I WAS TAUGHT IN GRADE SCHOOL THAT ANYONE BORN BETWEEN DECEMBER 21
AND DECEMBER 26 WOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE
SPIRITS.

Where learned: LOCATION NOT RECORDED BY COLLECTOR

Keyword(s): SPIRITS

Date learned: 11-11-1969

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CHRISTMAS IN GREECE

AT CHRISTMAS, THE MEMBERS OF ONE FAMILY ALL GATHER AT ONE HOUSE AND
ALL BRING A PIECE OF FRUIT. THEN ALL PUT THEIR FRUIT ON ONE TREE.
AT MIDNIGHT, THE BELLS OF THE CITY ARE RUNG IN ORDER TO DRIVE THE
EVIL SPIRITS INTO THE LAKE.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; MARYGROVE COLLEGE ; DETROIT

Keyword(s): DRIVING OUT EVIL SPIRITS

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IN THE TOWN MY FATHER GREW UP IN, EVERYONE WOULD GO TO
TOWN ON SATURDAY NIGHTS. THERE WAS A SUPERSTITION THAT IF YOU
WOULD PASS BY THE CEMETERY ON YOUR WAY TO TOWN, THE SPIRIT
OF AN OLD MAN (NEVER DID GET HIS NAME OR HOW HE DIED) WOULD
CHASE YOU ALL THE WAY TO TOWN AND ON YOUR WAY HOME HE WOULD
CHASE YOU BACK TO YOUR HOUSE. IT TURNS OUT THAT ON SATURDAYS MY FATHER AND HIS FRIENDS WOULD WEAR CORDUROY PANTS. BY WALKING
PAST THE CEMETERY AT AN ACCELERATED PACE, THEIR PANTS WOULD
BEGIN TO MAKE THE CERTAIN NOISE (SWOOSH, SWOOSH).
THIS NOISE WOULD SCARE THEM SO THEY BEGAN TO RUN TO TOWN
BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THE MAN WAS AFTER THEM. CONSEQUENTLY,
BECAUSE OF THEIR RUNNING THE NOISE WOULD BECOME LOUDER.

Where learned: ILLINOIS ; TAYLOR

Keyword(s): GHOSTS ; SPIRITS

James Callow Keyword(s): HUMOR

Date learned: 06-00-1975

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Mary Wells

During the 1950's or 60's, Mary Wells was supposedly a witch
that burned down half a small southern town called Yazoo City.
Chains were placed around her grave to keep her spirit from
returning from the dead. Children during the 1970's and 80's had
a superstition that her spirit could be called from the dead. The
procedure for doing this was to go into the restroom, turn off the
lights, look into the mirror and say Mary Wells' name ten times and
her face would appear in the mirror.

Submitter comment: I'm not sure whether this is true or not because I've been
always too afraid to try it; even up to this date.

Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Louise

Keyword(s): SPIRITS

Date learned: 01-01-1978

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PIESTUPYS -- A LITHUANIAN FOREST

WHILE MY FATHER WAS A LITTLE BOY, HE HEARD VARIOUS TALES
TOLD ABOUT THIS FOREST. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HAUNTED;
FOR IN THERE, THE DUKE OF LITHUANIA (VYTAUTAS)
PUNISHED THE ENEMY OF LITHUANIA. IT IS TOLD THAT THE
GHOSTS OF THOSE KILLED BY HIM OR ANY OF THE SOULS THAT
AREN'T AT PEACE (SUCH AS SUICIDES, MURDERS, THOSE
MANGLED TO DEATH BY THE WOLVES AND THE WILD MAD DOGS)
HAUNT THIS FOREST AND TRY TO REVENGE THEIR DEATHS BY
SCARING THE PASSERSBY TO DEATH.
MY FATHER SPEAKING: {COLLECTOR'S FATHER} 1). ONE OF THE
TALES TOLD IS THAT FIERY PILLARS ROSE UP. THEY WALKED
DOWN A WAYS ON THE SHORE OF SVENTOJI (A RIVER IN
LITHUANIA) AND DISAPPEARED. ONE OF THE OLDER MEN IN
OUR VILLAGE SAID THAT IS THE ANCIENT GOLD AND
SILVER. AND WHERE THOSE POLES, PILLARS, RISE UP OR
DISAPPEAR, THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS SUPPOSED TO BE
BURIED.
ME: DO YOU THINK THIS IS TRUE?
FATHER: NO, IT COUL'VE BEEN ANYTHING; REFLECTIONS
OF SOME SORT OR EVEN THE RUSSIAN SPIES WITH THEIR
TORCHES. IT COULD'VE BEEN A NUMBER OF THINGS.
ME: ARE MOST OF THE STORIES REVOLVE ABOUT THINGS?
NOT PEOPLE OR ANIMALS?
FATHER: OH, THEY SAY THAT THERE ARE MANY STRANGE
THINGS HAPPENING IN THAT FOREST. FOR ONE, THERE WAS THE
TIME...
2) ONE OF THE MEN IN THE TOWN WENT TO THE MARKET TO SELL
HIS GOODS. AFTER BEING DELAYED IN TOWN, HE HAD TO COME
HOME LATE AT NIGHT AND TO CROSS THAT FOREST. MOREOVER,
THE MOON WAS OUT. HE WAS RIGHT BY WHERE THE BRIDGE
WAS SAINT JOHN'S CROSS...AND HE SEES: BY SAINT JOHN'S
CROSS, THERE WERE DANCING YOUNG GIRLS DRESSED IN WHITE
AND SEEMED AS IF THEY WERE FLOATING ON AIR. BUT THEN
HE LOOKED TO THE OTHER SIDE AND HE SAW A NAKED MAN
ROLLING AND LAUGHING IN THE SNOW. HE (THE FARMER)
SAID THAT EVERY HAIR ON HIS HEAD STOOD ON END AND SPED
HOME LIKE HE NEVER HAD BEFORE! HE WONDERED FOR A LONG
TIME AFTER THAT HOW HE MANAGED TO "ESCAPE" ALIVE THAT
NIGHT.
ME: DID YOU BELIEVE HIM?
FATHER: ALL US YOUNGER KIDS DID, WE WERE TOO YOUNG.
OF COURSE, IT COULD'VE BEEN HIS IMAGINATION.
ME: DID YOU HEAR ANY OTHER STORIES ABOUT PIESTUPYS?
FATHER: YES, BUT VERY VERY SHORT ONES.
FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEONE SAID THAT THEY SAW AND HEARD A
BLACK PONY RUNNING ALONG THE SLOPES OF THE FOREST.
OR SOMETIMES OTHERS SAY THAT THEY'VE SEEN A GRAY OLD
GOAT BLEETING {BLEATING} UNDER A TREE.
ME: BUT WHAT IS IT MAINLY THAT SCARED THE PEOPLE
SO MUCH?
FATHER: WELL, THERE IN THE FOREST, THREE THIEVES HUNG
THEMSELVES AND THEY'RE BURIED UNDER SOME PINE TREES
SIDE BY SIDE. AND THE PEOPLE USED TO SAY THAT THEY
STARTED ARGUING WHO ROBBED MORE PEOPLE AND WHO STOLE
THE MOST RICHES, AND AFTER A WHILE, THEY HAD RISEN ALL
THE OTHER DEAD AND TAKEN SIDES. BUT IT WAS REALLY OF
THOSE THREE THIEVES THAT EVERYONE WAS AFRAID OF.
ME: WERE YOU EVER IN THAT FOREST AND HAVE SOMETHING
HAPPEN TO YOU?
FATHER: YES, RIGHT BEFORE EASTER, MY YOUNGER SISTER
AND I HAD TO GET UP IN THE DARK TO GO TO RECOLLECTIONS.
AND FROM OUR VILLAGE TO THE TOWN AND CHURCH WAS TO GO
THROUGH THE FOREST. SO WE SET OUT...STILL DARK. I
HAD NEVER REALLY THOUGHT MUCH OF THOSE STORIES I HAD
HEARD, BUT NOW THEY ALL CAME BACK VIVIDLY. SO HALF
WAY THERE, I PICKED OUT LONG STRONG PIECES OF WOOD FOR
MY SISTER AND I TO PROTECT OURSELVES--MAINLY FROM THE
DOGS.
WE HAD PASSED HALF OF THE FOREST PEACEFULLY, BUT SUDDENLY
UP AHEAD, WE SAW A THING COMING--IT HAD A HUMAN SHAPE
AND WALKED LIKE A HUMAN. WE BOTH THOUGHT IT WAS ONE OF
THE DEAD, SO WE BOTH SAT DOWN HUGGING EACH OTHER, HOPING
THAT THE THING WOULD PASS. SUDDENLY, I HEARD THE THING
REAL CLOSE BY AND SHUT MY EYES. BUT THEN IT GAVE US THE
LITHUANIAN GREETING: "MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU." AND
MY SISTER ANSWERED! IT TURNED OUT TO BE A MIDDLE-AGED
WOMAN DRESSED IN A WHITE FUR COAT! SHE ASKED US IF WE
WERE GOING TO CHURCH AND THEN JUST WENT ON HER WAY.
ME: DIDN'T YOU THINK IT COULD'VE BEEN A SPIRIT?
FATHER: I WAS LITTLE THEN, BUT I KNEW A REAL PERSON
WHEN I SAW ONE! AFTER THAT, I WALKED ON AS BRAVELY
AS EVER AND WAS NEVER SCARED TO GO IN THERE AGAIN!
ME: WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER PEOPLE? DID YOU TELL THEM
WHAT HAPPENED?
FATHER: OH, SURE! BUT THEY SAID THAT THEY DON'T
USUALLY PICK ON LITTLE KIDS.
ME: WERE THERE ANY OTHER INCIDENTS ABOUT THAT FOREST?
FATHER: OH, SURE! I THINK SO-CALLED HAPPENINGS WERE
REPORTED ALL THE TIME UP TO THE TAKEOVER IN 1941. BUT
I DOUBT IT IF MANY OF THE PEOPLE BELIEVED THE STORIES
UP TILL THEN!
ME: DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENED TO THE FOREST NOW?
FATHER: THE LAST I HEARD WAS THAT HALF OF IT IS
DESTROYED. BY BOMBINGS AND SHELLING AND THE RUSSIANS
DID CUT DOWN MANY, MANY TREES FOR THEIR OWN USE.

Where learned: SOUTHFIELD ; LITHUANIA ; MICHIGAN, ASSUMED

Keyword(s): TROUBLED SPIRITS

Date learned: NOT GIVEN

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PIESTUPYS -- A LITHUANIAN FOREST

WHILE MY FATHER WAS A LITTLE BOY, HE HEARD VARIOUS TALES
TOLD ABOUT THIS FOREST. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HAUNTED;
FOR IN THERE, THE DUKE OF LITHUANIA (VYTAUTAS)
PUNISHED THE ENEMY OF LITHUANIA. IT IS TOLD THAT THE
GHOSTS OF THOSE KILLED BY HIM OR ANY OF THE SOULS THAT
AREN'T AT PEACE (SUCH AS SUICIDES, MURDERS, THOSE
MANGLED TO DEATH BY THE WOLVES AND THE WILD MAD DOGS)
HAUNT THIS FOREST AND TRY TO REVENGE THEIR DEATHS BY
SCARING THE PASSERSBY TO DEATH.
MY FATHER SPEAKING: {COLLECTOR'S FATHER} 1). ONE OF THE
TALES TOLD IS THAT FIERY PILLARS ROSE UP. THEY WALKED
DOWN A WAYS ON THE SHORE OF SVENTOJI (A RIVER IN
LITHUANIA) AND DISAPPEARED. ONE OF THE OLDER MEN IN
OUR VILLAGE SAID THAT IS THE ANCIENT GOLD AND
SILVER. AND WHERE THOSE POLES, PILLARS, RISE UP OR
DISAPPEAR, THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS SUPPOSED TO BE
BURIED.
ME: DO YOU THINK THIS IS TRUE?
FATHER: NO, IT COUL'VE BEEN ANYTHING; REFLECTIONS
OF SOME SORT OR EVEN THE RUSSIAN SPIES WITH THEIR
TORCHES. IT COULD'VE BEEN A NUMBER OF THINGS.
ME: ARE MOST OF THE STORIES REVOLVE ABOUT THINGS?
NOT PEOPLE OR ANIMALS?
FATHER: OH, THEY SAY THAT THERE ARE MANY STRANGE
THINGS HAPPENING IN THAT FOREST. FOR ONE, THERE WAS THE
TIME...
2) ONE OF THE MEN IN THE TOWN WENT TO THE MARKET TO SELL
HIS GOODS. AFTER BEING DELAYED IN TOWN, HE HAD TO COME
HOME LATE AT NIGHT AND TO CROSS THAT FOREST. MOREOVER,
THE MOON WAS OUT. HE WAS RIGHT BY WHERE THE BRIDGE
WAS SAINT JOHN'S CROSS...AND HE SEES: BY SAINT JOHN'S
CROSS, THERE WERE DANCING YOUNG GIRLS DRESSED IN WHITE
AND SEEMED AS IF THEY WERE FLOATING ON AIR. BUT THEN
HE LOOKED TO THE OTHER SIDE AND HE SAW A NAKED MAN
ROLLING AND LAUGHING IN THE SNOW. HE (THE FARMER)
SAID THAT EVERY HAIR ON HIS HEAD STOOD ON END AND SPED
HOME LIKE HE NEVER HAD BEFORE! HE WONDERED FOR A LONG
TIME AFTER THAT HOW HE MANAGED TO "ESCAPE" ALIVE THAT
NIGHT.
ME: DID YOU BELIEVE HIM?
FATHER: ALL US YOUNGER KIDS DID, WE WERE TOO YOUNG.
OF COURSE, IT COULD'VE BEEN HIS IMAGINATION.
ME: DID YOU HEAR ANY OTHER STORIES ABOUT PIESTUPYS?
FATHER: YES, BUT VERY VERY SHORT ONES.
FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEONE SAID THAT THEY SAW AND HEARD A
BLACK PONY RUNNING ALONG THE SLOPES OF THE FOREST.
OR SOMETIMES OTHERS SAY THAT THEY'VE SEEN A GRAY OLD
GOAT BLEETING {BLEATING} UNDER A TREE.
ME: BUT WHAT IS IT MAINLY THAT SCARED THE PEOPLE
SO MUCH?
FATHER: WELL, THERE IN THE FOREST, THREE THIEVES HUNG
THEMSELVES AND THEY'RE BURIED UNDER SOME PINE TREES
SIDE BY SIDE. AND THE PEOPLE USED TO SAY THAT THEY
STARTED ARGUING WHO ROBBED MORE PEOPLE AND WHO STOLE
THE MOST RICHES, AND AFTER A WHILE, THEY HAD RISEN ALL
THE OTHER DEAD AND TAKEN SIDES. BUT IT WAS REALLY OF
THOSE THREE THIEVES THAT EVERYONE WAS AFRAID OF.
ME: WERE YOU EVER IN THAT FOREST AND HAVE SOMETHING
HAPPEN TO YOU?
FATHER: YES, RIGHT BEFORE EASTER, MY YOUNGER SISTER
AND I HAD TO GET UP IN THE DARK TO GO TO RECOLLECTIONS.
AND FROM OUR VILLAGE TO THE TOWN AND CHURCH WAS TO GO
THROUGH THE FOREST. SO WE SET OUT...STILL DARK. I
HAD NEVER REALLY THOUGHT MUCH OF THOSE STORIES I HAD
HEARD, BUT NOW THEY ALL CAME BACK VIVIDLY. SO HALF
WAY THERE, I PICKED OUT LONG STRONG PIECES OF WOOD FOR
MY SISTER AND I TO PROTECT OURSELVES--MAINLY FROM THE
DOGS.
WE HAD PASSED HALF OF THE FOREST PEACEFULLY, BUT SUDDENLY
UP AHEAD, WE SAW A THING COMING--IT HAD A HUMAN SHAPE
AND WALKED LIKE A HUMAN. WE BOTH THOUGHT IT WAS ONE OF
THE DEAD, SO WE BOTH SAT DOWN HUGGING EACH OTHER, HOPING
THAT THE THING WOULD PASS. SUDDENLY, I HEARD THE THING
REAL CLOSE BY AND SHUT MY EYES. BUT THEN IT GAVE US THE
LITHUANIAN GREETING: "MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU." AND
MY SISTER ANSWERED! IT TURNED OUT TO BE A MIDDLE-AGED
WOMAN DRESSED IN A WHITE FUR COAT! SHE ASKED US IF WE
WERE GOING TO CHURCH AND THEN JUST WENT ON HER WAY.
ME: DIDN'T YOU THINK IT COULD'VE BEEN A SPIRIT?
FATHER: I WAS LITTLE THEN, BUT I KNEW A REAL PERSON
WHEN I SAW ONE! AFTER THAT, I WALKED ON AS BRAVELY
AS EVER AND WAS NEVER SCARED TO GO IN THERE AGAIN!
ME: WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER PEOPLE? DID YOU TELL THEM
WHAT HAPPENED?
FATHER: OH, SURE! BUT THEY SAID THAT THEY DON'T
USUALLY PICK ON LITTLE KIDS.
ME: WERE THERE ANY OTHER INCIDENTS ABOUT THAT FOREST?
FATHER: OH, SURE! I THINK SO-CALLED HAPPENINGS WERE
REPORTED ALL THE TIME UP TO THE TAKEOVER IN 1941. BUT
I DOUBT IT IF MANY OF THE PEOPLE BELIEVED THE STORIES
UP TILL THEN!
ME: DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENED TO THE FOREST NOW?
FATHER: THE LAST I HEARD WAS THAT HALF OF IT IS
DESTROYED. BY BOMBINGS AND SHELLING AND THE RUSSIANS
DID CUT DOWN MANY, MANY TREES FOR THEIR OWN USE.

Where learned: SOUTHFIELD ; LITHUANIA ; MICHIGAN, ASSUMED

Keyword(s): TROUBLED SPIRITS ANIMALS WOODS

Date learned: NOT GIVEN

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WITCHES

NEVER WALK ALONE AFTER MIDNIGHT, BECAUSE THAT IS THE TIME
WITCHES AND SPIRITS COME OUT.

Data entry tech comment:

Updated by TRD

Where learned: KILLARNEY ; EIRE ; Corcoran, Fran ; 27 Park Road

Keyword(s): GHOSTS ; Night ; SPIRITS ; WARNING ; WITCHES

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