Notes » March 2010

Beat the Small Witch

The Witches of Canal Road are still at it.

Ching Che, or Feast of Excited Insects, is the day that Winter ends and Spring begins, and according to superstition, is also the best possible day to "beat the small man" or "beat the devil", depending on who is vexing you.

For HK$50 (the price has gone up since 2003, but only to about US$6.40), you can put a curse on someone you hate. I've never participated in this ritual, not so much because I think it's wrong to curse folks, although to be honest there are folks that deserve it, but because I'm not superstitious, therefore I can't see it working. I suppose you could chalk the $50 up as an entertainment fee, if voodoo is your thing.

But despite the stated goal of bringing peace and harmony to the stressed, not all is peaceful under the overpass: some of the 35 women performing the ritual were said to be fighting over territory during Ching Che, when the average crowd was about 200 people. They should know better.

How difficult do they think it would be for a competitor to obtain of photo of them and give it a taste of shoe leather?

« Must ... Maintain ... Sanity « Archive » Explains the Hammer and Tongs, Too »

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