Witch Way to Enter the House...and where to store your broom

"Witches Hut" photo by Sunblade 1500 via Wikimedia Commons

Today I am writing this post to the sound of workers installing a new front entry door on our old house. Since most everything about our century-plus-old Buttercup Cottage is just a wee bit crooked and out of plumb, installing a twenty-first century door is like pounding the proverbial square peg into the round hole. It can be done but it takes a lot of time, creativity, and a fair dose of stubborn willpower. So...drawing from this inspiration, I researched the role of doors in legend, lore, and superstition. I ran across a wonderful resource in the form of a book you can read online: 
The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore-- Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from North Carolina. Duke University Press, 1964.

https://books.google.com/booksid=Oudc1sjV6cgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Read and heed these important rules relating to home doorways. There is a surprising number of rules involving witches. Apparently North Carolina witches are a particularly wicked group. Not one word about witches bringing good luck or granting wishes. 

"Broom" photo by Schmidti via Wikimedia Commons

Hang onto your hats. Here we go!

--"If you want to keep witches away, lay a straw broom in the doorway."
     -Don't leave a broom propped up beside the door because a witch might take it to ride on.
     -If you have a witch in your house, lay a broom in the doorway and she can't budge.
     -Apparently, witches can enter your house by stepping over the broom so if you visit a neighbor and see a broom in the doorway, don't step over it or you might be accused of witchcraft. (Yes, it seems to negate the whole witch-barring-doorway-broom thing to me too.)
    -Along those contradictory lines: if you are bewitched, lay a broomstick in the doorway and the first person to pick it up and enter is your witch.

--"If anybody comes to your house and acts crazy, go out to your front door and scatter salt, for he's a witch and it will keep the charm away."
    -If you sprinkle salt in front of your door, a witch cannot enter.

--"By hanging a sieve on the door of your home you could be assured a witch could not enter while you were asleep, because she had to go through every hole in the sieve."
    - If you fill the sieve with dirt, it makes it even harder for the witch!

"Clitheroe Museum Lucky Horse Shoe" photo by 
Clem Rutter via Wikimedia Commons

--"If you are shown a piece of hair near the door and you do not pick it up, the witches will overtake you soon."

--"If you find a horseshoe in the road, cover it with tin foil and hang it over your door. This will ward off witches."

--"If a door opens of itself, a ghost is the operator."

--"If a rooster comes up to the front door and crows five times, it is a sign of death in the family."

"Cockadoodledoo!!" by Steve Selby via Wikimedia Commons

     -There are many variations on this theme and it doesn't seem to matter whether the rooster crows at the front door or the back door, head in or head out, once or many times. Anyway you look at it, a rooster at your door is ominous!

--"If you make a window out of a door, one of your family will die." (Doesn't appear to be a time limit for this one so it's probably true. Might just take a while...)

--"If someone dies in the family, it is bad luck for everyone to go off and close the front door." (There are many rules about leaving doors and windows open following a death at home so the deceased person's spirit is free to leave the house.)

I know there are many more superstitions and "rules" regarding doors but I think this is enough to keep me and my new door busy. (Now...if you hear me complaining because I can't find the sieve to strain the tea, just remind me to check the front door.)

Have a good couple weeks, dear Reader. Thanks for stopping by...y'all come back now! 

Kate

Yes, We Have No Bananas, Superstitions at Sea

© Krasphoto http://www.stockfreeimages.com/

18th century sea-going folk had a whole raft (pardon the pun) of superstitions, many of which linger today. Some had logical origins while others defy understanding. So during this month of Halloweenish goings-on I thought it might be fun to offer a list of 13 shipboard superstitions I have garnered during my research:
1-Bananas on board are a portent of disaster.

2-Women on board are bad luck unless...they are naked. Naked women bring good luck (imagine that) so there are many bare-breasted figure heads meant to calm the seas.

3-Meeting a red head (ginger haired person for our British friends) while heading to the ship for a journey is bad luck unless you speak to them before they speak to you as in, "Hey there, Red, be sure you finish that banana before you step foot on this ship!" (Same goes for meeting a flat-footed person on your way to the ship.)

"Girl with Cat" by Paul Hoecker

4-Black cats on board are good luck! (But dogs near fishing tackle are bad.)

5-Killing an albatross brings misfortune.

6-Saying "Good Luck" or being wished "Good Luck" is actually bad luck and can only be reversed by drawing blood as in "Sorry 'bout punching you in the nose but you shouldn't have said...you know...what you said."

7-Having a child born aboard ship is good luck. (Hmmm...see superstition number 2.)

8-Cutting your hair or nails while at sea is bad luck.

9-Having flowers on board ship is bad luck.

10-Wearing gold hoop earrings is good luck for your sea voyage.

"H.M.S. Blonde" by Robert Dampier

11-Stepping aboard with your right foot first is good luck (conversely, left foot boardage is bad.)

12-Throwing stones into the sea will bring its wrath upon your ship.

13-Sailing out on a Friday is very bad luck. 

So, if you meet a flat-footed, red-haired, fully dressed woman wearing flowers in her hair eating bananas who is heading for your ship, take action before she has the chance to say "Good Luck" or be prepared to carry out appropriate counter measures!

Have a good week, dear Reader. Thanks for stopping by...Y'all come back now!

Kate

http://seasnowhauntedlighthouse.com/
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15890071-sea-snow?from_search=true