cheap tuesday / superstition

Last night I went out with friends to see this movie, which apparently is one of the scariest movies in a long time. Some people are still scarred from the first one so let alone how could they sit through the second one. Fortunately for me, I barely sat through the first one and NO it wasnt cause I was experiencing a faster heartbeat rate its because it was the most boringest (is that a word?) abnormal movie I've ever seen. Lucky it was on DVD so I didnt waste any money. I still cant believe I saw the 2nd installment last night, but I got to say after the movie finished I was left with some questions about particular characters in the movie until everyone told me it was not a true story. lol

The movie was really convincing, even the picture that I posted gives me some sort of errie feeling. Seeing this movie lead us to talk about all the superstitious stuff that goes on in the motherland. I know for sure that there are a lot of superstitious Samoans today even though Christianity has been widespread throughout the country and early missionaries condoned a lot of ancient practices, there still is a lurking history of what Samoans use to do way back in the day still evident in modern day Samoan families.

Cover the mirror at night, if not you’ll see a aiku staring out at you. Don’t comb your hair late at night or you’ll make the aiku fafine jealous. Don’t whistle at night aua e pi’o ai lou guku. We Samoans have our share of superstitions. It is somewhat funny when we you think about it now, but back when I was young, I believed all of them. I remember going around the house and covering the two big mirrors that we had then.
I wonder where our superstitions came from? How did they get started? Are they the same in Tutuila and Manu’a as they are in Upolu and Savai’i? Speaking of Savai’i, there sure is a lot of kala aikus from Savaii. There are a lot from Upolu too. I can’t think of any from Tutuila and Manu’a right now but I’m sure there must be some.

Perhaps superstitions began as merely stories to keep kids out of mischief. Perhaps, like legends and folk tales, they began as ways for people to explain the unknown. I wonder about aikus and the stuff of legends. Were they once real people, but with the retelling of their stories they became larger than life?

For the most part our society relied solely on an oral tradition for passing our history down to the next generation. That is until the early 1800s or so (don’t quote me on that time frame). This makes it hard for us today to separate fact from fiction. Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking, but I would love it if it turns out that there was a woman named Nafanua who did what the legend tells us she did.

Of course, legend or fact, superstitions or not, people will believe what they believe.

As for me, I believe to some extent. Sometimes I even think that there is no such thing. However, when I’m on Samoan soil and I feel the pull of the land, especially in some of the more remote villages in Savaii, part of me feels that perhaps such things are possible – especially on a moonless night.