Folklore belongs to people and communities more precisely than it belongs to modern political borders. Geographic labels on FolkBelief.org are therefore intended to describe where a belief has been documented, not to claim that everyone in that place shared it.
Recorded In Does Not Mean Believed by Everyone
A superstition collected in Massachusetts is evidence of a tradition recorded there. It does not establish that the belief was held throughout the United States.
The same principle applies to countries, regions, ethnic groups, religious communities, occupational groups, and historical populations.
Country and Region
Countries and regions are different geographic levels and should not be treated as interchangeable.
A region may contain several countries, while a belief documented within one country may belong to a much smaller local tradition.
Historical Borders
Modern national borders do not always match the political or cultural geography described by historical sources.
Older works may refer to kingdoms, empires, provinces, counties, territories, or place names whose boundaries have since changed. Where this matters, historical context should take priority over forcing the record into a modern label.
Cultural Traditions
A cultural or community label should be used only when the evidence supports that association.
Geographic presence alone does not prove that a superstition belongs specifically to every ethnic, religious, linguistic, or cultural community living in that place.
Multiple Locations
The same folk belief may be independently documented in several locations. Similar records can indicate diffusion, shared tradition, parallel development, or a broader pattern, but the available evidence may not always reveal which explanation is correct.
Our Approach
FolkBelief.org aims to preserve the most specific location and tradition information supported by the source while avoiding unnecessary generalization.