Folklore has been around for all long as humans have walked on the earth. The Greeks attempted to explain how things work in the universe with elaborate myths about gods fighting with one another and with humanity. The world of folklore is filled with with fantasy but it is also much more than fairytales and fables. Those Aggie jokes that go viral in Texas are featured in other localities as silly stories about Swedes and Finns. With or without television or social media folklore thrives in the human experience. 

We’ve all heard about King Arthur and wondered if there was ever someone like him who actually existed. Was he in fact a good man who had a round table of advisors to help him to understand the needs of the citizens? Was he sent afloat on a fiery raft upon his death. Was the story of his strength in freeing Excalibur from a stone true or just a metaphor for his greatness? Was he himself an invention so wonderful that his fame spread from word of mouth? Such is the nature of folklore but it can also be so much more.

Oral history from common folk is another form of folklore. Unlike the words of historians that are carefully based on verifiable facts, the stories from common people about the events of their lives present a look at how people are thinking in a certain time and place. What they see as important provides a psychological peek into individuals and groups. Thier stories invariably provide themes and rationales for how they see things. 

The songs that we sing in a particular era are yet another type of folklore. Their lyrics imply evidence about what is important during a particular era. They provide a personal and poetic view of what is important to differing groups. While folk songs are notoriously filled with human concerns the same can be said of religious hymns, rap, country music and patriotic tunes. 

A huge aspect of folklore involves ways of explaining things that we do not understand or that we even fear. We have many stories of sightings of Elvis because he was beloved by his fans and his sudden death was shocking. People have an urge to think that he might possibly still be alive but laying low so that he can enjoy life in privacy. They want to believe that he is not gone forever.

There are hundreds of beliefs centering on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Some thought that he actually survived the attempt on his life but was reduced to a vegetative shell of himself. The story goes that his wife Jackie protected him until his actual death by marrying Aristotle Onassis and nursing Kennedy on a private island until he ultimately succumbed to a more natural death.

The number of hoaxes regarding who actually killed Kennedy are numerous and legendary. as well. Some blame Russians. Others seem certain that the Mafia was behind the killing. Then there are whispered tales about angry Cubans hatching the plot to murder Kennedy, including a more recent accusation that the father of Senator Ted Cruz was part of the conspiracy. 

Of late our immediate access to thousands of informational sites is fueling folklore like never before and spreading lies and misinformation that actually influence how people vote. There’s the story of blood drinking Democrats whose headquarters is in a pizza shop in New York City. While that might sound so far-fetched that nobody would believe it, we have witnessed people insisting that it is absolutely true and the attempting to kill the people behind this evil cabal. An even more dangerous hoax is that autism is caused by vaccines.

During the Covid pandemic folklore ratcheted up like never before. Story after story led many people to believe that good doctors were part of a plot to hurt them. Confidence in treatments and preventions waned with many souls believing that efforts to control the spread of the virus were simply political cudgels designed to destroy their freedom and enrich Big Pharma and the doctors who prescribe their products. 

There is so much folklore poisoning our ability to know what is true and what is false that it takes time to research ideas and stories that appear to be out of whack. We are being bombarded daily by charlatans who are using our fears to enrich themselves with power and wealth. Even inside our houses of worship folklore has found a steady supply of believers being told things that are hurtful and wrong. Good people who do not take the time to fact check the rumors of evils seem to be all around us. 

An important rule of thumb would be to be cautious about anything that we read or hear that somehow seems to be ridiculous. We might be tempted to think that people of foreign cultures might in fact be killing and then eating dogs, and cats but before launching into indignant anger we might want to do a bit of research to find out how factual such stories are. Then we need to chide the people who spread such lies and be a more reticent in automatically believing them when they utter the next big lie. 

Folklore can be fun and might even help us to laugh or the handle difficult situations but when such tales appear to be hearting certain groups or individuals we should be wary. Dracula was a story and so is the tale of famous people feasting on blood in a pizza shop. Just as we can find the folklore we also have the capacity to find the truth. We just have to be willing to think critically about what we are reading or hearing.