Title: Gambling on New Year’s Eve

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre
  • Customary Folklore: Superstition

• Language: English

• Country where Item is from: Greece

Informant Data:

• Judith “Judy” Varlamos is from Seattle, WA. Her mom is from Karpenisi in Central Greece, and she still has relatives who live in Greece. Her husband also speaks fluent Greek, and they and their children follow many Greek customs. They are practicing Greek Orthodox Christians and own a Greek pizza restaurant in the neighborhood.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: This superstition is practiced on New Year’s Eve. Participants believe that gambling, such as playing cards, poker, etc. on New Year’s Eve brings good luck for the new year. This superstition is often practiced with family on New Year’s Eve and is a superstition as well as a tradition. This customary superstition is passed down through families by tradition and practice.

• Cultural Context: This superstition stems from the belief that handling money on New Year’s Eve will bring good economic luck for the new year. This superstition also has ties to sympathetic and contagious magic, by having contact with money on New Year’s Eve, the hope is that you will be prosperous in for the whole next year.

Item:

• It’s good luck to gamble on New Year’s Eve. Gambling on New Year’s Eve is thought to bring you good luck for the new year in Greek culture.

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

• None

Transcript of Associated File:

• None

Informant’s Comments:

• None

Collector’s Comments:

• Judy was interviewed over FaceTime by Ellen Pattinson.

Collector’s Name: Interview conducted by Ellen Pattinson. Webpage published by Ellen Pattinson.

Tags/Keywords:

• Gambling, New Year’s Eve, Greek Superstitions, Customary Folklore

Title: Pomegranates and Fertility

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre
  • Customary Folklore: Superstition

• Language: English

• Country where Item is from: Greece

Informant Data:

• Katie Spanos is a ’20 student at Dartmouth College. She is from Hummelstown, PA. Her dad is Greek, but her mom is not. Her dad’s family comes from a small village called Neohori, and she still has a lot of family there as well as some in other parts of Greece. Katie and her siblings do not speak Greek, but her dad, aunts and uncles will speak Greek with her Yia-Yia. Their family follows most Greek customs and holidays, mainly because her entire family is Greek Orthodox.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: This superstition is passed down in one’s family, but is particularly associated with girls and women because women are the child bearers. For example, pomegranates are given to girls and young women by older women to bring them fertility. The customary knowledge of pomegranates as sources of fertility is also knowledge that is passed down in families and female friend groups.

• Cultural Context: Pomegranates have mythological ties to Persephone and Demeter (the Greek goddess of fertility and harvest). The Greek myth of the abduction of Persephone, daughter of Demeter and Zeus, to the underworld is widely known in Greek culture. In short, the myth of the underworld is that if you eat anything, you have to spend eternity there. So when Persephone was abducted by Hades, lord of the Underworld, she didn’t eat anything, except six pomegranate seeds. As a result, she had to spend 6 months of the year in the Underworld and the other six months she was allowed to spend on Earth with her mother. Consequently, Demeter wouldn’t allow any crops to grow when her daughter was in the Underworld (hence the reason for seasons). Pomegranates are also seen as an aphrodisiac in Greek culture and the juices are thought to bring fertility.

Item:

• Eating pomegranates will make you more fertile. This is a magic superstition with the structure “If you do A, then B.” Therefore this superstition can be interpreted, if you eat pomegranates, you will be more fertile.

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

Depiction of Persephone eating a pomegranate.

Transcript of Associated File:

• None

Informant’s Comments:

• None

Collector’s Comments:

• Katie Spanos was interviewed in person by Jess Valvano.

Collector’s Name: Interview conducted by Jess Valvano. Webpage published by Ellen Pattinson.

Tags/Keywords:

• Pomegranates, Fertility, Greek Mythology, Greek Superstitions, Customary Folklore

Title: Red and Pregnancy

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre
  • Customary Folklore: Superstition

• Language: English

• Country where Item is from: Greece

Informant Data:

• Vungelia Glyptis is 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.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: The superstition of not eating, touching, or doing anything associated with red  during a certain week when pregnant is a superstition passed down through families. However, family members can’t remind the pregnant woman of the superstition during during the particular week of pregnancy or the baby will have a birth mark. The knowledge of this superstition is passed down through families, especially between older and younger women. Instead, this superstition is something that is just known and taught to children growing up, but not to be mentioned to pregnant women. Thus, part of the superstition is actually not talking about the superstition.

• Cultural Context: This superstition derives from the association of red with the devil. Although the color red isn’t always connected to the devil, a pregnant woman doing anything with red is thought to give the child a birth mark.

Item:

• If a pregnant woman eats, touches, or interacts with anything red during a certain week of her pregnancy, her child will have a birth mark. The pregnant women also cannot address or be reminded of the superstition during the particular week or her baby will have a birth mark.

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

• None

Transcript of Associated File:

• None

Informant’s Comments:

• Vugelia says that her mom believes the huge birthmark that goes across half of her [Vugelia’s] body is because her uncle reminded her mom of the superstition when she was pregnant.

Collector’s Comments:

• Vugelia Glyptis was interviewed by Carmen Braceras over FaceTime.

Collector’s Name: Interview conducted by Carmen Braceras. Webpage published by Ellen Pattinson.

Tags/Keywords:

• Color Red, Pregnancy, Birthmark, Greek Superstitions, Customary Folklore

Title: Needle and Thread during Pregnancy

General Information about Item:

• Genre and Sub Genre
  • Customary Folklore: Superstition

• Language: n/a

• Country where Item is from: Greece

Informant Data:

Two informants shared this superstition with us, Mary Wallenmeyer and Katie Spanos.

• 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.
• Katie Spanos is a ’20 student at Dartmouth College. She is from Hummelstown, PA. Her dad is Greek, but her mom is not. Her dad’s family comes from a small village called Neohori, and she still has a lot of family there as well as some in other parts of Greece. Katie and her siblings do not speak Greek, but her dad, aunts and uncles will speak Greek with her Yia-Yia. Their family follows most Greek customs and holidays, mainly because her entire family is Greek Orthodox.

Contextual Data:

• Social Context: Extended family will practice this on a pregnant woman to guess the baby’s gender, the woman can also hold the tread herself. The superstition is passed down through families and practiced on pregnant women by family members and close friends. It is often done before a baby’s gender can be determined by doctors as a fun way to predict a baby’s gender.

• Cultural Context: This superstition began before ultrasounds were used during pregnancy as a way to predict a baby’s gender. The practice is now more of a fun way to predict gender and bring family together.

Item:

• When a woman is pregnant, a needle hung from thread is held over the pregnant woman’s palm. If the needle settles into a circular motion then the baby is a girl. If it swings back and forth, then the baby is a boy. The thread can be held by the woman herself, or by someone else.

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

  A pregnant woman holds a thread with a needle attached over her palm to predict the gender of her baby. A circular motion indicates a girl, while a linear motion indicates a boy.

Informant’s Comments:

• None

Collector’s Comments:

• Katie Spanos was interviewed in person and Mary Wallenmeyer was interviewed over FaceTime.

Collector’s Name:  Interviews conducted by Katie Spanos and Jess Valvano. Webpage published by Ellen Pattinson.

Tags/Keywords:

• Needle and Thread gender predictor, Greek Superstitions, Pregnancy, Customary Folklore