The Butler weekly times., 1891-12-30
NEGRO SUPERSriTlONS.
some Of Chr Curious ideas Which Indaence
the Southern Colored People

Souae OF Gsr Curious ideas Which lndaence
the Southern CoIOred People
The southern negro has a sign and
meaning for everything. You can
scarcely move without running counter
to some superstition. Take up ashes
after dark, you bring. death into the
house; sweep dirt out of a door after
nightfall, you sweep out the wealth of
the family with it: pour milk on the
ground, the cows will 60 dry. II after
starting away from your house you
have occasion to return, sit down, if
only for q moment before starting off
again, otherwise your errand will be
fruitless. The cry Of a screech-owl
BODIES death, as does also the note OF
the whippoorwil, if heard near 1;
dwelling house; in the woods it is in
nocuous- Kill a lizard, its mate will
come to count your teeth and you wi1
surely die. The howl of the dog fore
tells the death Of one Of the family, As
does also the Growing of a hen The
disaster may, however, be avcrtct in
the latter case if the hen is instantly
slaughtered-a clear case of the sur
vival Of the custom Of the sacrifice of 4
ton. II the eyes Of a corpse refuse 10
shut, they are watching for some mem
Der of the family who will soon follow.
When II grave is dug, the spades,
etc, used in the work must
be left out overnight, or they viii be
needed soon for q similar service. and
no fear ncrG b" entertained of their
being stolen, since tn, thief would
bring the d ON on his own head TO
bring a hoe into Il dwciiinr-hous, IS
mighty bad luck, as any Old maumc:
will tell you: and bird flying into Il
window or door is an unfailing messcn-
ger of woe. II your hand itches, rub
it upon wood and put It in your pocket;
it will bring you money or gift.
Should your cyelids quiver, you will
weep ere long. Ii snake cross your
path. beware Of harm from your ene-
mics, which may be prevented if you
pursue and kill the snake. The small
knucklc- bone Of ham carried in the
pocket is a charm against the evil eye
| in general and rheumatism in particu-
lar. If the birds use your hair in nest
| building, you will have headache which
| tiedged and the nest abandoned.
1t is a common thing when a party
| of pickaninnies are playing together to
see one of them give another u light
cut across the back with a switch and
exclaim, triumphantlv: Oar, now, you
gwine git whuppin' fore night, :"
while the recipient of the blow will
| beg as earnestly that the cross" may
| be taken off by a second stroke from
the same hand in the same spot as
though he had already felt the lash.
To lock the hands over the head is to
| pile up trouble. To throw salt on the
fire provokes quarrel with your nea
est and dearest. In turning back in 4
path your supcrstitious negro makes a
cross thus, y, with his foot. and spits
in it; otherwise, he believes, misfor-
tune will surely overtake him the ncx
time he passes that way. Rocking an
empty cradle brings misfortune to the
baby; and if a teething child is allowed
to look at itself in the glass it will cut
teeth hard. To step over an infant as
it lies on the floor will render it puny
and delicate, and if beaten with q
| broom IL Will De goou tor nothing all
it's life
He who kills a cat may bid goodby
to good fortune henccforth: and the
unlucky breaker of a looking-glass has
to expect seven years troubles
The negro believes abiectly in the
moon and conducts all the affairs of
life with regard to her phases. If he
| should kill his pig on the wane of the
moon the meat would shrink to moth
ing in the pot: and it is not an uncom
mon thing for colored cook to ex.
plain an astonishing shrinkage in a
Joint with "Dat meat mus "a been
killed on de decrease Oh de moon
Sarah NJ Handy, in Lippincott's.