The Arkansaw traveler., 1882-12-10
Negro Superstition.
Philadelphia Press,


 trait l believe may say the negroes are. of all races, the most supersfitious. They have as many omens as the ancient Ro- man auguries. For instance. if fores, bird takes refuge indoors. as sometimes happens Ia great storm, negroes look upon this as certain anouncemer. | that death will soon visit some member of the household. remember one day seeing bird iy through window that had been Jeff open to air the room. d u- ring very severe winter. in my child- hood. An awe stricken expression feif on the face of my sable mammy,- who VAS present She shook her head and locke | gloomily around, and. by strange ooin- cidence, not month elapsed before {. death occurred m our household. though. Of course, il might have happened. anu has happened thousand times th., forest birds have taken refuge indoors. without any such result following We note only the rare chance fulillment and not the frequent failure of the omen. 4 young southern lady visiting northern city one spring, remarked 10 her hostess one day on the occasion of wild bird flying in,c her room during storm. "Tha; would throw negroes Tn the south into conste, nation. They always look on bird as messenger of death under such eiroum- stances.
 Before ,he day was over the young lady. oy eoincidence, recived intelligence O. the death of her fathers sister.
 Negroes also take # as a sign of death fl the "whip-poor-will'' comes into the porch and utters his notes. 4 grea, many of them seem 10 hold doves sacred. and to consider l, sinful to shoot them. prob ably because the Holy Spirit manifested himself Tn dove at the baptism of our Lord.
 Another superstition they have abou, birds IS, that if they get held of the comb inss of your hair and twist them into their nests you will have a headache m . consequence. Once when 1 was com plaining of headache in the presence of negro girl she said : You ongh, ,o burn up all the eombings of your halr and then your headache would stop. The birds get hold of the hairs you throx away and twist them into their nests. and tha, is what makes your head ache
 They used to have mortal terror of , being eonJured. and this feeling, though on the wane. IS no, yet entirely extinct. believe Certain negroes. generally old women. got the credit of being con;urors m slavery times. and if they stuck up two sticks under the window of any of their fellow servants against whom they had q srudge. that negro was considered doom ed. knew negro woman who fell into decline and pined away under the belief that she was conJured. and her master could only break the spell by sending her of to hospital. where she spent six months.
 They have many signs and superstl- tions connected with corpses and funerals Nothing would induce one of them n sweep beneath a bed on which corpse was laid. If grave proves too short they always icok on that as sign that another member of the family will soon die. Their morbid love of seeing eorpses and attending funerals is very marked characteristic with them
 Their movements are very muoifTegs. lated by the moon, like the tide. For instance, m planting vegetables. killing hogs. making soap. and various other op- erations. they are careful to select time when the moon IS supposed to be favora- ble- Irish potatoes are always planted !, by them '' on the dark of the rnoon.T as they call it. and hog-killing is also done under similar auspices.
 Negroes are rery prone to having sis- ions. and nearly all of them profess to be favored with these while they are being oonverted-a process consisting of two stages: First. the anxious state called seeking. and secondly. the lubilant state. called :" coming through" when the religious aspirant is immersed and avoss a conviction of having had all his Sins washed over the mill dam. may add however. that the religious sentiment a' : lied as il is with superstition and ignoi anoe. is very sincere one with negroes.
 know of negro a half insane one, tool who eNtrita ated himself very asly from deleS.ma by the aid of v.siesi Ihis negro. partly insane but noI con sidered sufficiently so to be placed in COT . finemeni. reams about the streets .. Lynehburg and the adlacen; country wearing a bright fantastic garb and stick ing gay feathers in his head whenever h.s alterations come on. 4 few years ago he stole tif we can apply Ina; term 10 an irresponsible creaiurc) and killed heifer belonging to one of his brethren. an in fiuential elder Tn the church. who con- sened a meeting and indignantly sum moned him to answer for the offense, i The accused listened very coolly to the indic,men; agains, himself. and without denying the charge said: The fact Is. brethren, the way came to kill that heifer was because had vision. saw an angel who told me Arise. Peter. slay and eat and I was bound to do as he told me. so jus, killed the heiEer." sl- fenced. if no, convinced. his accusers dis banded.
 I recall another instance of negro explaining away his conduo, by means of vision. One winter, some ten CT twelve years ago. when our legislature, l with sprinkling of sable representative, was sitting in Richmond an important rail- road bill. involving the interests of ses- eral northern capitalists. was before the house. There vas a negro member who i first vetoed the bill, but suddenly vert over to the other side of the question.