Title: Stepping Over People

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre: Customary Folklore-Superstitions
• Language: English
• Country where Item is from: Greece

Informant Data:

• George Spanos is a 50 year-old man from Hummelstown, PA. Him and one of his sisters were born in the U.S., but his two oldest sisters and his older brother were born in Greece. His parents came over as immigrants from a very small remote mountain village in central Greece called Neohori. Greek traditions are a big part of how he grew up and how he raised his children.
• Ally Stone is a student at Penn State. She is from Carlisle, PA. Her mom is Greek but her dad is not. Her mom was born in Greece and her family is mostly from Agrenio, although some live in Athens now too. Most of her family still lives in Greece. Her mom speaks Greek very fluently and they speak it together. Her Yiayia (grandmother) also lives very close and speaks Greek with her. When she was young, she spent most of her days with her Yiayia which is primarily how she learned to speak Greek. Her family is a part of the Greek Orthodox Church and follows many of the Greek customs.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: This applies to anytime someone is sitting on the ground regardless of their age or location. Ally heard this from her mom and she believes in it. She always walks around someone’s legs so she doesn’t risk bad luck.

• Cultural Context: Greek families often have large gathering whether it’s for meals or for church functions. It is considered socially “rude” to step over someone and that’s likely how it came to be associated with bad luck.

Item:

• It is rude and back luck to step over someone’s legs when they are sitting on the ground.

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

• IMG_6147.TRIM.MOV (Segment of George Spanos Interview)

Transcript of Associated File:

• • Carmen: Do you have any examples of Greek superstitions that you or your family members follow or have heard?
  • George: Yeah, a couple. Some small ones like they always leave the same door that they came in. Right, so never go out another door. And another one is if somebody’s sitting on the floor or laying on the floor, you never step over them because that would bring bad luck. Some of them are rooted in traditions.

Informant’s Comments:

• This tradition was passed down from George’s grandmother.

Collector’s Comments:

• Ally Stone was interviewed via FaceTime.

Collector’s Name:

• Interviewed by: Katie Spanos and Carmen Braceras
• Published by: Jessica Valvano

Tags/Keywords:

• Greek Superstitions, Bad Luck, Rude