Title: Knocking On Wood
General Information about Item:
- Customary Folklore: American Superstition (Bad luck)
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: Unknown
- Informant: Katie Slinkosky
- Date Collected: November 1, 2018
Informant Data:
- Katie Slinkosky is a sophomore at the University of Florida. She grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with one older sister. Katie spends her time hanging out at the pool with friends and rereading the Harry Potter book series. She studies Architectural Design and is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta Chapter at the University of Florida.
Contextual Data:
- Social Context: The informant was interviewed over online video chat in regard to her superstition. She says she first learned of knocking on wood as a youth one summer in Florida from her group of friends. While in the pool, Katie remarked that a bee never had stung her. All of her friends told her she should “knock on wood” so that she would not be stung by a bee. Katie was not sure what they were talking about, and decided not to knock on wood. Nevertheless, two days later, while playing kickball with her friends, Katie was stung by in a bee in the field behind the pool.
- Cultural Context: The origins and culture behind the knocking on wood superstition are largely unknown. Some have traced the superstition back to ancient pagan cultures that believed that deities lived in trees. If you knocked on the trees, it would bring protection from the Gods. Also, some believe the superstition came from knocking on wood to chase away evil spirits from listening in on human conversations.
Item:
- If one says that something good will happen to them, they should knock on wood or else the good thing will not come true. Also, if one says that something bad has not happened yet, they should knock on wood or else the bad thing will come true. It is a conversion superstition.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript of Associated File:
- “I’m a very superstitious person. Um, I knock on wood because, for example, I’ve never broken a bone in my body, but knock on wood (*knocks on wood*), because one time I said, ‘Oh I’ve never gotten stung by a bee,’ and then two days later I got stung by a bee and I learned my lesson and I will never say something without making sure I knock on wood before.”
Informants Comments:
- “I’m not sure where my friends heard it from, it was just something that they had always did and then passed it on to me.”
Collector’s Comments:
- More than one informant that we interviewed mentioned Knocking On Wood as something that they do at least regularly.
Collector’s Name: Oliver Campbell
Tags/Keywords:
American. Superstition. Knocking On Wood. Conversion Superstition