Tag Archives: Superstition

Giving babies ”Ojo.”

A is a 59-year-old Hispanic American female originally from La Junta, a small town in Southeastern Colorado. A currently works as a background detective in Phoenix Arizona.

A informed me of this folklore over a dinner discussion. We were on the topic of family superstitions, and I asked A if she had any superstitions that she remembered her family believing in.

A: I was thinking about this a few days ago. I remember Nana and my aunts talking about giving a baby “ojo” by looking at them and falling over how cute they are it makes them sick if you do it too much. And then I read about it and I laughed because this is exactly what I remember hearing them talking about it, when I was little. I also remember in order for them to come back from the baby getting that, when you’re born they put a little bracelet on the babies made out of coral. I will call Nana to make sure but that’s what I remember. To help babies ward off the evil eye or “ojo” the babies would wear a little string with a piece of coral red coral. And then the mothers would put an egg in a cup of water near the bed to help them heal from the evil if they got it laughs.

Reflection: This folklore seems to be associated with the idea that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. It brings greater context into my own family, as I remember my grandmother scolding my cousins for fawning over a baby, and I never knew quite why. I find it interesting that specifically coral and eggs in water act as deterrent. Perhaps they both have an absorbent property that draws evil away when placed in the immediate proximity of a baby.

USC Webb Tower’s 13th Floor (Or Lack Thereof)

Nationality: Korean
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/25/22
Primary Language: English

DH is an Asian freshman male at USC, who took me up to his room on the 14th floor of Webb Tower in the elevator. Webb Tower provides on-campus apartment-style housing, and it is special in that it has the most floors of any residential building at USC.

In USC’s Webb Tower, there are 14 physical floors. That is, if one were to take the stairs to the highest floor, they would have to climb 13 flights of stairs (14 flights to get to the roof). However, by taking a quick glance at the Webb Tower’s elevator buttons, one would get the impression that there are actually 15 floors in the building; it appears that an additional floor simply materializes. Upon closer inspection of the buttons, they would instead realize that the floor counts jump from 12 directly to 14, and then to 15. The 13th floor, although physically present, does not officially exist. Such is the case of many hotels and tall buildings in America and other countries with superstitions regarding the number 13. The number may be viewed as unlucky or related to bad luck, so a building’s designer may decide to abstain from labeling the 13th floor as a whole. Other countries in Asia have buildings missing a fourth or fourteenth floor as well since the number sounds like the character for death.

Though we had heard about this phenomenon of a missing 13th floor, DH and I were surprised to see this firsthand in an academic institution. The building, erected in 1972, is a prime example of the influence that superstitions or one’s innate beliefs have on places or aspects of life that are usually approached with a very critical and scientific mind. Some might say that skipping the 13th floor doesn’t hurt as it is merely a small change to the numbering and has no impact on the building’s structural integrity. The omission of a 13th floor may also put superstitious tenants at ease, especially those who might live on the 13th – now 14th– floor. However, countries such as Canada have banned the act of skipping the 13th floor since it can confuse emergency responders in a life or death situation. Personally, I believe it is simply an old tradition that is based on silly superstition and is not worth the possibility of becoming deadly.

Bad Luck with Double Doors

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/27/22
Primary Language: English

“Opening both doors at the same time will lead to bad luck.”

CL is a Taiwanese student at USC who lived in Taiwan for a few years before moving to the United States. This is a superstition that I have never heard before, and it is definitely interesting since it is focused on such a mundane task as opening a door. The above quote was said after CL opened one door of a double door entryway at the same moment that someone opened the other door from the external side.

When asked where she learned this superstition, she replied that it had been passed down to her from her mom, though she had never questioned its origins. There are some theories as to where it comes from. Other door superstitions state that it is bad luck to leave through a different door than the one that someone entered through, particularly in houses. Though the above superstition is not exactly similar, a person is leaving the door while someone enters simultaneously in the above situation. This could be a variation of the superstition of departing and entering through different doors that has been adapted for a double door entrance.

Doorways often represent a transition or a gateway into another space, the passage between one place or state of being and the next. As such, it is not surprising to see superstitions that arise out of these passageways. They could also be regarded as thresholds between the physical and spiritual worlds, so it can be seen that our interactions with doorways have an influence on the external forces acting on our lives, which in this case takes the form of good or bad luck.

Step over someone, shorten their life span.

Context: 

D is a 20 year old college student living in Los Angeles, California who was originally from the Philippines. 

This conversation took place in my room as a group of my friends were hanging out and I brought up if they knew any folklore or proverbs that they wanted to share. The informant said they remembered another one and then forgot it so they had to wait a second before it came back to them. 

Text: 

D: My mom was like if you step over people, they’re gonna die like you’re gonna shorten their life. It’s like a Filipino superstition. 

Reflection: 

This superstition is interesting because a lot of the superstitions I know are extreme while this one shortens your life versus immediately causing death. Additionally, it seems like a scenario that would not come up very easily as the person would have to be physically lying on the ground and not try to prevent you from stepping over them. I wanted to see what the origin was as my friend had only heard about it from their mom without explanation, but I couldn’t find any more information on the superstition. It could also be another superstition that is meant as a preventative measure by parents to prevent their children from doing something dangerous.

Dogs barking at night mean someone has died or is going to

Context: 

D is a 20-year-old college student living in Los Angeles, California who was originally from the Philippines. 

This conversation took place in my room as a group of my friends were hanging out and I brought up if they knew any folklore or proverbs that they wanted to share. This superstition followed a couple of others that were thrown out by the informant and other friends but was the last from this particular informant.

Text: 

D: They say if a dog barks at night, either someone already died or someone is going to die. If the dogs are like barking and howling at night… In the Philippines.

Me: Not in the US?

D: I don’t know haha. 

Reflection: 

I thought this superstition was very interesting as it was a depiction of an animal as a way of informing people about something. I feel as if I have heard of similar superstitions but am not completely positive about what the details were. I think it’s also interesting that it is interchangeable between someone being dead or that someone is going to die. Typically, there is a separation between an omen and a superstition that is reporting the death of a person. It seems likely that this stems from a belief that dogs have a “sixth sense” that allows them to detect that someone is dead and therefore vocalize it because of their ties to humans. 

Coren, Stanley. “Can Dogs Sense When Someone Is about to Die?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/200905/can-dogs-sense-when-someone-is-about-die.