The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1894-07-03
HooDoo AND vooDoo.
BILL ARP WRITES ON STRANGE
THINGS.

He Tells of tho old Time Signs and
Wonders-How the Negroes Related
Hobgoblin Stories-The Supersti-
tions That still Prevail Among
Them.
Atlsnta Constitution.
was Illuminating about this peculiar
superstition of the negro race. One of
their color has been very sick in this
town and it got spread among them
that he was c%onjured, or "conjud," as
they speak it, and right there comes in
the difference between the blacks and
the copper-colored and mulattos. The
belief In I" cunjnring" seems to be con-
fined mainly to the black negro. Old
Aunt Ann declares that he was cum
jud as sho you're born, for he is turn
in right green" 1t was these same
black Africans who had all the super
stitions about Brer Fox and Bier Rab-
bit. We had all colors amongst our
slaves when was a boy, but it was
only tho black broad-nosed aud thick
Tipped ones whotold us stories by the
cabin fires at night. They only had a
love for the marvellous and their de-
scendants have it yet. They believe
in hoodoo or voodoo and conjurin'.
They have a strong emotional religion
and If the spirit throws them down in
" ~ ~ = outS ciSh OllCy fo BOD-AU
good. What it is they get l don't
know, but it suits them, and there does
not seem to be any change in their
mode of worship. Education has not
made any that we a perceive. Some
white people are affected the same
way, but it is the exception and not
the rule. With tho negroes it seems
to be spasmodic. Its effects have no
good influence after the spasm is over.
We used to say of n Of our servants,
Becky is going to cut up to-day. She
foil down in a trance last night at meet
ing and had to be carried out" And
she did cut up. She was the nurse for
our children and they had to keep
away from her until she got over her
fit. She was accused Of being a cum
Jurer end q black negro named Luke
swOre out q warrant for her and Tom
Perry, the squire issued it, just to see
what Luke could prove. He said that
she made him sick in the back and
kept him sick, and he handed the
squire u dime that she gave him for a
chicken and pointed out the dark spot
on it that was the sign-the proof that
she had conjurcd the money before she
paid it to him. That was all. "What
! do you wish done with her 2" said L.
"Sho have to swaller dc dime" he
said, and dat break tho spell. |
tried rabbit foot and | bury lizard I'M
der dc door and | plat de old mares
name when de rooster crow for mid
night, but it don't do no good. l is
dyin' every day" But Luke got well
and Becky didn't swallow the dime,
either. One of my fathers negro wo-
men got jealous OF Minty, the cook,
and determined to poison or cunjur her
to death. Minty got sick and my
mother told Juno to make hor some
chicken soup. She got from an old
rag a red scorpin's head, q lizards leg,
a bats wing, a betty bug and three or
lour centipedes or thousand legs, as we
a them, and tho tail of u green snake
and had the horrible mess cooking in
a sauce pan when my mother happened
in to see how Minty was and took the
top off the pan to look at the soup.
Juno confessed that she had been gath
ering material for hat soup a good
while, and she wasn't much disturbed
at the discovery. She declared that
Minty had cunjud her husband l reck-
on she had. So my father had to sep
aratc the families. Now, did Shake
venomous contents from the cid Afri-
cans Of England?
"Fillet Of a fenny snake
IN oiuioi JUL III DdhC
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog;
Addcr's fork and blind worm sting,
Lizards leg and Owlet's wing"
The superstitions Of the races is an
interesting study. All have them and
all are connected some way with spir-
Remembering s~pirits-that haunt our
pathway-unsecn but not unmindful
OF our destiny. The Indian tribes do
not seem to know anything about CON
Jurin', but they have many signs and
symbols and a reverence for the great
spirit. read the other day from ono
who was familiar with their customs,
that every male child of q chief or q
great warrior must be named for the
first thing or object that was seen
shortly after it's birth. The old medi-
cino man walked to the door with great
solemnity and ceremony and looked
out, and whatever he saw was the
name OF the child, whether it was
" lying cloud" or "hole in the sky."
or young man afraid Of his horse,"o or
" setting bull" There was a Chero-
kee chief who lived not far fcOm here
whose name vas "Laughing Gal"
Somc hilarious maiden was in sight
when he was born. The ancient Jews
had q custom similar in some respects.
IHo ildilo WAS connected With some in
cident of birth. The great law-giver
was named Moses because he was
drawn out of the water.
But our superstitions are not confined
to names. Very many sensible and
educated people will make a cross
mark with the shoe before they turn
back to get something they have for
gotten, some will spit in the cross.
some put the shovel or the pokor in
tho fireplace when Il screech owl
means near the house. Some will not
begin new work on u journey on Fri
day, and almost everybody had rather
sec the new moon in a clear sky and
ovor the right shoulder. For forty-fvc
years | have known n sensible, sclf-rc-
liant woman who will walk to the
back door to get a lucky view of
the new moon. Her husband makes
fun OF her but will do the same thing
on the sly. When We moved into our
present house old Aunt Ann comforted
by wife by saying "mighty fine place
mighty nice trees and all dat, but
folks say do house is haunted" Tom
Hood wrote ninety verses about a
haunted house and they will make
your hair stand on end if you have got
any:
"O'er all there hung q shadow and q