The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-12-23
THE VOODOO CHARMS.
The Supsrstitious but Iilimitabie Faith
OF the Ncgrnes in Their Virtue.

OF the Negroes in Their Virtue.
A yoodoo bag is an amulet which
calls up and inprcsscs in its deep si9ni-
iicance the supyrstitious fears, dreads,
and hopes of the Southern negro. 1t is
his guard against all ills of flesh and
fortune. In appearance voodoo bag
is II Hat, roughly-made pouch of cotton
cloth. Stitched by un>killed hands, its
edges are uneven and raw. From ne
/ inc worn suspended around the neck,
/ in its contact with the skin for sos days
! OF the year, and. in the case of the one
which was seen by y Dispatch reporter
| Yesterday, for twenty-eight years, the
surfaces had become begrimed and
/ greasy. A cord of cotton, rudely knot
ted, held the charm in position, and
was like it soiled from ~
1t was with some fe~Ece57ld only in
response TO repeated and eager inquiry,
! that the lucky poSsessor of the charm,
q negro rouStabout, who for many
years. "Sence befo' de Wah," had been
working on the river, consented to al
low its examination. He would not
part with it under any consideration.
Without any difficulty the pouch was
opened ut the top and an inventory of
the contents made. A wisp of hair.
much resembling that used by plastcrers,
which, it was finally decided, was from
a dogs back, came first, closely followed
by lock which had seen service as the
covering of cat before it became part
of the protector. A little deeper and a
chickens feather, rumpled by contact
with piece of rusty nail and Il long.
sharp tooth, which had place in the
amulet, was pulled out A small piece
of paper, such as one would get by tear
ing of one corner of a newspaper, de-
voId of marks by pen or pencil, con-
cluded the inventory, and when each
was replaced, the strings adjusted and
reswung to its place on the breast of the
owner, the charm was TO all appear
ances as good as if it had just left the
hands of its maker Simply these and
nothing more could be found in the
BAG.
Nor were there any evident signs of
arrangement. Rather it seemed the
whole had been jumbled together with
out thought, the doctor being out of u
supply of the other ingredients some
times found in the amulets.
Deed, boss, Use reason to know dc
charms all rite. could tell We of
many times it's saved me- Dar's wmSt
when was at Louisville, three of us
niggers was runnin' along the gunnclS
of n barge when do line we was carryin'
got co,ched and bof lie man in front
aud dc man behind me fell into dc rivah
and war drownd. rse been through
lots o sech things and always cum
out rite. Whar did git it? OATS way
back in Mis- sippi When | was chile
wuz slckly. aud my dad got it foh TO
make me well. Use never been rite sick
sense"
Such is the faith, superstitious but
illimitablr. that has taken possession of
the minds of those of the colorcd race
who from childhood up have heard such
things spoken of in solemn whispers, in
the half-liGht of Il cabin IN the evening,
or preached by an old man whose I'M
presSive speech was mixed with meta
phur and bristling with horrible exam
pies which have made the pickaninuy
creep to his cot and lie awake half the
night thinking of what he has heard.
IL is growing to be u wonder 10 hear
of colorcd man who practices or
breaches the voodoo belief. With the
education of the MASSES it has died out
or been consigned TO darkest corners OF
the colonies. where its believers are
ever in fear of detection. To the negro
whose lineage goes back to an ancestor
who came from Africa the idolatrous
superstition is moro predominant, as he
can see and believe more fully that by
the voodoo rites the gods may be plac-
ated
The powers of the doctor are inherited
from father or mother who was sc
gifted, and in the earlier days only rest
ell with the descendants of one tribe oi
Africans. Since they have been free
these gifted mortalS dwelt apart from
their brethren anu practiced the black
art in solitude or i'll the presence only
OF the applicant for the exercise of such
power. into the practice entered all
the favorile and regulation tools of the
magician. The caldron boiling and
saelhing, the mystic wand, and the
mysterious inoredients were then in
abundance. The concoctions were not
curealls. but made for a specific purpose,
which the doctors modesty claimed was
always accomplished.
by the death Il few years ago of the
Queen of the voodoos, who made her
home on the borders of Pontchartrain,
Louisiana, the most notable figure pass
eel away, and with her many of the
rites and observances, such as dances
in which the participants stopped only
from complete exhaustion, public invo.
cations, and offerings. - HttSburg D.S.
patch.