Tag Archives: wealth

New Homes

“Our LoPing taught us that when you are building or buying a house, climb the steps leading to the front door saying oro (gold), for the first step, plata (silver) for the next one, and mata (death) for the third one and so on. The last step should be oro or plata, never mata which is considered bad luck. He also said the front door or gate should face the rising sun. When we move into a new home, my Ninong taught me to always bring rice and salt into the house before anything else. It’s a symbol for continuing prosperity (that we will never go hungry in that home).”

Background: The informant is a 60 year-old woman who was raised in a context where her entire extended family is deeply connected and often support their cousins, nieces, and nephews when they are moving into new homes.  These beliefs were given to the informant when she bought her first home for her family.

Context: This piece was told to me at our church’s weekly luncheon after our Sunday services.  Many of our relatives live locally, so the extended family has opportunities to see each other often.

Buying a new home is a huge deal for people in the informant’s extended family, as it serves as a sign that the individual has created a strong foundation for themselves and can now stand alone as a unit of the extended family.  Therefore, whenever someone buys a new home, members of the family and community often provide these guiding superstitions and beliefs in order to invite prosperity and wealth for the new household.  The informant was also raised to be frugal with their money, so prosperity, luck, and financial gain were important values to emphasize for when they bought a new home.

Ubos Biyaya

Original Script: “Ubos-ubos biyaya, bukas nakatunganga”

Transliteration: oo-boss oo-boss bee-yah-yah, boo-kas nah-kah-too-nga-nga

Literal Translation: Finish finish gift, tomorrow staring

Smooth Translation: Finish your gifts too quickly, tomorrow you’ll be staring emptily.

Background: This proverb was often told to the informant, who was raised to be careful and wise about how she distributed eating her special treats on the rare occasions that she received them.  If she was finishing her “carefully doled out goodies” too quickly, she would be cautioned being so hasty with finishing up her blessings.

Context: This proverb was shared to me through a Facebook Messenger call later in the day with an informant who had previously spoken to me at our weekly Sunday luncheons.

This proverb says a lot about the informant’s family values, especially in regard to special gifts and abundance.  While this proverb was mostly used when the informant was a child and it was usually in reference to inconsequential things such as candy or food, it is indicative of deeper values that ran in her family.  In using this proverb, children learn to value more extended gratification and taking their blessings in small “bites” instead of ravenously expending all that they have.  Because if they do, they will simply have nothing to do later on but stare emptily when they could have had more of the blessing then if they had been more prudent about going through what they had.

Lentil Salad=Money

RITUAL DESCRIPTION: Consumption of lentil salad on New Years Eve to bring wealth.

INFORMANT DESCRIPTION: Female, 42, French

CONTEXT: This woman told me that her most prized ritual is that every New Years Eve she and her family would eat lentil salad in order to call wealth. She said the little lentils symbolize coins. Her mother and entire family did this as she grew up. The little “coins” are meant to be abundance and eating them is calling wealth into the upcoming year.

THOUGHTS: I see how lentils could be like little coins. I find this ritual interesting because lentil salad is popular in France but I never knew it had this double meaning. It seems to make sense although I’ve never heard of such an interesting food on New Years Eve.

Don’t Put Your Purse On the Floor

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Georgia
Performance Date: 04/25/2021
Primary Language: English

Context

This proverb is collected during a conversation I had with a friend when she came over for dinner at my house.

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Performance

The following is a proverb told to me by the interviewee.

I: Don’t put your purse on the floor or you’ll always be broke

M: Who told you this?

I: It’s just everyone in my family

M: Who did you hear it from?

I: I heard it from my mom who heard from her mother. It’s a superstition in the African American community and I think as time went on of course with the transatlantic slave trade it was mixed in with some European values and ended up being what it is now.

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Analysis

This proverb comes from the African-American community and is about a money superstition. The idea is that because people carry their money and cards inside their bags if you put the bag on the floor is showing disrespect and disregard for your money. For the interviewee, she sees this proverb as one that derives from Africa and is now a part of her heritage. What is interesting is that this belief or superstition can also be traced back to Ancient China with Feng Shui, and also to Turkey. Many different cultures have the view that the floor is associated with something dirty and low, and thus something precious like one’s wealth should not be in contact with it.

Don’t Sweep the Floor on Lunar New Year

Nationality: Vietnamese-American
Age: 53
Occupation: Mail Clerk
Residence: Iowa
Performance Date: 4/1/2021
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

D: On the first day of New Year, you don’t sweep the floor. They believe that you’re gonna sweep away all of the good things– they don’t talk about luck, they talk about wealth, money. So you just keep it inside the house, or maybe you can gather it in one spot and leave it there. Until…maybe– because they celebrate on the first, second, and third [days]– those are the three main, then on the third day, you can take away the trash. Or, if you swept it outside, you can sweep it back in. 

Background:

My informant is my father, who was born and raised in Vietnam. Vietnamese New Year is often a large celebration, which goes according to the Lunar calendar. In Vietnamese, New Year is called Tết, and is full of superstitions and traditional practices to ensure the following year will be filled with good luck and fortune. My father’s grandfather and mother thus performed this practice every New Year, however, my father does not believe in it as much. Since immigrating to the United States in the 1990s and having his own family, we have not performed this practice.

Context:

This is a transcription of a live conversation between my father and me. He often tells me stories about his life and past and was reminded of this story when I asked him about folk magic.

Thoughts:

Though I was born in the United States, being the first generation of American-born children in my family, I was raised with many customs and traditions from Vietnam. Since I was young, Vietnamese New Year has always been a large celebration. Many other customs of the New Year have been continued after my parents’ generation immigrated, while others have not. It’s interesting to see which customs continued and which customs they stopped performing. It seems my grandmother and her generation hold onto certain superstitions much more than my parents and their generation. My father has always been one to not be very superstitious. Thinking of when he was a child, Vietnam was in the midst of war, and after, had to rebuild the country. During this time, financial insecurity was common. I can understand then, why this practice may have been performed more and the superstition believed more during that time when there was much uncertainty. Folk magic is often employed in such times of uncertainty. Specifically, this folk magic practice is homeopathic magic, where the act of sweeping mimics sweeping wealth out of your home (and your possession). Now that my family is not as worried about financial instability, the practice has not been continued.