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 P435 returned 131 results.
SOME "FOSSOYEUR", IN ORDER TO MAKE SOME MONEY, SELL DIRT FROM
CEMETERIES, WATER FROM TOMBS, AND ALSO SKULLS TO "QUIMBOISEURS".
THE "QUIMBOISEURS" USED TO PAY IN A CERTAIN WAY SO THAT THEY DO
NOT GET BAD LUCK OR MISFORTUNE. FOR INSTANCE, THE DIRT AND THE
WATER WERE SOLD IN GLASS CONTAINERS, AND THEY PAY FOR THEM WITH
WHITE ROCKS OR SILVER JEWELRY, AND ON THE OTHER HAND, THE SKULL
WAS PAID FOR WITH GOLD.
Where learned: GUADELOUPE
Keyword(s): "FOSSOYEURS" ARE GRAVEDIGGERS ; "QUIMBOISEURS" ARE PEOPLE THAT ; PRACTICE WITCHCRAFT AND ALSO WHITE MAGIC.
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Curer |
Date learned: 00-00-1973
IF A MAN HAS NEVER INDULGED IN A SEXUAL ACT BEFORE AND HAS NOT
COMMITED ANY SINS, HE CAN HAVE A SUPERNATURAL POWER. SUCH PEOPLE
CAN HEAR THE BIRDS AND ANIMALS WHILE TALKING.
Where learned: NIGERIA
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Supernatural Being BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Animal |
Date learned: 00-00-1969
IF THE HAG RIDES YOU AT NIGHT THE BEST WAY TO GET RID OF HER
IS TO PUT A SMOKE-FILLED JAR UNDER YOUR BED,AND SHE WILL BE
TRAPPED IN THE JAR.YOU WILL KNOW BECAUSE,THE SMOKE IN THE JAR WILL
TURN BLACK.
Where learned: GEORGIA
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Witch Shaman |
Date learned: 04091984CA
MEXICAN BELIEF
IF YOU HAVE FIGURINES OF BABIES OR BABY DOLLS IN
YOUR HOUSE, SOMEONE CAN COME IN AND PUT A SPELL ON
THE BABY DOLL AND IT (THE BABY DOLL) WILL MAKE THE MOTHER
OF THE HOUSEHOLD BECOME STERILE.
Submitter comment:
MY GRANDMOTHER'S HUSBAND BELIEVES THIS AND WILL NOT
LET MY GRANDMOTHER HAVE ANY FIGURINES OF BABIES IN
THE HOUSE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Means of Causing or Avoiding Illness |
IN TERRI'S NEIGHBORHOOD THERE IS A FAMILY WHO LITERALLY
LIVES THEIR WORLD IN BLACK AND WHITE. THEIR HOUSE IS WHITE
WITH BLACK SHUTTERS, THE NEW CAR IS WHITE (THE OLD ONE WAS
BLACK), ALL THE FURNITURE AND CARPETING IS WHITE WITH BLACK
HIGHLIGHTS. FINALLY EVEN THE FAMILY DOG IS BLACK.
THE LADY OF THE HOUSE IS SELDOM SEEM AND IF SHE IS YOU
CAN GUESS FOR YOURSELF WHAT COLOR CLOTHES SHE HAS ON.
WHEN TERRI WAS YOUNGER SHE SAID THAT ALL THE KIDS THOUGHT
THAT SHE WAS A WITCH. TODAY IT IS SAID THAT SHE IS NEVER SEEN
BECAUSE SHE IS ALLERGIC TO LIGHT.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SAINT CLAIR SHORES
Keyword(s): RUMORS
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Human Being BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Color |
Date learned: 10-00-1979
"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
PLAIT YOUR HORSE:S MANE WITH CORN-
SHUCKS TO PREVENT WITCHES FROM
RIDING HIM. INFORMANT HEARD FROM
GRANDFATHER.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI
Keyword(s): WITCHES
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Plant |
BLACK AMERICAN
IF BUTTER WILL NOT COME, DROP
A RED HOT HORSE SHOE IN THE
MILK TO KILL THE WITCHES; THEN
THE BUTTER WILL COME. INFOR-
MANT HEARD ON GRANDMOTHER'S FARM
WHEN A CHILD.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI
James Callow Keyword(s): HORSESHOE ; IRON
| Subject headings: | Food Drink -- Animal product Butter BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Mineral |
Date learned: 09-15-1985
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
A CHILD BORN WITH A VEIL OVER HIS FACE WILL HAVE SPIRITUAL POWERS.
Submitter comment:
HER BROTHER WITH A VEIL OVER HIS FACE AND HE IS CONSIDERED TO BE
A VERY SPIRITUAL MAN.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; Ortonville
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Curer |
Date learned: 00-00-1987 ; 00001930S CA.
On Halloween night, put a bucket of sand or a broom
outside your door. If a soul comes by and wants to
harm you, it will have to count every grain of sand
or broom bristle first. By the time that the spirit
has done this, it would be daytime and it would have
to go back where it came from.
Submitter comment:
This story was told to Maryann by her Italian father,
who heard it from his grandfather.
Where learned: ILLINOIS ; SKOKIE
Keyword(s): ghost, precaution, All Souls' Day
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- October 31 Halloween BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Number Counting beliefs BELIEF -- Good luck Broom Sweeping BELIEF -- Control Prevention Provocation Protection |
Date learned: 00001930S
"A townswoman was suspected of being a witch. Papa's
sister was sick and no doctor could cure her. They found
a cat in her room. Papa took the cat, put it in a bag,
beat it and threw it in the river. The next morning, they
found the woman (who was thought to be a witch) all
beaten by the side of the river, and Papa's sister got
well. The woman was obviously a witch. (Papa is my father's
father).
Submitter comment:
This a verbatim account from Maryann Leisner which quotes
a story that her father, Phillip Melone, tells frequently.
He heard it from his father (in Italian) as he was growing
up, and believes it to be a true story.
Where learned: ILLINOIS ; SKOKIE
Keyword(s): Occult
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Method of Curing BELIEF -- Conversions Animals BELIEF -- Control Prevention Provocation Protection P892.1 |
Date learned: 00001930S
The number thirteen is important to witches because at one
time it was felt that this was the maximum number that could
meet at the time that witches were being persecuted. It also
means twelve people and the priest or leader.
Submitter comment: Brian learned this from a lecture at Oakland University.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UTICA
| Subject headings: | 686 Seconds / Twice / Two 686 Specific number by specific number being described BELIEF -- Witch Shaman |
Date learned: 00001980S
If a child is born when the sun is out and it is raining at
the same time then that child is considered a witch.
Submitter comment:
This tale was told to me when we were in Yugoslavia and the
informant's aunt had a baby. I don't know if it is of
Yugoslavian origin.
Where learned: YUGOSLAVIA ; Zagreb
Keyword(s): SIMULTANEITY
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Sun BELIEF -- Cloud Fog Mist Rain Hail Ice Snow Frost Dew BELIEF -- Birth |
Date learned: 00-00-1982
If you name your child after a witch then that child will be
a witch.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; FERNDALE
| Subject headings: | Person / Nickname BELIEF -- Witch Shaman |
Date learned: 00-00-1990
There is a tale of mistletoe that tells of priests
harvesting it, never letting it touch the ground.
It thereafter was hung over doors and arches as a
sign of welcome to priests, and as a protection
against witches.
Submitter comment:
Some priests still practice this for sake of
tradition.
Where learned: ENGLAND ; LONDON
Keyword(s): SAFETY
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Church CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- Autumn Fall Harvest Thanksgiving BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Plant |
Date learned: 00-00-1990
To her knowledge, when a child of Greek descent is born, he or
she is given a charm (a golden eye) to protect him or her from what
is called a "matiasma." Roughly translated it means "given the eye"
or "eyed." This happens when someone admires someone out of jealousy
out loud. For example, "His voice is so incredible. I wish I had it."
Once one is eyed, if he or she is not wearing the charm or if one
doesn't say "ftousou" which is a Greek word that means "to spray
saliva," he or she is condemned to sickness. (When said, ftousou
literally sprays saliva in the person's face.)
Submitter comment:
This particular superstition is feared by my informant because,
as a child, she was "eyed" and became seriously ill. All was tried to
lower my informant's fever but nothing worked. Finally, with
hesitation, a witch doctor was summoned and the fever disappeared
within a single day. To this day she has believed in the curse and
gave me and her other son the golden eye. However, both have been
misplaced and to this date have not been found.
Where learned: GREECE
Keyword(s): AILMENT ; SICKNESS ; unexplained
James Callow Keyword(s): amulet, talisman
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Curse |
Date learned: 00001943CA
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.
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Witch Shaman |
Date learned: 00-00-1950
When cream sours and horses sweat at rest, there is a witch
present.
Submitter comment:
Grandpa told us as we sat around the fire, to always taste
the cream before using it and if the plow horses would not work
in the morning because they were full of sweat, it was time to
pray because there was probably a witch or warlock close by.
Where learned: CALIFORNIA ; LOS ANGELES
| Subject headings: | Observation BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Mammal |
Date learned: 00-00-1981
If you believe that someone is a witch, all you have to do is
drive a nail into a footprint that has been left. If you are
correct in your feeling then that nail will at the same time be
driven into the witches foot and cause serious pain.
Submitter comment:
Grandma would sit all of the grandchildren down before we
would go to bed and tell us stories about what they did to find
the evil people.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Witch Shaman |
Date learned: 00-00-1975