Dr. James T. Callow publications
Browse by
Questions or comments on this site? Please email davidsor@udmercy.edu.
The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for 646 returned 230 results.
"DARK LADY"
ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT, AT 12:00 A.M.,
TELL A GIRL TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR--
SHUT OFF ALL LIGHTS--AND TELL THE
GIRL TO REPEAT THREE TIMES "DARK LADY."
TELL HER NOT TO LOOK AWAY BUT KEEP
LOOKING AT HERSELF. IF HER FACE GLOWS
SHE IS A WITCH, IF IT DOESN'T SHE IS SAFE.
Submitter comment: LEARNED AT A TEENAGE PARTY.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; HAMTRAMCK
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration 686 Thirds / Thrice / Three / Triple CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- October 31 Halloween BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Measure of time WeekDayHour |
Date learned: 00-00-1984
BLACK-AMERICAN BELIEF
IF IT RAINS WHILE THE SUN IS SHINING,
STICK A NEEDLE IN THE GROUND AND YOU
YOU CAN HEAR THE DEVIL BEATING HIS
WIFE.
Submitter comment:
AS A CHILD, I TRIED THIS NUMEROUS
TIMES TO NO EFFECT.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Devil Demon BELIEF -- Sun BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1958
BLACK-AMERICAN BELIEF
A NEGRO WITH A RABBIT FOOT, MOUNTED ON A
WHITE HORSE, IN THE DARK OF THE MOON
IN A CEMETARY, WILL BREAK A WITCH SPELL.
INFORMANT HEARD FROM GRANDFATHER, WHEN
A SMALL CHILD.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI
Keyword(s): WITCHES
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Prayer BELIEF -- Color |
Date learned: 09-15-1985
When it is raining, stick a needle in the ground and put your
ear to it. You can hear the devil beating his wife.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Devil Demon BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
Date learned: 00-00-1951
IF YOU LOOK INTO A MIRROR AND TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND SAY
BLOODY MARY 3 TIMES OVER AND THEN TURN THE LIGHTS BACK ON,
YOU WOULD BE BLEEDING FROM SOMEWHERE ON YOUR FACE.
Submitter comment: THIS ACT WAS USED AS A DARE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; WINSHIP ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration Favorites BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness |
Date learned: 00001970S
When I was younger, my friends and I always had
pajama parties for our birthdays. There were a
lot of things we did to stay up late but one of
them was always considered the most scary. We
turned all the lights off and lit one candle just
before midnight. One of us would turn around with
our eyes closed ten times while standing in front
of a mirror and saying bloody Mary. As it was
turning midnight you were to look over your shoulder
and Bloody Mary's reflection was supposed to be
in the mirror. I never saw anything, but it was
still looked upon as a solemn practice. My
friends sometimes said they saw something, but
I think it was just for the effect of scaring us.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; WESTLAND
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration 686 First / Once / One / Newness |
Date learned: 00001980S
Superstition, non-Christian
Each evening, after dinner but before dark, pound around the
foundations of the house with a hammer to expel evil spirits.
Then draw a line in the ground around the house with a butcher
knife to prevent them from returning.
Submitter comment:
The informant reports that the woman observed doing this (name
forgotten) was wealthy and a poet, but reviled her neighbors
for contaminating her with their Christianity.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Apotropaic Ritual
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Devil Demon |
THIS IS A SUPERSTITION THAT IS HELD IN MY FAMILY.IT IS
BELIEVED THAT ONE SHOULD BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL ABOUT
THROWING AWAY HAIR, BECAUSE IF RETRIEVED BY ONE WHO
KNOWS VOODOO A SPELL CAN BE PLACED ON THAT INDIVIDUAL.
Submitter comment:
I WAS TOLD THAT IN THE SOUTH VOODOO IS WIDELY BELIEVED IN
AND THAT THIS IS A WIDELY BELIEVED SUPERSTITION.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Lansing
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Body part Senses Hair, on head, mustache, widow's peak BELIEF -- Use of Object |
Date learned: 00001980S
Sixty years ago in Ireland, children, at their
first glimpse of a full moon, were taught, in
order to escape bad luck or some dire calamity, to
use the following invocation:
"I see the moon, and the moon sees me.
God bless the moon, and God bless Me."
Submitter comment: My grandmother taught me this when I was little.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SAINT CLAIR
Date learned: 00001970'S
FARMER'S PRAYER
IN ORDER FOR ME AND MY FAMILY TO LIVE, LIFE MUST START IN THE
GROUND. PLEASE BLESS ALL MY LAND ALL YEAR.
Submitter comment:
THIS SIDE OF MY FAMILY IS MADE UP OF MOSTLY FARMERS. THEY
DEPEND GREATLY ON THE WEATHER AND THEIR PREDICTIONS OF IT.
Where learned: MISSOURI
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Plant husbandry Farming BELIEF -- Measure of time Year |
Date learned: 00001940S
In Greece, many people wear a charm known as a "fielahto" which
means "protector." It is a small triangular piece of jewelry
(triangular signifying the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) made of
cloth. Within it is a piece of the cross on which Jesus was
crucified. It is worn on the inside of one's garments and is supposed
to ward of any evil that could possibly inflict harm to the wearer.
Submitter comment:
My informant is unsure whether or not a real piece of the cross
used to crucify Jesus is in the cloth triangle but that is what she
was told when she was given hers and has no reason to doubt it.
Where learned: GREECE
Keyword(s): LUCK
James Callow Keyword(s): relic
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration |
Date learned: 00001943CA
To put the hanks on someone take their socks and boil them and
let the person drink it as tea.
James Callow comment: Does "hanks" mean hex, or is it related to "hanker"?
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Curse |
Date learned: 00-00-1946
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
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration 686 First / Once / One / Newness Favorites BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Witch Shaman |
Date learned: 01-01-1978
Sprinkle red pepper around the outside of the house to keep
evil away.
James Callow comment:
Cf. Puckett, Ohio, no. 25964: "Mix the pod of red peppers
with salt and sprinkle in front of your door to keep away
witches."
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Devil Demon BELIEF -- Plant |
Superstition
When wanting a man to fall in love, place sugar in a glass of
water and stir toward you (the stirrer) saying the person's name
three times.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Laurel
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration 686 Thirds / Thrice / Three / Triple Favorites Food Drink -- Flavoring BELIEF -- Marriage |
Enemies
A woman who practices "who-do" told her this when she visited
relatives in Chester County, Tennessee. To get rid of someone
that is no longer welcomed in your home, one should pour salt on
the doorway when the person leaves and sweep the salt out on the
ground.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Lansing
James Callow Keyword(s): Hoodoo
Date learned: 02-10-1992
How To Become Invisible
Find a black cat. On a full moon go to where the roads cross
and boil a kettle of water. Drop the cat into the water. Boil
the flesh off the bones. Put the bone between your eyes and then
in your mouth. This will allow you to become invisible. Take
the bone out of your mouth and you will become visible again.
James Callow comment:
See Hyatt 5: nos. 10061, 10076, 10078, 10082-10086, 10091-
10095, etc. for the invisibility (disappearance) effect. Also
see Hyatt 1: 74-97 for an earlier section on the black cat bone.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Lansing
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration Favorites BELIEF -- Body part Senses BELIEF -- Mammal BELIEF -- Moon BELIEF -- Sign Geometric figure Cross and its various modifications BELIEF -- Color |
Date learned: 02-10-1992
IF YOU LOOK OVER YOUR LEFT SHOULDER WHILE IT'S RAINING
YOU WILL SEE A DEAD PERSON.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; MONROE
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew |
SETSUBUR IS THE CEREMONY PERFORMED ON THE EVE OF THE
SPRINGTIDE.
SETSUBUR WAS BORN FROM THE OLD BELIEF THAT THE GODS VISIT
EVERY HOUSE AND BRING IT GOOD LUCK. ON THE NIGHT OF
SETSUBUR THE JAPANESE FAMILY THROWS PARCHED BEANS BOTH
INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, CRYING "FUKU WA UCKI! ONI
WA SOK!" WHICH MEANS, "IN WITH LUCK, OUT WITH DEVILS."
IT IS SAID IN THIS WAY SICKNESS AND EVIL CAN BE DRIVEN
OUT AND HAPPINESS ENJOYED.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; JAPAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration Favorites CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Spring Planting F663.9 BELIEF -- Good luck |
Date learned: 11-11-1969
IN YUGOSLAVIA, IT IS BELIEVED THAT BY WAVING A
SILVER KNIFE AROUND, IT WILL WARD OFF EVIL SPIRITS.
Submitter comment:
RECOUNTED FROM MRS. BENESTELLI'S MOTHER, A
NEIGHBOR, JUST RETURNED FROM YUGOSLAVIA.
Where learned: PENNSYLVANIA ; YUGOSLAVIA ; PITTSBURGH
| Subject headings: | Charm / Enchantment / Conjuration |
Date learned: 11-01-1970