commonly will flash their boobs to get beads. I didn’t do that though haha. There used to be a legend that University of Lafayette students wore beads to stand out during Mardi Gras and the custom spread to now where beads are commonly worn and exchanged at the festival”

Analysis

Originating in the 19th century, bead throwing is a traditional ritual/practice taking place where those of higher status or class would assert their position originally throwing any small trinkets to spectators of the parade. The evolution to throwing beads began in the 20th century as people of higher status would begin to dress up themselves and their floats in beads colored in line with the Mardi Gras theme as a symbol of creativity and expression. Today these beads are representative of the Mardi Gras season expressing appreciation for and participation in New Orleans cultural practices asserting a shared cultural identity. The traditional custom of wearing brightly colored beads and the ritual of exchanging or throwing said beads act as a way to show participation and involvement in the festivities as well as a symbol of good luck. Frazer explores the concept of homeopathic magic and the idea that like produces like. Many people partake in bead-throwing rituals in hopes of receiving good luck for the coming year partaking in this homeopathic ritual. His work provides a framework for analyzing the role and significance of rituals, symbols, and practices in various cultures. Recently, however, there has been some controversy regarding the environmental friendliness of throwing around thousands of plastic beads. Many people have called for more sustainable alternatives to this practice which is an integral part of Mardi Gras culture. This conversation touches on the adaptation and transformation of folklore over time to be more accommodating to 21st-century ideals and the evolution of folklore practices to fit the modern standards of societal and cultural norms in the United States.

The “Peace Sign” Gesture

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 24
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: Washington State
Performance Date: 2/22/23
Primary Language: English
Language: Tagalog

Text

“There’s one gesture I do all the time,” the informant prefaced.

They lifted their hand to a position beside their face. Aside from the index and middle finger straightened out, the hand would’ve been in a fist. Initially, they posed with their palm faced-out and their extended fingers pointed towards their cheek. This sort of pose seemed to lead directly into them popping their hip out. Adjusting the pose slightly, they faced their palm toward themself, pulling in their elbow and having the extending fingers positioned parallel to their cheek. With this pose, they automatically popped out the other hip.

They shrugged. “It’s just something I always do.”

Context

RELATIONSHIP –
The informant has a deep relationship with this gesture. It’s something they say they do instinctually– like waving at someone you know from afar or looking up when you’re in deep thought.

WHERE THEY SAW IT –
This gesture couldn’t be pinpointed to a specific point of origin for them. From what they know, the “peace sign” gesture was brought to them as a culmination of exposure to it from an assortment of friends and family.

USE OR INTERPRETATION –
They interpret it as a friendly, playful gesture that’s easy to do. Generally, it’s used as a pose when taking pictures or as a greeting pose towards friends.

Analysis

While I understand that different cultures have different meanings behind the “peace sign,” this particular use of it is something common in the culture I’m in. It’s a pose that can be adjusted in a variety of ways as was demonstrated to me by the informant. Regardless of the posture, it’s always used as a positive, cutesy gesture. The inclusion of it in a pose is usually rather flashy and attention-grabbing in some way or another.

Mockingbird Messager

A is 54 years old. She was born in Ft. Waldon, Florida and moved to Sylvania, Georgia at 2 years old. She’d been there all her life until last year (2021). A has a thick Southern accent that’s very pleasant to listen to. She told me about this omen of mockingbirds carrying messages of impending death.

“If you have a mockingbird that keeps coming up to your house trying to get in, it means someone close to you or in your family is going to pass soon… It’s just a message, there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”

For more about bird folklore in general see https://raptorresource.blogspot.com/2017/10/birds-in-superstition-and-folklore.html for Mockingbird specific folklore see Power, Cathy Kelly. “Thirteen ways of looking at a mockingbird: A collection of critical essays,” Chapter 9. Georgia State University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1996. 9628838