Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
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CHANGE YOUR LUCK (COLLECTOR,S TITLE) ; CONVERSION: WALKING COUNTERCLOCKWISE (CLASSIFIER,S TITLE)
IF A PERSON IS HAVING A STREAK OF BAD LUCK IN A GAME SUCH AS BINGO,
ALL TYPES OF CARD GAMES, OR IN A GAME IN WHICH A PLAYER IS SEATED,
HE CAN CHANGE HIS LUCK BY WALKING AROUND THE CHAIR COUNTER-CLOCKWISE.
OF COURSE, IF THIS PROCEDURE DOES NOT WORK THE FIRST TIME IT SHOULD
BE REPEATED UNTIL A CHANGE OF LUCK TAKES PLACE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; WESTLAND
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; Bingo ; CUSTOM ; DIRECTION: COUNTERWISE ; Entertainment ; GAMES
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- P833 P833.6 |
Date learned: 09-15-1969
Belief: Luck
Winning Streak:
Many coaches won't change a suit, socks or some particular piece of clothing if they have a winning streak going.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: Myself
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; CLOTHING ; CUSTOM ; Entertainment ; GAMBLING ; jinx ; LUCK ; SPORTS ; SUPERSTITION
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Entertainment Diversion BELIEF -- Fate Destiny Luck Chance |
Belief:
Never borrow salt ot you will lose a friend.
Submitter comment:
Informant learned this from her mother.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [P882.14, P880] crossed out/replaced with current classifications
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; Conversation
Keyword(s): Salt, Mineral, Belief, Friendship, Custom, Ownership
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- F553 Food Drink -- Flavoring BELIEF -- Mineral BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank |
Belief
YOU SHOULD NEVER BORROW SALT WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT,
BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER SPEAK TO THAT PERSON AGAIN.
Submitter comment:
INFORMANT LEARNED THIS FROM HER PARENTS WHEN SHE LIVED
ON A FARM AS A GIRL.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Salt, Mineral, Belief, Friendship, Custom, Ownership
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- F553 Food Drink -- Flavoring BELIEF -- Mineral BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank |
Date learned: 03-31-1967
Ethnic: Scottish
Never cut your fingernails on Sunday.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
The word Legend has been crossed out from the top of the card.
Original BN [P400, P644, P43, P880] have been crossed out/replaced with current classifications
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; ROYAL OAK
Keyword(s): DAYS OF THE WEEK ; ETHNIC ; GROOMING ; Scotland ; SCOTTISH ; Superstition, Belief
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Measure of time F574.5 (SUNDAY) BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Ethnic:Ugandan
Cocks and Misfortune:
If a family keeps poultry, and is a cock among them crows between sun-set and mid-night [sic], that particular bird must be strangled immediately to overt misfortune!
Submitter comment:
The superstition is proper to the Batooro tribe of about 100,000 poeple of Uganda.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [P530, P880] crossed out/replaced with current classifications
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): ANIMALS ; BELIEF ; CUSTOM ; ETHNIC ; FARMING ; MISFORTUNE ; Omens ; Poultry ; SUPERSTITION ; Tribe ; Uganda
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Bird |
Maxim
Sun and Rain:
Happy is the bride the sun shines on;
Lucky is the corpse that rain falls on.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [P880, P45] crossed out/ replaced with current classifications.
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; Bride ; BURIAL ; Corpse ; DEATH ; Funeral ; MARRIAGE ; Maxim ; OMEN ; SUPERSTITION ; WEDDING
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Marriage BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
Ethnic: Ukraine
Belief:
In Ukraine, it is believed that if you're locked out of your house and forced to come in through the window, you must also leave by the window or you will experience some misfortune.
Submitter comment:
Informant received information from grandparents in Ukraine.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [P880] written and crossed out twice/replaced with current classification.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; CUSTOM ; Door ; ETHNIC ; FUNERAL HOME SLOGAN? ; SUPERSTITION ; Ukraine ; UKRAINIAN ; UKRAINIAN BELIEF ; Window
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank |
Superstition:Wedding
Wedding Superstition:
For each ribbon a bride breaks on a wedding or shower gift she'll have a child.
Submitter comment:
This is a superstition common in the Oswald family
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [P545] crossed out/replaced with current classifications
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; BIRTH ; CHILD ; CUSTOM ; FUTURE ; MARRIAGE ; OMEN ; Ribbon ; SUPERSTITION ; WEDDING
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Marriage BELIEF -- Fate Destiny Luck Chance |
Superstition
Superstition:
If you come in one door and immediately go out another you'll have company.
Submitter comment:
Sylvia learned this from her sister who in turn learned it at the nurses' lounge at Beaumont Hospital, Detroit.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [P860] crossed out/replaced with current classifications
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; Company ; CUSTOM ; Entrance ; Exit ; OMEN ; SUPERSTITION
| Subject headings: | Observation |
Ethnic: Irish
Some more: when these men arrived they would not work either - it seems the air strip went over a large mound and this is Ireland is recognized as a grave yard for the "Little People" and to disturb it is unheard of. So to this day the strip is still uncompleted. [sic]
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs and BN added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Card was located in a pile marked with [?].
Where learned: UNKNOWN
Keyword(s): Airport ; Airstrip ; BELIEF ; BURIAL ; ETHNIC ; GRAVEYARD ; IRELAND ; Irish ; Legend ; Little People ; Mound ; SYMBOL
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Fairy Elf Goblin Gnome |
Numerology
If the numerical number of your birthday coincides with your actual age, then you will have good luck that year.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
James Callow comment:
Original BN [P686, P800] crossed out/replaced with current classifications
Where learned: HOME ; MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; Birthday, Numerology, Numbers ; LUCK ; OMEN
James Callow Keyword(s): Birthday ; Birthday Belief ; NUMEROLOGY
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- P647 BELIEF -- Use of Object |
Ethnic: Native American
Before the prayers, say "remember man that the Pipe of your earthly life" will some day be broken. Then take bowl and stem apart and lay on coffin.
After the prayers in the ritual, then take two parts of the Pipe into your hands and say: "Through the Resurrection of Christ, the life of _____and all of us will be brought together into eternal happiness." Then in the four directions, point the Pipe to the sky and say "I am the Living and Eternal Pipe, the Ressurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me, even if he die [sic] shall live: and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." Repeat this in each of the four direction. At the end point the Pipe to the sky and touch the Earth with the bowl.
Submitter comment:
The informant advises that the Pipe be already filled with tobacco. This is the most powerful prayer I have experienced with the Pipe and produces a deep impression on many people.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: CANADA ; Tekakwitha Conference ; WINNIPEG ; MANITOBA
Keyword(s): AMERICAN INDIAN ; BELIEF ; CUSTOM ; DEATH ; ETHNIC ; Funeral ; Native American ; PRAYER ; RELIGION ; RITUAL
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Prayer |
Ethnic: Native American
To Smoke the Pipe:
If the Pipe is smoked it is done at the conclusion of the prayers. The idea is the same as the new liturgical emphasis in the social aspect of Holy Communion. It is done for fostering the sense of community and to express the unity there is between all the people present as well as with all mankind and all creation. The Pipe is lit by the leader, smoked and passed clockwise. Women can kiss th Pipe in stead of smoking it. After one kisses or smokes the Pipe, he says "For the sake of our relatives." Relatives primarily include men but animals as well. As far as Holy Communion is concerned this is probably the closest the Plains Indian symbol there is. The point can be made that the Plains INdians were striving for the same religious values as Catholics do when they receive Holy Communion with a sense of community in mind. When the Pipe has been passed around, it is handed back to the leader who smokes it again, empties the ashes and the ceremony is completed. Although the smoking of the Pipe would be done in restricted circumstances, there are times when it could be most powerful.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: CANADA ; Tekakwitha Conference ; WINNIPEG ; MANITOBA
Keyword(s): AMERICAN INDIAN ; BELIEF ; CUSTOM ; ETHNIC ; Native American ; Pipe ; PRAYER ; RELIGION ; RELIGIOUS
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Prayer |
Ethnic: Native American
The Pipe:
The place to start in liturgical adaptation is to use the Sacred Pipe as a prayer instrument. This will probably in time lead to the Pipe as an official sacramental like holy water. The Pipe is a wonderful symbol of Christ because it is the instrument of the mediator in the Sioux Religion just as the Sacred Humanity is the instrument of Christ the Mediator in our Christian Religion. Christ fulfills the Pipe rather than destroys it since He does in a more perfect way what the person praying with the Pipe does in an imperfect way. The Pipe, then, is the great Sioux foreshadowing of Christ in HIs Priestly Office. A person who understands and appreciates the Sacred Pipe will be disposed and not hindered from accepting Christ. I have found this true from experience. The Pipe must be purified, even exorcised if necessary like Holy Water and "baptized." When this is done, it is no longer the same Pipe which the early missionaries condemned. Once a person, whether Indian or non-Indian had this vision, he can no longer pray with the Pipe in exactly the same way as before. This is most important to remember: we are no longer talking about the same exact Pipe as the early missionaries because they did not see it in this way.
The Sacred Pipe is the religious symbol which is at the center of every traditional religious ceremony which all Indians of the Plains performed. It would be well to read one book, The Sacred Pipe, by Joseph E. Brown, Oklahoma Press (republished this year). In this account of Nicholas Black Elk, one of the great Catholic catechists on the Pine Ridge Reservation, we see all that the Pipe might stand for. If we want to grasp and summarize all the true cultural religious values of the Sioux Religion, then we must make our approach to adaptation beginning with the Sacred Pipe. If someone would build a Gothic Church, sing (a) Gregorian chant and wear Roman vestaments and at the same time reject the Sacred Humanity of Christ, this would be faulty acceptance of the Catholic Religion. The same is literally true of adapting the externals of the Sioux Religion such as language, music, beadwork, etc. without the Pipe. Whatever is said of the Sioux Religion is true of all the Plains Indians.
By adapting the Pipe we are getting at the natural starting point in their own minds. When you have taken the Pipe into the Catholic Church, you have taken in the essential good of their religion. Does this mean that we need to take in all their religious values without careful examination? No, some of these must be purified or even rejected. The advantage of starting with the Pipe as a prayer instrument (which it always was in their tradition) is that it creates a frequent occasion for dialog with the Indian people and for becoming involved in conversations which were closed to one before. It is most important to talk to the Indian people in an atmosphere of sympathetic acceptance to learn what the Pipe really means to them.
There will be good Catholic Indians who will not want to accept the Pipe because it has been condemned by some Fathers. It is important here to give time for new ideas to seep in. It took three or four months for one of my good Catholic full bloods to accept the use of the Pipe by the priest because of past condemnation. But when the idea finally got across that we are "baptizing" the Pipe, he said with great joy that he "wanted to be the godfather." It wasn't that he did not love the Pipe, but rather he rejected whatever the Fathers told him was bad regardless of how dear it was to him. A person could have taken his first reaction to the Pipe during those first several months as an argument against using the Pipe. But as it turned out, just the opposite is true. In fact, the injustice on our part for denying him the use of his own religious culture which he valued becomes evident. That is why the only way we can continue to discuss liturgical adaptation of Indians culture and make decisions concerning it, is to actually use the Pipe, begin a dialog and give sufficient time for honest reactions to become known.
One great advantage to using the Pipe for many communities is that it does not necessarily involve the Lakota language or Indian language of any Plains Tribe. If a community is almost entirely Indian speaking, using the language is good. But if the community is split, then the Indian language drives the full blood and the mixed bloods into the disunity of the ghettos. I don't think it is advisable to have a Mass just for Indian speaking people and one for non-Indian speaking people. This will never create the Christian Community. On the other hand, the Pipe is a symbol and a symbol can mean different people. [sic] To many full bloods it still has a very literal appeal because they are still living in some way in the traditional world. These people have often been leading double lives. There are probably more Indians going through the sweat lodge and making a fast or vision quest on top of the hill than most people realize.
However, to the non-Indian speaking mixed blood the Pipe should be a symbol of his Indian identity and help enable him to accept his Indian identity with pride. Fr. Bryde's thesis is that there is a social pathology involved in today's Indian Culture and the place to start for everyone, full and mixed blood alike, is to build a pride in their Indian identity. This is what the use of the Pipe in the liturgy can do as well as to unite a fragmented community. In comparison to the above approach, the singing of a white man's son[g]s translated to the Indian was a useful but very weak approach to adaptation. It served its purpose in its own time.
In conclusion, the starting point is to use the Pipe as a prayer instrument and be prepared for open dialog with the Indian People. This use is in complete conformity with our Catholic Faith and should requite [sic] the permission of a local superior only. Eventually, it may become an official sacramental requiring the permission of the Bishop. Thus we are putting the Pipe in a very precise place that we can easily defend and explain so that we can have confidence that we know what we are doing. This is a small beginning since we can hardly do less. If we never go any further than this, we still have enriched the Catholic Church with a wonderful cultural gift and we have allowed the Indian people to accept their Indian identity at least to some extent when they become Catholic. However, when this step is taken, other developments will appear. I use the Pipe as a prayer instrument because I pray with more meaning and greater sincerity. The prayers and rituals will follow.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: CANADA ; Tekakwitha Conference ; WINNIPEG ; MANITOBA
Keyword(s): AMERICAN INDIAN ; BELIEF ; CATHOLICISM ; Colonialism ; Essay ; ETHNIC ; Native American ; RELIGION ; RELIGIOUS ; SYMBOL
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Prayer |
Ethnic: Moravian
Moravian Burial Custom:
Moravian cemetary headstones are kept flat to show humility; their uniform size reflects the democracy of death. Burial is not by families but by choirs - grouping by age, sex, and marital status.
Submitter comment:
Read in National Geographic Magazine, Dec. 1970
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: Myself
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; BURIAL ; CUSTOM ; DEATH ; ETHNIC ; Funeral ; Moravian
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial |
Ethnic: Korean
Korean Burial Custom:
In Korea, burial sites are usually found on the sides of mountains with boundaries marked by two pillars. Once a year, (exact time not revealed by informant) food for deceased is borught and placed upon a platform.
Submitter comment:
Informant believes that these particular examples reflect a Buddhist belief in afterlife and ancestor worship.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; BURIAL ; CUSTOM ; ETHNIC ; FOOD ; Funeral ; Korean ; RITUAL
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial |
Ethnic: Korean
Korean Death Custom:
In Korea, there is a three year mourning period for a parent since each child spent three years in the bosom before birth.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Ancestors ; Beliefs ; BURIAL ; CUSTOMS ; DEATH ; ETHNIC ; Funeral ; Korean
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Death Funeral Burial |
Custom/Belief
You should make a wish when you enter a church for the first time.
Submitter comment:
Informant revealed this custom when the new parish church was built several years ago.
Data entry tech comment:
Motifs added by TRD
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; HARPER WOODS
Keyword(s): BELIEF ; CHURCH ; CUSTOM ; RELIGION ; WISH
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Church |