[Caring the Korean Way] Korean seasonal superstitions: folklore behind traditional holidays

What does it mean to care -- deeply, instinctively, and culturally?  In this series, "Caring the Korean Way," we explore the distinct practices, beliefs, and values that shape how Koreans care for themselves and each other. From time-honored folk remedies to modern reinterpretations of healing, each story offers a window into the unique ways care is expressed in Korean life. -- Ed.

This week Korea marks Chuseok, the mid-autumn harvest festival that fills highways with family travelers and tables with freshly made songpyeon.

The holiday is not only about food and reunions but also about old superstitions passed down through generations. From rice cakes shaped with care to red bean porridge against ghosts, these beliefs once promised health and good fortune. Though many are now kept as tradition rather than conviction, they still offer a glimpse of how Koreans tried to greet each season with rituals of luck.

Chuseok: pretty songpyeon for pretty children

Chuseok, the mid-autumn harvest festival, draws families together to thank ancestors and share new crops.

The day’s signature food, songpyeon, is crescent-shaped rice cakes stuffed with sesame seeds or beans. A belief holds that if you make your songpyeon beautiful, your future children will be healthy and good looking.

This centuries-old superstition encourages care and cooperation where families sit together kneading dough, whispering wishes and placing pine needles in the steamer to impart fragrance and ward off bad spirits.

Even in apartments far from ancestral fields, making songpyeon connects modern families with a sense that loving hands can shape a lucky future. The half-moon shape mirrors the waxing moon and promises growth. Many also whisper wishes for wealth and a good harvest.

Dongji: red beans against the longest night

The winter solstice, Dongji, was once feared as the darkest day. To counter negative energy, households cook patjuk, a porridge of red beans and rice balls.

The crimson beans represent strong yang energy and were believed to repel evil spirits and disease. Families share the porridge and smear some on gates or place bowls in corners to block ghosts.

Although urbanization has reduced the practical need for such rituals, many Koreans still eat patjuk on the solstice as a comforting reminder that a warm bowl of porridge once served as a shield against winter’s gloom.

Samjinnal: Azalea pancakes to welcome spring

On the third day of the third lunar month comes Samjinnal, the Double Third Festival (March 3).

With spring’s arrival, women traditionally picked azalea flowers and folded them into glutinous rice dough to make hwajeon, tiny pancakes studded with petals.

Eating hwajeon was believed to promote health and smooth the transition from winter to farming season.

Modern cooking classes still teach people to press azalea petals or mugwort into rice cakes, keeping alive the superstition that eating the first flowers of spring will bring vitality and a good harvest.

Dano: hair washed with herbs

Dano, or Surit-nal, falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Heat and insects increase at this time, so people performed cleansing rituals to ward off illness.

Women washed their hair in water boiled with changpo (iris), believing the fragrant herb would make hair thick and chase away spirits.

They also wore Angelica flowers and tied iris roots around the waist because the aroma was thought to repel evil. Villages held wrestling matches and swinging contests to drive away bad luck. While shampoos have replaced herb rinses, cultural festivals still offer changpo treatments and folk games, blending nostalgia with entertainment.

Seollal: New Year’s soup

The Lunar New Year, Seollal, is Korea’s biggest reunion. Relatives return home to perform ancestral rites. They then eat tteokguk, a soup of thin rice cakes whose round slices resemble coins and eating it is believed to bring luck and longevity.

Some elders caution against washing hair or showering on New Year’s Day lest you wash away fortune.

Others avoid sweeping or taking out the trash so luck stays inside.

Korean holiday superstitions offer glimpses into a world where people sought harmony with nature and reassurance against life’s uncertainties.

From shaping rice cakes to boiling herb water, these practices connect generations through shared stories and foods. While few today fear evil spirits, the rituals remain meaningful because they reinforce family ties and cultural identity.