Tag Archives: tradition

Beccaria Legends

‘In my little town of Beccaria in the central Pennsylvania mountains, we had a little church, and it was the center of our “so-called religious and social life” and so whatever happened in that church would be pretty powerful for me, even through my high school years as I think back on it. But what was a little different in this Evangelical culture that I grew up in was that every summer there would be something called “Evangelism Week”. There were these men who may not have even ever gone to seminary or bible school… But they had a certain amount of skill, and they were Evangelists. For one week we would go to church every night and they would preach. That preaching was always fire and brimstone… It was always how everybody in Beccaria was sinful, was bad, was going to go to hell for sure… everything that might be fun, like square dancing… or never mind any other kind of dancing… listening to country western music or wearing lipstick or makeup of any kind… having your hair permed or going to the movies… which was our main form of entertainment… That was all work of the devil. The devil was a very real kind of figure… a mystical evil legend and thing that was just ready to pop out in this 300-person population town. It was very real to me and very powerful to everyone in Beccaria. This has definitely affected me my whole life. I’m a very dutiful and prim person because of these tales told of the devil each Evangelism week. In the families that were pious, their children were damaged by that, like my cousins. I didn’t think about it as mystical when I was a kid, but it really was. But we would go… we would sit at it every year… every summer through high school. They would preach to us these tales in the pulpit and they would be very explosive, dynamic, and loud when they acted out these stories. It was always legends about the devil, nothing about Jesus or the “good parts of Christianity.” To think that I am almost 90 years old… it haunts me still… it’s as vivid to me as anything… it was the dark side.’ – VB

VB would hear these tales of the devil each summer growing up from groups of men who came to her little town of Beccaria, Pennsylvania. It was tradition for her family, and even her own parents grew up attending the same Evangelism week. This single week each summer practically dictated the way VB decided to live her life and how she wanted to raise her own children. The influence these tales and legends about the devil had on her practically consumed her whole childhood, and even decades later, she still thinks about it. She reminisced on the fact that after this week, she would refuse to go to any more Saturday night square dances, and even skip out on the Sunday afternoon movie showings, out of fear of damnation. It would take months for this influence to wear off before she would even consider going out to have a moment of fun. VB gave an anecdote that these preachings had a generational impact, her parents, grandparents, and even her cousins al felt affected by Evangelism week. As stated in the paraphrase of her story, she lives a dutiful life, raising her children to do so as well. However, she recalls that when her daughter married a “fun-loving” man, it truly changed a lot of her own perspective on religion and the way lives should be lived… allowing her to accept the fun times and move past the idea of entertainment being sinful.

My initial understanding of this story told by VB was that she grew up in a very small religious town, and with the Evangelism week was an opportunity for the church to instill fear into the townspeople to control their behaviors. This follows the stereotypes that I grew up learning about small “middle of nowhere” towns such as Beccaria Pennsylvania. However, a lot of religious folklore was present in Beccaria with this local tradition and annual ritual for the community. As folklore does, it brought the community together, sharing the same ideas and beliefs to all that would listen. Additionally, this story told by VB shows how oral tradition can shape beliefs of the entire community who listened, something folklore has been known to do. Additionally, much folklore has gestures and is performed, and as VB recalls, the preachers served a fiery sermon with animated gestures, practically making it into a performance. This folklore allowed the residents of Beccaria to shape their way of lives and have a collective experience together. While folklore is usually thought of in the sense of fairytales and mythical legends, it often can be used in a fear-mongering sense as it is here. Not only has this folklore been passed down from VB’s ancestors, but VB continued to spread this oral tradition to her own family, even though she was far from her hometown of Beccaria, no longer attending the Evangelism week.

“Johnny, I want my liver back…”

Genre: Folk Narrative – Ghost Story

Text: 

One day a boy named Johnny is told by his mother to go to the butcher’s to get some liver for dinner. He takes the five dollars she gives him and heads off toward town, taking a shortcut through the local cemetery. When he gets to the butcher’s shop, Johnny is distracted by a stand of comic books, where the newest edition of his favorite series is on sale for only five dollars. Without thinking, he immediately buys the comic book and begins to read it, losing track of time until the sun begins to set.

Jonny realizes he’s made a mistake: he now has no money to buy the liver for dinner, and his mother is going to be furious that he spent it on a comic book! He has no choice but to hurry home, cutting again through the graveyard. But on his way home, just as he passes a freshly-dug grave, Johnny has an idea – a way to get a liver for free.

“What kind of liver is this?” his mother asks when he gets home and gives her the liver. “It looks old… you’re sure you asked for the freshest cut?”

Johnny tells her that he’s sure it’s fresh and it’s what the butcher gave him. Johnny’s mother finally accepts the liver and tells him to wait upstairs while she makes his favorite meal for dinner: spaghetti and liver.

While Johnny is waiting in his room, he begins to feel sick, thinking about the graveyard, the fresh grave, and the liver currently being prepared into spaghetti. When his mother calls him down for dinner, Johnny feels too sick to eat and tries to just go to sleep.

But late that night, once his mother has gone to bed, Johnny hears a low call…

Johnny, I want my liver back…

Johnny sits up straight in bed. The call sounds like it’s coming from the direction of the graveyard. He feels even more sick now and hides under his covers, but then he hears a thudding on the front door…

Johnny, I want my liver back… I’m outside your front door…

Johnny is crying now in fear, desperately wishing he hadn’t spent his five dollars on a comic book and instead had gone to the butcher’s.

He hears the front door creak open and then slow footsteps coming up the stairs, getting closer… and closer… and closer… Then there’s a rattling on his bedroom door.

Johnny, I want my liver back… I’m outside your bedroom…

Johnny runs to his closet and shuts the door, trying to hide but knowing it is too late. There is a sudden pounding on his closet door…

Johnny, I want my liver back… I’m inside your bedroom…

Johnny holds his breath. The closet door creaks open… and then…

AHHH! (the narrator screams)

Context:

“I grew up going to a summer camp near Lassen National Park and the camp led day trips through a bunch of subway tunnels. The tunnels were dark and cold and eventually led to a larger opening, where all the campers would gather in a circle and turn off their flashlights while the counselors told a ghost story. It was tradition to tell this story and the younger campers would always get scared, but it became a part of the camp’s culture. The story didn’t have an exact narrative ending, but it ended with the counselors suddenly turning on their flashlights and jumping at the campers while their screams echoed through the subway caves.”

Analysis:

This story has a pretty clear message to the listeners, who are primarily children: that dishonesty will only get you in more trouble and to follow directions. If Johnny had listened to his mother’s directions and spent his five dollars on the liver, nothing bad would have happened. But because he wanted to cover up his mistake of spending the money on a comic book, he ended up getting an old liver from a fresh body in the local graveyard and his actions came back to haunt him.

I also see this experience as a whole as a “rite of passage” for the participants in the summer camp described by the informant. Young listeners who are hearing the story for the first time will be hanging onto every word and will therefore receive the most shock at the end, when the counselors scare the campers. In contrast, campers who have heard the story before will know what to expect and may even join in on scaring the younger campers. The shared experience of anticipation, fright, and eventual laughter likely creates a sense of bonding/community within the group of listeners.

“The Water Fountain Ghost”

Genre: Folk Narrative – Ghost Story

Text:

“At the summer camp I went to as a child, we were told a ghost story about a woman who roamed the grounds at night. The director of the camp sat down all the campers on the evening of the first day and told us that long ago, back in the earliest days of the camp, there was a camper who decided to leave their cabin in the middle of the night to explore. They decided to go to the water fountain by the pool, but because it was so dark outside, the camper couldn’t see where they were going and they tripped and fell into the water and drowned. The ghost of this camper, now a grown woman, is seen haunting the camp grounds at night, particularly in the area near the old water fountain. If she sees any campers wandering around outside where they are not allowed after dark, she will drag them into the pool so they can join her as a ghost.”

Context:

“I first heard this story when I was six or seven years old, and I was terrified! I totally believed it, and every night, I would look out my cabin window and look for the ghost lady. It took a few years for me to stop believing it, and it was really only when I had to go to the nurse’s office during the night and I was too scared to go because of the ghost, and the counselor told me that it wasn’t a true story and just something they told to scare the campers into staying inside the cabins. Later on, when the directors of the camp changed, they stopped telling the story which made me kind of sad, because I felt like it was part of the camp lore and kind of another rite of passage in growing up there as a camper.”

Analysis:

I agree with the informant’s realization that the story was something made up in order to scare the campers into staying inside their cabins during the night. In such a rural location, it would be likely that campers leaving their cabins during the night would get them hurt, either by their own actions or by a wild animal. It also discourages campers from engaging in misbehavior that wouldn’t be appropriate in a children’s camp setting, like meeting up with other campers during the night. I think, as the informant experienced, that this is probably a fairly successful method for the younger campers who believe the story, as scaring them into obedience probably has a higher success rate than telling them a seemingly arbitrary rule.

This ghost story reminded me of the story of La Llorona, who is a character from Mexican folklore who also takes the form of a wandering woman. La Llorona is found near bodies of water (just as this ghost is found near the water fountain/pool area) and is said to drown unfaithful men (while this ghost drowns disobedient children).

Text:

In a particular birthday tradition known as ‘birthday bumps,’ the individual celebrating a birthday is subjected to playful kicks and hits by friends, signifying their right to do so on this occasion.

Context:

My roommate’s recounting of birthdays spent at an all-boys boarding school painted a picture of both celebration and apprehension. The day would command a compulsory treat for all, paired with the ritualistic ‘birthday bumps.’ This tradition, seemingly harsh, was upheld even in the presence of authority figures who stood by, recognizing the practice as customary. Although the physical aspect of the ritual was moderated in his college years, the essence remained through symbolic gestures like a slap on the back or the more mirthful cake smashing.

Analysis:

The practice of ‘birthday bumps’ embodies a folk custom that acts as an informal rite of passage, echoing the trials one undergoes to enter a new phase of life. This ritual, while appearing merely as a form of entertainment or a test of endurance, carries deeper cultural and personal significance. It is a manifestation of the community’s acknowledgment of an individual’s transition into a new year of life, as well as a reinforcement of social bonds through shared, albeit challenging, experiences. Ray Cashman’s research into visual displays of identity in Irish nationalism suggests that such customs function similarly, where actions and symbols serve to reaffirm connections within a community. The physicality of ‘birthday bumps’ is a tangible expression of this social fabric, a collective embrace through playful yet ritualized aggression. Furthermore, it reflects the implicit understanding and acceptance of certain levels of discomfort in the service of tradition, paralleling other cultural practices where symbolic actions are believed to confer blessings or good luck. This tradition encapsulates the juxtaposition of individual endurance and communal celebration, uniting the group in a singular, memorable moment that marks personal growth and social continuity.

Text: In 2004, a vengeful spirit forces a Bhawanigarh family to abandon their mansion. Decades later, Ruhaan and Reet, mistaken for dead, hide there, uncovering the spirit’s true identity as a family betrayal. The climax reveals a switcheroo between twins Anjulika and Manjulika, leading to a spectral showdown and a plea for forgiveness.

Context: My brother told me about a tale set in Bhawanigarh, where in 2004, a malevolent spirit forced a family to abandon their mansion. Fast forward to 2022, Ruhaan and Reet, who narrowly escape a fatal accident, seek refuge in this very mansion. Ruhaan becomes known as Rooh Baba, believed to communicate with spirits, amid the family’s misconception of Reet’s demise. The spirit’s identity is revealed to be Manjulika, Anjulika’s jealous twin, skilled in black magic. The plot thickens when the family discovers Reet is alive and Ruhaan’s pretended possession by Manjulika, who had been impersonating Anjulika all along. In a dramatic turn, the true Anjulika’s spirit traps Manjulika, advising the family to forgive Reet for her deceit. This tale, weaving through themes of supernatural revenge, mistaken identities, and familial bonds, culminates in a haunting yet poignant resolution, where the spirit’s entrapment brings an end to the family’s curse, leaving a lingering question of forgiveness and redemption.

Analysis:

The tale from Bhawanigarh intertwines supernatural vengeance with familial betrayal, reflecting deep-seated cultural values surrounding family dynamics and redemption. The malevolent spirit, Manjulika, driven by jealousy and skilled in black magic, embodies the dark consequences of familial discord, resonating with Domino Renee Perez’s observation that folklore figures “wield power by making often incomprehensible and at times contemptible choices” (Perez 155). The narrative’s twist, revealing Manjulika’s identity through a twin switcheroo, delves into themes of deception and truth, showcasing the cultural fascination with doppelgängers and the supernatural as mirrors to human psychology.

The climax, marked by a spectral showdown and a plea for forgiveness, underscores the cultural emphasis on reconciliation and the healing potency of forgiveness. This aligns with the belief in redemption’s possibility, highlighting the transformative power of understanding and absolution within personal and cultural realms. Furthermore, the mansion’s role as the story’s backdrop, abandoned due to the spirit’s wrath, emphasizes the significance of space in spiritual beliefs, akin to Ülo Valk’s analysis of how environments shape folklore (Valk 31).