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Superstition 1:

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Item:  “Nazr, the evil eye, which states that if anyone has a fortunate trait that is enviable, then that can attract the evil eye and be adversely affected as a result.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore, Religious Superstition
• English
• Pakistan

Informant Data:

• Seerat Zahra is a Pakistani student at Dartmouth College and considers herself as being from Gilgit, Pakistan and Islamabad, Pakistan since she has lived in both places during her life. Gilgit is a rural, northern area of Pakistan whereas Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. She was born, raised, and lived in Pakistan for her entire life except for spending one year abroad, and her mom is Punjabi and her dad is from Gilgit, so she describes her ethnicity as a mixture from both cultures.

Contextual Data:

• I collected the following items of folklore while interviewing Seerat at a study room in the Jones Media Center at Dartmouth College. Seerat described that she learned most of the superstitions while living in the rural area of Gilgit, Pakistan. She noted that Nazr, or evil eye, is prevalent every day in Pakistani culture. Seerat definitely believes that superstitions are a prevalent part of Pakistani culture, and that individuals who say they don’t truly subscribe to superstition can often find themselves subconsciously changing their actions as a result of common superstitions. This superstition would be used when someone notices that they envy something of someone else, or they may think that other people envy them if they are very fortunate.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

• “One of the major superstitions is called Nazr, which roughly translates to the evil eye. So, it’s a big deal, and the idea is that if something is really pretty or really great in any way, like really smart or really pretty or really rich, and is enviable in some sense, then it can attract the evil eye from people. Meaning, if people envy you or if they really notice that, sometimes even if it is positively, then it can negatively affect that thing. For example, if you see a beautiful house and you really notice it, it can lead to something bad happening to the house. Like if you see a really beautiful girl and if you notice her then it can lead to something bad happen to her appearance. So, you are supposed to say “Mashallah” when you notice something so it can keep away the evil eye. It is Arabic and translated to “By The Glory of God.” By attributing it to God, you protect it. So, people write big “Mashallah” outside of their house. Almost every house in my street had that and you would hear it every day.”

Informant’s Comments:

• Seerat noted that she disagrees with all the superstitions on an intellectual level but subscribes to some of them since she grew up with them. She does, however, find the evil eye superstition pertinent on some emotional level and tries to avoid its influence.

Collector’s Comments:

• I found that the superstitions Seerat talked about, like her superstition of the evil eye, Nazr, had common parallels in American superstition folklore, i.e knocking on wood to prevent jinxing yourself.

Collector’s Name: Rajiv Ramaiah

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Bad Luck Superstitions, Pakistani Superstitions

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Superstition 2:

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Item: “If something good happens to you and you speak about it, say ‘Mashallah – otherwise, something bad could happen to you.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore, Conversion superstition
• English
• Pakistan

Informant Data:

• Seerat Zahra is a Pakistani student at Dartmouth College and considers herself as being from Gilgit, Pakistan and Islamabad, Pakistan since she has lived in both places during her life. Gilgit is a rural, northern area of Pakistan whereas Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. She was born, raised, and lived in Pakistan for her entire life except for spending one year abroad, and her mom is Punjabi and her dad is from Gilgit, so she describes her ethnicity as a mixture from both cultures.

Contextual Data:

• I collected the following items of folklore while interviewing Seerat at a study room in the Jones Media Center at Dartmouth College. Seerat described that she learned most of the superstitions while living in the rural area of Gilgit, Pakistan. She noted that the superstitions below, particularly the superstition of the Nazr, or evil eye, are prevalent every day in Pakistani culture. Seerat definitely believes that superstitions are a prevalent part of Pakistani culture, and that individuals who say they don’t truly subscribe to superstition can often find themselves subconsciously changing their actions as a result of common superstitions. In Pakistan, this superstition would be used socially whenever someone notices that they are envying someone else so they say “Mashallah” to prevent jinxing that person. Furthermore, it can be used by someone who is very fortunate to make sure they don not receive the evil eye.
  

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

• “One of the major superstitions is called Nazr, which roughly translates to the evil eye. So, it’s a big deal, and the idea is that if something is really pretty or really great in any way, like really smart or really pretty or really rich, and is enviable in some sense, then it can attract the evil eye from people. Meaning, if people envy you or if they really notice that, sometimes even if it is positively, then it can negatively affect that thing. For example, if you see a beautiful house and you really notice it, it can lead to something bad happening to the house. Like if you see a really beautiful girl and if you notice her then it can lead to something bad happen to her appearance. So, you are supposed to say “Mashallah” when you notice something so it can keep away the evil eye. It is Arabic and translated to “By The Glory of God.” By attributing it to God, you protect it. So, people write big “Mashallah” outside of their house. Almost every house in my street had that and you would hear it every day.”

Informant’s Comments:

• Seerat noted that she disagrees with all the superstitions on an intellectual level but subscribes to some of them since she grew up with them. Seerat does still say “Mashallah” to avoid jinxing herself or something else she finds fortunate. Often, she stated that her friends at Dartmouth that are not from Pakistan as why she said “Mashallah” and she has to explain the superstition.

Collector’s Comments:

• I found that this superstition is prevalent in American culture. Noticing something fortunate and hinting that it will never change is certainly a bad idea because there is a general feeling that the thing that was fortunate, i.e good looking or very smart, will take a turn for the worse. To prevent it, you typically “knock on would” to prevent the misfortune from occurring.

Collector’s Name: Rajiv Ramaiah

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Bad Luck Superstition, Pakistani Superstitions

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Superstition 3:

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Item: “Don’t clip your finger or toe nails at night or it will bring bad luck.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition
• English
• Pakistan

Informant Data:

• Amenah Hassan is from Lahore, Pakistan. She spent the first 10 years of her life in Pakistan before moving to England. She is Punjabi.

Contextual Data:

• Amenah believes that superstitions are definitely prevalent in Pakistan’s society, regardless of class or social status. She stated that she herself believed in these superstitions quite seriously when growing up. This superstition influences individuals at night if they need to clip their nails and forgot earlier.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

• “Don’t clip your finger or toe nails at night or it will bring bad luck.”

Informant’s Comments:

• Amenah was unsure why this superstition came about, but thought it may have something to do with the fact that the fingernails contain bad luck, and by clipping them, you release that bad luck.

Collector’s Comments:

• I thought it was interesting that despite the fact that Amenah didn’t live in Pakistan, she still believed in a lot of these superstitions. It shows how culturally strong a majority of Pakistani families are.

Collector’s Name: Sheherzad Mohydin

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition, Bad Luck, Pakistani Superstitions

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Superstition 4:

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Item: “Leaving your shoes upside down will result in bad luck.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition
• English
• Pakistan

Informant Data:

• Sheherzad Mohydin is from Lahore, Pakistan. She spent the first 18 years of her life there before coming to Dartmouth College. She identifies as Punjabi.

Contextual Data:

• Sheherzad thinks believes that superstitions play a big role in Pakistan regardless of social class–even the educated, upper class is very superstitious. She also considers herself superstitious even though she understands they are illogical. This superstition influences behavior whenever individuals need to remove their shoes, like when they enter a prayer area or their house. 

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

• “I know that you should never leave your shoes upside down because if you leave them upside down it means there will be bad luck coming your way.”

Informant’s Comments:

•  It is like showing the underside of your foot to God and being disrespectful.

Collector’s Comments:

• This makes sense because the sole of the shoe is the dirtiest and would be a sign of disrespect to show this to someone. I can definitely understand why this superstition is prevalent in a religious culture like Pakistan culture.

Collector’s Name: Edric Wung

Tags/Keywords: Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition, Bad Luck, Pakistani superstition

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Superstition 5:

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Item:  “If something good happens to you, don’t talk about it – otherwise, something bad will happen.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition
• English
• Pakistan

Informant Data:

• Saleha Irfan is from Lahore, Pakistan. She is Punjabi and has spent her entire life in Pakistan.

Contextual Data:

• Saleha believes superstitions are prevalent in Pakistan. Saleha considered herself a believer of superstitions growing up but does not currently subscribe to those superstitions. Saleha stated that this superstition is very common in Pakistan culture and is used often when people don’t want to brag about their good fortunes. 

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

• “Superstitions are particularly prevalent in important life events such as promotions. You try not to tell people about the good things that happen in your life because it’s seen as harmful to you.”

Informant’s Comments:

• You don’t want to talk about anything good, such as a job promotion, because harm may come your way.

Collector’s Comments:

• This is similar to how in our culture, the jinx exists. Also, it relates to being humble and not being arrogant or bragging about your accomplishments. Tales about hubris, i.e arrogance, are found even in Greek society in the years before Christ and it is commonly written about, like in the story Oedipus Rex that we had to read in High School.

Collector’s Name: Edric Wung

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition, Bad Luck, Pakistani Superstition

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Superstition 6:

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Item: “When an owl sings, it is a sign of bad luck coming your way.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore, Sign Superstition
• English
• Pakistan

Informant Data:

• Amenah Hassan is from Lahore, Pakistan. She spent the first 10 years of her life in Pakistan before moving to England. She is Punjabi.

Contextual Data:

• Amenah believes that superstitions are definitely prevalent in Pakistan’s society, regardless of class or social status. She stated that she herself believed in these superstitions quite seriously when growing up. As you would think, this superstition comes into play after an owl sings and is found widely in Pakistani culture.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript of Associated File:

• “Some things (superstitions) that I have noticed are owls singing at night will bring bad luck.”

Informant’s Comments:

• Amenah thought that supersitions were very prevalent throughout Pakistan, even persisting through differences in social status and class.

Collector’s Comments:

• I thought it was interesting that despite the fact that Amenah didn’t live in Pakistan, she still believed in a lot of these superstitions. This superstition is particularly interesting because of how rarely I have heard owl’s singing, but belief in it is quite extensive in Pakistan.

Collector’s Name: Sheherzad Mohydin

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Sign Superstition, Bad Luck, Pakistani Superstitions

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Superstition 7:

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Item: “Never discuss bad dreams or they will come true.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition
• English
• Pakistan

Informant Data:

• Ahsan Azim is from Lahore, Pakistan. He has spent roughly 10 years of his life there and considers himself Punjabi.

Contextual Data:

• Ahsan believes that superstitions are “definitely” prevalent in Pakistan and stated that growing up, he believed in a lot of them. However, he thinks that belief in superstition varies with social class and quality of education. Socially, this superstition is kept within one’s family and is heard by young children when they wake up from bad dreams. 

Ahsan Azim Interview Transcript

Informant’s Comments:

• Ahsan heard this superstition at a young age, however, when he grew older, he stopped believing in a lot of the superstitions.

Collector’s Comments:

• I had heard of this superstition when I was growing up, but never believed in it myself.

Collector’s Name: Sheherzad Mohydin

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition, Bad Luck, Pakistani Superstition