Tag Archives: tradition

Hair and the Moon

Nationality: American/Ecuadorian
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Washington, DC
Language: English

TEXT: “Whenever my older sister needs a haircut, she asks my mom since she knows how to cut people’s hair pretty well. I remember my sister asking my mom to trim her hair down a little bit, but my mom said no since the moon wasn’t full. Confused, I asked her why she couldn’t cut my sister’s hair if there weren’t a full moon, and she told me that her hair wouldn’t grow back fast or evenly if it wasn’t trimmed during a full moon day.”

CONTEXT: This story was shared by the informant, A.J, during a conversation about family traditions and superstitions passed down through generations. A.J talked about a moment when their older sister asked for a haircut, but their mother refused because it wasn’t a full moon. When A.J asked why, their mom explained that hair grows back better, that is faster and more evenly, if it’s cut during a full moon. A.J mentioned that their mother is Hispanic, and this belief appears to be common among many Hispanic families.

ANALYSIS: This is an example of a folk belief connected to nature and timing, specifically involving the lunar cycle. In many Hispanic cultures, it’s believed that the moon has an influence on natural processes, including hair growth. Even though it’s not scientifically proven, the belief continues to be passed down and practiced. It shows how traditions and superstitions can shape everyday routines like haircuts, and how cultural wisdom combines natural observation with caregiving habits in the home.

Family Christmas Tradition

Age: 19

Story: “Every year my family always has the same Christmas tradition. On Christmas Eve, we go to my grandma’s house, we decorate cookies, and we open gifts. This is a day where all of my family gets together, even the family from out of Washington, and we can finally see each other after many months. Another layer of this tradition is that we open gifts from youngest to oldest. So, this past year, my 2 year old niece opened her presents first, and we ended with my 93 year old grandfather. Then, we head back home, open some more gifts, and finally leave cookies out for Santa. The next morning, we wake up, and there’s some more gifts to be opened, and there’s always board games for our entire family to play. I know this isn’t a super unique or special tradition, but it’s special to me, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Analysis: This story beautifully shows how even widely practiced holiday rituals, like decorating cookies and exchanging gifts can hold deep personal and cultural significance. From a cultural standpoint, the repetition of familiar activities like leaving cookies for Santa or playing board games the next morning contributes to the everlasting traditions that many families share during Christmas. I know that this person doesn’t say that they think this experience is unique to them, but something I’ve always found is that family traditions, no matter how widely practiced, are always unique, always different, and always special.

Free Hot Cocoa!

Age: 19

Story: “There’s this tradition my family and I started doing a couple of years ago during Christmas time, and it’s something that involves the entire neighborhood back home, so it’s super sweet. But essentially, there’s this one house that lives down the street and they have this little window on their front porch, and every night of the week before Christmas, they leave their window open and put up a sign that says “Free Hot Cocoa!” So, one day, my dad and I were walking our dog, we passed the sign, and we thought we oughta take advantage of this free hot chocolate situation. We ended up bringing our entire family back, and now every year, we go back to this house and we get some hot chocolate. We actually even started to create a relationship with the older man and woman that live there, and my dad mows their lawn in the summer.”

Analysis: This person’s experience reflects how everyday spaces, like a neighbor’s front porch, can be transformed into the most memorable and special of places. The tradition started just from a casual walk, but it grew into an annual outing that now holds a lot of value for this person’s family and reinforces a sense of belonging within their community. What I really love here is the evolving relationship between this person’s family and the couple who offers the cocoa. It’s so cool to see how a simple act of kindness, like giving out free hot chocolate around the holidays, can evolve into a beautiful relationship, where this person’s dad now mows their lawn. 

Folktale: Tale of Two Tengu

Date of Performance: 04/01/2025

Nationality: Japanese

Primary Language: English

Residence: Manila, Philippines

My informant, who is half-Japanese, recounts to me a folktale from a children’s book his parents would read to him as a child. The story revolves around two Tengu, Japanese supernatural creatures who resemble demons, their most notable feature being their long noses, which can extend and retract at will. The tale begins as one Tengu, sitting atop a mountain far from civilization, extends his nose to extreme lengths until it reaches a farming village. The people of the village don’t know what it is, but the daughter of the village’s head uses his nose to hang her expensive laundry, leaving several kimonos on it. When the Tengu retracts his nose, he discovers them, and is overjoyed at his good luck – he is then met with jealousy from his friend, another Tengu, who, watching his success, extends his own nose to the village. Instead of expensive clothes, however, when he does so, he gets nothing but bruises and welts, as the children of the town have used his nose as a plaything, climbing, hitting, and toying with it. He retracts his nose, and much to his dismay, has received nothing for his jealousy but bad fortune.

My informant tells this story with a humorous tone – this was his favorite story growing up – and explains its message as “pretty simple”, probably created as a cautionary tale against the pitfalls of envy. He says it aligns with similar Japanese folktales that preach humility, that portray characters who, out of greed, try to replicate the good fortunes of others at their own expense.

My interpretation of this story is quite similar – I think it reflects the cultural and social values prioritized by a community oriented society like Japan. Mirroring its traditionally Buddhist, antimaterialist cultural history, the emphasis on admonishing qualities such as greed and envy make sense. Interestingly, after researching the story further, I found it to be quite unique – it can be traced back exclusively to one storybook (likely the one my informant was shown as a child), the author of which claims the tale has been passed down in their family. Like my informant, the author is part-Japanese, and as some note the Tengu’s description in the story as having unusual, foreign qualities, and so I believe it is likely to have been corrupted from another older tale into something more reflective of the author’s personal background and heritage.

GRAPES ON NEW YEARS

The informant eats a dozen grapes every year before midnight on New Year’s Eve underneath a table for good luck in the New Year and to manifest true love. Each grape represents a month in the year, and they must be finished before midnight.

Age: 24

Date: April 1st 2025

Language: English

Nationality: White/Hispanic

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: California

Analysis: This story falls into the category of tradition, and has been trending on social media (particularly the platform TikTok). This Tradition originated in Spain in the late 1800s, when farmers who dealt with a grape surplus needed to sell their product and used this tradition to popularize it. Over time the tradition turned into a way for single people to try and manifest a partner, and has become popular in recent years because of videos online.