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Your search for Rome, Georgia returned 12 results.

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Death Owl

There's an old belief down South that when a person has been
gravely ill for a period of time or near death, an owl would come
to call for their spirit. The owl would perch on the ill person's
porch, window sill, or tree near the person's home. Exactly one
day later, the ill person would die. The owl was called a squench
Owl, because of the sound that he made during his visit. He would
appear in the late evening. No one knew where he came from or when
he left. People would try to run the owl away to keep the person
from dying and the owl from taking their love one's spirit, but the
owl would only move to another spot and continue to make squenching
sounds and leave like he came. The people were very afraid of this
owl because he brought death.

Submitter comment: My friend was really adamant about this story because she had
exactly experienced this during her years growing up in Rome,
Georgia.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter
BELIEF -- Bird
BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial
BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour

Date learned: 00001944CA

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Town Secrets

There was witches in the town. The people in the town would
tell someone a secret and it would get out and the person that was
told denied telling the secret, so they suspected that there was
witches or spirits in the town. They would get a group of people
to look in the neighbors' back yards and they would discover there
was human skins hanging on the fence. The witches had got out of
their human skins so they wouldn't be known through the community;
therefore they could go around listening to other people
conversation. So the town people decided that there had to be a
spirit around listening, so they would put black peppers in the
skins and when the witches got back into the skins they started
coughing, sneezing and itching so therefore the people knew who
were the liars and gossipers in the town.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: Favorites
PROSE NARRATIVE -- Witch Shaman
BELIEF -- Witch Shaman

Date learned: 00-00-1950

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When the sun is out and it's thundering, raining, and it is
said that the Devil is beating his wife.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Devil Demon
BELIEF -- Sun
BELIEF -- Lightning Thunder
BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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Do not wash clothes on New Year's Day because you'll wash a
person out of your family. The informant's mother died on January
15, 1982 right after the oldest sister washed clothes on January 1,
1982. The informant's mother was very upset because she was very
sick and she did die.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: Favorites
CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- January 1 New Year's
CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Typical Elements of a Festive Pattern
BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank
BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial
BELIEF -- Measure of time Working

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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It is said when a dog howls in the middle of the night, was a
sign of death, a day or two later a person in the neighborhood
would die.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: Observation
BELIEF -- Mammal
BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial
BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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When a person hears a bell ringing in the ear, particurally a
short quick ring, means a person is going to die. The ringing
noise is called a death bell.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: 842 Ringing ears / buzzing / hot, burning
BELIEF -- Body part Senses Ears, noise in ear
BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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When passing a funeral home, you were told not to point at it,
because if you did you would die. You would have to bite your
finger and then put it under your foot to keep death away. It
would reverse the curse of death.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

James Callow Keyword(s): CONVERSION

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal
BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank
BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial
SPEECH -- Gesture

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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Pull your ear if you're talking about a dead person so by doing
this it will keep the evil spirit away.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Devil Demon
BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter
BELIEF -- Body part Senses Ears, noise in ear
BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal
SPEECH -- Gesture

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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If a black cat crosses your path, cross your fingers on him
before he gets cross the path, if you don't you'll have bad luck.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Mammal
BELIEF -- Bad luck
BELIEF -- Conversions
SPEECH -- Gesture

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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If someone sweeps your feet with a broom you have to spit on

the broom; if not the person's foot that you swept will have bad
luck.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

James Callow Keyword(s): CONVERSION

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Body part Senses Feet, toes, toenails
BELIEF -- Bad luck
SPEECH -- Gesture

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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It's said that if you sweep your trash off your porch after
dark, a police officer will come to your house and take one of your
family members to jail.

Where learned: Rome, Georgia

Subject headings: BELIEF -- Street Trip Relations between relatives, friends, host and guest Social class Rank
BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour
BELIEF -- Measure of time Working

Date learned: 00-00-1955

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showing 12 items

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