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James T. Callow Computerized Folklore Archive
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WHY WE DON'T EAT COWS IN INDIA

THERE WAS A GOD NAMED SHANKER. HE HAD A MESSENGER NAMED COW.
SHANKER WOULD PASS HIS ORDERS DOWN TO THE PEOPLE THROUGH COW.
ONE DAY SHANKER TOLD COW TO TELL THE PEOPLE TO TAKE 3 SHOWERS A
DAY AND EAT 2 MEALS A DAY. COW FORGOT SHANKER'S ORDERS AND TOLD
THE PEOPLE TO TAKE 1 SHOWER A DAY AND EAT 3 MEALS. SHANKER BECAME
SO OUTRAGED THAT HE TURNED COW INTO THE ANIMAL KNOWN AS THE COW.
THE PEOPLE STOPPED EATING COWS FOR FEAR THAT THEY WOULD BE EATING
THEIR MESSENGER OF THE GODS.

Submitter comment: INFORMANT LEARNED THIS FROM HIS FAMILY. HE IS A HINDU. THIS IS A
BASIC HINDU STORY.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Creation and Order of Animal Life
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Mammal
BELIEF -- Mammal

Date learned: 00-00-1967

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JAIN BUDDHISTS DON'T EAT MEALS AFTER SUNSET FOR FEAR THAT THEY
WILL EAT GERMS AND SIN.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Keyword(s): JAIN IS A CLASS OF BUDDHISTS

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Measure of time Eating For menu, see N222.

Date learned: 00-00-1967

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EACH STATE IN INDIA SPEAKS A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE BECAUSE THE PEOPLE
WERE BELIEVED TO BE SETTLERS AFTER THE TOWER OF BABEL DISASTER.

Submitter comment: EACH STATE IN INDIA HAS A SEPARATE LANGUAGE BUT EACH SPEAKS
ENGLISH

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal

Date learned: 00-00-1967

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TAKE A DIP IN THE GANGA RIVER AND YOU WILL WASH AWAY YOUR SINS.

Submitter comment: THIS IS A HINDU RITUAL. THE RIVER IS FAST RUNNING AND VERY
POLLUTED. A DIP IN THIS RIVER COULD KILL YOU.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

James Callow Keyword(s): GANGES? ; RITUAL BATHING

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Running water Large current.

Date learned: 00-00-1967

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IN INDIA, POOR PEOPLE ARE CREMATED AND THEIR REMAINS ARE SET AFLOAT
ON THE GANGA RIVER IN A CLAY WATER URN.

Submitter comment: THIS IS A HINDU CUSTOM.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

James Callow Keyword(s): GANGES?

Subject headings: CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial

Date learned: 00-00-1967

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IN INDIA, RICH PEOPLE'S BODIES ARE SET AFLOAT IN A BOAT ON THE
GANGA RIVER WITH CLOTHING AND FOOD FOR A WEEK AS A BURIAL.

Submitter comment: THIS IS A HINDU CUSTOM.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

James Callow Keyword(s): GANGES?

Subject headings: CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial

Date learned: 00-00-1967

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IF A MALE OR FEMALE IS FOUND NOT TO BE A VIRGIN BEFORE MARRIAGE,
HE OR SHE BECOMES AN OUTCAST OF SOCIETY, NEVER TO MARRY.

Submitter comment: THIS IS A CUSTOM OF INDIA.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Marriage

Date learned: 00-00-1967

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Wearing opals when you are not a Scorpio is only bad
luck if you are single; if you are married they won't
harm you.

Submitter comment: Jane, a friend of Elinor's, states that wearing an opal if
you are not supposed to interferes in the finding of
a husband. She then told Elinor that she could wear
an opal if she wanted to, since she was married.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Keyword(s): horoscope, astrology, spinster, advice, reassurance, gems

James Callow Keyword(s): JEWELRY

Subject headings: Favorites
ART CRAFT ARCHITECTURE -- Metal Stone Bone Precious stone Gem
BELIEF -- Mineral
BELIEF -- Marriage
BELIEF -- Bad luck Jewelry (gems, rings, etc.)
BELIEF -- Bad luck Time (year, season, week, hour, etc.) Occasion Event

Date learned: 00001987ca

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When you see the Northern Lights at night, whistle
very loudly and the light will become brighter.

Submitter comment: Elinor learned this belief from a student of her's who
identified herself as "full-blooded North American Indian."
This woman had lived in northern Canada for some time.
When the informant demonstrated the technique for
whistling, she placed both of her baby fingers in
her mouth to indicate that the whistle was to be
extremely loud.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Keyword(s): Aurora Borealis

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Weather sign or control
BELIEF -- Lightning Thunder
BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal

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If you ever make an ugly face and someone slaps you on the back
while you are making that face your face will become stuck like
that.

Submitter comment: Lisa saw this in a movie once.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Keyword(s): CURSE

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal
BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness
SPEECH -- Gesture

Date learned: 00001990s

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Don't ever laugh when a hearse goes by.
Or you may be the next to die.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Keyword(s): DEATH

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal
BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial

Date learned: 00001970S

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Father's Day

Confussion is Father's Day in Harlem, because people don't
know who their father is.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

James Callow Keyword(s): Confusion?

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote
CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- June
CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Birth
CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Summer

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Hully Gully

Hully Gully is the name of a game played many years ago.
Some people played for fun and others played it for money. You
put a rock in one hand behind your back, hold both fist out in
front of you and have your opponent try to guess which hand the
rock is in.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Guessing
Ballad Song Dance Game Music Verse -- Special Object or Implement

Date learned: 02-12-1992

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Cure

To help a open wound heal fast, one should put a piece of
salt pork and a penny on it. However, one should also put a
towel in his or her mouth before doing this because it will
burn.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Measure of quality Monetary systemMoneyWealth
BELIEF -- Animal
BELIEF -- Mineral

Date learned: 02-12-1992

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If you are bitten by a snake, put snuff on it to draw the
poison out.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Animal
BELIEF -- Plant

Date learned: 02-12-1992

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Content filter on this entry.

A nun gets on a bus and sits behind a driver. She says to
the bus driver, she needs someone to talk to -- she lives in a
convent and wants to experience sex before she dies. The bus
driver agrees, but the nun explains that she can't have sex with
anyone who is married because it would be a sin. The bus driver
says, no problem, he's not married. The nun says that she also
has to die a virgin, so she would have to take it in the ass.
The bus driver agrees again, and being the only people on the bus
they go to the back and take care of business. When they were
done and he resumed driving, the bus driver told her, "Sister, I
have a confession to make, I'm married and have three kids." The
Nun replied, "That's o.k., I have a confession too. My name is
Bruce and I'm on my way to a costume party."

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: PROSE NARRATIVE -- Jest Anecdote
Filter - Mature Content

Date learned: 02-12-1992

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Nieman Marcus Cookie Recipe:
2 cups butter 1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder 2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. soda 4 eggs
24 oz. chocolate chips 2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups flour 3 cups chopped nuts
1-8 oz. Hershey bar, grated 2 cups sugar
5 cups blended oatmeal
Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix
together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add
chocolate chips, Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll into balls and
place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at
375. Makes 112 cookies (recipe may be halved). Measure oatmeal
and blend in a blender to a fine powder.

Submitter comment: Story has it that a lady begged to buy the cookie recipe from
Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas and was refused. After several
attempts, she was told that the recipe would cost two fifty. The
lady said fine and requested the store put it on her charge
account. When the lady received her bill the next month, she was
shocked to see the total $250.00 for a cookie recipe on there.
When she questioned the store, she was told the recipe is a very
expensive one and the store would not refund her money. She was
also told that the recipe is a company secret and should not have
been sold. To get even, the lady is spreading the recipe all
over the country by mail, word of mouth, etc. She is the first
to admit she indeed learned an expensive lesson.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: Favorites
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal
Food Drink -- Pastry Sweet Dessert

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BAPTISM CUSTOM

IN THE ARMENIAN CHURCH A CHILD IS NOT TO GET HIS HAIR CUT
BEFORE HE IS BAPTIZED. INFORMANT SAYS THIS IS VERY
IMPORTANT BUT SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHY.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Baptism Naming rite

Date learned: 02-26-1971

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JEWISH CUSTOM

IT IS A JEWISH CUSTOM NOT TO EMBALM THE DEAD. THEY
ARE BURIED THE DAY AFTER DEATH. INFORMANT WAS NOT SURE
WHY THIS WAS DONE.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial

Date learned: 02-05-1971

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KOREAN CUSTOM

IN KOREA, THE TRAIN ENGINEERS DRIVE WITH THE LIGHTS OUT
ON THE TRAINS AT NIGHT. THIS IS SO THEY CAN'T SEE WHAT'S
ON THE TRACKS, BECAUSE IF THEY HIT SOMEONE, CUSTOM
DICTATES THAT WHOEVER OR WHATEVER TOUCHES THE DEAD
MAN FIRST IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FUNERAL. RICK OBSERVED
THIS IN KOREA, 1956 (?).

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD

Subject headings: CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial

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