Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-10-12
WITCHES AND DEMONS
Some Curious Superstitions in Vogue
Among Negroes.
The Plaguing Sprites That Ride
Horses and Tangle Their Names
The Dove is Sacred.

N this process her outicie comes of as
easily as one peeis an orange, says &
writer On Sou thern negro superstitions
in Harper's Bazaar. OF course the witch
will escape, but as even a witch must be
uncomfortable sitting about in her bones
she will return 10 sreinvest herself With
her skin In the meantime the skin is to
be we'll seited and peppered, so that,
upon her reinvestment with il, she will of
course, suffer grevious torment, and it
Is in this agony that she dances with the
famous witch step"
Old negro nurses teach their charges
that the tangles that after nights sleep
are apt TO appear in the hair, are knots
tied by witches, and everybody in the
southern states IS familiar with the darky
belief that witches ride horses and mules
in the dead Of night, exhsustlng their
strength. Tsnte Peagie this morning,
shaking her wise old head, declared &c
NE: "'Tain' no use, mistis, ter hitch up
dem HOSES, all kivered wild knots an
kinks, lax dey is, cause witches dun ride
'em endurin' OBJ de night. Dey won go
fur dis day, shot,
To ward off the approach of any of the
fond sistertOod, silver dimes and 5-cent
pieces with hole in them, strung on a
cord and suspended from the neck are
unrivaled. Odds and ends of bones strung
together, and blessed by a Vodoo priest
ess, constitute Grigri, which is a mar
velous foil against the evil one. In
southern Louisiana there are large num-
bers of negroes who believe that certain
ether negroes have conversed with satan
receiving from him a liberal en-
dowment of his diabolic powers.
These are known as "oonjur niggers," who
can ''hoodoo" you. 70 incur the
fortune. By a glance Of the eye he can
cast spell upon you which will make
you pine away. By hiding DEVILS pow
der under your thre shold he can send
small devils into your body, which will
make you vomit needles, pins, wads of
hair, knives or peddles. Your legs can
be made the lurking place OF lizards and
sooE pions, your feet swarm with spiders,
and your hand. with worms. If he
makes wa1en figure and calls it by
your name, by melting it he can give you
pain wherever he likes. If he chooses
to stick pins into the manikiu, you will
suffer pain in the corresponding portion
of your body. Certain arrangements of
pulled grass before your door, or of sticks,
the "cunjur" man tor your downfall. To
step over them or TO disturb them is to
bring down your evil fate upon you. A
compact ball of feathers in your pillow is
sure sign you are ''ho iooed," as such
a result can only come about by super
natural agencies. No disciple of You
dooism can be convinced that this is the
tendency of feathers in every pillow.
To al ha ksnN has hi
price, and may be induced to withhold
his hand for a consideration, and to turn
his d;abolical battery against any enemy
you may name. Many "houdoOed" which
times enjoy the superiority with which
this temporary unpleasantness invests
THIN. They have become objects OF re-
mark and the solicituds of their neigh
bors, and not unfrequently take to their
beds, which conters upon them enviable
distinction. In the days of slavery many
protrocted case of "houdooism" had at
last TO be cured with heroic measures, as
one case was as infectious as small pox,
and in a short time every negro in the
Quarters" would have believed himself
victim. Many negro is kept in the
right path by cunning and more strong
minded neighbor, who knows the weak
uEs5 VI LIS pcoplS diu IuSSLSs WILL iIs
For money the "conjur man" will always
brew philter warranted TO cast any
spell desired. Toe-nails and purslane if
boiled together make poison against
which naught may prevail, but taken
separately they are harmless.
As every negro, even the most debased,
is sure of salvation, and speaks with con-
fdence of his place in heaven, where he
mill Gao 40 oh 10 -ph IA
folks it is not strange that he revels in
signs portepding death.
His heaven, like the Mussulman's, is
one of sensual delights, and corpses and
funerals are to him great JOY. To put
q black pin into child's dress, to try on
any ones mourning garments, to open an
umbrella in the house, TO break a look
ing glass, to carry spade through the
house, are all signs Of death. To drive a
nail after dark, except il making a coffin,
will bring death; and any man go unfor-
tunate as to bury three wives will bury
six. A spider seen in the morning will
bring good luck; at noon, disappoint-
ment, and III the evening, bad luck.
If accidentally a garment be put on
wrong side out and if it be worn that way
until noon, aud then turned, the wearer
scissors to friend is to sever friendship,
except, indeed, Il bent pin may be given
in return, which averts the impending
rapture. Ths Roman Catholic negroes
OF Southern Louisiana will not cut
banana crosswise, because through its
center runs dark streak, which, if cut
transversely, present the appearance Of
a cross. To avoid this sacrilege the fruit
must be broker.
They accept Bible literally, and, as
they receive it in most .grotesque form
from their preachers" it is little won
der that their conceptions of things spir
itvai is distorted. Without a paBg of
conscience they will eat the chickens from
a neighbours hen-roost, the pigs from
his pen, the melons from his "patch,"
but cannot be induosd to commit the IN
pardonable sin of eating a dove. One
old darkey, when asked the reason, re-
piled: "Wha' fur I dom eat The dove?
Case he de fus one in Noah's ark wha'
got spunk huff to git outen OAR, an
come er flynn back to old Noah wild de
teehchy Heenchy olo branch in he mouf.
After dat de Lord he bless de dove, an
pint i'm ter mon fur de peoples sins,
he mon so mo'pful. Co'se hits a sin
ter sat e. dove! De Bible SEE SO 'p'inted
chile. Reads de Bible en- dun know dat!
hay, chile?"