Tag Archives: Superstition

Breaking a coconut for new beginnings- Superstition

Text:
Informant: “If you get a new car or you’re starting something new, you’re supposed to crack a coconut in front of it. For example, when my brother opened a new office he broke a coconut in front of the building. The shell is supposed to represent your ego and past karma, and the white part inside represents purity and your inner self, so then breaking the coconut represents breaking the ego and starting fresh. It’s symbolic, like a sacrifice. In India the coconut is also known as God’s fruit.”

Interviewer: “When was the first time you saw this done?”
Informant: “The first time was when we got a new car when I was seven or eight. My dad broke a coconut in front of the car. After that we did it for every car we’ve gotten.”

Interviewer: “Is this common where you’re from?”
Informant: “Yes, everyone I know back home in India does it. It’s very common. Even people who move abroad still do it usually when buying something important or starting something new, like a car, a business, or another new beginning.”

Context:

The informant is from India and first witnessed the ritual when their father broke a coconut in front of their family’s new car when the informant was about seven or eight years old. Since then, the informant’s family has repeated the practice whenever they purchase a new car. The informant explained that the ritual is widely practiced in India and is still performed by many people who move abroad, especially when starting something significant like a business or purchasing a vehicle.

Analysis:

This example reflects a superstitious ritual connected to ideas of luck, protection, and new beginnings. The act of breaking the coconut is believed to symbolically remove obstacles or negative karma before starting something important. Like many superstitions, the practice is performed at specific moments of transition, such as purchasing a car or opening a business.

While the specific practice described here involves breaking a coconut in India, many cultures have similar rituals that serve the same symbolic purpose of blessing a new beginning. For example, ships are often christened by breaking a bottle of champagne on the hull before their first voyage, and in Chinese traditions there are various house-blessing practices, such as boiling water when moving into a new home. The specific actions vary across cultures, but the underlying idea remain the same. Taking a functionalist lens, we can interpret these moments as uncertain and carrying a lot of anxiety and tension, so ritual actions help people feel that they are beginning a new venture with good fortune/protection.

End on a make

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“Anytime I’m playing basketball like whether I’m just shooting around or I’ve just played pickup or after practice, my last shot before I leave the gym has to be a make. Like even if you’ve missed a bunch in a row you have to keep shooting till one goes in and then you can leave. I think this is like a pretty common thing with everyone that plays basketball and it’s just something I’ve always done and will continue to do. If I don’t do it I “just feel off” and have a feeling something bad will come my way as a result. I think it is because the idea of a basketball going in the hoop is a good thing, and if you end on a good note, it will set the tone for the rest of the day.”

Context

“I don’t remember where I exactly heard this first, but if I were to guess, it was something I saw many other people I played casual basketball with do. Because its so simple and its representation is a positive thing, I think I picked it up quickly without thought. I never really thought about ending on a make in an academic sense because I feel it is something all real hoopers do by default.”

Analysis

This is an example of a ritual because it is an action taken that holds symbolic meaning. It is used to manifest luck and repeated in the same scenario every time, which in this case is at the end of a basketball session. His point that most hoopers just know this rule and do it without thought shows how it is not formally taught to them by coaches or elders. This reveals that often time folklore is spread by watching and copying with shared beliefs. Basketball players or “hoopers” land in the same folk group because of their shared love for the game. This ritual to prevent bad luck is one of many folkloric aspects of this basketball folk group. Since folklore can have many variations of the same idea this ritual can be a make from any spot on the court and different folk likely have their own takes on what is the right spot to shoot from.

Lucky Pencil

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“Growing up, starting in late middle school and going to all the way to today in college, I have had this superstition that I never do well on tests if I do not use my lucky mechanical pencil. I felt a connection to this aqua pencil the second I used it, and I aced a middle school biology test that I thought I was absolutely cooked for. After doing so well on the test I credited my success to the pencil instead of my own brain power. From then on I always used that pencil on every test from highschool to now as a freshman in college. Along the journey though, I had a couple slip ups where I left the pencil at home and I felt my scores were not as good as they would have been on those exams if I were to have had my lucky pencil.”

Context:

“I first heard of this superstition when my friends from middle school would never let me borrow their lucky pencils whenever I asked to borrow one. I asked them why they were so protective of this pencil and they told me they needed it to do well. I laughed and did not take them seriously until my masterclass performance on the biology test. After that miracle, I told them they were right about the lucky pencil and they laughed and said ‘we told you so.’ To this day I still believe that my pencil holds magic to help me do better which is why I still use it for exams.”

Analysis:

The belief in the lucky pencil shows how young students and other creative minds create superstitions or mini rituals that help ease their anxiety and doubts. Although, the pencil itself has no concrete proof to increase scores, it boosts students’ confidence making them feel like they will well. Lucky items are figures of material culture because they hold culture and identity beyond its intended use. Through folklore passed down by friends, the pencil turns from an ordinary writing utencil to a magical object personal to the individual who believes in its power. This reiterates how folklore can often be used to boost feelings of control through ideas of luck, safety, and comfort.

Splitting a pole

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“I practice a superstition related to splitting a pole while walking with someone I care about such as my girlfriend when we are holding hands. The belief is that if you are walking with another person and you guys are separated by a pole, tree, or sign, it is a sign of bad luck due to the distance caused by the object. This is because it symbolizes a blockage in the relationship thus representing a bad omen to come within our connection. Due to this belief, I try to stay on the same side as the other person to avoid that division.”

Context

I first found out about it when walking with my friends who would suddenly grab me next to them when walking near an object telling me to not split the pole. Initially, I thought it was random and abrupt, but after hearing more of my friends who practiced this same belief, I realized it was a common practice in local US culture. Although the exact origin is unknown to me, the practice makes literal sense because the physical separation caused by the object reperesents emotional distance in a relationship. My practice of this folk belief helps me feel close and maintain strong relationships.

Analysis

From a folkloric perspective, the superstition to not split a pole reveals how in certain cultures regular objects can hold deeper meaning. In this particular belief, a pole or other object on the street takes on a symbol of an emotional blockade that leads to bad luck in a relationship. The semblance mirrors homeopathic magic, which believes like causes like. So, a separation physically leads to one emotionally. Avoidance of the split caused by a pole becomes a ritual used in everyday life that ensures love and unity. The context of this situation is important because it only applies when you are walking with someone you care about and don’t want to lose. If you are simply walking alone or with strangers the poles have no significance, which ties to folklore often being context dependent. While some folklore is learned through words this ritual is often learned through performance, or when someone physically acts to pull you from being separated.

The Pen Spirit (笔仙)

Context:

Me and the informant became friends in middle school due to our common interest in ghost stories and spiritual ceremonies. We decided to summon 笔仙 (a spirit that can be summoned through the action of two or more participants holding a single pen over a sheet of paper), and to let them answer some of our stupid questions, and it actually worked, somehow.

Text:

“笔仙 (Pen Spirit) is a very popular folk ritual in China,” the informant recalls, “even for people who are not into spiritual study, it’s almost safe to say that whenever people think about spiritual rituals, they would immediately think about 笔仙. Like any other folk ritual, the 笔仙 ceremony has multiple variations of how to perform it, but what we did was we wrote the alphabet on a piece of paper. We held a pen in our hands and chanted an incantation and start drawing in circles. If the spirit has been successfully summoned, the pen would start moving on its own, and then it is time for us to ask whatever questions we want. However, there are limitations, of course. You can’t ask how the spirit that is summoned died, or else it would be considered disrespectful. In addition, after you finish all your questions, you need to respectfully ask the spirit to leave.”

“And the spirit you summon can be random. For everyone who is performing the ritual, you are not summoning the same ghost. It varies—some can be friendly, some can be hateful toward us. So I’m really surprised that back then we even had the courage to actually do the ceremony, because if we were ever to summon a spirit that wanted us dead, they could potentially curse us. But he was so friendly (the informant was referring to the spirit that we successfully summoned). We didn’t ask any questions regarding his death, of course, but we did ask him something about his past life and the reason why he is still around on earth. I remember he said he actually spoke some English, and he went to college, and I think he died at a young age.”

“He was very generous with our stupid questions”, I said.

“Yeah, because I remember we were asking questions like who would be the next president of the United States. It was back in 2020, before the presidential election. He said it would be Biden, which he did get right. Many people summon 笔仙 to predict things, you know, but I don’t think the spirit that we summoned had that much power or energy to do so. We just asked a lot of random and silly questions, and we let him go, as if we were chatting with a friend or something. This is still a totally crazy experience, you know—we were two crazy middle schoolers.”

Analysis:

The interview highlights how rules and boundaries play an important role in shaping folk rituals, even among young participants. The informant describes clear limitations, such as not asking about the spirit’s death and the need to respectfully dismiss it, showing that the ritual follows an understood structure and moral code. At the same time, this experience reflects a coming of age moment, where engaging in something slightly forbidden or risky becomes a way for middle schoolers to test boundaries and bond with each other. The mix of caution and curiosity suggests that the ritual is not only about contacting a spirit, but also about navigating fear, respect, and social connection. And for sure, me and the informant became closer after this experience.