Read the story in bahasa Indonesia
When Erika Shears starts to feel unwell – with a mixture of body aches, bloating, and sometimes a fever – she says she has “masuk angin”.
The term in Indonesian language literally means “enter wind” and is used when somebody feels sick from being exposed to cold wind.
“Normally we catch masuk angin when we walk or ride a motorcycle without wearing a jacket while it’s windy outside or cold,” Ms Shears told the ABC.
Ms Shears said she knew that her explanation didn’t make sense to many Australians, including her husband, who “initially denied and to some extent still doubts” that wind can enter a person’s body.
But when her husband had symptoms similar to masuk angin, she suggested he take a traditional Indonesian herbal infusion made from ginger, mint, fennel, cumin and cloves – which is also sold at some Asian groceries in Australia – and he felt better.
“He even gave it to his brother when he felt sick,” she said.
“I often got asked by people at school about masuk angin and I’d say it’s simply [the] closest to catching a cold, although it’s not quite the same.”
Living in Australia and being brought up in a different culture to your parents can be challenging, especially when it comes to navigating superstitions and myths passed down from older generations.
In many cultures, such myths and beliefs are a normal part of everyday life. But they can sometimes be a cause of conflict within families.
So, how can you navigate these conversations?
‘We educated each other’
Ms Shears, who was born in Indonesia, said explaining her cultural myths to her Australian-born husband was difficult at first.
But eventually, she and her husband often avoided arguments by engaging in more open conversations to “educate each other”.
It was often hard to explain certain Indonesian cultural myths or beliefs, she said, because there was no scientific explanation for them.
She added it wasn’t just a difference in beliefs, but also how they treated food.
“For example, in my culture, we always peel potato skin off before cooking because it’s considered dirty,” Ms Shears said.
“So I was shocked when he cooked potatoes with skin on.
“But he taught me that in Australia, we can cook some veggies with their skin on.
“It has been enlightening for the two of us.”
Victorian-based general practitioner Dr Shiraz Mahkri explained that cold wind wasn’t a cause of illness.
But “very cold wind” would make people feel very uncomfortable, he said.
Ms Shears said other myths in the Indonesian culture included not going “to bed after washing your hair while it’s still wet, or you’ll get a fever”.
She was also told to make sure she “takes a shower after getting rained on” to avoid getting sick.
But Dr Mahkri said sleeping with wet hair or being exposed to low temperatures did not cause colds or fevers.
He said colds were caused by viruses.
‘Hide your belly button or the lightning will take it away’
Haruna Juku, 32, still remembers some myths her Japanese parents used to tell her as a child.
Ms Juku’s parents also told her: “You have to dry your hair before bed or you will get sick.”
“I still kind of think [that myth] is true, because it does lower your core temp,” she said.
She said her parents used to also say things like, “You can’t eat watermelon and ice cream because it will give you a stomach ache” and “You have to hide your belly button or the lightning will take it away.”
Dr Mahkri said talking about cultural myths and superstitions with loved ones, especially ones that are related to health, could be challenging.
“I think we have to be sensitive to people’s different beliefs and ideas because they could be myths or ideas that have passed through generations and generations,” he said.
He said it was important to listen rather than argue.
“I wouldn’t harshly reject them straight off, just keep an open mind and try to understand their anxieties,” Dr Mahkri said.
“Maybe some gentle education is also required to improve people’s health literacy [in] understanding how we get sick, for example, during the flu season.”
But Ms Juku said there were some Japanese cultural beliefs that she would not pass on to her two-year-old son.
She was told that, “You can’t wear shoes on the same day you buy them unless you spit on the bottom of them cause it’s bad luck.”
“There is also, ‘no putting chopsticks in the rice bowl standing up as you are upsetting the dead.’
“The one thing I will definitely keep as a tradition or cultural rule is taking off shoes at the door.
“No-one should be bringing outside germs into the house. That’s gross!
“The fun ones [myths and traditions] can be good for a little imagination but the rest don’t mean anything if you don’t raise [your kids] in the same environment these traditions came from.”
Myths can have ‘cultural function’
While some cultural myths are based on nothing more than folklore and fantasy, they can still be useful.
Tito Ambyo, a lecturer at RMIT University and a PhD candidate with the Digital Ethnographic Research Centre, is working on a thesis about myths, ghosts and storytelling in Indonesia.
In his research, he found belief in cultural myths and the supernatural in Indonesian culture could have positive social functions.
“[Myths] can have a cultural function. They also have a way to unite people. We human beings, we like stories,” he said.
“I think a lot of myths actually remain because they still have their uses. They’re actually about parts of ourselves that are not logical.
“We are highly illogical beings and we make decisions based on emotions more than anything else.”
Mr Ambyo said some people believe in myths and ghosts as a way to help deal with bottled up trauma.
“When you are living in a place like Indonesia, where there’s a lot of history that included violent episodes that we are not allowed to talk about in public, that creates a lot of need to talk about these things,” he said.
“And often they come out in myths and ghost stories because that’s the only way to contain all these violent episodes in our history.”
Having been born and raised in Indonesia, Mr Ambyo even gets caught up sometimes.
“There’s a myth in Indonesia that you’re not allowed to clean your house at midnight, for example, because if you clean your house, especially if you’re cleaning at midnight, with this special kind of broom, that is a way to invite a certain kind of ghost into your home,” he said.
“I still can’t clean my house at midnight, because even though I don’t believe that ghosts will come, it’s that this has been a part of my life for a long time.”