___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Superstition 1:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Item: “To have a good marriage, on your wedding night you must enter with your right foot first.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore, Magic Superstition
  • Mainly a Punjabi superstition
• English
• Pakistan

Informant Data:

• Sheherzad 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:

• Marriage is an important aspect of Pakistani culture. Sheherzad’s mother first explained this superstition to her when she was a young girl and has carried it with her ever since. This is superstition is followed during a person’s wedding.

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

Transcript of Associated File:

• “To have a good marriage, on your wedding night you must enter with your right foot first.”

Informant’s Comments:

• Sheherzad mentioned that this superstition might come from Hindu influence as in the Hindu culture, the right side of the body is offered to God, for example, when collecting prasad from God you use your right hand.

Collector’s Comments:

• It is interesting that it is the right foot that must enter. It is another example of a superstition in which the right side is held in higher regard. Sheherezad mentioned it is possibly due to Hindu influence.

Collector’s Name: Edric Wung

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Marriage Superstition, Pakistani Superstition

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Superstition 2:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Item: “On a bride’s wedding day, someone should hold a Quran over her head as she leaves her father’s house to ensure that she has a happy future.”

General Information:

• Customary Folklore: Magic superstition, 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 her superstitions while living in the rural area of Gilgit, Pakistan, and that the superstitions she knows are very prevalent in Pakistani culture. Seerat definitely believes that superstitions are an important 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. She stated that she doesn’t believe them on an intellectual level, but still subscribes to some because she has grown up with them. This particular superstition occurs during marriage ceremonies in Pakistan after the wedding is over and the bride is to go live with the groom. Culturally, it is religious in that the Quran will protect the bride as it is a symbol of God’s protection.

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

Transcript of Associated File:

• “People like to hold up the Quran over your head because it is supposed to bring you blessings. When a daughter is leaving from her parents home to live with the groom, they hold a Quran over her head and she has to pass right under it because it is supposed to bless her and protect her marriage.”

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 hasn’t personally experienced this superstition since she is yet to get married.

Collector’s Comments:

• Walking under a Quran before a bride leaves to live with her groom is very similar to what happens in Indian culture. This is a very interesting parallel. At the Indian weddings I have been to, three out of the four of them have involved a bride that I was related to by blood, and before she left her house to go to the wedding, we performed a pooja (prayer) to bless her marriage and this new part of her life.

Collector’s Name: Rajiv Ramaiah

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary Folklore, Marriage Superstition, Pakistani Superstitions