Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
Your search for Aberdeen returned 11 results.
There was a woman whose husband played a practical joke on his
wife when she was pregnant. He surprised her coming out of a
closet with a toy monkey. When the wife had the child, the child
looked exactly like the monkey.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Outlaw Criminal Bandit Pirate BELIEF -- Birth |
There was a belief that if a woman was angry with another
person or started to have arguments that persisted with someone
then their baby would be delivered looking like the person that
they had the disagreement with.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Birth |
There was a belief that ran throughout the family that if
someone had a dream about fish then it was a sign that one of the
females in the family was pregnant.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Birth BELIEF -- Dreams Untamed varieties BELIEF -- Dreams P841.61 |
There was a saying that if ever your palm started to itch for
no reason what so ever it meant that in the very near future you
were going to receive some money from somewhere.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Sensations and involuntary actions Itching hands and feet |
There was never a fear of ghosts since they would only come
back to warn you if another family member was in peril and to make
sure you either called or wrote to make sure everyone was okay. It
was the only thing that the ghost could do was to stand there but
if you were afraid and ran the ghost would float until it caught
up with you and ride your back to where you were going, then
disappear.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | Favorites BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Death Funeral Burial |
There was a belief that my mother told me that if a person had
done something and wanted to get away with it, all the person had
to do was to put some red peppers in their shoes by whoever was
the local voodoo person and that it would make it impossible for
anyone to trace or find that particular person.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Plant BELIEF -- Magic of Speech, Sign, Color |
Another custom in the celebration of the New Year in our home
was that it was mandatory that the first person in our home in
order to ensure a safe and happy year had to be a male.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
Date learned: 01-01-1935
There was a custom in our home that in order to have a safe
and happy New Year the dinner to begin the year with had to
include black eyed peas.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- January 1 New Year's |
When you are finished brushing or combing your hair you should
immediately remove it from the brush or comb and either burn or
flush it down the toilet. This prevents any one who wants to do
harm to you by taking your hair to a Voodoo person and having that
person cast a spell on you or have you fixed with a spell so that
you will come down with some untraceable illness.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Curse |
My sister kept complaining that she was afraid to sleep in her
room at night because she was seeing a ghost in it if she was to
wake up during the middle of the night. My mother went and found a
horseshoe and nailed it up above my sister's door frame with the
intention that if the ghost would try and come into her room again
it would hit its head on the horseshoe and go away.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | Favorites PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Whenever there was particular loud thunderstorm with plenty of
lightning I was always told that it was the devil beating his wife
for something she had done which in turn the downpour of rain that
came along with the thunder was the angels crying in sympathy for
the devil's wife.
Where learned: MISSISSIPPI ; Aberdeen
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Angel BELIEF -- Devil Demon BELIEF -- Lightning Thunder |