Tag Archives: travel

Flight Ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 57
Occupation: Dance Studio Owner
Residence: Downers Grove, IL
Language: English

Ritual:

“Whenever I fly, I say the Lord’s Prayer, then repeat “please bless this flight, please bless this flight, please bless this flight.” I do this twice on the ground once we leave the gate and once as the plane is starting to climb.”

Context:

My informant told me that she started this ritual when she was 25 years old. For many years, she had to travel almost every week for her job, so she flew frequently. However, she has a fear of heights as well as motion sickness, so flights always made her nervous. She does not fly as often anymore, but she still performs the ritual when she does. She is Catholic, so saying the Lord’s Prayer is a way to try to combat her flight anxiety.

Analysis:

What is interesting about my informant’s ritual is that she uses something institutionally recognized — the Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”) — in a folkloric way. Her ritual is apotropaic, meaning that the intention behind her saying the Lord’s Prayer and repeating “please bless this flight” is to protect the flight she is on from any harm. What is also interesting about this ritual is her repeating “please bless this flight” three times. Early on in the semester, we talked in class about the cultural significance, specifically in the United States, of the use of threes. Interestingly enough, threes in the United States, for many Americans, represent balance, which is then equated to goodness. So, her repetition of “please bless this flight” three times is another symbol of her protecting her flight, even if she does not realize it.

No Pork on the Pali Highway

Age: 19

Text: This subject discussed her experience with the Hawaiian legend/superstition that one can’t take pork across the Pali Highway in Oahu. According to her, if you were to drive across the highway with any sort of pork product, your car would mysteriously break down or some other form of bad luck would befall you and your passengers. The subject stated that this was a belief that people took very seriously, even opting to go around the long way via an alternate route – the Likelike Highway – if they absolutely want to bring pork products home or just transport them. She also explained that this superstition was based on the mythological story of the goddess Pele (the goddess of volcanoes) and Kamapua’a (a half-pig demigod) and their failed relationship. She said that the way her father explained it to her is that the two divine beings made a pact to keep away from each other after their breakup and stay on their respective sides of the island. So, if one were to bring pork across the Pali Highway, they would symbolically be bringing Kamapua’a to Pele’s part of the island, which would make her mad. As such, Pele would bring some sort of misfortune onto the traveller as a punishment.

Context: A native to Hawaii, this subject first came across this myth when she drove across the Pali Highway with her dad. He told her the story not because they were bringing pork products with them, but just because he thought it might interest her; she remembers being worried that the goddesses’ wrath would apply if someone had also recently eaten pork (as she had that day), but her dad told her that it didn’t count. She believes that this myth exists because the mythology of Hawaii and its many dieties is very important to the natives. As such, she believes the superstition is a byproduct of respect for the religion/spirituality than it would be just a mere silly explanation for why some cars happened to break down on the highway by chance.

Interpretation: I think that this myth is a way of creating a sort of graspable or tangible connection between the land and the mythos behind it – or at least to the divine beings that inhabit it. I believe it also provides an explanation that locals might connect to more as to why their vehicles would mysteriously break down along the highway. It also helps keep the mythology alive, as it blends traditional narratives of the gods with modern day technologies and modes of transportation. It’s a useful means of passing down the histories and practices associated with this spirituality/religion/culture of native Hawaiians and ensuring its continued existence and belief.

The Safety of a Dollar Bill

“Every time I leave to go on a trip, I put a dollar bill in front of Ganesha to bless myself with safety for my travels to whatever destination”

Whenever she is traveling, she never forgets to put a one dollar bill in front of a statue of Ganesha, one of the most worshipped Hindu deities or gods. In Hinduism, Ganesha is associated with success and removes obstacles in one’s life.The dollar bill is an offering to Ganesha in order to receive a blessing of peace and safety on her next adventure. This money is never touched again and never removed. Every dollar bill she has placed in front of Ganesha throughout her life still sits right as she left them. While her parents taught her this practice, this ritual has been passed down many generations of her family and is a largely shared practice in the Hindu religion and culture.

I had never heard of this spiritual ritual before, especially when traveling or embarking upon a new adventure. My familiarity with an act like this is something similar to leaving a dollar or a trinket on a shrine of a god or a spiritual entity one believes in. For example, in Catholicism, Saint Christopher is the saint of protection and guidance for those on journeys, and people in this religion will wear a pendant with this saint on it for a sense of safety. This demonstrates the variability and immense diversity in folklore; some traditions are similar and hold comparable values while coming from totally different heritages and backgrounds. While folklore does not always stem from religious beliefs, this shows that it can interlace with so many different categories of life and be passed throughout centuries, while still holding on to key aspects of the tradition, story, practice, etc. Overall, this ritual that this person practices examples how traditions are passed down throughout generations and entire cultures with adaptability to circumstance and environment. For example, this person and her family use a dollar bill to represent the token given to Ganesha, while in India, or other countries where Hinduism is practiced, these tokens may be different, whether it is a different currency used or something completely different, such as a special trinket. Folklore has the ability to shape individuals practices and beliefs all while creating and sustaining a connection to cultural communities.

Right Foot First and say “דַּיֵּנוּ (Dayenu)”: Jewish Air Travel Ritual

Original Text Pt. 1: דַּיֵּנוּ

Transliteration: Dayenu

Translation: it would be enough/sufficient

Original Text Pt. 2: “I am a Jew, and before we get on a plane, we get on with our right foot and we say ‘dayenu’. If you don’t, the plane is going to blow up and you’re going to die. And that’s just always been the thing, I don’t know, I’ve done that every time I’ve ever gotten on a plane. Anytime I don’t do that or I forget, I spend the whole plane ride like ‘fuck, I’m going to die’. It’s just this cute little tradition we do in our family. My parents introduced it to me, and their parents probably introduced it to them.” 

Context: The informant is 18 years old, a first year at USC, and a Jewish female. “Dayenu” is a Hebrew word that holds significance in the Jewish community. The informant says her “parents introduced it” to her, and that her grandparents probably introduced it to them. The informant still practices this ritual today and feels distressed if/when she forgets to do it. It makes her feel connected to her family when traveling far away and to the larger Jewish community.

Analysis: “Dayenu” translates to “it would have been enough” in Hebrew. It is the name of a song traditionally sung at Passover. The song itself references all the gifts God gave the Jewish people, and that even if he had given them just one gift “it would have been enough”. Saying “dayenu” before traveling is a tradition in Jewish culture. Perhaps it is a way of giving thanks to God before embarking on a potentially dangerous journey for good conscience and protection. The right side is associated positively, while the left is associated negatively in Jewish culture, explaining why using the right foot to step onto the plane would magically give someone protection. This ritual has ancestral wisdom and the weight of religion behind it, which adds to why the informant trusts it and continues to practice it. 

Danielle Slutsky, and Misha Slutsky. “Dayenu with English Hebrew and Transliteration | Passover Haggadah by Danielle & Misha Slutsky.” Haggadot, https://www.haggadot.com/clip/dayenu-english-hebrew-and-transliteration.

Drop Bears

Nationality: American
Age: 26
Occupation: Software Engineer
Residence: California

Text
For this narrative joke, my informant is my older brother (SF). The “Drop Bear” came up in conversation when talking about going on a hike or exploring nature in Australia. My parents had mentioned their plans for the following day on the trip to which my cousin interjected and said, “watch out for the drop bears.” “The what?” my father responded.  “The drop bears.” my cousin repeated, dragging on the anticipation of not expanding and letting other cousins and Australian family back him up.  My cousin then explained, “yea, big angry bears that live in the trees and they’ll drop on your head.”  Drop bears are a species native to Australia that most outsiders have never heard of.  The warnings continue to even suggest bringing a helmet into the Australian forests.

Context
My family, being from the US, was unfamiliar with this concept that is widely known by Australians, and had fallen for the joke. We were visiting our relatives in Australia when I was younger, and my brother had remembered the story.  Though fallacious, drop bears have an extensive amount of detailed history and classifications.  According to the Australian Museum, Drop Bears are carnivorous marsupials, “around the size of a leopard or very large dog with coarse orange fur with some darker mottled patterning,” ranging from “120kg, 130cm long, 90 cm at the shoulder.”  My informant’s interpretation revolved around this story being a funny joke but not much more. He enjoyed the idea that this fooled his parents and aligned with his humor of subjecting gullibility.

Interpretation
My interpretation of this story/species is simply a way to prank tourists for entertainment.  It’s a harmless joke that catches newcomers looking up constantly and watching the trees.  It’s incredible that the legend has become so developed, so much so that the animal has basically all of the classifications any real species would, including appearance, diet, habitat, and regional distribution.  I would say this legend brings Australians together, as they essentially have a nationwide inside joke.