Title:

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre: Customary Folklore-Superstitions

• Language: English

• Country where Item is from: Greece

Informant Data:

• Vungelia Glyptis was a 2017 graduate of Dartmouth College. Both of her parents are Greek (from the island of Chios). Her maternal and paternal grandfathers are actually from the same village. Everyone in her house speaks Greek, but she usually speaks English with her parents. They follow very old-school customs and superstitions.
• Mary Wallenmeyer is a 55 year-old woman from Shermans Dale, PA. Both of her parents, her two sisters, and her one brother were born in Greece. Her parents were raised in a small village in the mountains of central Greece. Her father came to the U.S. first and worked for two years so he could bring the rest of the family to America. She was born a year after her parents were reunited in the U.S., and her younger brother was born seven years later. Her father and his siblings are deceased, but she still have cousins from his side of the family that live in Greece. Her mother has six siblings still living in Greece along with their families.  Growing up, Mary and her family spoke Greek at home and attended Greek classes. Her husband and children do not speak the language fluently, but they do understand some of it. Her family belongs to the Greek Orthodox church, which she says “ helps keep the ‘Greek’ alive in [their] lives.” Their family still prays in Greek and cooks many Greek foods. They are very proud of their Greek heritage.  
• 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.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: This was a popular superstition amongst those we interviewed. Greeks often have large gatherings and this is a clear symbol of the end of the event. Mary’s parents followed this belief but she herself did not.  Vungelia learned of this superstition through her mother and grandmother and all three women follow it. George is not superstitious and does not follow it, though he finds it interesting.

• Cultural Context: Walking out of the same door one entered symbolizes the closing of the event or meal. To not do so, would leave the event “open” and not completely finished. It helps life to flow correctly. To fail to do so will result in a business deal gone wrong, a marriage proposal not occurring, or just general bad luck.

Item:

• A person must exit the same door they entered through. This applies for all buildings and rooms.

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

• Segment of George Spanos’ interview:  IMG_6147.TRIM.MOV

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:

• None

Collector’s Comments:

• None

Collector’s Name:

• Interviews by: Carmen Braceras, Katie Spanos, and Ellen Pattinson
• Published by: Jessica Valvano

Tags/Keywords:

• Greek superstitions, bad luck, doors