Carolina Superstitions
We are living' in an enlightened age but
there are still a large number of people in
North Carolina who believe firmly and de¬
voutly in many ancient superstitions.
MODERN scientifically trained
people have all but rejected
the world of the occult — all
but, hut not quite. It is true our
modern world has more stability and
security. For instance we do not
observe the flight of birds to find out
when a journey is propitious: rail¬
roads and automobiles are too depend¬
able: even a blow-out in a tire is at¬
tributed to the worn fabric rather
than to a witch. But modern life
still has its uncertainties and even in
a world where science gives m con¬
fidence in many things, superstitions
still creep in.
Superstition is the word wo use to
speak of the modern survivals of an¬
cient magic. The unseen forces,
mostly evil but sometimes good and
friendly, still linger on. Few of us
are completely free from occult be¬
liefs and practices. Among the more
isolated folk there are many of these
beliefs and practices. Some are still
quite seriously accepted, but many
are now regarded more lightly, and
some even playfully. Superstition is
dying, but it dies slowly. It has been
dying for three hundred years, and
it may not be dead for another three
hundred.
While teaching sociology at the
Woman’s College of the University of
North Carolina my students under¬
took at one vacation period to record
whatever superstitions they could re-
eall having heard, believed, or prac¬
ticed. They gathered similar records
from other white folks in their com¬
munities. Each student followed a
simple but specific plan for record¬
ing information.
A Thorough Survey
There were 258 persons from 10S
different North Carolina communi¬
ties, dotted over every section of the
-late, who turned in 8,705 supersti¬
tions; some of them partial repeti¬
tions, of course. Of the 8,705 super¬
stitions 5,185 were believed by the re¬
corder as a child, while 1,216 of them
were still believed when recorded;
4,004 of them were practiced by the
recorder as a child, while 2,137 of
them were still being practiced when
recorded.
By ADA DAVIS FOUST
The superstitions turned in dealt
with such subjects as death, sickness,
good luck, bad luck, marriage,
weather and success. Let us look at
the 515 which dealt with death. These
came from 108 North Carolina com¬
munities, and they contained 9!* dis¬
tinct themes connected with the
death prediction. One hundred eiglity-
six of the 515 connected death with
a horse, a rabbit, a flying squirrel,
a rat. a cat, a singing bird, a dove,
a black bird or crow, a whippoor¬
will, a cow, a bird beating against
something, a chicken, a buzzard, a
rooster, a bird in the house, an owl, or
a dog.
Still Other Omens
Two hundred sixty-nine of the 515
death omens connected 22 other types
of incidents or objects with death.
There appeared the influence of the
hearse, Friday, odd numbers, um¬
brellas, mirrors, falling pictures,
trees, falling stars, dreams and of fu¬
neral cars. Death was also related
to such incidents as replacing a win¬
dow by a door, wearing a new dress to
a funeral, cutting nails, cutting hair,
taking pictures, carrying tools into
the house, remodeling homes, work¬
ing between Christmas and New Year,
stepping over someone, sneezing,
counting funeral cars and hearing a
ringing in the ears.
Superstitions which showed simi¬
larity of theme showed variations in
the exact conditions necessary for
death to occur, or variations in the
identity of the one to die when those
conditions were met. In the buz¬
zard theme sometimes the buzzard
only needed to fly over the house.
Sometimes he must circle the house,
and sometimes he must light on the
house. To ward off the evil effects of
the hooting owl you would need to
throw a lighted piece of pitch over
your left shoulder and over the house
or put your shoe bottom-side up on the
hearth, or place a shovel in the fire,
or tie a knot in your shirt-tail or tie
a knot in the sheet. The dog which
appeared in 50 cases was a howling
dog. Sometimes the howling was at
night, or without reason, or at the
full moon season, or three nights in
succession; or in the house; or in the
middle of the night or late at night,
or around the house, or just before
dawn. Sometimes the dog must be a
hound; sometimes he must roll over
and howl; sometimes he was required
to look into your eyes and howl.
Interpretation of Dreams
The 98 cases in which a dream was
an omen of death included dreaming
of a burning house, yellow clay, a hat.
nude persons, negroes, running water,
deep water, muddy water, a fall, a
white horse, teeth, or of a wedding.
Variations also occur in these. Some¬
times you must dream of falling a
great distance and hitting bottom.
Sometimes you must fall into water.
Sometimes the dream signifies you
will die, or someone of your acquaint¬
ances in particular will die.
Wherever there was duplication of
theme there was also variation in
details. Sixty of the 515 death
omens were in no way duplicated.
These came from many different sec¬
tions of the state.
The study shows among other so¬
ciological facts of interest that here
in North Carolina we arc still living
in two worlds, as has been the case
with man always. The one world is
understandable and stable. The other
is precarious, capricious or danger¬
ous. The latter, being full of uncer¬
tainties, tends to be the world of the
occult, the hidden, the mysterious,
the supernatural. Men tend to deal
with this shadowy world of the occult
by means of superstition. It is a
populous world, inhabited by fairies,
imps, brownies, demons, evil spirits,
angels, witches, and many other be¬
ings. It is the realm of curses, bless¬
ings, divinations, luck, and charms
to bring good fortune to keep away
evil, sickness, or accident, and to
secure success in gambling, love, hunt¬
ing, farming, or even horse racing.
Although superstition is dying
slowly in the Good Old North State
there are still those among us who
cringe when the black eat crosses our
path.
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