door

Sympathetic Magic: To enter by one door and leave by another

invited strangers and bad luck.

This belief is attached to the fact that our ancestors often lived in
secret underground rock-framed souterraims or weems. Typically,
these were equipped with at least two long entryways, equipped
with constrictions and deadfalls, in the event of unwelcomed
visitors. In olden days, to enter by one door and leave by another
usually indicated a following of enemies. It is noteworthy that that
"fairy-hills" were always described as having two doors on
opposite sides of the mountain.

doppelganger
Magic Race: German equivalent of the revanter or fetch: "...a
person's own ghost." Fowke, CF, p. 95.

double
Sympathetic Magic: 1. A double-yolked egg was considered
good luck. 2. it was considered bad luck to say goodbye twice.

Two heads were, traditionally better than one and any twined
object was considered to have magical powers. Twined people
were were once thought to be capable of obtaining their
innermost desires and to be controllers of the weather. Curses
and blessings which were pronounced twice were considered in
valid, the second cancelling the power of the first. Thus, to swear
"by the cross of Christ" was a solemn promise; but, "by the two
crosses", although vehement, indicated a hoax

drawing
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Silver bullets made from coin shavings
were fired against drawings of witches in the belief that any injury
done to the image was transferred to her person. "It was done
here (Eagle Head, N.S.) and a woman was in bed all winter with an
injured hip because that was where they shot the image."
Creighton, BM, p. 40.

In earlier days, god-spirits were periodically loaded down with the

ills of the community and put to death. These were, typically
represented by humans or animals. When a "divine" animal was
slain the skin was often cured and kept, for various supertitious
rites. The skin was, in fact, considered not just a token or
memorial of the god, but a container for his spirit. This
representative of the god was sometimes dollied up and
stretched upon a framework to make it more lifelike, or enscribed
with a drawing, to clarify its nature. At first animals were killed,
and the image renewed annually, but men being what they are,
some tended to become permanent idols upon which the annual
rites were practiced without any loss of life. If a god could have
his spirit captured in a drawing on parchament, it followed that the
spirit of any human might be bound to paper by a skilled magician.
When the camera first came to the highlands of Scotland, it was
regarded as an infernal device capable of capturing the external
soul of a Scot. Any drawing or photograph was considered
dangerous since damage done to it would probably transfer to the
person represented. The use of silver to damage a witch is
traditional.

dreag
Sympathetic Magic: A star-like object seen low in the sky, trailing
a comet-like tail. Said to have presaged the death of important
individuals. The length of the tail was thought to in proportion to
the funeral cortege.

The Anglo-Norman "dragon" appears related. The word derives

from the Latin "draco", "to look upon with fear". It refers, of
course, to a mythical, winged, fire-breathing monster, but it has
secondary meanings, and particularly: "A luminous exhilation from
marshy grounds which moves through the air like a fiery serpent."
The long-ships of the viking Norsemen were also called dragons,
because of their shaped mast-heads. The arrival of such ships on
British soil certainly presaged difficulties, and the longer the tail of
the dragon ship, the greater the hazard for "important" people.

dream
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Dream of the dead, part with the living!" 2.
A person in delirium, who spoke of the dead, was destined to die.

dress
Sympathetic Magic: A turned up dress hem was bad luck, which
was countered by spitting on it and making a wish.

Those low on the social scale, fairies, demons, witches and

peasants, frequently wore furs rather than clothing made of cloth.
These were frequently turned, so that the fur faced the body and
provided an extra degree of warmth. "Humans" sometimes
deliberately turned their coats to escape the notice of these "evil"
creatures. The turned coats were always turned up at the wrists
and the about the legs. A "lady" who suffered the unintentional
indignity of having a turned hem, knew she might be mistaken for
one of the lower classes, or that she had been marked for the
attention of evil-doers. Spitting was a method of affirming an oath
and in an earlier day it may be guessed that the person, who felt
herself at hazard, accompanied this act with a counter-spell.

droch-chromhalaichen
Sympatheric Magic: Gaelic equivalent of the English Jonah or a
Marked Man or Woman. An individual subject to witchcraft or
devilish possession as a child, followed in adulthood by extreme
bad luck which overflowed upon his neighbours,"unlucky people".
When these people were about, "things would go wrong" and
"they woul;d order that certain man to journey over..." MacNeil,
TUD, p. 211.

ear
Sympathetic Magic: 1. A ringing in the ears at night suggested
that nice things were being said about the individual. 2. In the
day-time, the ringing sensation in the right ear implied good news,
but in the left, that someone was saying destructive things. 3. An
itchy left ear indicated bad rumours were being passed about the
person. If the right ear had an itch something good was being
said.

The human forerunner, or home shadow, had chores somewhat

akin to the ravens of Odin, who flew forth into the world to
observe and spy out the doings of men. It was believed that each
person was born with an internal and an external soul, the latter
housed in the fylgie, or home shadow. Gifted individuals could see
and hear things which transpired at a distance through the eyes
and ears of their shadow, but most folk received distorted
messages, blurred visions of the past, present, or future, or a
mere ringing in the ears. Left-handed happenings, whether at
the dance or elsewhere, were always considered of evil omen, and
apparently represented an attempt at short-hand on the part of
the shadow-man.

earring
Sympathetic Magic: Men who wore earrings were suspected of
practicing witchcraft. "My wife told me -she was of Scottish
descent - about a man and he had pierced ears and was fine and
fleshy...this old man went to a young man and tried to buy cattle
and he wouldn't sell. The old man said, "You'll be sorry for this."
Next day the young man was going ploughing and the cattle
wouldn't move." In this instance the countercharm was a fire of
hay built under the creatures, to "call" the witch.

Earrings of earlier times were usuallly in the form of a ring, a prime

symbol of the fairy and the witch kind.

east
Sympathetic Magic: ships were advised to dock on the eastern
side of a wharf for good luck. Creighton, FOLC, p. 16.

Easter
Sympathetic Magic: 1. At Blanford, N.S. they placed caps linmed
with spruce boughs hoping to get eggs from the Easter Bunny.
Sometimes a cabbage leaf or carrot was left in the hat for the
Bunny to eat. Creighton, FLLC, p. 61. 2. At Upper Kingsburg,
Rose Bay, Mahone Bay and Riverport, N.S., people played at
"tipping eggs". To engage in this sport, farmers looked for eggs
with especially strong shells, the game beginning on Good Friday
and continuing through the Easter week-end. Participants walked
about the community carrying a basket with a dozen eggs, and
when they met, one would say: "How are you for a tip?" The
strength of eggs would then be tested by banging them against
one another at the pointed ends, cracked eggs going to the
successful tipper. The eggs were decorated with tissue paper
and dyed yellow with an onion skin wash, in distinctive patterns so
that they could be traced to the owner. This was necessary since
there were cases of people who pierced their eggs, blew the
contents, and filled the interior with resin. Fist fights sometimes
broke out over the fairness of an egg, the day ending with
"eggshells everywhere", the possessor of the largest number
being termed the "King Tipper." Creighton, FOLC, p. 62. 3. It was
claimed that the sun danced at the horizon at dawn on Easter
morning. Creighton, BM, p. 131. Also noted in Acadia, see Daigle,
TAOTM, p. 494. 3. "My husband walked three miles before
sunrise Easter Sunday to get dogwood to make crosses to put
over the door." Creighton, BM. p. 38. "Put dogwood in two pieces
and drive together with new pins like a cross and put it above
every door and window in the house before daybreak on Easter
morning. This will keep the witches out. 4. "In Kent County, New
Brunswick, it was the custom to go about at midnight in small
groups to the homes of those already in bed and sing, to the tune
of the Latin hymn "O fili et filiae":
 Awake, ye who sleep
Our Lord is risen.
In Galilee you will find him,
Alleluyia!

The people of the house, who were not always thrilled by

this late night visit, were expected to get up, invite the
unwelcome callers in and serve a drink of rum." Daigle, TAOTM, p.
494. This custom disappeared at the turn of the last century.
5. On easter morning people sought "Easter water", water drawn
backhand from a stream or river. "This water would not spoil and
was considered medicinal." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 494. See also egg.

Easter is the most overtly pagan special day. The word "Eastre" is
the Anglo-Saxon form for the Teutonic goddess of spring,
"Ostara". She confirs with Frigga, who also represents nature's
ressurection after the long death of winter. This deity was very
popular in north-western Europe and even after Christianity was
introduced, her former adherents refused to have her degraded
as a demoness or witch. The best the Christains could manage
was to have her name tied to the greatest Christain feast of the
year. It had formerly been the custom to exchange coloured eggs
at this time, explaining that they represented a new beginning for
life. The early Christians continued the practice, explaining that
the egg actually represented the ressurection of the Christ. In
parts of Germany stone altars can still be seen, which were
dedicated the the goddess. At the appropriate season, they
were garlanded with flowers by young people, who celebrated at
a fire-festival, a combination religious rite and entertainment,
which persistented until the middle of the last century in spite of
repaeated banning. A "housele-egg" (sacrifice egg) was formerly
laid out for house-spirits either at Easter on on Good FRiday.

Eastern Bigfoot
Magic Race:
egg
Sympathetic Magic: 1. A abnormally small hen's egg was thought
to be an unlucky omen, which could be countered by throwing the
offending item over the roof of the house. Creighton, BM, p. 137.
2. Hen's eggs found to lack a yolk or be empty of content
(witch's eggs) revealled a witched flock. To cure this the most
hyperactive rooster was identified and buried alive. 3. An egg
was sometimes rocked in a shoe in an attempt to cause danger to
a ship at sea. 4. The presence of an egg in a hole in the ground
indicated treasure. Creighton, BG, p. 209. 5. It was unlucky to
bring an egg into the house after dark. 6. It is unlucky to use the
word egg aboard ship. 5. Eggs blessed at Easter warded off
illness and witchcraft. 6. Hens did not lay during the winter. Eggs
laid before Easter were considered to have medicinal properties if
kept and eaten on the morning of that holiday.

In ancient times, when might made right, "big" was equated with
power and "little" with weakness. An abnormally large double-
yolked egg therefore was considered a good omen, and a
yolkless egg, a bad signal from the god-spirits. The route
followed by an egg thrown over a roof was that of a partial-circle
or horseshoe, which see. Live burial of a bewitched animal used
to be common where the afflicted creature was not too large to
object. The reasoning was that the most "high-spirited" animal
was the focus of witchcraft, containing some witch-spirit in
addition to that usual to it. Death was seen to be a "god-spirit"
ritual which took the unwanted evil "to earth". The identify of the
god-spirit Egg or "Ygg" is unquestionably Odin, and much of the
above can be interpreted with this in mind. "Yggdrasil", or Odin's
tree was described as the foundation of the universe, and his
name has travelled as far west as the Scottish island called Eigg.
Elsewhere, we have theorized that the word "pig" can be traced
to a similar beginning, and it is noteworthy that it was also
verbotten aboard ships at sea
Egg Day

In southern New Brunswick, the first school day following Easter

was designated as Egg Day. Children were given small paper bags
and asked to bring an egg from home. These were contributed to
the Protestant Orphan's Home at Saint John.

Eggs have traditionally represented the resurrection of nature

after the "death" of winter. See Easter.

elder
Sympathetic Magic: See alder.

elf bolt or elf arrow

Wonder Work: Stones were sometimes lobbed at farmhouses, or
bullets fired at them by unseen marksmen. In a few cases firey
brands were hurled. People hit by these magic missiles
sometimes suffered "elf-stroke", a disease shortened to "stroke"
and now technically termed "cerebral thrombosis", or a bloood-clot
in the brain. Those hit in the limbs developed a stiffening, later
termed poliomyelitus, and now credited to other vectors. It was
said that the wound itself was impercepitible to the common eye,
although discernable and treatable by "gifted" persons. The elf
arrows which were triangular bits of flint were seen scattered
across Britain, being most plentiful in Scotland. Although these are
now credited as the work of aboriginal peoples, it was once
commonly thought that they were the work of the fairies. In an
early Anglo-Saxon poem they are described as "ylpa zercot" (elf
arrows) at one point and as the "aera zercot" (god arrows) in
another, reinforcing the idea that the little people were
demoted gods.

elfbore
Wonder Work: Occasionally the wood in a fence, wall, or closet
had a large hole in it where a knot had dried an dropped out. An
elfbore was a bore hole where objects pressed in had the
disconcerting habit of popping out again. In Britain this sport used
to be called "laking with Boggart." The elfbore is also known in
Denmark, where folk used to say that those who peered into one
might see things not necessarily to their advantage.

enchant

Eoghann a' Chinn Bhig

Magic Race: The Gaelic Ian of the "little head". "A few Inverness
County (Cape Breton) informants claimed in 1978 to have seen
Eoghann riding by on his horse." Shaw, editor, TUD, introduction,
xxxv. A surprisingly widespread legend relates to an this
ancestor of the Maclaines of Lochbuie and Cape Breton. Ewan of
the Little Head was relieved of it in a battle against his own father,
Ian the Toothless. He afterwards appeared as a wraith to
presage the death of Maclaines of Lochbuie. Dr. Flora Macdonald
of Salen, who was well versed in the folklore of the Island of Mull
from which this clan came, said that the headless rider was seen in
Scotland in 1909 when Murdoch Maclaine fell ill and was attended
by her late husband, the doctor on the island. Arriving at the
door of Lochbuie House, he was met by a black dog which he
assumed belonged to some resident. "After attending to the old
chief, who was obviously very ill, he joined the family for a meal
and mentioned the dog...On hearing this one of the Maclaines told
him of the old family legend...and announced that this was a sure
sign that the old man would be dead before morning. Sure
enough, in the early hours of the morning Lochbuie passed away."
At about this same time, an elderly Cape Bretoner belonging to
this same clan lay near death. His attention seem fixed on the wall
of the bedroom and one of those in attendance asked what he
thought he was doing. "Waiting," explained the Maclaine, "just
waiting". At dusk, one of the circle who was closest the window
thought he heard the sound of a poorly shod horse approaching
on the road. Sensing a presence beyond the window he turned
just in time to catch a glimpse of a headless man. As the wraith
passed from view his gaze came back to the bed, and in that brief
time, the man who was ill had died. Interestingly, the horse used
by Ewan had partially thrown a shoe as a result of that ancient
battle, and wherever the ghost horse has been heard, its sound is
based on an irregular gait.

evil eye
Sympathetic Magic: Witches had "full and plenty of everything",
their neighbours having to provide out of fear for the "evil eye".
"Old Mrs. W. was supposed to be a witch. She'd come and look at
your pig and it would be sick the next day." Creighton, BM, p. 54.
A man at Lunenburg noted "an old fellow sitting on his steps
looking at me through his fingers. When I got to his house the
horse stopped short and I couldn't get the animal beyond that
gate...He didn't want me, a stranger, to take gravel from the
beach." Creighton, BM, p. 56.

One medieval authority suggested that "witches have two eyes in

their one eye, while Illyrian witches have the sme peculiarity in
both eyes. They mortally enchanted those who looked at them,
and killed those who gazed at them for a long time...One Spaniard
had such an evil eye that he caused the windows to break by
staring at them..." De Plancey, DOW, p. 59.

There are much earlier accounts of beings who possessed the evil
eye, in particular the Fomorian sea-giants who invaded Ireland and
Scotland from an undersea kingdown in the western Atlantic. Their
Celtic enemies described them as cannibals, shape-changers, who
might appear in human disguise or as a being equal in height to the
tallest tree in the forest. They frequently appeared to have
animal heads and human bodies, but their "normal" configuration
favoured a single uncanny eye centred in the forehead. One of
the last of these was Balor of the Piercing Eye: "His eye was never
opened but on the battlefield, when four men thrust a polished
handle through the lid to lift it. Then men died by the thousand
from the venomous fumes that emanated from it." Balor was
challenged by the land-hero, Lugh, who fired a shot at him carrying
the eye completely out through the back of his skull. circa 3500
B.C. Katherine Scherman, TFOI, p. 56.

eye
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Sties in the eye were removed by "eloas
nan Sul" (the charm for eyes). This had to be recited by three
people having the same first names. Dunn, HS, p. 43. 2. An
quivering left eye was bad luck; but a right eye an omen of good
fortune.

Itches, quivers,and jerks of the human body were considered

sympathetic reactions of the forerunner as he observed the
future. An evil sight was relayed back from the future to the left
eye, a good view to the right.

eyebrows
Sympathetic Magic: Individuals whose eyebrows met would
become wealthy.

eyestone
Folk Medicine: Small "stones" resembling split pea halves were
stored in bags of brown sugar and brought forth to remove
irritants from the eye. In use it had to be determined if they
"alive" a fact determined by placing them in vinegar prior to use. If
they were propelled about the shallow dish, they were presumed
to be potent and placed beneath the eyelid of the suffering
individual. According to Ron and Joy Laking (Rural Delivery
newspaper, 1980) the eyestones would attract irritants taking
them away when they were themselves removed from under the
lid. Various writers have identified these stones as "seeds" or
"half shells of marine animals...brought from some far-off place in
the sailing ship days." Poteet, SSPB, p. 42.

fairies
Sympathetic Magic: "Mr. Rory Mackinnon, of Sugar Loaf, said that
there used to be lots of stories of witchcraft in that part of Cape
Breton and that his father was full of them. He mentioned fairies in
the same breath almost as though the two were connected in his
mind." Creighton, BM, p. 61.

The term "fairy" is much to loosely used, "little people" being

preferred. The Celts labelled them the sidh, the Anglo-Saxons,
elfs, and the Normans, fairies and/or witches. It would appear that
they were "little" in terms of wealth, political power and social
prestige, defeated races forced to inhabit the backlands by their
"big" conquerors. The Anglo-Saxon word "wic" originally identified
people who lived near a bay, but after they were defeated by the
Normans in 1066, the wiccans were identified as "wicked" half-wits
and nit-wits, practitioners of "wit-craeft", now spelled "witchcraft."
The fairies had all of the characteristics, strengths and
weaknesses of the witch-clan, and one word is synonymous with
the other. At Lunenburg, N.S. superstitions were referred to as
"the fairy of the time".

fairy gold
Sympathetic Magic: The traditional name for hidden lodes, for
example the lost gold of Kejimkujik (Micmac: choked gut, a lake
having a constriction due to fish weirs), N.S. Jim Charles of the
local Micmac band found "wisosooleawa" (brown silver) somewhere
in the vicinty of "Kej" during the 1870s. When a man named
Hamilton confronted Jim demanding a share of the gold, he
responded by hitting him with the butt of a gun thus killing him.
Afraid he would be convicted of murder, he fled up the Shelburne
River to Two Fan Lake but continued to mine the fairy gold. He
was acquitted of the murder charge but the interest of white gold
seekers made it impossible for him utilize his mine. In 1881 he
went into partnership with David Lewis and a gold mining mill was
established on Buckshot Lake, the source of the Shelburne River.
After a brief prosperity, Charles experienced very bad luck and
died a rheumatic cripple in 1905. In spite of the facts many
woodsmen contended that the mother lode was never revealled
and that the woods were haunted by Jim's ghost. Raddall,
FOOF,p. 197.

Fairy Hole

Fairy Lake
Magical Place: "...at Mother Cary's Orchard Indian Burying
Grounds...the Micmacs told the first white settlers fearsome
stories of pixies (the mikumwess) and mysterious beings that
ruled the region, so it was named Fairy Lake." Bird, OTINS, p. 107.

Fairie Queene

fall
Sympathetic Magic: 1. To have a hatch-cover fall into the hold of a
ship was bad luck. 2. To stumble while crossing a neighbours
threshold was considered bad luck. This could be countered by
snapping the fingers three times or by rotating three times
clockwise saying: "Three turns about, bad luck to rout."

The downward passage of the cover was seen as a presage of

the ship falling into the "hold" of the sea. Falling on the threshold
was, in medieval times, taken as evidence that the person was a
witch. The "sunwise" turns were therefore necessary, since
witches were unable to make this "Christian" manoeuvre.

familiar
Wonder Work: 1. Witches injured in their familiar form while
travelling at night, would show a similar defect when they returned
to the human form by day. The injury would not become apparent
until day-break and would appear due to a natural agency. 2.
Witches who failed to return home by sun-up were often seen
making travelling the last few miles in their night clothes. 3. In the
familiar form witches possessed uncanny physical strength. 3.
One of the most potent forms was the white bumble-bee.
Creighton, BM, p. 53.
In other times, the human being was seen to have an internal and
an external spirit. The first was housed in human form but the
latter often took the form of the family's totem animal. Ordinary
folk were unaware of this runner but those with the two sights
and practiced witches were always aware of them, and in the case
of the later, they sometimes took material form. Gillian Tindall
thought that small animal familiars were a "peculiarly British
phenomena", which was not unnatural to them since "the British are
dotty about animals." Favoured animals were the cat, the dog, the
crow, the frog, and the horse, although some harboured ferrets,
hedgehogs and snakes. The term "familiar" still connotates an
abnormally close relationship, and it has been suggested that
there was "a symbiosis between the witch and her animal which
was often pushed to unhealthy lengths." The Christians promoted
this view, adding that the familiar was a gift from the Devil, and
noting that these animals were often named, suggestively:
"Suckim" or "Titty". Familiars are regarded as a late development,
typical of the decadent, individualistic practitioner of witchcraft as
opposed to earlier "innocently pagan" supporters of the craft. It
was generally assumed that the witch could transfer her internal
soul to her counterpart during the night hours, but at any time,
the health of witch and familiar were intertwined, any damage to
one reflecting ultimately on the other. In the medieval period no
distinction was made between the bee and the fly. In that same
time, the word "wit" or "witch" was understood as the equivalent
of "white" and a white bee or fly was quite literally a witch-bee or
a witch-fly.

far sight
Wonder Work: The observation of distant land masses in a clear
atmosphere pointed to storm. See calm.

Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Blessing: According to local tradition, the three most potent
words of the Christian God spells. Like most of the elements of
Christian ritual it has frequently been subverted as a curse, eg:
"Father, Son and Holy Ghost; nail the Devil to this post..."

fear dearg
Among the Abenaki the reddening of the sky under meteoric
passage was considered prophetic of war. This view was shared
by the Acadians. See Ruben Gold Thwaites, TJR, p. 5-55.

feather
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was said that people were innately
incapable of dying when placed on a feather tick, which included
the feathers of wild birds. 2. To lie on a feather bed promoted
rheumatism and asthma. 3. The identity of the witch used to be
determined by dipping black feathers in a volitile solution and
naming them for suspected persons. Each was fired and that
which would not burn spotted the witch. 4. Theatre people
consided peacock feathers an ill omen.

fetch
Sympathetic Magic: See gopher or runner. This is Newfoundland
Irish usage according to Mackenzie, TIICBI, p. 60.

fern spores
Sympathetic Magic: 1.Individuals who consumed fern spores
became invisible. 2. Fern plants touched by undesirable
characters withered and died.

feu follet
Magic Race: Acadian equivalent of the gopher, will o' the wisp,
or corpse candle. Translates as "dancing fire". Also used to
describe luminescent marsh gas and the Northern Lights

fiddle
Sympathetic Magic: "...elders of the Presbyterian church had
solemnly smashed fiddles and burnt the pipes of those carnally
minded people who wished to cling to their beloved instruments".
Dunn, HS, p. 54. 2. When fiddles played three notes
independent of a fiddler a death was predicted. 3. If a fiddle
refused to remain in tune bad weather lay ahead.

fifty
Numerology: A man who survived a serious disease at the age of
fifty would live to advanced age.

fire
Sympathetic Magic: 1. To have a fire fail to light meant that a best
friend was speaking evil of the individual. In the case of a married
woman the person in a bad humour was the husband. Creighton,
BM, p. 151. 2. An individual had to know a person for seven
years before "poking up" his fire. 3. Salt directed against a
chimney fire would extinguish it. 4. As a countercharm, nine new
pins and three new needles used to be placed in brown
wrapping paper, and this used to wrap the heart of an animal killed
by witchcraft. After the heart was burned, the power of the
witch was broken provided the victim refused her three favours.
5. As a countercharm the end of the tail of a bewitched animal
was thrown in fire. An instance is mentioned where "an old man
(an experienced witch) was taken cripple from that day, although
he could never tell what crippled him. 6. A snake-skin kept in a
house protercted it against fire. Those found in the spring were
more potent than those found during the fall. 7. If a fire was seen
to draw badly, the Devil was thought to be nearby. As a
countercharm the poker was often placed so as to form a cross
with the grate. 8. If a fire burned more brightly after poking it
was said that an absent relative was in good spirits. 9. A hot
cinder which popped from the fire indicated a guest might be
expected. 10. A boquet of dried seaweed placed on the mantle
protected against house fire. 11. If a fire lit on New Year's morn
was allowed to go out during that day bad luck was to be
expected throughout the year. 12. A Seabright, N.S., fisherman
once sighted a vessel on the Gaspe coast. He was about to
speak it when he reconsidered. Consulting with others he
learned that, "It was a good thing we didn't speak it, for that
would have been the end of us. You see, if we had spoken it, not
realizing she was a ghost ship, that would have been our doom."
Others saw this pass as "a ball of fire" and interpreted this as "no
friendly gesture."

There is strong evidence that fire-festivals, involving the kindling

of "new fire", round dancing, ritual sex, and ritual or real sacrifices
were customary in Europe before the Middle Ages. Sir James
Fraser sees the strongest case for these fires in "the attempts
made by Christian synods in the eighth century to put them down
as heathenish rites." The seasons of the fires were usually spring
and mid-summer; but in some places, they were a tradition at the
end of fall or at mid-winter. There is no question that effiges were
burned in these fires, or at the very least, a pretense was made
of burning a living person. These a grounds for suspicion that
something more sinister once occurred. Our superstitions have to
be examined with this in mind. In parts of Britain, the lighting of
the fire was a sub-ritual demanding the attention of twins, people
with the same names, or collections of three or nine crime-free
individuals. If there was a blemish in any one of these the fire
would not light and the whole community considered itself liable to
a full year of hardship and evil. The Atlantic Canadian version of
the dangers implicit in a failed fire is much less pointed. In
Scotland, an probably elsewhere, the hearth was considered to be
full of omens. In the highlands, Briid's Day is celebrated on the
eve of the first day of February. All of the family participate in
dressing a sheaf of oats in woman's apparel. This is placed in a
large basket and a wooden club laid beside it. Just before bed,
the people of the house shout three times to the darkness: "Briid
is come, Briid is welcome." When they rise in the morning they go
immediately to "look among the ashes, expecting to see the
impression of Briid's club there; which if they do they reckon it a
true presage of a good crop and a prosperous, and the contrary
they take as an ill omen." They, of course, resented strangers
interfering with their ashes and possibly misrepresenting their
future. When men were burned and reduced to ash, these
remains were seen as the reproductive "seeds" of their
reincarnation, scattered on the fields and fed to cattle to imbue
the crops with the spirit of those who had "passed on" or "over"
rather than "died" in the classic Christian pattern. Some of this
still-burning ash was taken home to the hearth to relight all of the
parish fires, hence fire and ash once had ritual importance and
strangers could not be certain what they were about when they
raked up a fire. In addition, fire has always been regarded as
having a purifactory function. The old bone-fires were guessed
to protect the field against lightning strikes in the area where light
happened to fall. Since hail was associated with thunder and
lightning, which was thought caused by witches, it may be
presumed that, "the great evil against which fire was directed
appears to have been withcraft." Fraser said: "Forermost among
eveils we may reckon the diseases od cattle; and of all the ills that
witches were believed to work, there was probably none more
constantly insisted on that harm they did to herds. It ios
significant that the need-fire...was kindled above all as a remedy
for a "murrain" or other disease of cattle (suggesting that) the
custom of kindling fire goes back tpo a time when the European
peoples subsisted chiefly on the products of their herds...Further,
brands were taken from the bonfire and commonly kept in the
house to guard against conflagration; and though this may perhaps
have been done on the principle of homeopathic magic, one fire
being thought to act as a preventive against another, it is also
possible that the intention may have been to keep witch-
incendiaries at bay. Again, people lept over the midsummer fires
or circumambulated them as a preventive for colic, and looked at
the flames steadily (as aremedy for) sore eyes. (Such) was also
thought to prevent a person from feeling pains in the back at
reaping;... in Germany such pains were described as "witch-shots"
(and elsewhere as Elf-bolts), and ascribed to witchcraft."

fire, lambent
Wonder Work: See corpse-candle, gopher, guardian and will
o' the wisp. "The northern nations believed that the tombs of
their heroes emitted a kind of lambent flame, which was always
visible in the night, and served to guard the ashes of the dead;
they called it the "hauga elldr", or "sepulchral fire (more literally,
fire of the elders, or elle-people). It was supposed more
particularly to surround such tombs as contained hidden
treasures. Keightley, TFM, footnote, p. 73.

fire, spontaneous
Wonder Work: The work of the knocky boh was infrequently
accompanied by outbreaks of fires and in some instances fiery
brands were supposed to have been hurled from unseen hands at
farm-houses. The best chronicled was at Caledonia Mills. See
Sherwood, MM, p. 107.

fish
Sympathetic Magic: Fish was "brain food". Divination: To view a
future loved one eat salted herring before going to bed. In a
dream, the future wife (or husband) would appear offering water.

Fish were never of great appeal as the familiars of witches, being

considered "a symbol of chastity". In addition, they lacked a
"companionable personality". As these animals were not
represented as having a great interest in sex it was presumed
that they were cerebral. Among the Ottawa Indians it was
common to lecture the fish, "imploring them to come and be
caught, and to be of good courage and fear nothing, for it was all
to serve their friends who houred them and did not burn their
bones." Since fish were considered very intelligent creatures
eating them sympathetically passed this understanding to the
eaters.

flannel
Sympathetic Magic: 1.Red flannel was considered useful in
constructing countercharms. Typically, urine was drawn from the
victim of witchcraft and nine new pins and nine new needles
inserted in the flannel, with "words" said at each placement. The
cloth was placed in the urine in an iron pot and boiled. This
invariably called the witch whose power was terminated if the
three traditional requests she made were turned down.

The word flannel derives from the Welch "gwlanen", and was , and
is, a soft woollen cloth of loose texture, often used for
undergarments or for clothing exposed to the sweat of athletics.
The word also described a hot alcholic drink containing spices and
and egg. This woollen cloth was so warm it appeared to generate
heat. Heat was considered sympathetically attached to fire which
was useful against witchcraft.

flying
Wonder Work: It was generally acknowledged that all of the fay
folk could fly. Thus: 1. A farmer "got up one morning real early
and went quietly out to the barn and there was an old woman
milking the cow, and she flew out the window, and it was his
neighbour, a little woman blamed all over the country as a witch."
Creighton, BM, p. 64. 2. That afternoon it rained, and it was
winter. I travelled back in moonlight and at Northfield there was a
church. As I got opposite it a figure came out of it and was about
a foot off the ground. He had a gown and a topknot and there
wasn't much wind and still the gown was blowing and he came right
out on the road. There was ice between men and this man...he
tripped me and my head struck the ice. I got up and he walked
with me...and at last he left. Never a word, he just left..."
Creighton, BG, p. 162.

The craft of flight, without help from hot air, hydrogen, or helium
balloons, or mechanical appartati, was ascribed to druids, who
were enemies of the baobh, or witch, as well as to gods, god-
spirits, elves, the sidh and fairies. This peculiartity extended to
the Norse Valkyrie and the Christian angels. Few witches claimed
mastery of the art, but all were accussed of "riding the air" usually
by means of a forked stick (the adder's or the Devil's tongue) a
divining rod, or a simple broomstick. Clearly, some of this was
metaphorical rather than real flight. The Scottish witch, Isobel
Gowdie, admitted to ownership of a little horse, over which she
cast the spell of, "Horse and Hattock, in the Devillis name!" After
that, he "flew away" as "straws upon the highway!" Fairies and the
Indian mikumwess shared this ability of instantaneous transport,
although they (originally) lacked wings. "Witch-flight" was
invariably tied to the ritual application of "flying ointment", whose
active ingredients are well known: viz. deadly nightshade
(belladonna); "persil", or poison hemlock and aconite. The first
two are deadly poisons, but in small quantity, gained by inhalation
or permeation, they produce no more than excitement and
delirium. "It is easy to see, therefore . that these ointments might
well have produced the "sensation" of flying in those who used
them." It was always stated that the flying ointment was put into
use by rubbing it on the skin, but medical men argued this was an
inefficient way of getting the drugs into the blood circulatory
system. A.J. Clark has, however, pointed out that, in past
centuries, people were vermin-ridden, and had many skin
punctures, which gave direct access to these drugs. In the first
case of witchcraft prosecuted in England (1324) Dame Alice
Kyteler's closet turned up evidence in the form of a "Pipe of
oyntment, wherewith she greased a staffe, upon which she ambled
and galloped through thick and thin..." This does not seem to
suggest physical flight, but a hobby-horse style of locomtion.
Some have suggested that the magic staff of the witch was
actually used as a vaulting pole.

fog
1. A summer fog for fair, a winter fog for rain. A fact most
everywhere in valley or on plain. 2. When the fog goes up, the
rain is o'er. When the fog comes down, twill rain some more. 3.
Evening fogs will not burn soon. Morning fogs will burn off by
noon. 4. Fog that starts before the night. Will last beyond the
morning light. Phillips, FAF, p. 78.
foot
Sympathetic Magic: A person with an itchy foot might expect to
travel. If the left foot itched the travel would be unpleasant.

This is a very explicit example of the "like-to-like" principle,

presumably a reaction of the human body to its runner or shadow
man, who is already embrarked on future travel.

footprint
Sympathetic Magic: 1. A witch could be prevented from
"wandering" if a steel knife or some other sharp iron object was
driven into his or her footprint. 2. A lover might be bewitched by
planting a sunflower seed in earth gathered from a footprint. As
the plant grew and matures so would the feelings of the loved
one,

forerunner
Magic Race: 1."My husband was in his bunk ready to go to sea
when first thing a bundle of papers came flying across the room
and hit him...he turned over and there was a blaze of fire the size
of a man in the centre of the floor. A voice said, "Don't go in this
ship or you'll be lost. If you don't go you'll live to be an old man
and die at home," so the next day he packed up and left the
ship...the ship sailed and was never heard of again." Captain
Godfrey's wife at Liverpool, N.S. quoted by Creighyon, BG, p. 13.
2. "Mother lived on Tangier Island with her sister, my Aunt Maime.
One night Aunt Maime was looking out the window. The moon was
bright. There was alittle outbuilding nearby with a window in it,
and she said to my mother, "There's a woman looking out that
window. It's myself, and I have a baby in my arms." Mother went
to the window and looked, and she could see it too... fifteen years
later when she died (Aunt Maime) had a baby in her arms."

In legend apparitions of the living were called runners, home

shadows or the fylgiar. Each individual born into the world was
thought accompanied by a external spirit, who was an invisible
counterpart. If this runner travelled into the future he was called
a forerunner. To actually encounter the forerunner face-to-face
was an omen of death.

foresight
Sympathetic Magic: An ability to see visions of the future
superimposed on the present. Often foresight involved observing
funerals or accidents destined to take place. Those who
possessed this gift found the transitory experience exhausting.
As a rule these phantoms of the future were taken as warnings of
danger for the individual or his immediate kin. Those who had
foresight were often described as "double-sighted". "There was a
woman in Mira who could see a funeral ahead of time, even
sometimes before the person had taken sick, and she would know
whose funeral it was. When it happened she would be walking
along the road and would be pushed aside by the crowd following
the hearse..." Creighton, BG, p. 70.

This ability used to be explained in terms of the invisible human

counterpart which the Anglo-Saxons called the runner or shadow
man. Each human was though born with one of these protectors,
who carried his external soul. Those who were gifted were
thought capable of projecting their internal soul into this familiar.
As a forerunner the shadow man might travel into and observe
the future. It was the soul alone that travelled but events
observed through the eyes of the runner were also seen by the
human counterpart. This activity required an expenditure of
energy leaving the double-sighted in need of rest.

found object
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was bad luck to fail to pick up money
found on the street. 2. "Find a pin and pick it up and all the day
you'll have good luck!" 3. To give away any found object was to
give away personal luck.
To lose an object was obvious bad luck, thus the converse was
taken as a good omen, a gift from the gods. Naturally, one should
not refuse such gifts, nor give them away. Coins found on the way
were frequently made into charms or charm-strings.

four-leaf clover

Sympathetic Magic: It was thought lucky to find a four-leaf clover,

but the plant had to be bitten off for a wish to come true.

fox fire
Sympathetic Magic: Same as will o' the wisp or gopher, which
see.

Friday
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Work commenced on Friday was never
completed unless it could be finished before the day was out. 2.
Boats were never launched on a Friday. 3. It was bad luck to sail
on Friday. 4. Seamen did not like to make port on this day. 5.
Ship-builders would not commence building a boat on Friday. 6.
Fishermen would not set nets. 6. A miner would not hire on to
begin work on Friday. 7. Woods-workers would not begin work
on Friday. 8. It was inadvisible to cut hair or nails on Friday. 9.
Friday the thirteenth of any month was unlucky except for those
possessing it as their birth-date. 10. Those troubled by witches
were advised to "take certain words from the Bible, go to the
door on Good Friday, and make a wish. Say certain words and
whoever is the witch will come at daylight and die by your door."
11. If the weather was bad throughout the
week it would clear on Friday. Friday's weather was said to be the
"fairest" or the "foulest" in the week. 12. The pattern of weather
seen in the last Friday of the month was considered indicative of
that expected in the coming month. 13. A woodsman hired on
Friday would not remain in camp for a full season of cutting. Spray,
WOTW, p. 4
Friday was named for the goddess Freya, the daughter of Niord
and Skadi, the patroness of beauty and love. According to myth,
she was a sea-woman, born in Vanaheim, on the southern coast of
Sweden. For this reason, she was sometimes known as Vanadis or
Vanabride. Some consider this female deity an invention of the
scalds (poets) corresponding to "her brother" Freyr or Frey. "She
did not long remain a mere poetic abstraction, but was
worshipped zealously, by the side of, or in the place of, Frey.
Both were at the centre of fertility cults, and in Norway, Sweden,
and Denmark, she was confounded with the earlier goddess,
Frigga, the wife of Odin. This loving lady had a distinctly martial
taste, leading the female Valkyrs down from the heavens to the
battlefields of the north. From that place, she had the right to
transport half of the spirits of the heroic dead to Folkvang, the
rest being claimed by Odin and his land of Valhalla.

Freya has been described as "the most beloved of all the

goddesses". but this was only true in the Teutonic north. While
the Norsemen and the Anglo-Saxons respected her, the Celts had
no wish to meet her or any of her kind. Adherents of Freya
naturally considered Friday an auspicious time to start any
enterprise, including launching their longboats against Great
Britain. British seamen knew better than to try to put to sea on
this day since the "black crow" symbol was more often seen at
that time. From their point of view, it was fairly certain that any
job started on Friday would end badly, if at all.

fright

Sympathetic Magic: 1. Fright caused the child of a pregnant

woman to develop a birthmark. The shape of the mark resembled
the form of the fear-producing agent, e.g. "A snake scare will
cause a snake-shaped birthmark." Creighton, FOLC, p. 16. See
also, pregnancy. 2. People who created fear were in danger of
being frightened. Creighton, FOLC, p. 23.
Fearful results were always expected to accompany fear. The
idea that fear-generators could expect fear was implicit in the
pagan idea that the world was full of checks and balances, that
those who gained in one incarnation were destined to be put
down in the next.

fulling

Sympathetic Magic: The cloth-making process was once

considered magical, the chief pursuit of the little people of north-
western Europe. When the Celtic sidh wished to reward humans,
they presented them with an especially fine bolt of closely woven
cloth. The business of manufacturing cloth was called weaving,
and this was followed by fulling, the cleansing, shrinking and
thickening of cloth through the application of water, heat and
pressure. In local Gaelic communities the rites of fulling were as
follows: Three "consecrators" placed the cloth on a long table.
The oldest of these revolved the material three times, clockwise,
about the table incanting, "I make sunwise turns, in honour of the
Father." The next eldest made his turn, "in honour of the Son", and
the third for the "Spioraid" or "Holy Spirit". The three then recited:
"Each sunwise turn is in the service of the Trinity; each rotation of
the cloth for the sake of the Trinity; each turn in the service of
the Trinity". Following that, the ordinary business of making up the
cloth was accomplished by teams of ordinary folk.

In ancient communities, long-lived individuals were considered to

harbour more than the usual amount of god-given spirit, and being
closer God, or the gods, were chosen for important rites such as
the fulling ceremony. The above ceremony is esentially pagan
expect that the "rounds" are made with rather than against the
sun and Christian deities have replaced one of several older
trinities.

frog, toad
Amulet: 1. Frogs and toads are biologically indistinguishable, but
witches preferred species with a lumpy skin surface, keeping them
as familiars and for their spittal, which was often called for in
casting spells. The fact that the magic of the witch was exactly
that of the common man, except that she was a specialist, is
shown in the fact that some ordinary people used it to ward off
evil and bring good luck. There are bones within the skeleton of
this animal, "one shaped like a fork, the other like a spoon". To be
useful as an amulet, these bones had to be extracted from the
animal without killing it and hung from a gold or silver chain at the
neck. While construction of this charm might seem impossible, the
frog had only to be placed in a shoebox and buried it in an ant-hill
so that it expired at the hands of others. After decay, it was dug
up and the bones taken. It was advised that those indirectly
responsible for the death should avoid standing by to hear the
death cries of the animal for fear they would be made deaf."
Fraser, FONS, p. 31. 2. "When the pig has frog (a sore throat),
take live frogs and hold at the throat. Creighton, FOLC, p. 102. In
other times the frogs association with water earned it a
reputation as a custodian of rain, and since rain was generally
desirable, as a spirit of good luck. There was (and may still be) a
fruitful branch of imitative magic which supposed that potent
charms might be made from the bones of dead animals. The idea
was that dead bones cannot see, hear or speak, and that
blindness, deafness, or dumbness might be projected at others
from such an amulet. Since even a frog contained some of the
essence of the god-spirit, this was to be feared and could only be
bound into a useful charm it the nature-spirit entrapped in the
bones was satisfied that the wearer was not responsible for his
death. Folk Medicine: 3. At Kingsburg, N.S. a girl who suffered
from goitre was treated with three live frogs wrapped in a flannel
cloth bound to her throat. "In half an hour they were dead so she
replaced them with three more. She got better." In parts of New
England a similar remedy involved a single live frog which was
placed within the mouth until it died. Obviously, the local
treatment is better protocol since the nature-spirit resident in the
god could not blame the suffering human for his death. This is
paralleled by the old Roman custom of having those with a
toothache spit into the mouth of a frog, requesting it to take away
the pain, and then releasing it. Wonder Work: 4. To create a
permanent countercharm against disease and evil it was advised
that one should catch a frog and imprison it in the hand until it
died. After that that hand would have the healing touch, provided
the individual knew "the proper healing words" to go with it. A
Lunenburg respondent told Helen Creighton that these words
were "Heliga rissa", but elsewhere, "By Father, Son and Holy Spirit"
were recommended.

fruit
Sympathetic Magic: "Fruit out of season; trouble with reason."

furarag
Divination: This Gaelic word described an edible used in "the
various kinds of marriage divination practised on the island (Cape
Breton). The most popular is the ring in the bowl of "fuarag" eaten
on Hallowe'em Night (Oidhche-Shamhna)." John Shaw, editor,
TUD, p.introduction xxxv.

Also called "drammoch", this dish takes its name from the Gaelic
word "fuar" (cold). It is similar to the "crowdie" of lowland
Scotland. The "cream-fuarag", which seems to be that referred to
by Shaw, was said "an indispensible dish at the Kern or Harvest
Home. It was never restricted to this special day being provided
on all festive ocassions. It is considered an extremely ancient
preparation and among articles at the Scottish National Museum of
Antiqities is an old fro'ing stick, consisting of a wooden cross
surrounded by a ring of cow's hair at one end, once used for
beating the cream and whey in fuarag. This food was made by
toasting coarse oatmeal lightly before a fire or in an oven. Cream
was beaten and stirred into the oatmeal which was sweetened
with whey and spices to the individual taste. The toasting gave a
nutty "agreeable flavour to the dish. Divination entered the recipe
when various objects were placed in the batter, e.g. a ring, a coin,
a thimble, etc. It was supposed that the person who found the
ring might expect to marry in the near future, while the recipient
of the coin would become wealthy and the thimble-bearer might
expect a life full of toil. See Saint Columba's Cake.

funeral
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Meeting a funeral parade was regarded as
a bad omen, although the danger was relieved if the person
happened to be travelling in the same direction as the procession.
The meeting of a wedding party with a funeral cortege was though
to predict particularly bad luck. Another example of contact
magic, death being implicit, and perhaps catching, in this
circumstance. 2. Any noticeable gap in a funeral procession let
way for another funeral in the immediate future.

ghost
Magic Race: 1. Those who searched for ghosts never found them.
2. Ghosts guarded buried treasure. 3. Ghosts were usually
invisible but might materialize in full-blown human form, as wraiths
dressed in white, as balls of fire, as animals, as lights or as
monsters of uncertain species. Alternately, they might be
represented in a cold irresistible force, which could be violent or
passive. 4. A ghost was the product of unfinished earthly
business and could only be exorcized if his purpose was fulfilled.
The ghost was unable to speak unless spoken to. 5. The
presence of a ghost chilled the air. 6. It was unwise to make
requests of ghosts since, like the Devil, they were apt to comply.
At Myer's Point, Head of Jeddore, N.S., a boy once called out
jokingly, "Ghost, light up your light so we can put our skates on."
That is precisely what happened. Creighton, BG, p. 149.

Ghosts have commonly been referred to as revanters in parts of

the Maritimes. The word derives from the Anglo-Saxon "gast"
(breath, soul, spirit) and resembles the Germanic "geist" (which
appears in "poltergeist"). A ghost is currently understood to
represent the spirit of a deceased human. See runner, fylgie,
Holy Chost.

shadow man.

Locally, there have always been taboos against "trying too hard".
This is in line with the ancient belief in "checks and balances", in a
world where overindulgence of any sort was suspected of
offending the god-spirits, by attempting to exhibit god-like energy.
Those who made a fetish of any hobby from seeking treasure to
ghosts were thought certain to fail.

ghost ship
Sympathetic Magic: Men who saw the Teazer light (a ghost ship),
would die within a year. Creighton, BM, p. 127. In this instance,
the "Teaser" was considered the equivalent of the corpse-
candle, sometimes refered to as the gopher. The runner, or
shadow man of any human, as well as certain of the sidh might
take up the business of transporting a virulent light, which
travelled about the countryside after dark and could kill on
contact. These lights were considered an omen of the death of a
particular individual (the light being carried by his runner).
Typically, the light-carrir would not be observed but the sphere of
fire would emerge from the place of death and preasage the route
of some future funeral procession.

gift
Sympathetic Magic: Those born during meteor showers, heavy
displays of northern lights, in the season of a comet, or during
severe electriucal storms were considered "gifted", or destined to
lead uncommon lives. Those for with the caul of luck (an amniotic
membrane present over the head) were similarly described as
were those born with different coloured eyes, which after a time,
merged into a single colour. Others of this ilk were people born
with a cow-lick or the "widdow's" or "devil's-peak", a downward
arrow of hair between the eyes. Those facing imminent death
were also considered gifted with prophetic information.

gisreag
Wonder Work: The Gaelic equivalent of the English spell. Literally
"projected energy". Currently, "giseagan" refers to individuals who
are superstitious.

glin
Sympathetic Magic: "A southern glin leads to wet skin". The word
relates to "glint" and "glimmer" and referred to a sunny pocket
found within a bank of sea fog.

Glooscap or Kluscap

glove
Sympathetic Magic: To avoid bad luck, the individual who chanced
to drop a glove had to ask another to pick it up. Creighton, FOLC,
p. 21.

god
Magic Race: The pagan gods of Europe are lost to memory, and in
Atlantic Canada are remembered collectively as devils, witches,
demons or some brand of little people.

The word is Anglo-Saxon. It has been guessed that that the word
is descended from the past participle of the Sankrist "huta", to call
upon or invoke for help. Interestingly, the Welsh still refer to God
as "hu", and this Celtic word has been engrafted to English in the
name "Hugh". "Huan" translates from the Cymric-tongue as sun and
this corresponds with the Gaelic word "aod", now written as "kay".
Gods may be distinguished as the elder and the mortal gods, hu
being one of the former. The elder gods were also spoken of as
elementals since they were immortal and in control of one of the
elements: viz. fire, water, and air. In northern mythology the
three elder gods were considered subservient to the Allfather
and restricted to magic associated with their particular kingdoms.
They were variously named, the god of fire being Hu, Aod, Loki,
Laugar, Lucre (hence "filthy lucre"), Lob, Lugh. The god of the sea
was Llyr in Wales; Ler in Gaelic lands; Hler in Teutonic area; Aegir
or Eagor in England. Kari or Carry was the best known god of the
wind. In each case, these names were completely synonymous
with the words fire, water and wind. The mortal gods and the
giants were independent creations of the Allfather, the former
being, at first, immortals like the elder gods. To dominante the
giants the gods are supposed to have had sexual liasions with
their foe, using the offspring to help wage war. In this they were
successful but this cohabitation destroyed their immortality. Thus
an explanation was provided for the "passing" or "going to earth"
of such mortal-gods as Thor, Odin, Niord, Frey and Bragi. Since
these gods had elements of immortality, their rebirth was
expected in the royal houses of Europe. God-spirit was the
name attached to a god not visible in the flesh. When gods were
demoted they came to be called demons, devils, witches or fairies.

God
Magic Ruler: 1. Rain was referred to as "God's tears."
2. A natural illness was referred to as "the hand of God". See
Creighton, BM, p. 6l.
The one God of Christianity has some notable connections with the
the elder and the mortal gods. Missionaries were careful to
emphasize his "oneness" but confused the issue by referring to
Him as the "Three in One". Pagan mythology is awash with trinities
and perhaps the Christians sought points of contact between old
beliefs and the new? In any instance, local folklore insists that
"Father, Son and Holy Ghost" or "Holy Spirit" are "the most
powerful words in the Bible."
There are other parallels, notable those listed above: The idea
that weather was visited on mankind by a god or goddess is very
general. People looked to the sun-gods to provide energy for
plant and animal growth; to the wind gods to power their boats;
and to the water-gods for necessary rainfall. "Among them was
the fair goddess Holda, who graciously dispensed many rich gifts.
As she presided over the weather, the people were wont to
declare when the snowflakes fell that Frau Holda, or Holle was
shaking her bed, and when it rained, that she was washing her
clothes." Guerber, TN, p. 51.

gold
Sympathetic Magic: It was once common to incorporate a gold
chain into chimney flues for good luck.

The chimney of the house, like the nose of a man, was always
open to the invasive activities of god-spirits, demons, or little
people, which gold might attract and entrap until they were
dispersed by the light of dawn. It was assumed that these "evil"
spirits would be unable to resist the lure of gold but could not
take it away since it was fixed to the flue. More importantly it was
fashioned in interconnected rings, or a chain, which might
encompass the spirit forcing it to travel in left-hand circles until
unbound and dissipated.

good catastrophe
Sympathetic Magic: The curse of a witch was cancelled by three
misfortunes plaguing those who were troubled.

Good Friday
Talisman: 1. Preserve a bun baked on this day and it would
harden without spoilage. If kept in a house or aboard ship this
talisman would preserve either against fire, or general loss. 2. It
was thought bad luck to remove cattle from their barn on Good
Friday. Both from Creighton, BM, p. 131. 3. Nails were not to be
driven on Good Friday, Creighton, BM, p. 141. 4. A ring blessed
on Good Friday was a potent talisman. 5. Bees were best
moved on this day. 6. To avoid bad luck iron was never
hammered on this Friday (presumably because it recalled the
hammering of nails at the crucifixion). 7. Clothese were not hung
for fear they would dry spotted with blood. 8. It was considered
of ill omen to plow or spade the earth, thus bringing iron into
contact with the ground. 10. "In memory of Our Lord's death, the
early Acadians marked Good Friday by severe fasting. In some
families a religious silence was observed until three o'clock."
Daigle, TAOTM, p. 494. 11. No butchering or hunting was
permitted.
See Friday.

As noted elsewhere Friday was sacred to the fertility goddess

Freya, or Freja, and most British tribesman objected to doing
anything on this day. The word "good" derives from "god" and the
particular God honoured on Good Friday was Christian. The hot-
crossed bun baked on this day was even marked to cross out
Freya, and the viking Norsemen, and became a present-day
talisman as a result of this connection. As with all high, holy, or
special days, most pagan "gods" were considered unbound for a
brief spell. Iron was particularly disliked by the older gods, whose
supporters had fallen before weapons made of it, and it was bad
form to show it at a time when they might object by raising storms
or other kinds of magical force.

good neighbour

good shipwreck
Sympathetic Magic: "God's purposes are hidden from man...If a ship
is doomed to go down with all on board, no one can do anything.
People not sailing on ity are lucky...An island, far from the mainland
has people on its barren coast who need a cauldron, a barrel of
white flour, a fine mahogany door with a brass handle, firewood, a
box of nails, or even, it may happen, a trousseau fopr a
marriageable daughter. Well, the wreckage washed up on the
sands or caught on the reefs contains all that. Is it then a good
shipwreck or not?" Darios, STOC, p. 55.

gopher
Sympathetic Magic: "The gopher was something that appeared at
Ingomar (N.S.) and people wouldn't go near the place where it was
seen. Nothing happened there to account for it, but they dasn't
pass it. It died away after a while but not before frightening a lot
of people. Creighton, BG, p. 229.

Reference is to a mysterious cold flame seen after dark and

alternately known as the will o' the wisp. A harmful variant was
the corpse candle. In Abenaki legend these lambent flames
were known to issue from decaying organic matter and
phosphorescent logs were deliberately left at Indian burial places
"to give light to the spirits". The runner of the dead often
inhabited such logs crying out or singing from them "because they
are lonesome."

gorbey
Sympathetic Magic: Men who damaged the gorbey would be
injured in like manner.

"Gorbey" appears to be an anglicization of "corbeaux", a word the

French used to describe members of the Crow Family (i.e. the
Raven, Crow, Canada Jay and Blue Jay). All of these animals are
familiar, plentiful and bold. The Gray, or Canada Jay, is alternately
known as the Carrying Jay, Carrion Jay, or Whisky Jack.

gooseberries
Sympathetic Magic: Gooseberries presented to a loved one
strengthened affection.

Gras, Jour de
Litterally, Fatty Days; the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before
Lent, a time for unbridled entertainment: partying, card playing,
singing and dancing, before the forty pentitent days of lent. At
midnight on Shrive Tuseday, Lent commennced and these
diversions ended. "There was a good deal of visiting...sometimes
totally spoiled, by alcoholic beverages." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 492.

grass
Sympathetic Magic: 1.Grass would not grow where fairies
danced. 2. Grass would not grow in certain places where people
had stood to watch a hanging.

grasshopper
Countercharm; There was a plague of grasshoppers at Judique,
N.S. A farmer convinced that they were evil spirits in disquise
obtained holy water from the Roman Catholic priest and sprinkled
it on his fields, incanting: "Now, get to Hell with you!" They
vanished. Mary L. Fraser, FONS, p. 31. The pagan idea that living
things contained the god-spirit, which was periodically
reincarnated, extended to insects as well as other animals and
plants. As such, any creature might serve as a familiar to
witches, pagan gods, god-spirits, little people or demons. The
countercharm suggested above involved a simple curse of
exorcism. Holy water was used here as a talisman, a symbol
once thought to embody the power of the god (in this case the
Christian God). In ancient times the waters of the sea were
considered the province of the elemental or elder god named
variously Eagor, Hler, Llyr or Ler, who was considered the
supreme deity in that element. Landlocked fresh-water was
believed to harbour his magic especially where it was bound within
a circle of stones. The water of wells and springs was often
reputed to contain water-spirits, who were actual sub-divisions of
the god, whose power might be directed through them with
curative effect. When they came to Europe, the Christian
missionaries re-dedicated many of these holy places, sometimes
actually building a church about the water source.

grief
Sympathetic Magic: Overlong grief for the dead caused them to
rest uneasily in their graves. Creighton, FOLC, p. 22. In the old
world men did not believe in ultimate death and ultimate
ressurection, but supposed that all people were periodically
reincarnated after their spirits spent a brief period of rest with
"mother earth". There was therefore no need for much grief and it
was felt that "like-affecting-like" the needed rest was interrupted
by the uneemly wailing, hair-pulling, and breast-beating of the
living.

grimoire

Groundhog Day
Sympathetic Magic: Our local woodchuck is expected to appear
on the second day of February. "...and (if) he sees his shadder,
he will git back and it will be a late spring." Called Daks Day in
Lunenburg County, N.S. In a few places referred to as
Timberdoodle Day

We have secularized this day in North America, but in Britain it was

Candlemas Day, the time when the holy candles of the Church
were ritually blessed. The holiday has been identified as the day
when Christ was presented in the temple, or as the feast of the
Purification of the Virgin Mary. Anciently it was neither of these,
but the feast day following the fire of the pagan goddesss Bridd,
Brigit, or the Bride. We suspect that the tradition was adopted by
the Celts from the Brigantines, who occupied Northumberlandshire
at the time of the Roman occupation. Their goddess was born
with a corona of fire, or a will o' the wisp, extending from her head
into the heavens. Her eventual followers lit a perpetual flame from
this source, which was afterwards guarded by virgins. This
maternal religion focused on the smelting of metals and the healing
arts. When the Christians invaded Britain, they replaced the
guardians with nuns, but wisely kept the home-fires burning for
several centuries, and renamed the deity Saint Brigit. The
groundhog day legend seems to attach to Brigit, for the Scots still
insist that: "If Candlemas dawns light and clear, there'll be twa'
winters in the year." Until the last century the eve of Brigit's Day
was used in fashioning a replica of the goddess from a sheaf of
oats. It was dressed in women's clothing and laid in a basket with
a wooden club at the side. Members of the family would then cry
into the dusk: "Bridd's bed is laid, Bridd is welcome!" As this was
the date of the earliest planting in Scotland, this rite is seen as an
attempt to aid in fertilizing the soil, and this Christian "saint" is
clearly a symbol of some earlier fertility cult. The club was clearly
a phallic symbol, and in the morning residents of the house looked
closely to see if it had been used. Under the most desirable
circumstances it would be seen to have disturbed the ashes on
the hearth, in which case good luck was expected for the coming
planting season. Daks Day may relate to the Old Danish "dack", a
staggerer, one who wavers while walking. The ritual use of liquor
was prominent in all such fire-festivals.

Groundhog Day
Divination: Sometimes called Woodchuck Day, Candlemas Day,
Briid's Day or Daks Day. "If Candlemas dawns fair and clear;
There'll be twa winters in the year." See similar in Creighton, BM,
p. 263. This was once the feast-day following the pagan-fires on
the eve of Imbolc (G.v. to retreat into the woods for sacrifices).
In Celtic parts, Imbolc Day was said to coincide with the first
lactation of ewes or with the first planting of seed. It became a
traditional Quarter, or Rent-paying Day in Scotland, the other times
being May 1, August 2 and November 1, which were the dates for
similar pagan fire-festivals and fertility rites. In North America the
tradition that relates to this day suggests that if the groundhog
emerges and sees his shadow, he will have to retreat to his
burrow because of further hard weather.

In Europe, February 2nd was called Bride's Day, Briid's Day,

Brigit's Day, or Saint Brigit'd Day in recognition of an ancient Celtic
goddess of hearth and home. Her divinity was recognized at birth
by a lambent flame which issued from her head into the heavens.
By-standers rescued some of this "divine-fire" and used it to
create perpetual flames in Ireland and Scotland. These were
tended by virgins who were skilled in the metal and healing arts,
and were later kept by Christian nuns well past the pagan era. In
the old rites, the virgin-goddess, or bride, was married to a
bridge-groom, and they were publically mated in ceremonies meant
to awaken the vegetation, sunshine and procreative acts of
spring. Until recently, Scottish families lay out a basket and a club
for the Briid at their hearths. At dusk on Februrary 1st, they
stood at the door and invited the old goddess to stay the night.
The next day they looked carefully for indications that the ashes
of the hearth had been disturbed, a mark of good fortune for the
coming year.

guardian
Magic Race: a runner or a ghost conscripted to guard buried
treasure by scaring off treasure-seekers. This earth-bound spirit
was duty bound to create supernatural lights and sound, but was
anxious to see the treasure removed from the ground thus ending
his period of imprisonment. According to Mr. Enos Hartlam of
South East Passage, N.S., a naieve member of a pirate crew usually
"volunteered" for the function, after which, "they had a party and
soused him and buried him alive with the treasure." Creighton, BG,
p. 47. It was supposed that the guardian had no physical potential
as long as the seekers remained silent while digging. If they were
able to withstand a barrage of transient images and sound, the
treasure could be obtained, but they usually bolted or spoke or
screamed. In the latter case, the guardian was released to chase
or kill those whoinvaded his domain. Some guardians were virulent
because of their confinement but others were apparently bored
with their work. A fisherman rowing past Clam Island, N.S. was
confronted by a wraith who stood on the shore shouting "Come
ashore and take me off this island...Come ashore and take me
off...You're not going to take me off? Do you mean to say I've got
to stay here another hundred years?" While the guardian might
laed people to treasure all of the various taboos had to be
observed. See treasure.

guess cake
Sympathetic Magic: At all-day fairs arranged to fund church or
school activities guess cakes were sometimes featured. These
were baked by unmarried women and concealed an unexpected
item which prospective purchasers had to divine. The person who
deduced the contents won the cake (and sometimes the affection
of the lady).

gun
Sympathetic Magic: 1. As a countercharm against witchery,
water from a place where two streams met could be run through
the barrel of a gun while chanting an appropriate spell. This called
the witch and led to the breaking of the original charm where the
traditional three favours were refused. 2. Some people cured
"witch-warts" on cows by "firing a gun up the flue." Creighton, BM,
p. 59. Iron and steel were considered extremely useful in warding
off witchcraft and the gun barrel, additionally, has the shape of the
ring which has the capacity to entrap free spirits. With the witch
familiar held within the metal, executing endless left-hand circuits,
the witch was naturally drawn hoping to break the countercharm.
The creation of any loud noise, such as the firing of guns, always
frightened off witches and their influence. It is a matter of record
that many of the little people removed themselves from Europe
because of the loud noises
which accompanied the Christian "invasion". Apparently, the
traditional witches were country herdsmen, who disliked the
"plaguey bells" of the church as much as the sounds of agricultural
industrialization.

gum
Sympathetic Magic: It was said unwise to chew gum which had
been placed in water as this would lead to mouth sores. Today,
this would be understood in terms of the germ theory, but
yesterday, water was thought to the medium of water-spirits, who
might create such illness from spite.

guy's buck
Magic Race: Anglicized version of the German "geisboch"

gypsies
Sympathetic Magic: It was thought bad luck to short-change, or
badly treat, gypsies.

hag-ridden
Wonder-Work: Witches, or hags, were able to take animal form
and crouch upon the chests of sleeping victims, infusing them with
bad dreams. These unfortunates awoke from a sleep of poor
quality, bathed in sweat, with their hair lutinized. It was claimed
this was because the witches, fairies, or devils rode the victim as
one might ride a horse, using the hair as reins. According to local
folklore they could be driven off as long as they were not actually
crouched on the chest. One victim noted: "If she'd gone on my
breat or stomach I couldn't have done a thing." Creighton, BM, p.
27. The expression "hag-ridden" is used in places having Anglo-
Germanic roots. The Celts ascribe the same business to their
baobhs, to the old god-spirit called Aog (Angus Og, or Angus
Young), or to the sidh known as the Alp. "Hag" arises from the
Middle English "hagge", the first part of the word corresponding
with "haw" or "hedge", hence a "hedge" or "woods-woman", and
similar in basic meaning to witch, excepot that the latter identified
a costal dweller. All of the various fay-tribes have been accussed
of this activity, and the English form is called the Night Mare.
Richard Hartlan encountered this phenomena when he visited the
Hartlan "ghost house" at South West Passage, N.S.: "The only time I
ever saw anything was one Sunday afternoon. After I ate my
dinner I went and had a lay down and I fell into a doze of
sleep...After I got to sleep there was something pressing me and I
couldn't wake or I couldn't turn over for about half an hour and,
when I woke, I seen this person go from me to the windy and she
was a woman with a black and white spotted dress on and I was a
lther of sweat with the water pouring off me as big as marbles.
Whatever it was, witch or not, God knows." Creighton, BM, p. 275.

hair
Sympathetic Magic, Divination: 1. If a lock of hair was stolen from a
girl it was thought she would be unable to refuse reasonable, or
unreasonable, requests. 2. A woman's hair knit into a seaman's
socks would ensure that he would come back to the land, dead or
alive. 3. It was unlucky to comb the hair after dark. 4. A person
born with a "cow-lick" or "two-crowns" on the head would never
drown. 5. Hair taken from a dog or cat was burned "to keep
witches out." Creighton, BM, p. 45. 6. Curly hair was lucky and
could be encouraged by eating bread crusts, carrots or spinach
and prunes (or any other food a fractious child was likely to
refuse). 7. Rain caused hair to grow more quickly and to curl. The
same effect was produced by frequent cutting. 8. A man who
had his hair cut during the waning of the moon was likely to go
bald. 9. Eating a raven's egg would cause the hair to turn black,
but a severe fright would cause it to whiten. 10. Sports figures
involved in a winning streak often vowed not to shave until the
luck has ended. 11. Male children who wished to grow hair on
their chests were advised to eat substantial foods such as meat
and potatoes. 12. Masturbation resulted in the growth of hair on
the palms of the hands.
14. People used to go outside backwards beneath the light of the
new moon and "pick something off the ground and bring it indoors
and then it would be taken apart to see if they could find a hair in
it. If they found a hair, , even if it came from some animal, they
used to think that hair would be the hair colour of their future
lover." MacNeil, TUD, p. 104. 16. In Acadian communities hair was
not cut during the first year for fear the child's genie, or wits,
would leave with it, leaving him an idiot. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 479.
In ancient belief, the part was never separated from the whole,
thus beating a lock of hair, even where separte from the head,
was believed to injure the person. The swain, who purloined a
lock of hair was able to bring it within the physical compass of his
spirit, and through force of will, make the two, one. It is
noteworthy that Napoleon always asked for souvenir locks , and
many of these are still extant. It was thought that the power of
spiritual love was such that corpses lost at sea would actually
float home if hair was knit into the socks. The various fay-folk
were abroad after dark and might make nefarious use of lost hair,
which explains the proscription against combing after dark. In
earlier communities, hair receivers were kept to protect it against
misuse until it could be ritually hidden from danger. The Fomors,
and various other sea-peoples, were sometimes pictured as
having a crest on their head. Humans born with two parts were
thought to show a relationship to these sea-dwellers, and were
thought protected by them. Some captains attempted to hire on
these individuals trusting that their protection might extend to the
ship. Since cats and dogs were frequent familiars of witches it
was reasoned that they might be frightened off by the smell of
others of their kind who had, apprently, been incinerated. Most of
the above superstitions have obvious connotations, but we have
to add that witches considered their powers to be resident in
their hair, hence their lack of elegant coiffures. These people
were the first hippies, refusing to cut their hair and shave. Sports
figures on a winning binge are following this ancient tradition when
they refrain from sprucing up for fear of interfering with their good
luck. The business with masturbation is based on the idea that
"bestial acts" create a beastial appearnce.

halibut
Sympathetic Magic: To see the ghost of a halibut was an omen
of death. Caspar Henneberry was supposed to have attended
and "evenin' of drinkin' and dancin' on an island in Halifax Harbour.
Going outside to "relieve himself" he returned ashen-faced saying:
"Boys, my time is finished...I seen the devil on the bankin' (piled
seaweed used as winter insulation) of the house and he came in
the form of a halibut..." The next day Caspar was found drowned
and the island has since been called "Devil's Island". Creighton, BG,
p. 110.

Hallowe'en
Sympathetic Magic, Divination, Wonder Work: 1. Waste water was
not to be thrown out on this night for fear it might fall on a spirit
and rouse his wrath against the family. 2. Salt cake was eaten
before retiring to bed, it being assumed that the thirsty dreamer
would be approached by a future mate offering a glass of water.
Fraser, FONS, p. 104. 3. People walked backwards into the cellar
looking in a mirror, expecting to see the forerunner of their
future mate. 4. In German areas it was customary to eat
colcannon (a salad made of turnips, cabbage and potatoes) on
this evening. Within the dish lay buried omens: a penny, match,
ring and button, symbolizing marriage, old maid-ship, money and
poverty, repectively. Creighton, FOLC, p. 60. Charm: 5. On
Hallowee'en a fatal charm could be fashioned by placing a human
skull on the ground and firing three shotgun blasts at the moon.
Under ideal conditions, three spots of blood would fall from the
injured moon into an eye of the skull. A shot ball was then placed
in the eye cavity and removed for use against an enemy. It was
claimed that this charmed shot, on being fired, would find its way
to the enemy, kill him and return to the pocket of the charm-
maker, so that his culpibilty could not be proved. Creighton, BM,
p. 131. 6. After the potatoe crop was harvested the stalks were
held and burned on Hallowe'en, Manny. 7. Potaoe harvesting was
followed by "pancake parties at which they played cards - forty-
fivees, cribbage, snap, old maid - while the women cooked...then
they danced and ate and sang." Fowke, CF, p. 103.

Fraser has suggested that Hallowe'en, formerly called the

Samhainn Eve, was the oldest and most important special time of
the year, "since the Celts. would seem to have dated the
beginnings of the year from it..." The Celtic New Year began on
Samhainn Day (November 1) and both the eve and the day were
filled with attempts at divination. "Throughout Europe, the night
which marks the transition from autumn to winter, seems to have
been the time of year when the souls of the departed were
supposed to revisit their old homes in order to warm themselves
by the fire...But it is not only the souls of the departed who were
supposed to be hovering unseen...Witches then speed on their
errands of mischief. The fairies too are all let loose, and
hobgoblins of every sort roam freely about." Fraser, TGB, p. 735.

hand
Sympathetic Magic: To have an itchy right hand led one to
expect a stranger and pay out money; left, one would receive
money. Here again, a forerunner might feel the exchange of
money before it took place. Since it was held, in some quarters
that it was "better to give than receive", such premonitions
involved the right hand. The earliest exchanges were in kind, and
the introduction of coinage into the bartering system, created
additional possibilities for fraud. The receipt of money was a
chancey business, thus any portent of this sort, affected the left
hand, which see.

Harvest Home
Sympathetic Magic: 1. For the crop of the next year to be large
it was thought that the last sheaf should be large. 2. The last
sheaf taken had to be bound by a woman for good luck. 3. An
effigy of a child was sometimes fashioned from a shaef of corn or
oats and hung from the kitchen wall to ensure prosperity. 4.
Before corn became hybridized it was common to find red-
kerneled corn in a crop consisting mostly of yellow ears. It was
considered lucky to find such "Indian corn" and the finder
expected this was sufficient excuse to extort a kiss from a girl
friend. A survival of this is seen in the dried decorative corn
which people buy at supermarkets for attachment to their autumn
doors.
Harvest Home was the gathering and bringing home of the
harvest; the time of harvest; and the feast traditionally held at its
close. It is also certain folksongs sung by the reapers as they
returned from their last stint in the fields. This is an extremely
ancient European celebration, which originally had magical and
religious connotations, not all of which are pleasant. A
characteristic of the rites was the creation of a doll from plant
materials, which was often decorated with ribbons or flowers.
Typically it had the shape of a woman, but in some cases it was
obviously a four-footed animal. Whatever the shpe it obviously
represented a nature-spirit and once fashioned from the last
sheaf, was carried from the field at the head of a farm procession
which was both bawdy and uprorious. The image was variously
called the corn mother, kirn baby, kirn doll, corn maiden, old
woman, fox in the field, last goose, etc. and was regarded as
emblematic of the "corn spirit". To put it simply, the farmers
regarded the soul of the corn to be as real as that of men, and
considered that it fled before the scythes and sycles, taking final
refuge in the last sheaf. In this form it was overwintered, and
being fed at last to the ploughman and plough animals at the first
of the next season, was returned through their digestive tracts to
the soil. Often one of the workers was forced to take the roll of
harvest queen and another that of the corn king. In former times
it is suspected that they were participants in sexual rites which
ended with their sacrifice at a fire-festival similar to the Samhainn.
For other participants dancing, feasting, drinking, and "merry-
making" were rampant, the special; day being termed variously,
throughout Europe, the kern, the mell or the hockey. The latter
was reserved to the festivities of Celtic herders who used a
crooked stick, or hock, to tend their flocks. Interestingly, the
pagan festival was put down by the Christian church only to be
partially revived by the Church of England in the 1840s. Although
the Reverend R.S. Hawker, who served a Celtic parish, balked at
sanctioning blessing the earth by sprinkling blood on the fields, he
did allow the autumn decoration of his church with produce from
the fields, a tradition afterwards sanctioned almost universally.
There has been some tendency to equate Harvest Home with
Thanksgiving, but this obviously comes long after the fact. The
American Thanksgiving, first held in 1621, and now established as
the fourth Thursday of November, is obviously entirely unrelated,
and there are few superstitions surrounding it.

hawthorn

The fair maid who, on the first of May

Goes to the woods at break of day
And bathes in the dew of hawthorne tree
Shall ever after handsome be.

Sympathetic Magic: During the month of May it was considered

bad luck to keep hawthorn blossoms in a house. "Pick flower, pick
sickness." Creighton, BM, p. 156. The word "hawthorn" derives
from the Anglo-Saxon English, "hagathorn", which relates to the
Germanic "hagge", a witch, and the English "haw", a hedge. The
hawthorn tree also identified the entrances of "fairy hills". May
Eve was formerly known as the Beltane, an important European
fire-festival, which centred on consumming alcohol, round dancing,
ritual and informal sex, and the sacrifice of humans and animals.
Witches, fairies, and god-spirits were all unbound at this time, as
at Hallowe'en. This superstition probably centers on the idea
that those who gathered hawthorns and kept them in the house,
invited unpleasant company. In olden days those who returned
from the left-hand dances were often seen to be physically or
mentally ill, thus the association of the flower of the hawthorn
plant with illness.

hay
Sympathetic Magic: A wish could be made on a wagon load of hay.
The words "hay" and "haw" are connecteed, both being akin to the
word "hedge" and related to the Germanic "hagge", a witch. The
word hay was formerly used as the equivalent of hawthorne, the
symbolic plant of the fairy people. Since these were failed god-
spirits, it is assumed that wishing on the hay was the equivalent of
wishing on a star, calling upon a "god" for supernatural help.

hemlock
Sympathetic Magic: Crosses steeped in hemlock were believed
most potent against witchcraft. The word hemlock originally
described several species of poisonous herbs, with finely-cut
leaves and white flowers, but in North America, the term has been
applied to pineaceous trees. THe use of hemlock against witches
was a matter of fighting fire with fire. A common Continental name
for the witch was "venefica", the "poisoner", and one of her
poisons was the European hemlock. Neither the witch, nor
common folk, had any understanding of the precise action of
drugs. While we would consider the administration of poison
sufficient to kill and individual, our ancestors frequently buried a
pot of poison near the threhold of the intended victim, and
uttered curses, without being absolutely certain which of the
three actions created the desired effect. It used to be assumed
that the cross had a potency quite aside from the hemlock, which
acted against the witch by projecting an invisible force of its own.

hex
Sympathetic Magic: In Atlantic Canada the word "hex" was used in
the same sense as "to witch" or "blight" or "trouble". Creighton
says the word is "infrequently used in Nova Scotia" BM, p. 18.

The word derives from the Greek word for six, and strictly
speaking, is the conjuration of a spirit or spirits while standing
within the protection of a six-sided star called the hexagram.

hill
Sympathetic Magic: People who were troubled would hitch iron
chains to any animal dead through witchcraft and haul the corpse
first up, and then down, the closest hill. The same rite was
sometimes performed for human dead. Creighton, BM, p. 50.
Witchs, fairies and god-spirits inhabited the underside of the "high
places", and when the dead were passed above them it was
thought that the spirit of death might affect them. Iron rings
were, of course, a talisman against evil, reinforcing the effect.

Holy Ghost
Magic Race: Derived from Christian mythology, the Holy Ghost, or
Holy Spirit, was one of the Trinity: viz. Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
The "Father" seems to have symbolized God as a remote universe-
creator; while "Son" represented his historical presence on earth.
"Holy Ghost" appears to have represented supernatural
manifestations of the God-spirit, as it is sometimes defined as "the
angelicus". Thus, the agency responsible for producing angels,
the dancing of the sun on Easter morning, weeping statues, etc.
The translation of the Latin "spriritum" (breath of life) as Holy
Ghost or Holy Spirit has troublesome pagan connotations. The
prefix "Holy" is confluent with "holly, wholey, hooley," and "holey".
The Middle English word "holy" originally indicated anything which
was "whole" or soundly crafted for example a brass container.
This became associated with the concept of objects set apart
to service a deity, e.g. "holy" vessels. All early religious rites took
place out-of-doors in natural ampitheatres, more simply called
"holes" or "holy" places. The Teutonic goddess Holle is
remembered in the Middle English word "hole", which also indicates
"a cavern in the ground" According to myth she dwelt in the cave
called Horselberg, in the province of Thuringia, Germany. Frau
Holle presided over the weather in pagan times, gifted mankind
with a knowledge of the use of flax, and lured mortals into her
realm, detaining them forever in a sexual limbo. Her most famous
victim was Tannhauser, who escaped her power and fled to Rome
seeking absolution for this unnatural "connection". The Pope
declared that the German knighht could no more hope for pardon
than have his staff bear buds and bloom. Although this did occur,
it was too late for Tannhauser who returned to the hole in the
earth. See also spirit and ghost.
hoodoo
Sympathetic Magic: An alternate name for the runner, or shadow
man. Also applied locally to jinxed individuals and, less frequently,
to witches. The word confers with "howdie" (a mid-wife), "hoodie"
(the European hooded or carrion crow), hood (the usual wearing
apparel of monks, invisible god-spirits, and little people), and
perhaps, voodoo.

horn
Sympathetic Magic: l. Horns were erected above doors and
hearths to ward off witchcraft. 2. When horns were knocked off
animals, some old-timers advised binding them in place with tar and
string.

Herding peoples frequently identified their deities as possessing

horns so their loss on farm animals was considered an ill omen.
Conceivably, those hung above doors were first meant to identify
adherents of the old pagan fertility cults, and these god-spirits,
perceiving this homage might by-pass a marked doorway.
Anciently, horns were blown to create a noise which would
frighten off witches and devils.

horn sickness
Folk Medicine: The name given distemper in cattle. The traditional
cure was to lay a chain across the animal's back while milking,
subject the cow to the smoke from burning shoes soaked in tar,
or drill the horn and pour in turpentine.

A local old-timer explained that the cow's stomach needs a good

supply of blood to function properly and that "horn sickness"
mysteriously diverts the supply of blood to the horns. Surprisingly
the horns are cold when the stomach is upset!

horribles
Sympathetic Magic: costumed individuals who paraded on New
Year's Day. The equivalent of guisers (disguisers) kris kringlers
and belsnickers, who were also abroad during the Yuletide.
Particulary noted on Prince Edward Island. "In Canada, the custom
apparently died out during the First World War." See Old
Christmas.

horse
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Mariners disliked dreaming of horses.
2. Horses suffering sprained feet were subjected to the "eolas an
t-sniomh" (charm for a sprain) in Gaelic villages. The charm-maker
knotted string about the injury following traditional patterns,
while reciting: "Christ came out; he found the bones of the horse
broken. He placed blood next to blood, flesh to flesh; as he cured
then, so cure now." 3. A stallion would always side with his human
master, but a mare had the potential to take the side of
supernaturals. A countercharm was a simple thread of wool tied
about the neck. 4. On buying a horse: "One white foot, try him;
two white feet, buy him; three white feet, deny him. Four white
feet and one white nose: cut off his head and throw him to the
crows!" Spray, WOTW, p. 5. The horse hoof was symbolic of the
Devil. A lady who swore that she would go dancing with any
partner, "even the devil," was accomodated and was afterwards
found with "the devil's mark, the imprint of a horse's hoof" on her
forehead. Creighton, BG, p. 93. 6. A pregnant mare was worked
close to the time of delivery since it was believed this would
produce a healthy foal. 7. If a donkey ran with a new foal it was
believed that animal would be free of disease. 8. Horses brasses
with the crescent moon or stars were often suspended over a
horse's forehead to ensure good fortune.

Horses were the preferred witch-familiar following cats and dogs.

Mariners disliked dreaming of horses not only because of this, but
also because they observed that the mythical god and fairy-spirits
(e.g. the kelpy, nuckalavee, and sea-serpents) frequently had the
head of a horse. Because witchcraft came to be regarded as a
female occupation, female animals, whatever their species, were
always considered more dangerous than male. The above is a
traditional charm, the word "Christ" having been inserted into the
litany in place of a dishonoured god-spirit. Knotted string had the
same properties as rings. It may be guessed that red wool
thread would be preferred as a countercharm.

Horseman's Word
Magic Assembly: A magical cult which originated in Britain and at
one time embraced almost the entire labourer population of the
north-east. Its principle ceremony, celebrated at the time of
Martimas, aimed at the creation of "made horsemen" from the
young males of the neighbourhood. It was a secret society
imported to Canada in the early part of the eighteenth century.

Actual members have stated that the number of initiates was

always odd rather than even and that the place of initiation was a
barn well off the beaten path. Inductees were summoned by the
receipt of a single horsehair enclosed in an envelope, and had to
bring with them a bottle of whisky, bread and a jar of jam. With
most of the countryside bedded down, these novices travelled to
pre-selected points where they were blindfolded and led to the
door of the barn where rites were to be held. There each had to
give the three "horseman's knocks" and be interrogated by a
gateman. Among the questions were "Who bade ye come here?",
the invariable answer being "Old Clootie" (the Devil). At midnight
the ceremony began: The novices, blindfolded, knelt in a circle
about the central figure of a horse-master, who informed them
that the order was instigated by Tubal Cain, the first Horseman
and gave them the secret words of cult. He also revealled two
verses of the Bible which he said copuld be read in reverse to
invoke the Prince of Darkness. After they were conversant with
the "Word" the initiates had to promise that they would "neither
write, nor dite, nor recite" anything they had been told.
Immediately following, the master would attempt to trick them into
doing just that by lifting their blindfolds and commanding them to
write the secret words on a piece of paper. Occasionally a sharp
lad would refrain, but most did as instructed, and received a "lick"
across the finger with a chain or horsewhip until they learned the
meaning of secrecy. The lads were again blindfolded and taken to
shake hands with "old Hornie" (who might be represented by a
man dressed in an animal skin or a live calf or goat). In any case,
no youth became a "made horseman" until he had shaken hands
with the "devil" of the Horseman's Word. This done, the whisky
bread and jam was produced, the initiates unblinded and a party
put into motion. The Horseman's Word promised help from the
supernatural but was really a brand of Freemasonry, in the sense
that the older men recognized obligations of help and counsel
towards new members. It is suspected that the cult evolved out
of the Hayman's Word in 1820 when horses began to supplant
oxen for farm work. It persisted until about 1914 when machines
displaced the horse. It was hardly a trade union! One son of a
deceased member said that it was, "purely connected with black
magic, the occult, the language of horses &c."
horseshoe
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Horseshoes could be placed above any
door to ensure good luck. To be useful the tines had to point
upward to "hold the luck in" and three nails were used. The points
on the underside of the shoe had to be placed pointing inward. 2.
"A horseshoe should be nailed on the step of the barn in the
position of the horse walking out. They say bad luck can't come in
then, and any good luck can't go any further." Creighton, BM, p.
139. 3. "We pick up horseshoes on the road for luck; each nail is
a year of luck." Creighton, BM, p. 139. 4. Horseshoes found on
the road indicated good luck where the tines pointed toward the
finder; bad luck if they pointed away. 5. To prevent witches from
noticing horseshoes erected against them they were sometimes
sheathed with lead foil. 6. Wool in which the dye failed to set or
where the colour proved other than expected was considered to
have been witched. As a countercharm a horseshoe was
heated until red and then plunged into the dye. Creighton, BM, p.
46. When a man at West Pubnico, N.S., was refused wool he
placed a spell on her dyes. Realizing this she attempted the
horseshoe treatment and when she did, "the man writhed in
agony."
When wild horses were first tamed, their "binding" to the tasks of
man was marked by the horseshoe. The process was referred to
as "the breaking of their spirit", which was considered essentially
dangerous and evil. Having been in intimate contact with a tamed
horse, the shoe was thought potent against general evils and
capable of providing omens. In European legend it was suggested
that any uncanny spirit was drawn into this incomplete circle and
forced to resonate between the tines of the horseshoe during
the hours between dusk and day.

Indian summer
Sympathetic Magic: it was claimed that a period of extremely
warm weather invariably followed the first snowstorm of the fall or
winter.

inspirational writing
Sympathetic Magic: "Eighty years ago (1898) I used to write
strips for the Pictou Advocate and I stumbled on a way of writing
without thinking. I did it much better than I could do with any
amount of thinking...Where did the power come from? God and the
Devil were ones I'd heard of and I didn't feel like blaming either
one..." Creighton, BM, p. 190

inversion
Sympathetic Magic: The inversion of any object at sea was
thought to endanger the ship. Fishermen would not turn baskets,
hatch covers or similar objects upside down aboard their craft.
Objects seen as having a hold, or interior, were thought
comparable with the ship itself, hence inverting one was likely to
tip over the other.

invisible wall
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Captain David Hayden was climbing a fence
one night when he was stopped by "a strong force that pulled him
back." 2. This was as baffling as "the force that held a fishing
vessel back as it was sailing up the La Have River. There was a
good breeze, and these waters were familiar to all the crew.
Suddenly the vessel wheeled around in the opposite direction.
The men were excellent seamen but, not matter what they did,
they could not get that vessel up the river until daylight."
Creighton, BG, p. 161. 3. A classic case was that of "an oild sea
captain" who attempted to sail his "shallop" between
Tatamagouche, N.S. and "the Island" (Prince Edward Island): "One
day he was sailing there undera steady breeze when suddenly in
the Strait, far from land and in deep water, his vessel without any
reason whatever suddenly stopped. An ordinary mariner would
have been at a loss to understand so strange a phenomenon but
this old salt...was a master of witchcraft. He knew the plight had
been wished upon him by his enemy...He lashed the wheel and
then disappeared inmto the cabin. In a moment he re-appeared,
carrying...an old musket...and a rough slab (of wood) on which he
sketchedthe likeness of his enemy, the witch. Placing the slab by
the mast he shot at it...Scarcely had the report died away when
the vessel began to move..." Patterson, HOT, p. 57.

iron
Sympathetic Magic: 1. As a countercharm against the witching
of milk, an iron pin was placed in fire and then plunged into milk
from the afflicted cattle. 2. Farmers, whose animals were
troubled would fill their vest pockets with iron nails and beat
their cattle with it. The torment was believed passed on to the
witch who was called by this action. 3. In all remedies new
iron was usually specified. Iron has had an extremely high
reputation as a charm against all supernaturals. In earlier days,
Celtic thieves would steal any object except that made of iron.
Gold, silver and brass could be beaten into form, but iron which
was smelted, cast and annealed, was regarded as a magic metal,
and the black smith was regarded as a practitioner of one of the
dangerous crafts. It has also been suggested that the god-
spirits, devils, fairies and witches had among them white smiths,
but could not work iron. It is suspected that the fay-kind were
first subjugated by iron weapons, which were far keener than
those of brass and bronze, which they possessed. Hence, their
distaste for any object made of the hated metal.

itch
Sympathetic Magic: 1. An itchy right hand indicated that that
person would soon shake hands with a stranger; an itchy left, that
one would soon receive money. 2. Itchy lips presaged a kiss or
the passage of a dram of whisky. Itches, twitches, and quivers in
the human body were seen as the actions of forerunners or
hindrunners examining the future or the past on behalf of their
human counterparts. A forerunner parroted every future activity
of his birth-mate, but his attempts to warn of eventual happenings
could only be seen by those with the gift. Omens relayed through
the right hand were usually considered innocuous, but those
through the left suggested danger or dealings with potentially
dangerous matter (e.g. money).

Jack O'Lantern
Sympathetic Magic: Those who observed "swamp-lights" were
forced to follow them unless they had the foresight to "turn-coat".
The Jack was a god-spirit, or fairy, a light-carrying creature similar
to the corpse candle or gopher. He inhabited swamps and his
light often mislead travellers, but he he was potentially dangerous
rather than omen-laded like the corpse candle. All of the fay-kind
wore the turned-coat of animal hide, the fur turned inward toward
the body, but outward at the waist, collar and wrists. Any
"human", who reversed his clothing, acted to make himself
indistinguishable from the "enemy".

janney
Sympathetic Magic: a mummer, sandy, or belsnicker. See Old
Christmas.
jaundice
Sympathetic Magic: Cold water was dumped over the body of the
victim without prior notice. Dunn, HS, p. 43. Fright or surprise
was considered on possible means of exorcizing unwanted
spirits.

jipijkam
Magic Race: Abenaki creatures, water-dwellers, "the
horned'serpent people". Similar to the Gaelic Fomors, a race which
inhabited the sea, lakes and ocean, and had highly developed
shape-changing abilities. They might appear as humans, but one of
their resting forms was that of great mountains. When disturbed
they were believed to swim off through earth or water in the
forms of great snake-like creatures. The former event led to
earthquakes. They formed sexual alliances with humans, who were
subverted to their kingdom by this act. In serpent form, the water
people carried a yellow and a blue horn upon their foreheads, and
these were valued as an aphrodisiac. The Utopia Monster
appears to be of this kind.

Jonah or Joner
Sympathetic Magic: An seaman consistently pursued by bad luck.
See runner

kaqtukwaq
Magic Race: The "thunder people" of the Abenaki. Supposedly,
they lived "much as men do" but "their power shapes are those of
great birds, and when they fly and beat their wings, the people
down below on the earth world have storms..." Whitehead,
DFTSW, p. 232. See sky-people.

kelpy or kelpie

keyhole
Wonder-Work: Witches and fairies, demons and sidh were all able
to dematerialize and pass through a keyhole. The Celtic Fomors,
or sea-people, who were supposed to have been the first to
inhabit Britain after the great world-flood, were descibed as
shape-changers, who could dematerialize and reconstitute
themselves after this fashion. Possibly the ability was in their
genotype, and many humans admitted cohabitation with this usually
anti-social race.

kisulkw
Sympathic Magic: The Abenaki word for moon, which was always
personified in their mythology as a goddess. "Whenever they saw
the new moon they had prayers. What they asked for...they would
get." Parsons, MF.

kitchen racket
Sympathetic Magic: See wake.

kji-kinap
Magic Race: Abenaki creator-god. "Kji" is a prefix meaning
"great" and "kinap" a synonym for "power"

knife
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was bad luck to close a jacknife opened
by another person. 2. To create a wind a knife was stuck into
the spar of a sailing ship. 3. It was bad luck to rotate a knife on
the table. 4. Two knifes crossed on a table indicated bad luck.
5. People were advised not to accept an opened jacknife as it
might "cut a friendship". 6. A witch is unable to pass over a knife
driven into any part of the doorframe. 7. When cows went dry,
and witchcraft was supected, the woman of the house would
obtain what milk was avaliable, cut a cross in it with a steel knife,
and throw it out. The next woman to come to the door was
expected to have a cross cut on her forehead and would be
seeking a favour. If these were refused the witching would cease.
7. A countercharm used against the witching of animals was to
place milk from affected cows on the stove, cross it with a steel
knife, boil it, and then slash it randomly. This would cause the
witch to develop a fever as well as facial cuts. Closing a jacknife
was the equivalent of sheathing another man's sword, a blunder of
etiquette at best, an act likely to result in death in harsher times.
The fay disliked iron, and knifes were made of this metal. A knife
stuck in the spar of a sailing ship was fully visible to the sea-
dwelling Fomors and similar creatures, who supposedly reacted to
the sight by raising the wind. The table was considered a basic
symbol of the family's prosperity since it held what they ate. Even
when food was not present, the spirits of the food were though
to linger, and to be exorcized by inappropriate actions with iron.

knitting
Sympathetic Magic: Knitting was done after dark when the sheep
were asleep.

knock a balls
Magic Race. "I had never heard the knock-a-balls until I visited the
Smith family at Blanche (N.S.)...They are knockings which have no
natural explanation. If we took the Bible out and opened it we
wouldn't hear a sound but, if we closed it we would hear the
knockings..." Creighton, BM, p. 276.

The knocky boh have been described as the poltersprites or

poltergeists of England. In other parts of Europe they were
called the pulter klaes, nicker-knockers, bubka, or klopferles.
They were considered to be spirits related to the bodach, the
brownie or the kobold but instead of performing household chores
they delighted in making noise (hence the designation poltergeist,
which translates as noisy ghost). They travelled about the house
invisibly or in the forms of squirrels or cats, rattling and knocking
their way through shelves of dishes, causing objects to vibrate or
fly through the air. They would throw objects dowen stairways,
thump softly from beneath the wainscotting, patter about on the
roof, throw rocks at the walls, make the beds squeak without
obvious cause, swing on creaky doors and act as a general
nusiance. When someone in the family was destined to die they
made an unusually loud clammer to warn of the coming event.

knockers
Magic Race: The knockers or tommy knockers are related to the
house spirits known as the konck a balls (see above notation).
At Springhill, N.S., one of Helen Creightons respondents noted:
"I've heard of Tommy Knockers having been heard before an
accident. Men often seen lights before an accident and they
would quit and come up...In Stellarton if miners heard a certyain
knocking in the mine they would come up and close it down and
stop work for that day." Again she found that "Tommy Knockerrs
used to be heard in the mines in Queen's County. A Cornishman,
Tommy Connolly from Bridgewater knew all about them."

The Cornish tin-miners were largely believers in these diminutive

creatures who dressed in leather miner's clothing and picked away
at the ore in galleries unused by men. By following the sounds of
their knocking it was believed that men could find the richest veins
of ore. Three sharp sounds from the underground were
understood to suggest an impending cave-in or some other
disaster. Miners were careful not to sing or whistle underground
as this upset the knockers. They were also careful not to make
the sign of the cross as this tribe were enemies of Christianity and
resenting its symbols, might create an underground "bump".

kobold

kukwesk
Magic Race: "...giants, covered with hair. They crave human flesh.
The sound of their screams can kill." Whitehead, SFTSW, p. 5.
Similar to European giants and Fomors.

ladder
Sympathetic Magic: It was considered bad luck to walk beneath a
ladder; some people would cross their fingers after inadvertently
making such a move. Ladders were frequently used in northern
Europe to spread-eagle witches and criminals while they were
disembowelled. Standing in the shadow of a ladder could be a
unlucky business, since it was closely related to the spirit of
death.

ladybug
Sympathetic Magic: Killing a ladybug was bad luck; it had to be
taken out of doors and released.

lambkiller
Divination: It was considered that there would inevitably be a
harsh March storm just after lambs were foaled.

launching
Sympathetic Magic: Lucky ships turned with their bow to the land
immediately after launching. Ships, like people, seemed to enter
life with an invisible forerunners, which predicted future events
by subtle interactions with the craft. If this spirit turned the ship
to the land upon launching, it was assumed that she would make
many safe returns. When the Bluenose II was launched, this is
exactly what happened, and she has had a very successful career
since her maiden voyage.

leaf
Sympathetic Magic: Catching a falling leaf would lead to twelve
months of good luck.

leap year
Sympathetic Magic: February twenty-ninth was feared if it fell on a
Friday. Among the Teutons, Friday was held sacred to Freya, or
Freyja, who considered it a lucky day. In Britain, where the viking
Norse were feared, the reverse was true. Leap-year days were
considered "out-of-phase" and somewhat dangerous; a time when
females might proposition males, and other unlikely or fay-events
occur. The coincidence of both was considered doubly ominous.
left
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Ropes were never coiled in a left-handed or
counter-clockwise fashion. 2. Left-handed children forced to
write with the right hand would stutter. Tyr, the Scandinavian god
of war, was relieved of his right hand by the wolf Fenris. As a
result he was a left-handed deity, and his people were also lefties.
This is not entirely an unfounded myth. Many of the northern clans
of Scotland have a heavy percentage of left-handed individuals
after intermarriage with invading viking tribesmen. In general,
however, the British were extremely suspicious of left handed
individuals since they were perceived as having an unfair
advantage in matters of peace and war. It will be recalled that
most "normal" warriors carried a shield on their left arm and a
sword in the right. On meeting, they would put aside the weapons
and show mutual accord by shaking hands with their right. Lefties,
were of course adept with their shield arm, and could easily
overcome right-handed men if they reversed their usual way of
carrying arms, and hid a spare sword behind the shield. The
circular dances of the left-handed northerners, with their "lord of
the dance" at the centre, were invariably counter-clockwise.

Lent
Lent was forty days of penitence ushered in by Ash Wednesday.
It was described as a time of fasting, "very severe for those
between the ages of twenty-one and sixty." In Acadian villages
the allowance was two ounces of bread in the morning, a good
meal at noon, and a light snack, consisting of eight ounces of food
at night. Meat was at first prohibited throughout the week, later
on Wednesdays and Fridays. Children gave up candies and some
men smoking. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 493.

leprachaun

levitation
Wonder Work: A witch at North Port Mouton, N.S. is credited with
having leviated a wagon after a few mumbled words. Creighton,
BM, p. 60.

lie
Sympathetic Magic: Lies blistered the tongue producing a "lie
lump" or "lumps". A sore tongue indicated one had lied.

light
Sympathetic Magic: l. Miners disliked seeing lights in their mine,
and would often quit work and come to the surface when they
were seen. These lights were thought to have been carried by
the tommy-knockers or bodachs of the mine, who corresponded
with the surface little-people known as corpse candles,
gophers, will o' the wisps, jack o'lanterns or forerunners.
which see. 2. When ghostly lights were seen this indicated that
treasure was buried nearby.

lightning
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Lightning never strikes twice in the same
place. 2. To protect against lightning sleep in a feather bed with a
steel thimble or knife under the pillow, or equip the bedroom with
hawthorn cut on holy Thursday. Burnt sticks taken from a bonfire
at Easter served the same purpose. 3. It was observed that
three or four days of cold weather invariably followed a severe
lightning storm. 4. Birds ceased to sing before a severe storm.

It is patently untrue that lightning never strikes twice, but the idea
was based on the principle of checks and balances, which
supposed that men received an equal supply of good and bad
luck. Birds seemed not to be struck by lightning, so disguising
oneself as a bird seemed commonsense. Thunder was generated
by the god-spirits (Odin, Thor, Loki, and Bolg) and iron products
repealled them as successfully as it did witches and fairies. The
hawthorn was sacred to the little people and was cut on Thor's
day, so this was perhaps an attempt at propitiation or disguise?
Burnt sticks taken home from any of the pagan fire-festivals had
the same effect.

lightning bug
Divination: Light bugs heralded the beginning of a stretch of dry
heat.

little people

locust
Divination: The song of the locust prognosticated warm weather.

loon
Sympathetic Magic: The cry of the loon was an omen of rain.

lucifee
Magic Race: A devil of the Devil, who was sometimes referred to
as lucifer. Also used to describethe wildcat or lynx.

lumbago
Sympathetic Magic: Cured by lying face down on the floor and
having an individual born in "breech position", with feet foremost,
walking with full weight upon the back. Fraser, FONS, pp 25-26.
Lumbago made it painful to walk, and it was supposed that those
whose feet came first had a special strength with respect to
walking. Some of this magical power was passed by contact.

lutin

mackerel sky
Divination: "Mackerel sky, ne'er twenty-four hours dry!" A
mackerel sky was spotted with many small colouds, all blue-gray
like the fish.

making clear
Sympathetic Magic: A phrase describing the effect of employing
countercharms against witchcraft.

man-in-the-moon
Sympathetic Magic: The man in the moon was banished there for
cutting withes on Sunday. Creighton, BM, p. 140. We consider it
significant that "withe" correponds with both "willow" and "witch".
Willow was cut for use as a witch-wand, thus willow-cutters were
suspected as practitioners of witchcraft.

March
Sympathetic Magic: Because of the lingering winter weather this
month was described as "long-legged" or "hungry March".

marriage
Sympathetic Magic: 1. "Marry in Lent, sure to repent." Creighton,
BM, p. 145. 2. A person who stumbled and fell while walking up a
stairway would not marry in that year. 3. "Monday for health,
Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday the best day of all. Thursday for
losses, Friday for crosses, while Saturday is no day at all! 4. "It is
unlucky to marry in May; this has something to do with having
children." Creighton, BM, p. 146. 5. "June is the best month for a
marriage, and Wednesday the best day." Creighton, BM, p. 146.
6. "Happy is the bride the sun shines on." 7. The bride who
married in black was believed to tempt an early death. 8. Old
shoes were tied to the car used on the honeymoon to promote
good luck. 9. Rice, or confetti, was thrown after newly-married
couples for "good luck". 10. A dog howling during a wedding was
bad luck. 11. Two spoons inadvertently placed in a single saucer
were the sign of a wedding. 12. It was considered unlucky to
postpone a wedding. 13. When four hands crossed in shaking
hands at leave-taking, a wedding was indicated. 14. "Three times
a bridesmaid never a bride." 15. The bridesmaid who caught the
bride's boquet would be next to wed. 16. To lose a wedding ring
meant the loss of the mate. 17. If the wedding ring was to be
removed, the husband was to be the first to take it off. 18. The
recipient of the last piece of cake on the plate was likely to go
unmarried. To take the last piece meant a lonely existence, but to
offered the last piece was good luck. 19. In Acadian villages the
wagon or sleigh transporting the couple was decorted with
ribbons. The groom and maid of honour drove to the church in
one carriage; while the bride and best man travelled in another.
On return, the bride and groom came in the first and the best man
and maid of honour in the second. Daigle. TAOTM, p. 485. 20.
Among Acadians the fathers of the bride and groom acted as
witnesses. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 485. 21. Weddings normally took
place in the winter. Among Acadians a prefered time was after
Epiphany on a Tuesday morning. 22. Acadian brides were fitted
with red ribbons draped from head to waist. The groom wore a
ribbons of the same colour in the buttonhole of his jacket.
Attendants were similar decked, and the attire was worn for the
whole day. Mgr. Joseph-Octave Plessis, JDVD, in LFDC, 1865, vol.
3, p. 229. (Le Foyer canadien). 23. The Acadian wedding dinner
was held with the bride's parents and included lavish dishes, the
singing of customary bridal songs, and a dance, the last led by the
newlyweds. At midnight the couple shook hands with everyone
and left for bed. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 487. 24. The Acadian
"shivaree" took place under extraorinary circumstances; summer
and winter marriages, the loss of a longtime bachelor, or in the
case of a widower thought to have marriaed too soon after the
loss of his previous wife: In this case, after the couple had retired
they were pursued by a crowd equipped with drums, barrels,
kettles, "borgos" (a type of horn) and a racket was produced,
which usually lasted through the night, but might go on for several
weeks. It did not traditionally end until the sleepless newly-weds
appeared offering rum or other refreshmentd to their tormenters.
Daigle, TAOTM, p. 487.

The proscription against May as a month for weddings has to do

with former festivities of the Beltane, which were practiced on
May Eve by various British tribesmen. The relic known as the May-
tree, or May-pole, is assuredly a phallic symbol of lapsed fertility
cults. In other times, this was considered the eve of summer, the
only other recognized season being winter. At the fire-festival
male and female representatives of the pagan gods indulged in
ritual sex for the good of the land, and the common folk were
encouraged to follow this example. In those days, the peasantry
had little energy for romantic love, and May Day couplings were
usually a matter of chance. Impregnation was not usual, but it did
happen, therefore "love-matches" were discouraged in a period
where there was the chance that children might be born with
characteristics unlike those of the male parent. If the female
menustrated at the end of May, a match during June was
considered of good omen. Wednesday was considered propitious
by all Teutonic tribesmen, who worshipped Woden, after whom the
day was named. Monday was sacred to the Anglo-Saxon goddess
Monan, a deity of the moon and healing, and thus a fairly safe time
for unions. Tuseday was devoted to Tyr, the god of war and
agriculture, and wealth. Thor's day, or Thurday, was a stormy time
because he was the god of thunder and lightning, and those
married on his day were thought certain to fight. Freya's day, or
Friday, was formerly considered very propitious, but only among
those of Teutonic background. As for Saturday, it was first known
as Laugardag, or Loki's day, after the god of fire. When he fell
from grace, even among pagans, the day was renamed, not after
Saturn, the Roman god, but for Sataere, the "thief in ambush", an
agricultural deity who appears to be a another personification of
Loki. It has been noted that no shrines were erected to Loki, the
"playman", thus this was "no day at all", a period without religious
significance, but an unlucky time since it was associated with the
god of the southern wind, heat, humidity, volcanic fire and summer
storms and whirlwinds. Marriages which happened to take place
on a sunny day were considered blessed by the sun, or day god.
In Ireland he was called Crom, in Wales Hu, in Scotland Aod, and
Cornwall, Cernu, and throughout Scandinavia as Frey. The latter
rode the golden bristled boar named Gullin-bursti, a personification
of the sun. The sun gods were considered to have taught man
the arts of agriculture and scattered fruits and flowers wherever
they travelled. Their radiant beams of light were seen to raise
crops and it was generally considered that they had the same
beneficent effect on animals and people. Thus those married on a
sunny day might expect a fertile union and many children. Black
was the colour of the garb worn by various deities of death (e.g.
the Scandinavian goddess Hel) and to wear clothing so coloured
was to ask for the attention of some dark lord or lady. In former
times, the most important aspect of marriage was sexual fertilty,
since couples hoped for large numbers of male offspring who
could aid them farming. Seeds which were seen to sprout after a
winter of rest were thought to contain the earth spirit. When
bridal couples were pelleted with seeds it was the intention that
some of this energy might be transmitted to them, promoting their
fertility. Rice and surrogate seeds, in the form of confetti, are the
last in a long line of missiles used for this purpose. As noted
elsewhere, the dog is closely associated with witch familiars and is
sometimes identified as a form preferred by the Devil. Howling
dogs were therefore taken as an ill omen. Most of the other
marriage superstitions are straight forward, but the business of
the male mate being first to remove the wedding ring hinges on
the old belief that a major artery connected the ring finger with
the heart of the woman. If the ring was removed by a stranger it
was suspected that the love-spirit might be drained off through
this finger.

mast-money
Sympathetic Magic: 1. "Money was put under the masts of ships
when being built to bring prosperity. Creighton, BM, p. 119. 2.
"...a five dollar gold piece was put where the mast was stepped
into the kelson, for luck..." Creighton, BM, p. 119.

Gold was the passion of Ran, goddess over those who died at
sea. Because she lined her halls with gold, which was their sole
source of light, she was frequently called the "flame of the sea".
Noting phospheresence at sea, sailors said that this was the light
of these caverns reflected to the surface. Those who embarked
on the "ocean-sea" as opposed to various "inland-seas" always
carried gold or some precious mineral on their person in case their
ship went down and they were forced to bargain with Ran for
decent treatment. In time it became the custom to place this
metal under the mast, where it could not be stolen. Mast money
had the additional property of turning away sea-serpents by
spreading a net of invisibilty below the ship. In latter days base-
coinage of copper, brass, and iron was substituted for gold and
silver with no difference in effecxt,

May
1. Because of the nature of the weather usual to this month it was
labelled "up May hill month". 2. The first snowfall of the month was
thought medicinal for sore eyes, ear aches and the like. The
Acadians collected and melted down several bottles of "May
water" for this purpose.

May Day
Sympathetic Magic: 1. "It is a custom among Catholic farmers to
sprinkle their cattle with holy water early in the morning of this
day... (In addition), the hair on the backs of the animals is singed
with the flame of a blessed candle. These ceremonies are to
avert the influence of the Evil Eye." Folk Medicine: 2. Snow that
fell during the month of May had curative powers. It was melted,
filtered and bottled for use against sore throat, cuts, bruises,etc.
The water collected on May Day was "piously considered a cure
for sore eyes." 3. In Pomquet, Antigonish County May Day water
was collected on May Eve, before sunset from a brook with a
bucket placed so that the mouth stood back to the water current.
Water thus collected was said to remain fresh for many years and
was a useful cure-all. Fraser, FONS, p. 103. 4. It was considered
bad luck to give anything away on the first day of May. "On the
first day of May, Give nothing away." Creighton, FOLC, p. 23. 5. "A
May day visit could be an unsettling experience in Margaree (N.S.)
where the first living thing (from) "off the property" to enter a
farmhouse would get doused with hot water. Visitors thought it
prudent to shove a dog, cat or rabbit in ahead of them to be
ducked." 6. May Day Cakes (called bannoch Bealltain in Gaelic
districts) were marked with a cross on one side and a circle on
the other. These were rolled down hillsides on Beltane morning in
the interest of divining the future.

The above May Day rites are exceptionally pagan in their origin.
May Eve was known in Gaelic realms at the Baeltainne, or night of
the fire of the Bael. "Bael" or "Baile" was a general description for
various local gods, and is preserved in numerous British place
names, e.g. Bail'an-lug (the town of the god Lugh or Loki);
Bail'uaine (the town of the green god); Baile-nan-cailleach (town of
the hag-goddess). The extinguishing of all fire and the renewal of
a single sacred flame, which was scattered to re-light the hearth
fires was an essential rite of Beltane eve. In addition the Celts
used to build two adjacent fires and herd their cattle through
smoke and the singing flame to drive off disease and protect
against witchcraft. Using a "holy candle" to this same purpose is a
simplified variant of rites which gone but not forgotten. In earlier
times humans and animals were burnt in the flames so that their
spirits could return to, and rejuvenate the soil. To this end their
ashes were scattered over the fields, and in line with recent local
practice, water or ashes collected from these fields was
considered potent with spirits. Spirits of good, and ill, were all
unbound at this season. Those who received any token on this
day, considered their destiny implicit within it. To give away such
a talisman was to give away luck. Additionally, people believed
they were especially prone to be weakened by gift-giving at this
time, when spirits of evil might seize upon any object formerly in
contact with a person to gain control of that individual.

May Eve

menses
Sympathetic Magic: To swim while menstruating invited insanity,
since the blood "would go to the brain."
All body openings were considered possible exit routes for the
controlling spirit, and potential entry routes for evil spirits. The
loss of blood was always feared, even when the cause was
natural. Essential spirit was thought lost to the body in bleeding
and the person was thought open to acts of witchcraft or invasion
by devils or demons. Not much was known concerning anatomy,
and country folk were convinced that invasive water-spirits were
implicated in diseases formerly classed as "brain-fever".

mentuk
Magic Race: "Mn'tu'k are Persons, entities who do not need to
take form, although they can and do. as it pleases them. The
world shimmers with their presence. Abenaki creatures, similar to
the European god-spirits.

mercury
Sympathetic Magic: Mercury was sometimes placed in holes
drilled in the wooden sills of animal barns to protect animals from
supernatural harm. After placement, this heavy liquid metal was
pegged into place.

Mercury, or quicksilver, had a shadowy reputation because of its

colour, liquid state, extreme weight per unit of volume and
excessive cohesion. Peasants who saw rounded balls of this
strange metal, noted the reflective surface, and said that witches,
spirits and devils would be diverted after seeing their repulsive
images in it.

mickeleen

Micareme
The Acadian mid-Lent. "On that day, children, young people and
sometimes even married couples would dress up in costumes
prepared several days before in any of countless fashions. They
would wear homemade masks, often woolen stockings with holes
cut for eyes, nose and mouth. Thus costumed and armed with
sticks, they would go about, alone and in groups, from house to
house. The game consisted of escaping recognition, while making
gestures, dancing, and even speaking, in an assumed voice...In
some parts of Acadia, the mid-Lent celebrants distributed candy
to chgildren, who were allowed to eat it on that day. In some
parts of Prince Edward Island and the magdelen Islands, Mid-Lent
was an opportunity to collect gifts for the poor. MId-Lent was
originally a single day, and later two days...Today this tradition has
disappeared except in the Cheticamp region of Cape Breton
Island, Daigle, TAOTM, p. 493.

mickeram
Sympathetic Magic: Also (for French-speakers) Mi-Careme. A
festival held a mid-Lent in Acadian and some Irish communities.
Gerorges Arsenault described it as having some of the elements
of belsnicking or mummery: Traditionally each family had its
particular mummer who appeared at the door in disguise at dusk.
The role was normally taken by an elder member of the family who
wrapped himself in blankets and carried a a long pole a cane and a
sack. The latter he laid on the floor and motioned children to take
their pick of the treats it contained. Through the rest of the year
bad children were threatened with abduction by the mickeleen and
it was rumoured he would take his rod or cane to those who had
been bad.

mikumwess
Magical People: The resident "little people" of the Abenaki were
called the mikumwess, "dwellers under rock". Described as,
"handsome finely dressed beings (that) live alone in the woods;
they can cure people with magic herbs and are capable of
transporting someone through the air." Carole Spray, WOTW, p.
53. "The mikumwesuk are beautiful and strong - flute-players
whose music enchants. Male and female, they appear to humans
lost in the woods. They themselves are thought to have once
been People, having become throough Power the ultimate
realization of human potential...Time runs differently in a
mikumwesu wigwam: one night with them, and a year has passed in
the camps of the people..." Whitehead, SFTSW, p. 6. The
equivalent of the sidh, elfs or fairies.

milk
Sympathetic Magic: As a countercharm against the witching of
cows, milk was boiled with pins in it and then discarded, a
procedure thought to "prick" the witch.

For the witch to influence the milk of the cow, it was assumed that
she had to project some part of her spirit into the animal. If the
cow gave milk, some of the witch-spirit was necessarily passed
into the milk bucket. If the milk was boiled, the heat was
sympathetically transferred back through the witch familiar within
the cow to the witch who lay at home abed. If pins were jiggled
about in the boiling milk, they moved similarly within the witch-
woman. Made aware of heat and pricking, the witch was forced to
call upon the person posing the countercharm hoping for relief
by the granting of a favour. If the this favour was refused three
times then the original charm was broken and the witch was at
the complete mercy of her tormenter, who could lerave off, or boil
her to death.

million
Numerology: One life was destined to be lost for every million
dollars spent on the construction of a bridge. Creighton, BM, p.
166.

minister
Sympathetic Magic: Priests and ministers were never invited
aboard a ship for the maiden voyage, and their presence was
avoided where possible in connection with all sea-going activities.

Christian clerics were given great respect in land-based situations,

but their influence did not entend to the sea. Few of our fisher-
folk remember that the seas were once the domain of undersea
god-spirits, known as the Fomors in Gaelic parts and the Vana in
Scandinavia. These creatures possesssed the evil-eye, shape-
changing abilities, and a taste for people, raw, boiled or fried. The
sea-people were very protective of their domain and disliked
visiting "missionaries" whether pagan or Christian. If they spotted
a priest or minister aboard a ship they were likely to raise a storm
in which all hands might be lost.

mine
Sympathetic Magic: The presence of a woman in a mine was
considered an omen of accident, and some men thought it bad
luck if they met a woman on his way to the night shift. "A woman
was supposed to queer the luck of a mine." Creighton, BM, p. 129.

Women have been traditionally associated with the warrior

Hagedisis of Germany since ancient times, see travel and witch.
Because of the suspicion that they might be part-time witches,
some men would not allow a woman to overlook a mine shaft and
would carefully exclude ore samples from their view.

mirror
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was unwise to use a mirror after dark.
2. Breaking a mirror created seven years of bad luck. 3. Acadian
women believed that placing a mirror beneath the pillow they slept
on would produce a dream of the man they would marry. Daigle,
TAOTM, p. 487.

Ancient peoples distinguished between their internal and their

external soul. The former was usual present in the human except
during sleep anmd at death. The latter wandered was a shadow
man or runner. Some believed that the shadow was the runner,
as were reflections, whether seen in water or a mirror. The
reflection-soul living apart from the human soul with which it was
born, was always at hazard. Some people would not look into dark
pools thinking that water-spirits might catch and kill their external-
soul thus killing their internal-soul. Since some rather unsurley
spirits were known to be abroad after dark, our ancestors
avoided mirrors at that time for exactly the same reason.
Incidentally, this explains the common local custom of covering
mirrors with a white cloth after a death has taken place in a house.
With the soul of the newly-dead at large, unsavory spirits may be
about and capture an external soul of the living through a mirror
image. Sir James Fraser noted that he met persons in the west of
Scotland who refused to have their photograph taken, citing "the
cases of several friends who never had a day's health after being
photographed." The tearing of a photograph or the breaking of
an image-beraing mirror was taken as an evil omen, since it was
thought that fragmentation of the human mind or body had to
follow. See also mercury.

mole
Sympathetic Magic: Moles were incapable of crossing a road, and
would die if they made the attempt. Creighton, FOLC, p. 21.

In myth, the mole was a goodess-spirit permanently shape-

changed for showing too much pride in her appearance. Part of
her binding required that she could only travel across boundaries
by moving underground.

Monday
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Work commenced on Monday would expand
to fill the week. 2. Those who spent money on Monday would
have an outflow through the remaining days of the week. 3.
Those who received gifts or money on Monday would have similar
presents for the rest of the week.

The word "Monday" derives from the Anglo-Saxon "Monandaeg",

and meant, literally, the "moon's day". In Gaelic the day is called
"Di-luain", the "day of the moon". In other times, Sunday was fully
devoted to religious rites, and the adverb "Mondayish" was
frequently applied, especially to clergymen, who were completely
fagged out after a long day of effort. Even in Maritime Canada,
church services took place twice a day and might be two hours in
length. Backcountrymen were put to great effort to attend
services and and thus in no condition to begin a major project at
the first of the week. Since they were not mentally alert, their
superstitions warned them against making deals and spending
money on "Blue Monday". Those who received gifts or money on
this day were once thought favoured of the moon goddess,
named Samh in Gaelic mythology.

moon
Sympathetic Magic, Divination: 1. Crops tend to grow more lavishly
during the "waxing" of the moon, crops ripening as much by moon
as by sunlight; 2. A farmer would not kill an animal at the waning of
the moon, but would wait until the increase; 3. Girls would only cut
their hair on the waning of the moon, "otherwise it would grow too
fast". 4. To see the new moon over the left shoulder was bad
luck, but good when seen over the right; 5. Wishes made on
seeing the new moon came true provided one had an object in
hand at the sighting and made the Sign of the Cross. Fraser,
FONS, p. 30. 5. Observing the new moon through glass was
considered bad luck. 6. Those who saw the moon through glass
were advised to go outside and bow three times to it. 7. When
the phase of the moon altered on a Sunday and there was no rain
in the following week, rain had to come before sundown on
Saturday. 8. Pickle rose on sauerkraut during the fullness of the
moon. 9. Alder brush could be permanently eradicated by
cutting it following the waning of the "bad" moon in August. 10. A
wet moon occured when the horns of the cresent pointed upward,
making it capable of "holding water." This was a sign of rain.
When the horns poiinted down, the moon was thought empty of
water and dry days were said to lie ahead. 10. "The women were
always eager to have a man point out the new moon to them, for
they were certain it brought good luck." MacNeil, THHINS, p. 84.
11. The hair of witches might turn into snakes under the influence
of the moon. 12. On first sighting the new moon people were
advised to view it over the left shoulder at the same time picking
up whatever happened to underfoot. The following was recited:
"New moon and moon of truth, Tell me without falsehood in what
direction my true love lies. The clothes he wears and the colour
of his hair." After this, the stick or rock was taken home and
placed beneath the pillow. "...according to the belief you would
see your future love in a dream." MacNeil, TUD, p.204.

From the Anglo-Saxon pagan-goddess "Monas", whose name

derives from eastern words, initially used to measure periods of
time. In Britain, as elsewhere, the full moon was taken as the base
for a lunar calendar, which is now defunct. "Moon" is confluent with
the words "measure, month, Monday" and "menses". It was
observed that the moon grew in size, or waxed, and at other
times diminished, or waned. Any kind of plant or animal growth
was formerly seen as attached to these phases of the moon.
Children were thought best conceived while the moon was in her
"pregnancy", those arising at other times being likely to suffer
wasting diseases while still in the womb. Left-handed viewing of
the moon revealled an attachment to the Devil, which see. Seeing
it through glass allowed the same damaging potential as seeing
objects in a mirror after dark. Celtic time was based on the
phases of the moon, their weeks, months and periodic thirty
years' cycles being dated from the sixth day after the waxing of
the new moon. A "bad" moon was that which came just before the
fire-festival known as the Lunastain (literally night of the blood-
stained moon. During these rites the elder or alder people, who
were perhaps the Scandinavian elle-folk, were sacrificed to thr
"good of the land" and the hoped depletion of their particular kind.
Killing anything on the wane of the moon was suspected to
interfere with their future reproductive capacity, and this held for
alder trees, the totems of the elle-folk. "There is a great deal of
ethnological evidence to show that witchcraft is athing bestowed
by the moon either directly, or through the intermediary opf
snakes." Eliade, PICR, p. 168.
money
Sympathetic Magic: 1. To spend money on Moday morning meant
an outflow of cash through the remainder of the week. Creighton,
FOLC, p. 20. 2. Money which had been found was never given
away as this "gave away your luck". Creighton, FOLC, p. 21. 3. To
throw a cent overboard would cause the wind to rise. 3. A purse
had to contain at least a single coin if the individual was receive
additional funds. 4. Purses given as presents were always
equipped with a penny. 5. Those who gave sharp or pointed
objects as presents always asked a penny in return. 6. When the
two dollar bill was new they were often refused as habringers of
bad luck. 6. Money placed in the four corners of the house would
drive off witches and other evil spirits. 8. Some people
considered it good luck to carry a coin bearing their birth date. 9.
Turning up a coin with a plow was considered unluckly. The usual
countercharm was to spit of both sides before pocketing it. 10.
Bent coins and those found with a hole in them were thought to
be lucky. 11. Tossing a coin into water brought good luck (e.g.
the fountain at Market Square, Saint John, which was diassembled
because of the monthly pile-up and drainage problems.) 12. In a
few places coins were placed on the eyelids of the dead. 13. A
small child who refused a coin from an adult was thought destined
to become a spendthrift and reckless with money.

See moon and Monday for an explantion of the first superstition

mentioned above. Found money was considered a talisman given
by the gods as a symbol of favour, and not to be given away.
Base metals were disliked by the sea gods, who would raise the
wind against those who threw iron or copper into their realm. THe
land-fay also disliked these metals and thus placing them within the
four corners of a home protected it against evil. The giving of a
penny had similar symbolism. Knives, scissors and other sharp
objects might cut the shadow-man of the giver or receiver
leading to back luck or death, a possibilty countered by crossing
the path of the gift with a coin as an omen of good luck. The
word "two" relates to "deuce" from the old Teutonic word "Tiu" or
"Diu", their god of war. His name is now encountered in Tuesday
and in the Anglo-Saxon "deoful", full of Deo, Tiu, or Tyr. The latter
word is now preserved as "devil".

moss people
Magic Race: The moss or woods people were said to be two to
three feet in height, and so well camouflagued in moss and
grasses as to be indetectable. Their faces were old and
furrowed, their bodies hairy and their skin gray. Old-timers said
that they spun the "Spanish" moss which hung from trees. The
males were reclusive and bad tempered but the females
sometimes dressed in the conventional clothing of the district and
offered farm-help in return for human baking or the mending of
their pots and pans. They had the ability to become invisible and
create vortexes of wind in the forest. Combining these forces
they sometimes disconcerted human travellers by drawing
together sticks and bits of greenery into a temporary assembly of
monstrous proportions. Most people fled from these creations,
which Indians sometimes called the "moosewood-man". This
creature was similar to the sea-weed man reported by Helen
Creighton. Those who maintained their courage and approached
these beasts found that they disassembled into a harmless pile of
plant life.

These people were well-known in Europe where they were called

the Moswyfjes among the Flemish, the Lohjungfern by Germans,
and the Finzweiberl among Bavarians. All agreed that they had
knowledge of the medicinal value of plants, could promote the
growth of crops by dancing in the fields and sometimes gifted
humans with gold which they produced from transmutated leaves.
"They were even generous with complete strangers, leaning down
from their tree-nests to hand them a ball of yarn. No matter how
many sweaters are knitted from this wool, it will never come to an
end." Arrowsmith, AFGTTLP, p. 178.
movement
Sympathetic Magic: Witches were capable of casting spells or
loosing charms which prevented animals from moving.

moving
Sympathetic Magic: People who changed residences were advised
against transporting salt, a cat, or a broom.

mug-up
Sympathetic Magic: Individuals capable of raising storms expected
a "mug-up" whenever they went aboard a ship. "Uncle Billy put a
hex on one of the ships and was wrecked. They are afraid of him
now and he always gets his due." Creighton, Bm< p. 57.

In other times, alcoholic beverages were restricted to ritual use at

the time of the pagan fire-festivals. "Strong drink" and its magical
distortions of time and place were associated with god-spirits,
little people, witches and devils, who could be propitiated with
offerings of drink. In British tradition, many of the pagan
ceremonies commenced with the pouring of a libation upon the
ground, the first drink going to a nature-spirit.

muin wapskw
Magic Race: The Abenaki "white bear", whose flesh was fatal to
mankind. Whitehead has noted that the polar bear concentrates
Vitamin A in its liver to an extent that the organ is deadly when
eaten by humans. In addition this bear is frequently parasitized by
the trichina worm, whose consumption may lead to a painful death.
The power of any animal in Indian legend is emphasized by
describing it as white. The pole pole star formation, which in our
legend is sometimes called the Great Bear, is named "muin" in
Abenaki and has the same connotations. The adjacent little bear
is similarly labellled as "muinjij". Like Europeans, the Indians
observed that the Great Bear revolved about "oqwatnukewey
kloqoej", the North Star, which appeared immobile in the sky and
was considered the focus of great power.
mummer
Sympathetic Magic: A guiser, janney, belsnicker or sandy. See
Old Christmas. These people disguised themselves and made
"house-visits". The host was often required to guess the identity
of these neighbours, who expected to receive food or money in
return for "entertainment."

nail
Sympathetic Magic: 1. White spots on the nail of the little finger
pointed to a journey. 2. In Acadian villages the nails of a new-born
child were not clipped until a year after birth.

In Europe, as in America, the spirit of the individual was thought to

drain away by degrees as hair and nails were clipped from the
body, the final result being old age and death. A child was
incapable of controlling his spirit, it was thus thought wise to avoid
cutting his hair for at laest one year. Otherwise, it was thought
that his genie, or wits, might escape, leaving him an idiot.

name
Wonder Work: A man with more than two Christian names was
untrustworthy and unlikely to advance in his profession. "I was
brought to be christened befor I could speak; so I cannot account
for this terrible freak: My motherand father were both of one
mind, and they said, "Let's give him all the names we can fimd."
And so they consented, as wise as could be; and this was the
handle they they stuck unto me: Jonathan, Joseph, Jeremiah,
Timothy, Titus, Obidiah. William, Walker, Henry, Sim, Reuben, Rufus,
Solomon, Jim. Nathanial, Daniel, Abraham, Roderick, Frederick,
Peter and Sim; Hirman, Tyler, Nicholas, Pat, Christopher, Dib,
Jehosophant and Whim..." Recitation by Carl Webber of Chipman
recounted by Spray. WOTW, p. 10. Sympathetic Magic: To
unintentionally mention an individual's name meant that the distant
individual was thinking of the speaker. 11. Acadian children were
often named after the saint of their birth day or were given a
Biblical name. "These given names were the only ones used in
Acadian circles. The family name was used for correspondence,
official papers and outsiders. In order to distinguishone person
from another of the same name, they added that of the father or
even his grandfather: Pierre a Jacques a Thomas etc." Daigle,
TAOTM, p. 479. 12. Given names were the only ones used in
polite socirty.

H.A. Guerber has written that the god Odin "had no less than two
hundred names, almost all descriptive of some phase of his
activities." This is only partly the case; as fraser notes: "...the
furtive savage conceals his real name because he fears that
sorcerers might make evil use of it, so he fancies also that his
gods must likewise keep their true names secret, lest other gods
or even men should learn the mystic sounds and thus be able to
conjure with them..." On this basis, pagans employed many
pseudo-names for themselves and their gods, hence the above
superstition. It was assumed that shadow-men or forerunners
communicating with men brought indidividual names to human
tongues by direct sympathetic magic.

neck

needle
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Needles (or pins) placed in the four
corners of a house protected against spirits and witches. 2.
Needles were placed in the cream from bewitched cows to end
the witching and call the witch. 3. A witch-bottle used to be
constructed by placing two needles in a bottle of oil. 4. A
darning-needle stuck into a door frame warded off witches.

As mentioned elsewhere base metals, such as copper, iron and

steel had a part in the defeat of the fay-people, and were
throughly disliked by them. Pointed needles could prick people,
so it was assumed they could also prick the shadow-men or
familiars of the witch and fairy world. To be effective the points
had to face outward against the enemy rather than inward, where
they might impinge the external spirits of the human inhabitants.
Pins placed in bewitched milk fell into a liquid containing some of
the familiar-spirit of the witch. Pricking this virtual individual, the
pain was passed back to the controlling witch causing her pain.

New Year's Eve

1. "After 12 o'clock on New Year's look in the mirror and you will
see the man you are going to marry." Creighton, FOLC, p. 17.
Sympathetic Magic: 2. Belsnicking took place through the entire
Yuletide or Twelve Days of Christmas, starting with Mother Night
(December 23rd). Participants were referred to as "bels nickles"
or "peltz nickles" and travelled from door to door, extorting food
and drink. After New Year's these disguised people changed their
black costumes for white and carried guns in order "to fire the old
year out and the New Year in." A former participant said that the
visitors sang a song at each home, which translated from German
as follows:

I wish you a happy New Year,

We stand now on your ground,
Our guns and our pistols we have ready to fire;
If you want us to fire, tell us.
(Inhabitants would invariably shout "Yes!")
You are satisfied for us to fire
So we will blast away!

In some parts, New Year's Eve was referred to as Old Year's

Night, New Year's being reserved to the time following twelve
midnight. Creighton, FOLC, pp. 59-60. 3. Children born on this
evening were never dressed in white. 4. It was considered
unwise to turn away the first carollers who appeared on New
Year's Eve. 5. It was thought that calendars should never be
hung before the eve of the New Year. 6. People who sewed on
New Year's were likely to sew throughout the remainder of the
year. 7. For good luck the "first-footer" should be a dark-haired
man carrying coal and a potatoe. Women and light-haired men
were considered an omen of bad luck. 8. Cattle knelt and prayed
on New Year's Eve at exactly twelve o'clock. Creighton, BM, p.
134. See also, cattle and Christmas. 9. In Acadian Cape Breton
the final hours of this evening were marked by a tradition called
"beating out the old year". "During the evening, young men would
arm themselves with sticks, and in groups of three or four,
approach someone's house. Once there, on a signal, they would
pound their sticks heavily on various parts of the house,
preferably near the areas where the girls would be. The people
of the house would jump at every blow. One of the group would
watch through the window for the master of the house. If he
became angry and seemed about to come outside, the group
would beat a hasty retreat and begin again somewhere else.
Daigle, TAOTM, p. 499. 10. Acadian adults stayed up until
midnight playing cards and singing. At midnight they went
outdoors and shot off rifles, a traditiona called "burying the old
year". Those present would afterwards shake hands and wish one
another a happy new year before going home. Daigle, TAOTM, p.
499.

New Year's Eve is now celebrated on the last day of December,

but the Celtic people of Britain, who distinguished it as "Oidhche
Challainn" or "Hogmanay", considered it part of the fire-festival
named Samhainn, which took place on the first day of November.
In a few places this is still referred to as Old New Year's Day. The
Gaelic names for the eve of Old New Year's translate as the "Night
of Servant of the Dog" and "The Hog Man's Time". Festivities were
never restricted to Britain, the "Belsnickel" being decidedly
Teutonic and traditionally taking place near mid-winter. It has been
suggested that differences in timing are due to the fact that the
Celts were a herding people, whose year was divided, simply, into
winter and summer. Their Samhainn marked the end of the
samhradh (ride of the moon-goddess "Samh") and the beginning of
the rule of her alter-ego, the "Cailleach bheur", or winter-hag. In
northern England and Scotland, this was the traditional time for
removing herds from the upland meadows to winter-pasture.
While this was significant to them, it was unimportant to
agricultural societies, where a chief event of the year was the
seeming return of the sun to the winter sky. The Scandinavians
and the Germans therefore celebrated the beginning of their year
following the eve of "Mother Night" (December 23) rather than on
the evening of October 31. To get away from pagan
connotations, the Christians named this latter, All Saint's Eve or All
Hallow's Eve, now abbreviated to Hallowe'en. The superstitions of
New Year's Eve have become confounded with those of Hallowe'en
since all of Britain eventually agreed on on January 1 as the first
day of each new year.

Sir James Fraser says that religious processions always took place
at New Year's, "some worshipful animal being killed; and before or
immediately after death he is promenaded from door to door, that
each of his worshippers may receive a portion of the divine
virtues that are supposed to enamte from the dead or dying god."
He thinks the rite formerly "had a great place in the rites of
European peoples during prehistoric times." A survival in folk-
custom, which he mentions, was still practiced in the highlands of
Scotland during his lifetime: "On the last day of the year, or
Hogmanay as it was called, it used to be customary fora m,an to
dress himself up in a cow's hide and thus attired go from house to
house, attended by ypoung fellows each armed with a staff, to
which a bit of raw hide was tied. Round each hose the hide-clad
man used to run deiseal, that is according to the course of the
sun (but presumably widdershins in pagan times?)...the others
pursued him, beating the hide with their staves and thereby
making a loud noise like the beating of a drum. In this disorcerly
procession, they also struck the walls of the house. On being
admitted, one of the party, standing within the threshold
pronounced a blessing on the family...Then each of the party
singed in the fire a little of the hide which was tied to his staff;
and applied the hide to the nose of every person...This was
imagined to secure them from diseases and witchcraft, throughout
the ensuing year."

This ceremony was probably the transition between old pagan

sacrificial rites and Atlantic Canada's practice of belsnicking.
There is little question of the name of the god propitiated in the
Teutonic version of Hogmanay. "bels" is the equivalent of the
Gaelic "beal", which indicates any local god. "Nick" is universally
recognized by folklorists as an abbreviation for "Nicolaus", an
Eddaic name for Odin or Wuotan. This particular "nick" was
sometimes identified as "old nick", or even, slightingly, as "old saint
nick" to distinguish him for the more socially acceptible Good Saint
Nick, who has become Santa Claus (the latter word is an
abbreviation of Nicolaus). Whatever he is called, the "jolly old elf"
remains associated with a very pagan season and is clearly the
offspring of a pagan god-spirit. The individual belsnickles, who
once imitated their god, were always a noisy crowd, intent on
driving off witches. In old Selesia it was reported that: "...on
Christmas and New Year's Eve they fire shots over fields and
meadows, into shrubs and trees, and wrap straw around the fruit
trees to prevent the spirits from doing them harm. The
belsnicklers of Lunenburg, N.S. do not admit to this mission, but in
Bohemia lads used to pour out of their homes on Saint Sylvester's
Day, form themselves into circles, and pepper the landscape with
shot, a process they referred to as "Shooting the Witches".

As for children born in this period refraining from the wearing of

white: It may be recalled that witches, fairies, and the gods all
wore white undergarments, and presumably those so dressed
were endangered, since "like begets like". Since the "first-footer"
on New Year's Eve was a representative of an important god, it
was, and is, bad luck to refuse him entry. The Celts naturally
favoured dark-haired gods, since they had so much trouble with
the light-haired viking gods and their adherents.

New Year's Day

Sympathetic Magic: 1. "In the old days, New Year's Day was one
of the most popular social occasions in Acadia." Daigle, TAOTM, p.
490. 2. "In every home, people would get up in the morning, shake
hands and wish one another "a good and happy new year and
paradise at the end of your days". The same ritual was repeated
with neighbours and friends met at church and while visiting."
Daigle, TAOTM, p. 490. 3. "One of the finest of traditions
consisted of forgiving one another for past wrongs, of seeking
reconciliation with anyone with whom one had quarrelled." Jean
Claude Dupont, HDA, p. 278. 4. It was considered wise to greet
this day wearing new clothing, since this would ensure that one
would have attire throughout the year. 5. The day was one for
giving small presents. In Acadian children received chocolate-
covered candies, "nolais", or a few coins. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 490.
6. On New Year's morning the first vistor was often greeted with a
bucket of cold water or with antagonistic shouts. Knowing this
the Celts used to carry along a small dog or cat to serve as a
scapegoat. 7. The first fire of the morning had to be kept alive
through the day or misfortune followed. 8. Nothing was to leave
the house on New Year's Day, including refuse. 9. First-footiong
(described above) actually took place immediately after midnight,
and strictly speaking, was a New Year's Day ritual. A dark-haired
male visitor was always hoped for, a bachelor being preferred
over a married man. In Acadia, "a fairly common superstition
required that the first visitor to enter a house be a person of the
male sex. Sometimes this meant paying the neighbour's boy a few
pence to come in first in order to avoid having a woman do so, for
if she did, it was the popular belief that she would bring bad luck
to the family." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 490. 10. To have bare cupboards
on this day suggested an impoverished year. 11. This was a day
for visiting. Guests were served spruce beer, homemade wine or
imported rum from the West Indies.

night
Sympathetic Magic: It was unlucky to set a table after dusk.
"Ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties" as well as viking
marauders used to be abroad after dark, so sensible people did
not attract the attention of wandering spirits by setting out food
where it might be detected by shadow men.

nikani-kjijitekewinu
Magic Race: "One who knows in advance". The Abenaki equivalent
of the European caul-bearer or fylgiar. See runner. "When
Plawej falls on his face in the bowl of water he enters a trance,
empowering the water to speak to him...It becomes blood...always
an announcement of death." Whitehaed, SFTSW, p. 9.

nine
Numerology: After nine days a drowned corpse would surface.

"Nine is a number of completeness and high achievement because

it is the last and the highest of the series from 1 to 9. A human
child is normally born nine months after conception. Nine also
marks the transition from the lesser set to a higher sequence and
is therefore the number of initiation. Initiation rituals frequently
took the the form of a mock "death" followed by "rebirth".
Cavendish, TU. p. 167.

nose
Sympathetic Magic: 1. An itchy nose indicated a stranger might
be expected. If the itch was on the right nostril, a man; the left, a
woman. 2. "An itchy nose...meet a stranger, kiss a fool or be in
danger."

Unexplained sensations in the human body were attributed to the

presence of the home shadows or runners, invisible presences
representing the external spirits of men, fairies and god-spirits.
Forerunners might knock on the walls of the house, or swing on
the door, to announce the approach of the human, who was their
birth-mate. If this didn't draw attention they might tickle the
nostril of the house-holder. Woman were traditionally associated
with the kin of Tyr, the left-handed god of war, thus an itch of the
left nostril led one to expect a woman. The stranger at the door
frequently represented danger in days gone by.

oak
Sympathetic Magic: See also acorn

oath
Sympathetic Magic: The oath was a verbal promise made in the
name of a god-spirit, or reverenced symbol, an immutable
declaration. The oath was a self-directed promise as opposed to
the curse, which hoped to heap danger and illness upon some
enemy. The forms might be similar, for example a farmer might
shout, "Go to hell!" to instigate a curse, but say,"I promise by the
goddess Hel to..." A few examples of the oath: "By the powers of
delft (death)... By the holy cross...By the cross of Christ...By the
blessed iron...By the blessed and holy iron... By the contents of all
the books in the world... By the stool I'm sitting on...By the pipe in
my hand...

The oath was once taken as a serious pronouncement with evil

consequences if the promise was left unkept. Yule-tide oath-
making was done in Europe over the cooked corpse of "the boar
of atonement" (representing the sacrificed god, Frey). The elder
male of each family was expected to appear in public at the Yule
feast, place his hand on the sacred dish and swear that he would
be faithful to his clan and family and fulfill certain stated
obligations. The example of the king and his nobles was followed
by all present, ending with those of low rank. All oaths concluded
with a toast to Thor, Bragi and Frey, the chief gods of this season.
Bragi was the god of poetry, eloquence and song, and poets were
called the bragamen and bragawomen, the toasts being contained
in a ship-shaped vessel named the bragaful. As oath-taking
proceeded it was not unusual for the guests to make extravagant
vows, which some regretted in the morning. From Yule oath-taking
we have the expressive English verb, "to brag". Considering the
consequence of unguarded bragging, the northern Europeans
developed the art of the mock-oath. Several inconsequential
oaths appear in the list of local phrases, although few Maritimers
are aware of origins or significance. To swear "by the cross" was
legitimate and made more powerful by crossing the forefingers of
the two hands. To swear "by the five crosses" while crossing all
the fingers of the hands as well as the thumbs was subterfuge
and the oath-taker a knave. Pagans seldom used oaths such as
"by the tree of Thor" or by "Odin's runes" without solemnity and
the same held for Christians when they swore "by the cross of
Christ" reinforcing this visually by crossing two straws or two
sticks. The Celts considered iron magically dangerous and few
thieves would steal it. As we note above, the metal is used to
implicate the truth of a statement. Iron swords were carried by
those who defeated the little people of Britain and were
symbols of the gods Tyr, or Saxnot, a god of war and agriculture.
The Saxons undoubtly swore "by the blessed iron!" with conviction
but the Cymric-speakers and the Gaels were probably luke-warm in
using it as an oath. If the circumstance of oath-taking was a
matter of indifference, they would not depart from the promise.
Swearing by "pipes", "stools" or "books" had to be suspect.
Further, our ancestors developed the useful habit of slipping the
word "never" into an oath in place of "ever", thus negating an oath
such as, "I swear by all the gods that were ever known."

Old Christmas
1. Also called Old Yule, Yearmas, Epiphany or Three King's Day,
preceeded by the Night of the Bean, Yearmas Eve, or
Twelfth Night, January fifth, the last day of Christmas-tide, was
the final day for taking down Christmas decorations if bad luck was
to be avoided. 2. Mistletoe could not be hung before the start of
Yule, and was best fed to the first cow calved in the New Year. It
was good for a stolen kiss throughout the Yuletide but had to be
burned no later than this night or else all who kissed under it
became enemies. 3. In some places it was customary to bake a
cake containing a ring and a button. The person who found the
button was predicted to remain unwed in the coming year, while
the individual who got the button was said headed for matrimony.

The Gospels say nothing of the nativity of Christ, and

consequently the early Church did not celebrate his birthday.
Christians in Egypt came to the conclusion that the sixth of
January was the Nativity, and this date became entrenched in the
east. At the end of the fourth century, the western Church, which
had never recognized this date, adopted December twenty-fifth
as the true date, and in time "Old Christmas" was abandoned by
the eastern wing. A Christian writer said: "It was a custom of the
heathen to celebrate on the twenty-fifth of December the birthday
of the sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In
these solemnities...the Christians also took part. Accordingly
when the doctors of the Church perceived that Christains had a
leaning to this festivity, they took counsel and resolved that the
true Nativity should be solemnised on that day and the festival of
Epiphany on the sixth of January. Accordingly, along with this
custom, the practice has prevailed of kindling fires until the sixth."
Fraser, TGB, p. 417. This writer speaks of pagan celebrations at
Rome, but the fire-festival was widespread throughout Europe. In
the north this same period was named the Yule (Wheel) tide, from
the presumed observation of the sun as a wheel in the sky. The
twelve days of Yule were especially sacred to the gods Frey and
Thor, and the month bearing the name "Yule" commenced on
December twenty-third.
Unable to quench this fire festival, the Christian missionaries
encouraged drinking to the health of the Lord and this twelve
apostles rather than Odin and his twelve gods. In most places the
Yuletide was a time of liberty when all but criminal laws were
suspended. That changed abruptly when the Night of the Bane
had passed. In former times, the "Lord" of the Bane or Bean, who
had been chosen by lot at the beginning of Yule, was either
banished or sacrificed for the "benefit" of the land. Consequently
leaving any symbols of the festivities up after their time
suggested law-breaking and was a dangerous oversight. This is
the hidden reason for continuing to remove decorations of the
Christmas season by the eve of Old Christmas.

Old Cloutie
Magic Race: In Gaelic communities the name given the Devil.
Currently, a plum pudding steamed in a bag, but formerly this
Gaelic word referred to the unbleached cotton used to contain
the food. Pratt, DOPEIE, p. 35. In any case, the Auld Cloutie was
seen as one who had stood to long in the steam.

Old Cootie
Magic Race: Another Anglo-Gaelic substitute for Devil. It will be
noted that the use of "old" further trivializes the noun which is
modified. The European coot is a duck-like bird which flys in a low
erratic manner. This "old coot" is easily "winged" with stones and
is hardly a "game-bird". An inept male human is therefore called
"an old coot" and the ultimate parody for the Devil was to be
referred to as the Old Coot.

Old Donald
Magic Race: Also spelled Old Donal. An Anglo-Gaelic designation
for the Devil. The clan Macdonald, Lords of the Isles, were long
contenders with the Stewarts for rule of Scotland. Some saw
them as the Devil-incarnte, hence this nick-name.

Old Hag
Magic Race: The local name applied to the Scottish Alp or the
Teutonic Hag. Edith Fowke says that, "THe "old Hag" refers to
bad dreams usually about being chased by an evil creature, and
the feeling of hearing and seeing something come into the room,
being pressed on the chest and nearly suffocated, and being
unable to move or cry out... CF, p. 94. She quotes Dr. Hufford as
saying that such experiences are widespread and "probably
related to narcolepsy."
Old Hornie
Magic Races: Local name for the Devil. Mother Horn is one of
several names given the old northern goddess Freya. According
to myth she was the sister of the sun god, Frey, the daughter of
the sea-god named Niord. She was the goddess of love, but no
soft and pleasure seeking diletante since she frequently led the
Valkyrs into battle. A goddess of fruitfulness she was central to a
fertilty cult, which had the cat as a major symbol. The horns of
animals (particularly the rhinocerous) are still used as aphrodisiacs
and "horney" comes down to our time as a word connotating
readiness for sexual activity. The Christains were very much
opposed to sexual over-kill and neither Freya, nor her brother
(who was her consort and mate) were much admired. She was
ultimately declared a demon or a witch and was banished to a
number of European mountain-tops. In Germany, Brocken is
pointed out as her special residence, and the general trysting
point for her demon-train, which is unbound upon the land on
Valpurgisnacht. The swallowe, cuckoo and cat were sacred to Old
Hornie, and these creatures were all supposed to have had
demoniacal attributes. Further, to this day, coal black cats are
identified as the familiars of witches. At the old fire-festivals, the
central figure, representative of the god or goddess was
frequently dressed in skins and wore a headpiece which sprouted
horns. The source of this tradition is obvious. The ultimate
incarnation of evil was always seen in terms of the matriarchal or
patriarchal nature of a particular society, hence the current
tendency to represent the Devil as masculine.
Old Man
Magic Race: Uncapitalized this is a means of identifyingany father-
figure. Those in authority are frequently ridiculed behind their
backs, "old" being a pronoun suggesting waning powers. The
ultimate "Old Man" was, of course, the Devil himself.

Old Man of the Sea

Magic Race: Additional modifiers usually suggest lessened power,
and this creature, who Maritimers sometimes referred to as the
"rowing man" was not the Devil but a little man said magically
bound to a portion of the coast. He had something of the nature
of a follower repeating the acts and treading in the footsteps of
men who chanced on his property. If he materialized and turned
to face a person this was considered an omen of death, but he
usually satisfied himself with shocking those who were prudish by
appearing in the nude. He sometimes acted as an outdoor
poltergeist producing a fearful racket in the brush. Like the
British hurleywain he liked to pace horse-drawn wagons and
automobiles creating a fearful scene by diving between the traces
or the headlights. When the driver braked not blood or any sign
of the little man was ever seen. Some of these "old men" liked the
prank of rowing an invisible boat toward shore. When men rushed
to greet it after hearing the sound of oarlocks and the beaching,
nothing was ever found.

Old Nick
Magic Race: A local name for the Devil. The Nixes, or water-
people, inhabitants of lakes and rivers originated in continental
northwestern Europe. All traditionally dressed in green and
resembled men except for their green pointed teeth. "When any
person is to be shortly drowned, the Nixes may be previously
seen dancing on the surface of the water." Keightley, TFM, p.
259. This has been claimed as one of the surnames of the god
Odin and is preserved in the family name Nixon or Nikkisen. "All
humans who want to protect themselves from Nixen and River Men
should keep in mind that water elves do not like steel..."
Arrowsmith, AFGTTLP, p. 102.

Old Reekie
Magic Race: Again, the Devil. The huts of our ancestors were
frequently filled with a "reek", or smoke, since they had no regular
flues or chimneys. These unpleasant places reminded the earliest
Christian missionaries of Satan's supposed home, hence the above
name.
Old Scratch
Magic Race: Common local name for the Devil. Grimm noted that
"there was a being named Scrat or Schrat, Schretel. or Schretlein."
This name was substituted for the Latin "pilosus" when translations
were made into Old German. In either case reference was made to
a house or a woods-spirit. Similar confluent words are found in all
European languages and Keightley thinks these are "the origin of
Old Scratch".
omen
Sympathetic Magic: A local designation for any omen of bad luick
was "scriss".

openings
Sympathetic Magic: 1. All openings into a house had to be sealed
to prevent ghosts, devils and witches from entering, and at least
one exit had to be provided in exorcising them. 2. It was bad luck
to create a new opening in an old house.

It was observed that the spirits of men entered and exited

through body openings (the yeyes, ears, nose, vagina, anus) and
that devils took possesssion by these routes. The house built of
living wood was regarded as an spiritual entity and its openings,
from keyhole to doorway, as providing a way for the passage of
its own or other spirits. Our ancestors did not make great
distinctions between the organic and the inorganic, nor between
the living and the dead,

owl
Sympathetic Magic: 1. "There was a woman at French Village was
supposed to turn herself into a big owl. Some old fellar cut up
silver and put it in his gun and fired at the owl and the next
morning the woman was all cut up with flesh wounds." Creighton,
BM, p. 42. 2. Aowl hooting near a house was considered a sign
of ill fortune.
In this instance the owl was the runner or familiar of the witch,
and any injury inflicted on it was thought mirrored back at the
internal soul.

palmistry
Sympathetic Magic: It was considered unfortunate to attempt to
read one's own palm in deducing the future.

Palm Sunday
"In the old days people brought their own branches (to the
church) to be blessed. These were twigs from pine or fir trees,
or from junipers or other wild plants which would keep for some
time. These consecrated branches were placed in all the rooms
of the house, in the barn and on boats, as protection against
lightning, fire, the devil and sorcerers." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 494.
pawkey

peacock
Sympathetic Magic: In some places peacock feathers were
disliked as they were thought to be symbolic of the "evil-eye".
See also theatre.

"The peacock was considered during the times of chivalry, not

merely as an exquisite delicacy, but as a dish of peculiar solemnity.
After being roasted it was again decorated with its plumage, and a
sponge dipped in lighted spirits of wine, was placed in its bill.
When it was introduced on days of grand festivities, it was the
signal for the adventurous knights to take upon them vows to do
some deed of chivalry, 'before the peacock and the ladies'".
Pinkerton's History of Scotland. Obviously these men considered
themselves oath-takers under the gaze of nature-spirit. This
rite resembled those before the boar of atonement, which see.

peg
Sympathetic Magic: It was considered technically possible to peg
a witch to a chair by drilling a hole on the underside and driving a
peg into place while the witch was seated. Unfortunately, few
witches would remain in plaace for the procedure, disliking the
idea of going through life with a chair seat permanently anchored
to their bottom.

Seated people were thought to diffuse some of their spirit to the

chair. The external soul, or familiar, of the witch found it difficult
to resist entering small openings. Once on the other side it could
be prevented from returning to the upper side of the chair if a
peg was driven into the hole. Since the witch and her familiar
struggled to reunite this left the chair-bottom physically
entrapped between the internal and the external souls.

Pennyroyal
Folk Medicine, see abortion.

phantom ship

physic

pin
Sympathetic Magic: 1. To recover a pin was to find good luck. 2.
A pin found pointed at an individual was a bad omen. 3. Pins and
needles (usually nine in number) were placed in the heart of a
bewitched animal to "call" a witch. 4. A magical number of pins
was placed in a sod of earth from the pasture as a countercharm
where cattle were considered bewitched. This was placed in
water in an iron cauldron and the sod boiled to attract the witch.
5. If you think a woman is a witch, make her image and stick pins
in it. That was done to a woman here (Port Medway, N.S.) and she
was taken with severe headaches. Creighton, BM, p. 40. 6. As a
countercharm against the witching of cows, a sod was cut and
boiled, along with pins, in a little milk from the afflicted cow or
cows. As the craftswoman stirred, she periodically removed pins
and stuck them in the cuff of her dress "to keep the spell off and
direct it into the witch's feet." 7. Pins could be given but never
lent. 8. Brides were cautioned against wearing pins in their
trousseau. 9. If a pin fell to the ground and stuck upright a
stranger was expected. 10. To ward of a witch an object filled
with new pins was placed in the chimney way.

Pins were originally made of silver and represented very good luck
if they were found on the way. Even steel and iron pins had
untility since their points were thought to prick the external souls,
or familiars of witches. Notice that they were frequently boiled in
an iron cauldron, a metal very much disliked by god-spirits, devils
and all the fay kind. Where the pins were placed in the heart of an
animal killed by bewitchment it was assumed that witch-spirit had
led to the death. If the heart was taken soon after death, some
of this spirit lingered and pricking the heart of the beast was
thought to do the same thing to the witch. Boiling the heart
sympathetically caused the witch to fall into a fever. Naturally she
responded by coming to the farmstead where she attempted to
obtain a grace, or favour, thus destroying the countercharm.
The use of a sod goes back to the business of taking evil to
earth, the evil familiar being absorbed within the turf and
succumbing to death when it was returned to the earth. This
symbolic death was believed to reflect on the internal sopul of the
witch, killing her. Notice that the woman who used pins as a
talisman directed them away from her own body, since they might
otherwise prick her runner and cause illness. Some practising
witches wore heart shaped pin-cushions, termed "person-bags" as
part of their costume. When they quarrelled with people the
expression, "I'll stick in a pin for you!" was understood as a potent
threat.

pig
Sympathetic Magic: l. Some mariners would not transport a pig on
a ship's maiden voyage. 2. Pigs were always given a pseudonym
at sea, eg. Mr. Dennis, Turf-Rooter, Mr. Gruff, little feller, ringed-
tail snorter, junk, hog. 3. It was thought lucky to butcher at least
one pig and a "creetur" (cow) every fall. 4. At Centreville, N.S.,
one man would go out of his way to avoid meeting a pig or a
hoodooed woman on the road. Creighton, BM, p. 118. 5. Men
were discharged from vessels for saying "pig" at sea. 6. Canadian
sailors had a pig tattoed on the knee during World War II. In
explanation they said: "A pig on the knee means safety at sea!"
7. "The theory of the pig's heart in witchcraft goes into the
swine's being sent into the sea in the Bible. All animals with a
cloven foot or who chewed the cud are eatable but when the
devils went into the sea, something had to be taken from them
and they lost the cud, but they still have the cloven hoof..."
Creighton, BM, p. 20. Divination: 8. The spleen removed from a
dead pig was used to forecast the weather. If the organ was
regularly shaped an "even winter" was expected but if one end
was withered it was assumed that winter would "run out" earlier
than usual.

The origin of the Middle English "pigge" but it is said related to the
Danish "big" and the Low German "bigge". All of these words once
had the sense of "youthful, a creature having great power", later
narrowing as a description for a "young swine". Sir Francis
Palgrave noticed that these are similar to the Swedish "poika", a
boy, the Anglo-Saxon, "piga," also a boy, and the Danish "pige", a
young girl". Thomas Keightley added other related words: The
Anglo-Saxon, "poecan", to deceive or seduce; the Low Saxon,
picken, to gambol; "picklen", to play the fool; the Danish "pukke",
to scold, not to mention, "Puck, Pook, Phooka, Spook, Pawk,
Puckle, Bug and Bog, Lugh, Lob and many other uncanny creatures
whose names derive from various languages. The word trail is
long but leads finally to Loki Lucharman (Playman or Playfellow),
the ultimate "pig". The young and powerful Loki was one of the
three elder gods of the north, an elemental, the spirit of fire, his
brothers being Kari, god of the air and Hler, god of the waters.
When his realm was invaded by Odin and his kind he alone was
invited to join the mortal gods, making thirteen thrones at their
high council. While Thor represented hard work and productive
activity, Loki was the god of fun and games, whose michievous
bent finally led him into evil and malevolence. Loki played an
important role in the creation of man, endowing him with motion
and blood and fiery passions. He mated with the giantess Angur-
boda producing three nearly uncontrollable offspring: Hel, the
Fenris wolf and the world-worm named Iormungandr. He stole Sifs
golden hair, was wayward in providing Odin's ransom from dwarf
captors, and delivered the goddess Idun into the hands of an
amorous giant. These indiscretions were overlooked but after he
killed Baldur, the god of the sun, he was banished to the
underworld to await the final end of the Nine Worlds of the North.
Although no shrines were erected to this evil god, the last day of
the week, once known as Laugardag, was sacred to him. The
Anglo-Saxons demoted Loki to the status of god of underground
fires and renamed his day Saturday, after Sataere, "the thief in
ambush", a Teutonic agricultural god, who has his roots in the
playfellow. Because Loki was generally disliked, so was his pig
familiar, and mariners refrained from "speaking of the devil",
believing that the mere mention of his name might conjure his
presence. Of course, men of the Royal Navy considered
themselves the "devil's own, thus their use of a pig tattoo as a
talisman against evil happenings at sea.

Trouble with pigs is not restricted to Maritimers. "Among

fishermen of the northeast Scotland, one does not mention pigs at
sea. Just as touching wood can prevent evil on land, so at sea if
a pig is mentioned (especially when baiting lines), one touches
iron. Even in Church, it has been reported, whenever the story of
the Gadarene swine is retold, the stalwart fishermen wopuld reach
for their bootnails and mutter "cauld airn"". Ashley, SPAL, p. 33.
An old Scottish grace goes as follows: "Bless the sheep for
David's sake, he herdit sheep himsel'; Bless the fish for Peter's
sake, he gruppit fish himsel'; Bless the soo (sow) for Satan's
sake, he was yince (once) a soo himsel'." KIng Jame's proposed
banquet for the Devil was "a loin of pork, a poll of ling, with a pipe
of tobacco for the digestion."
pismire
Magic Race: "A spoil sport or meddler", Pratt, DOPEIE, p. 113. A
rude designation applied contemptuously and not used in polite
conversation.

Appears to relate directly to piss+mire, the latter being an archaic

name for ant, and distinguishing the peculiar smell of British ant-
hills. The word was formerly used to describe an emmett, or ant,
or one of the "little people" of the British Isles. Similar to the
Gaelic pishrogue.

pochan
Magic Race: Local designation for a small boy. Usually used
affectionately. DOPEIE, p. 114. Possibly related to the OF
"pochier", to thrust, dig at, or interfere with others; a brat; but as
likely to be a mispronounciation of bogan, a synonym for
bogeyman.

point
Sympathetic Magic: If pie was served, point towards the recipient,
he was to receive a letter. Creighton, FOLC, p. 20.

In the above instance the point of the pie represented an arrow,

indicated the direction of flow of information.

Poisson d'avril
April Fool's Day. Anyone who succumbed to a prankster would
hear the words "Poisson d'avril" (April fish) or "largue ta ligne" (let
out your line, i.e. you've been tricked). "There were other tricks
as well, such as attaching a piece of cardboard cut out in the
shape of a fish to the victim's back, and letting him walk around for
hours in public...The custom is still observed." Daigle, TAOTM, p.
495.

poplar
Sympathetic Magic: "A camp built of popple wood was bad luck
because Christ's cross was made of popple." Spray, WOTW, p. 4.

prayer book
Sympathetic Magic: Sleep with a prayer book under the pillow for
a witch charm." Creighton, BM, p. 38.

This is another instance of the use of Christian symbols as pagan

talismen.

pregnancy
Sympathetic Magic: 1. A child born with a strawberry birthmark had
a mother who ate strawberries while pregnant. 2. If the child was
not born when predicted then he would not enter the world until
after the next full moon. 3. If a pregnant woman crawled under a
fence it was expected that the child might be born with the
umbilical cord twisted about the neck. 4. A pregnant woman was
warned against crossing running water since she was then
destined to give birth within ten days. Creighton, FOLC, p. 16. 5.
A woman frightened during pregnancy "should grab herself at the
hips so the child won't be marked in the face." Creighton, BM, p.
142. 6. Pregnant women were advised not to make fun of any
infirmity of others while carring the baby, since this defect would
appear in their own child. Creighton, BM, p. 142. 7. A baby
conceived before menses would be a boy; one after, a girl. 8.
Girls were born early; but boys, late. 9. Children born on the
incoming tide would be successful; those on the outgoing-tide,
criminals. 10. Children born on a bed-tick containing the feathers
of any wild bird would have wander-lust. 11. A child born with two
teeth in place would be a poet. Creighton, BM, p. 143.

All of the above superstitions are based on the old geometric

axiom that "things which are equal to the same thing are equal to
one another." In the case of #5 it was assumed that the child was
marked by falling suddenly downward in the womb, thus the woman
would try to catch him before fright did damage. A child born with
teeth in place was considered precocious and thus likely to have
genius in the use of language.

puirt-a-beul
Sympathetic Magic: Gaelic mouth music, which see. Joe MacNeil
was not an active singer but knew of at least one hundred word-
tunes current in his part of Cape Breton.

puoinaq
Magic Raqce: Abenaki power-broker, somewhat similar to the
witch doctor. A master magician. Sometimes spelled buoinaq.
See also the related kinap and mentu. "Puoinaq were often
feared, and many tales tell of how they were abandoned by their
People or diven out or killed by other puoinaq...Puoinaq are Shape-
Changers capable of handling enormous Power. They excel at
manipulating reality." Whitehaed, SFTSW, p. 9.

rabbit
Sympathetic Magic: For good luck walk some considered it wise
to walk up a stirway backwards on the last day of each month;
afterwards saying "rabbits" before speaking to anyone. Creighton,
BM, p. 135.

rag tree
Sympathetic Magic: A murderer who killed his girl friend and her
child using rags as the instrument of death has his deed
remembered in a tree near Gannett Settlement, N.S. which "grows"
rags. "They may be taken down at night, and the next morning
they will be there...in the snow of winter or soft earth of spring
there is never a footprint to be seen." Creighton, BG, p. 166.

rain
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Rain on the flood, will come in a scud; but
with rain on the ebb, stay safely in bed." 2. "When wind blows
from the south; rain rises from the mouth." 3. "On July 15, if Mary
goes over the hill and gets her skirts wet, it will rain for 40 days."
Creighton, FOLC, p. 104. 4. Evening red and morning gray, will put
the traveller on his way; but evening gray and morning red, will
bring the rain upon his head." 5. "Rainbow at night, sailor's
delight; rainbow in morning, sailor's take warning!". 6. If the pan
on the stove boiled dry rain was implicit. 7. To promote rain: a
spider was killed, ferns or heather was burned, an umbrella carried
or the garden watered. 8. A halo around the moon predicted
rain. 9. Smoke hanging close to the ground, swallows flying low or
a greenish sky at the horizon all indicated precipitation. 10. When
animals gathered at one side of a pasture or gulls flew inland
ionclement weather was expected.

rabouteux et ramacheux
The Acahisn "joiners" or "splicers", able to reset dislocated limbs
and set broken bones so that they would knoit without trace of
damage.

red
Sympathetic Magic: Red haired people had bad tempers. "flamer: a
red-headed individual. A rough-tempered person, usually a woman
or a high-strung or wild-acting person or domestic animal. Pratt,
Dictionary of Prince Edward Island, p. 56.

reflection
Sympathetic Magic: 1. When ultra clear reflections were observed
in pools of water bad luck or bad weather was expected. 2.
New-born children were prevented from seing their reflection in a
mirror for a year. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 479.

rent-payer
Sympathetic Magic: In Gaelic parts the "rent-payers to hell" were
termed the "droch-chomhalaichean", and were recognized as
proverbially unlucky, individuals dogged by bad weather, accident
and poverty. In sea-going villages they were termed the "Jonahs"
and, if possible, were excluded from sea-going vessels. When the
"rent-payer" chanced into a mill or place of business all work
ceased and it was suggested that he "journey over", otherwise
anything from minor injury to earthquake might take place.
Travellers particularly disliked seeing women at the start of a
journey, see travel, but were even more rattled when they
encountered an unlucky person. Fortunately there was a
counterpart in persons born with the fylgie or caul of second
sight, whose presence was always welcome on land or at sea.
Christian clergymen were members of this tribe in the eyes of
seamen, who would avoid transporting them especially on the
maiden voyage of a ship. Bad luck was often named after the
rent-payer, hence: "...at Eastern Passage or Devil's Island (n.S.);
grey socks were considered a jonah." Creighton, BM, p. 122. The
luck which surrounded a man might pass from him to a wooden
sailing vessel, thus: "Some ships were considered bad luck ships,
along with the men who skippered them."

As these "bad-luck men" did not seem to be especially evil people

it was once assumed that they had offended a deity and were
suffering his notice. In referring to them as "rent-payers", the old-
timers equated them with witches and the little-people, who: "And
aye every seven years pay teind to hell." This appears to derive
directly from the old pagan practice of setting aside money to
purchase a criminal or imprisoned enemy for periodic sacrifice to a
pagan god.

request
Sympathetic Magic: It was considered futile to refuse a witch
anything she desired since the animal or product requested was
never of further use to the legitimate owner.

retirement
Sympathetic Magic: To ward off bad luck railroad men and miners
would not name their actual time of retirement.
return
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Returning home after starting on a journey
was thought unfortunate, and those who did so were advised to
stop and count to ten before continuingh on their way. 2. Guests
who left personal property in a house were certain to return.
Creighton, FOLC, p. 22. 2. To insure the return of a member of
the family socks were boiled in milk. Creighton, BM, p. 44.

It was formerly considered ill-advised to travel, since strangers

were not welcomed in medieval villages. It was noted that that
visitors carried evil spirits as an invisible entourage, and that
afterwards disease tended to rage due to their influence. On
returning home. it often appeared that travellers had taken on evil
spirits from other lands as communicable diseases came with them.
Returning home after starting on a journey often brought this
effect prematurely, and those who stopped to count the time,
usually continued on their way. The animals of a farm were
psychically connected with their humans. Some of their spirit went
into the milk and into socks boiled in milk. Therefore, socks
treated in this manner served to remind a man or woman of former
affiliations and draw him home.

revanter
Wonder Work: The dead were thought to warn relatives of their
recent departure by making a brief appearance as a "revanter".
Those with debts, or incompleted work in the mortal world, often
became wraiths who haunted their old homes or places of work.
Mr. Sandy Stoddard of Lower Ship Harbour, N.S. told Helen
Creighton that he was returning to walking to meet friends at a
hunting camp, and crossing a sand spit when he saw a "man"
coming towards him: "His face and hands were white and I realized
then I knew him all right, only he'd been dead for two years. I was
too surprised to speak, but I intyended to if a ever sawe him
again, but I never did..." Creighton, BG, p. 149.

In other times, men were thought gifted with an internal soul

deposited within the body until death, and a related external soul,
carried by an invisible runner, shadow, home man, or guardian
angel. Those with the two-sights of witchcraft were supposed
to be able to see this counterpart and to move into it at will, using
it to travel instantaneously into the past, the future, or remote
lands, while their souless body remained behind. At death, it was
this runner, which appeared as a revanter. The unemployed
shadow man became a haunt if his dead counterpart had
unfinished business on earth.

ring
Sympathetic Magic: It was bad luck to remove a ring from the
finger of a corpse, particularly where he or she had stipulated a
wish to be buried with it. Poltergeistic activity usually followed
and could only be terminated by punching a hole into the coffin
and returning the object at midnight. Divination: "Dipping the ring"
required a wedding band and a human hair. A glass was partially
filled with water and the ring allowed to sink to the bottom and
then brought to a position just above the surface of the water.
As the ring broke the surface of the water it usually swung wildly
and hit the inside of the glass. If it struck three times this was
considered to indicate that the person whose hair was used would
wed within three years. If the ring failed to strike the side, that
person would remain unmarried. This type of divination was
attempted on Hallowe'en or on the Quarter Days.

right
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Mariners were careful to step aboard ship
right foot first.

Starting anything with the left foot gave honour to the Teutonic
god Tyr, whose major interest was warfare. Mariners thought that
this action drew attention to various unwelcome creatures
standing at the left side of darkness.

rooster
Sympathetic Magic: If a rooster crowed at the threshold of a door
it indicated that a stranger would visit.

rose
Sympathetic Magic: 1. If roses were observed to bloom in the fall
and epidemic was predicted for the following year. 2. The
blooming of the Scotch rose out of season meant there would be
a shipwreck involving local people. 3. It was bad luck to scatter
red rose petals on the ground. 4. Wild roses were recommended
for planting about the gate leading to a cow pasture as they were
known to ward off witches.

rowan

In vain might midnight hags colleague

To witch poor crumbies milk, if she
Had only o'er her crib a twig
Cut from the rowan tree!
-Evan McColl, 1885

Sympathetic Magic: 1. Red rowan branches were placed in the

pens of sick and/or bewitched animals. 2. Red rowan berries
decorated the kitchens of housewives who wished to keep fay
people at bay. 3. It was unlucky to use rowan wood as fuel.

According to Gaelic legend, red berries were the food of the gods
and were not intended for human consumption. In the remote past
all of the plants which produced red berries were believed to
impart eternal life and were found on a small island in the northern
sector of Lake Awe. A woman who had heard of their reputation
persuaded her son to defeat the dragon-guardian of the island
and bring home the berries. Unfortunately, the red berries proved
poisonous, but the seeds from them spread the plants to the
mainland. Similar stories are told elsewhere in Europe. In each
case, the magic berries having been purloined, they have become
a defense against god-spirits.

rowing man

rune

runner
Divination: Knowledge of the past, the future, or distant events in
the present used to be obtained through the conjuration and use
of a god-spirit known as a runner, or shadow man in English
communities, as a fylgiar in Scandanavian lands and as a taibh in
Gaelic parts. This invisible herald was referred to as a forerunner
if he sought information concerning the future and was called a
hindrunner if his specialty was the past. Divination of the former
was referred to as foresight, while knowledge of the latter was
termed hindsight. Those who wished to spy on events taking
place many miles away sought the use of the farrunner, who
specialty was farsight, sometimes called telescopic sight. It used
to be said that these were the Fates, or Nornir, "maids who come
to each child that is born, and shape its life, and are of the race of
the gods...The good Nornir and well descended shape a good life;
but as to those who meet with misfortune, it is caused by
malignant Nornir." As a rule people did not notice their invisble
doubles, who in later myth were distinguished as male and female.
Occasionally the shadow man might take the form of a totem animal
travelling either before or after the individual or flying above as a
bird. The Christians did not banish these supernaturals, giving
their duties to guardian angels. Especially prominent individuals
might have the shadow man assist at their birth, and illuminaries,
such as Saint Patrick, had more than one guardian. The best
runners were unobtrusive, but some were flawed, creating humans
who tripped "over their own shadow". The shadow man was
expected to announce the arrival of his human by knocking about
the hallways of homes about to be visited. Sometimes he would
swing a door open and shut several times, jiggle the latch string,
knock on the door or kick at the walls while awaiting some action.
In the elder days it was always considered impolite to close a
door quickly behind a guest, for fear the shadow man might be
kept out or squeezed between the door and the frame. During
his life a man or woman might see his shadow materialized, but this
was of no consequence unless the creature turned to approach
him, that being a omen of death. In the latter case, it was hoped
that the god-spirit would not appear bloodied, an indicator of a
gruesome end. Some individuals were able to see and/or hear
their runners throughout life, and could project themselves,
briefly, into this double an abilty known in some places as the
"gift", and among Gaels as the "da shealladh" or "two-sights". The
abilty to use the shadow man as a familiar, thus observing tokens
or visions, was credited to those born with eyes of differing
colour, which became the same as the child aged, and to those
born with the amniotic sac, or flygie, still in place over the head.
The gift was often referred to as "the second sight", because
foresight was generally of more interest than "the first sight" or
details concerning the past. A person born under the caul, or
veil, immediately became a hoodoo or jonah if a malignant or
untutored mid-wife burned the caul. If this was avoided, the lucky
baby was promised an interesting life, free of want and worry. A
boy born with a caul was was desirable on ocean-going ships since
it was believed that he could not drown and that a ship could not
sink if a veil happened to be aboard. While mariners carried their
veil in a pocket, some landsmen protected it by burying it beneath
the stone doorstep, believing this would prevent their house from
burning. Girls who kept their caul were promised great ability as a
seamstress if they took a single stitch in it as soon as they were
able to hold needle and thread. Lord Larbolt, who studied the
phenomenon of the two sights in 1652 found that it was not
restricted to a particular age, sex or class and that most people
who were able to divine the future through vision or sound were
not particularly happy with the "gift". It was generally noted that
the vision persisted only as long as it might be regarded without
blinking or distraction. Those who were timid saw the past or
future for a briefer span than those who were unafraid of the
result, which often involved a death in the community. Several
unusual foresightings have occurred: A phantom train ran at
Barrachois, Cape Breton for several months until its physical
counterpart ran down a man at the crossing where it
characteristically faded from view. Fraser, FONS, pp. 45-46.
Mountain Rory, a noted witch from Antigonish County, N.S., detailed
the work and looks of a gypsum mine long before it was
developed in 1928. Fraser, FONS, p. 37. Years before similar
works were installed at Iona, in Victoria County, a wooded cove
was "the haunt of the spirits of present-day workers; their
machinery and railway trains...So frequent were these occurrences
that people in nearing the present location of the plant, used to
get into the water and wade past it; for the belief was that spirits
might not touch you while you were in the water." Fraser, FONS, p.
49. It should be noted that the shadow-men are realted to
various sea-spirits, and that the caul-wearer was considered
favoured by this clan since the amniotic sac was known to be filled
with water. "And people might hear a sound as if somebody were
on the threshold. They weren't hitting the door at all, you
understand, there was no knock on the door but you would hear
the stamping as if somebody put his foot on the threshold though
no one was there. And they would say. "It won't be long before a
stranger comes to the house. Did you not hear the footfall?"
MacNeil, TTUD, p. 210.

salt
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Salt was considered to ward off the Aog, a
soul-seeker who plagued human dead. 2. Salt blessed by a
Catholic priest was considered a remedy against the evil-eye.
This was eaten by cattle and worn in a bag as a talisman by men.
Fraser, FONS, p. 68. 3. People were warned not to salt another
person's food. 4. Spilling salt was bad luck, relieved by throwing
a bit over the left shoulder. In some places the procedure had
to be repeated three times. 5. Witches were unable to step
over salt, so a small amount was sometimes placed beneath the
doormat to protect the house. 6. Bags of salt were sometimes
tied about the necks of men and cattle "to keep witches from
riding". 7. Some "experts" said that witches left their skins behind
while travelling in the familiar form. If this could be found and
sprinkled with salt it was believed that the witch would be injured.
"Here (Darmouth, N.S.) a witch once once discarded her skin...and
my father claimed he got the skin and put salt on it and the woman
walked with a limp for the rest of her life." Creighton, BM, p. 49.
8. To bind a witch to herr chair, salt was thrown upon it. 9. Salt
was the first condiment placed on the table. 10. A pinch of salt
was added to the butter churn to "help the butter come." 10.
Salted cakes were eaten by unmarried women since it was thought
the man they would marry might come in a dream proffering a
glass of water. Also held by the Acadians, see Daigle, TAOTM, p.
487. 11. The Gaels believed that it tempted fate to carry salt
from an old home to a new.

Salt, like iron, was unknown to the aboriginal peoples of Europe,

who were defeated and declared the god-spirits, devils, or fay of
the land. Since they seemed averse to its use, it was declared
useful as a countercharm. It has been noted that witches did
not make use of salt at their sabbats.

Sam hill
Sympathetic Magic: A corrupted anglicized form of the name,
Samhainn, one of the two most important fire-festivals of the Celtic
Year. Employed by my grandfather as a mild curse. See
Hallowe'en.

Satan's stain
Wonder Work: "She always had a watchful eye on me lest I should
swerve from duty, keeping me always on my guard before Satan
could place his stain one me." Song composed in Gaelic by
Archibald Macdonald of New Boston, Cape Breton, on the death of
his wife. Dunn, HS, p. 94.

At the sabbat new admissions to witchcraft were recognized by

having the candidate devote his body and soul to the devil of the
coven. 'after this the devil would put his mark upon them, usually
by a scratch from one of his claws. It was painful and took some
time to heal, leaving a red or blue mark behind. This was the
origin of the "witch-marks" for which seventeenth-century witch-
hunters searched so diligently." Tindall, HOW, p. 44.

Saturday
Wonder Work: 1. On Saturday Mary, the Mother of God, visited
every kitchen in the land, thus care was taken to see that
everything was in order anticipating this visit. 2. Although it
rained throughout the week, some sunlight was guarnteed on
Saturday, "in honour of our Blessed Lady". 3. Saturday was an
excellent day to embark on a sea voyage.

Saturday is rather unfortunately named after a personification of

Loki, the god of mischief. It is generally thought that the last day
of the week was given over to Saturn, but actually it was Sataere,
"the thief in ambush". It is doubtful that the Virgin Mary had a keen
interest in household activities, but in northern Europe she is
known to have displaced Bertha, the White Lady, an agricultural
deity, who lived "in a hollow mountain" and tended the shadow
children of the unborn. These she led from place to place,
instructing her infant troop in the care and watering of plants. She
was the legendary ancestress of many of the European royal
families, and the mythical mother of the emperor, Charlemagne.
She was claimed as progenitor of the German royal family, who
explained that she appeared before them, in their palace, before
any personal or national calamity. He shadow was last reported in
1884. She was a goddess of spinning, and from this
preoccupation developed the "reine pedauque", or splayed foot,
which is widely represented in art depicting her medieval
descendants. She was naturally regarded as patroness of this
craft and was said to "flit through the village, at nightfall, during
the twelve days between Christmas and January 6, peering into
every window to inspect the spinning of the household. The
maidens whose work had been carefully performed were rewarded
by a present of one of her own golden threads or a distaff full of
extra fine flax; but wherever a careless spinner was found, her
wheel was broken, her flax spoiled, and if she had failed to honour
the goddess by eatingh plenty of the cakes baked at that season,
she was cruelly punished..." Guerber, TN, p. 57. Since this took
place during the Yuletide which was confiscated by the Christians,
the goddess was deliberately confounded with Mary, "The Mother
of God".

scissors
Sympathetic Magic: 1. The individual who dropped a pair of
scissors always allowed a second party to retrieve them to
prevent a quarrel. 2. A witch was unable to pass over scissors
placed at the threshold with their points facing upward. If she did
manage to pass it was claimed that, "her spirit was weakened."

The sharp cutting-points of scissors endangered the runner who

was the external soul of each inmdividual. Once, the person who
picked up a glove or a thrown knife, or other sharp object, was
considered to have accepted a legal obligation to duel.

scortching
Sympathetic Magic: As a countercharm milk was burned on the
stove, a procedure certain to call the witch responsible for
blighting the cows.

For the familiar of a cow to lessen the flow of milk it had to enter
the udder of the cow. Milk from this source carried with it some
of this external spirit. Scortching the milk, scorched the familiar
and through it, the witch was damaged. The witch naturally
responded to this call, hoping to have the countercharm offset
through a favour or grace.

scriss
Sympathetic Magic: Local designation for an omen of bad luck, a
curse, an unwelcome group of people.

scrofula
Sympathetic Magic: "The King's Evil" was ended with the touch of
a seventh son of a seventh son. Dunn, HS, p. 43.

This disease was formerly decribed as "tuberculous in nature, a

swelling and cheesey degeneration of the lymphatic nodes,
especially those of the neck. It is associated with the chronic
inflammation of the skin and the joints and is most common in
childhood." See seven.

sea-gull
Sympathetic Magic: 1. The spirits of dead sea-men took the form
of sea-gulls or storm-petrels. 2. It was bad luck to injure either
of these two species. A man from Cape Sable Island, N.S.,
annoyed by a low-flying gull grabbed the scavenger and cut off its
legs. As the years past, neighboured noted that his hands were
badly twisted by arthritis, and at the time of his burial it was
agreed that they resembled the claws of a gull." Creighton, BG, p.
104.

Among my Fundy island relatives the storm petrels were referred

to as Mother Carey's Chickens, which see.

sea-sepent
Magic Race: 1. Sea-serpents have been sighted in Cranberry Lake
near Sydney, Cape Breton. Thew observer saw something "like a
horse's head" moving across the water."Then the neck appeared.
In a moment the animal or sea-serpent went under water, turning
itself over so that the last he swa of it was its tail. He judged it
to be twelve feet in length." Creighton, BG, p. 155. 2. Creighton
also interviewed a fisheramn who sighted one in the Bay of Fundy
near Victoria Beach, N.S. "...it stood up forty or eighty feet in the
air and had a head like a horse and eyes like saucers..."
Creighton, BG, p. 156. See also Lake Utopia Monster, and nuck.

sea-weed people
Magic Race: The sea-weed "men" were thought to have been
invisible little spirits who used the wind to construct mannikins of
seaweed or grasses. Their control of nature was tentative and
these images diassembled in a short time. Will Lowe, a fisherman
at Moser's River, N.S. observed one of these while visiting on Toby
Island during the lobster season. While waiting for the return of
his co-worker he was three times awakened by noises in the
night. Finally, he left his shelter to confront, "a man all covered
with eel grass." He laughed thinking his friend had created an
elaborate hoax, but as he watched, "the figure dissolved before
his eyes, and in a moment there was nothing left of his visitor but
a pool of water and some eel grass." Creighton, BG. p. 142. See
also moss people.

second
Sympathetic Magic: To take a second or double serving,
forgetting one still had food on the plate meant that a hunrgy
stranger would visit.

selling
Sympathetic Magic: It was bad luck to sell any object obtained as
a gift.

separation
Sympathetic Magic: Those who had a third person pass between
them would quarrel. See also telephone pole.

September
Numerology: People born in the seventh month were destined to
have foot ailments and be hypercritical. See seven.

seven
Numerology: 1. Among the Scot's highlanders of Nova Scotia, the
"seventh son" of any family was thought to be able to cure
disease by stroking the afflicted part of the body. Fraser, FONS,
p. 25. 2. If a use was not discovered for an object saved for
seven years it had to be destroyed by fire. 3. Trees were
thought to produce exteremely large crops of nuts in seven year
cycles. 4. The seventh son of a seventh son was thought gifted
with healing abilities. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 479.

Seven was an uncanny number. The tale of the fall of Jericho in

the Bible (Joshua, chapter 6) illustrated its reputation as a focus
of magical power, and this was frequently reinforced particularly in
the book of Revelation. The pagans believed that the cycles of
life and death, of growth and decay, centred on the waxing and
waning of the moon in the sky. The moon's cycle was observed to
consist of four phases of approximately seven days each, heance
the origin of months having four weeks of seven days each.
Seven came to be regarded as a number governing the major
rhythms of life on earth, especially the menstrual cycle in women,
on which all human life depended. Like those born with the caul,
seventh suns were considered capable of seeing and making full
use of runners or shadow men. Seventh sons could cure a
tootache, burn, or nosebleed, or stop bleeding from a wound by
touching the afflicted part.

sewing
Sympathetic Magic: 1. To mend a garmet while it was worn meant
that the sewer would die poor or have lies told about her. It was
cautioned that if this could not be avoided, the thread had to be
held between the teeth while working, to avoid the loss of
memory or even intelligence. Creighton, FOLC, p. 21. 2. A dress
left with basting threads in place was unpaid for. 3. Sewing a
button on a garment on Sunday prompted bad luck, and the
button would have to be replaced by Monday. "If you sew on
Sunday, you'll have to take every stitch out with your nose in Hell."
Creighton, BM, p. 163. 4. The bride who sewed on her own
wedding dress would afterwards sew all of her own clothing. 5.
To break a needle on an article of personal clothing meant that
the person would not live to wear the garment out.

Clothing was considered to share some of the spirit of the wearer,

and pins and needles were believed to prick the external souls of
men. The danger to the internal soul was thought most
pronounced when the clothing was mended while worn. It was
reasoned that any psychic damage to runner, would reflect upon
the condition of his human counterpart.

shadow
Sympathetic Magic: Many Maritimers believed that any injury
inflicted on a person's shadow would fall ultimately upon him. Thus,
to drop an axe upon a shadow hand would injure the human hand.

This superstition was founded on the ancient belief that the

shadow was a runner, the external soul of the individual to whom
it was attached. At times it was observed that the shadow was
absent, and during these periods, it was assumed that he was
running into the future or the past, or examining present events at
a distance, to forewarn his human counterpart of possible
dangers. The shadow man or home shadow was supposedly
visible to witches and "gifted" individuals, who could project their
internal soul into this external familiar using it to travel
instantaneously in time and place. The shadow appears related to
the European doppelganger a creature who looks like the
original human but leads an independent existence. "Reports are
heard from time to time of one man being recognized by friends at
the same time in two widely separated places. The record for
such appearances is probably held by Johannes Teutonicus, who
one day in 1221 was seen celebrating Mass at Mainz, Halberstadt,
and Cologne, all at the same hour. Fortunately these
doppelganger did not meet, for Germans believe that if a man
meets his double face to face, he must die." Ashley, SPAL, p. 5.
The existence of more than one home shadow or guardian angel
is not uncommon, Saint Patrick having consorted with two, who
were given to him at birth.

shaking
Divination: A shaking sensation in the arms meant one would soon
undertaking carrying a casket.

shark
Sympathetic Magic: A shark trailing a ship was a bad omen.

These hungry sea-scavengers were thought to sense any

potential meal. In Scot's mythology these creatures were believed
to be under the direct command of the Cailleach Bheur, or Winter
Hag, who appears to be a female personification of Odin. It was
said that as her power failed in Februrary, she sent her wolves
and her air-sharks out across the land to remind people that she
was not yet impotent.

sheep
Wonder Work: Skilled witches travelled invisibly at night and
sometimes "put their own marks on sheep". Creighton, BM, p. 60.
Folk Medicine: Sheep dung tea was recommended for most
diseases. Pratt, DOPEIE, p. 131.

Sheila's Day
Wonder Work: Sometimes spelled Sheelagh, March 18. Snow
which fell after Saint Patrick's Day was entitled "Sheila's gown"; she
was generally associated with storm and foul weather. Halpert,
AFSFTM.

shellfish
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was an ill omen to eat shellfish in months
lacking the letter "r".

shingles
Sympathetic Magic: If the rash from shingles surrounded the trunk
of the sufferer he would die.
A ring, or circle, symbolized a completed act and thus, in the
above case, termination.

ship-builder
Sympathetic Magic: A ship-builder would not sail on his own craft
during her maiden voyage.

shoe
Divination, Sympathetic Magic: 1. At Hallowe'en, or on an of the
Quarter Days it was usual for people to attempt to determine
the "dirction in which one's lover was to be found by throwing a
shoe over the roof-top. The direction in which the shoe pointed
on landing was considered decisive. 2. Squeaking shoes were
said to "complain" because they had not been paid for. 3. Shoes
were thrown after mariners to and tied to bridal vehicles to bring
good luck. 4. To cure leg cramps shoes were turned upside
down beside the bed at night. 5. Witches were repulsed by
shoes beneath a bed if the toes pointed outwards.

shovel
Sympathetic Magic: It was thought a bad omen to carry a shovel
through a house.

Shovels were used to dig graves, hence the above belief.

shuffle-the-brogue
Sympathetic Magic: A lumberman's game in which the camp sat
about a man selected to be "It". A shoe was passed beneath the
men's legs. Someone in the circle would lob the shoe at the
victim, who was forced to guess who had thrown it. If he
succeeded, the person who was responsible became "It", if not he
was open to more torment. Spray. WOTW, p. 5.

sidh
Magic People: The "little people" of Ireland and Scotland, who are
supposed to have come with the settlers to Atlantic Canada. "The
early settlers of Nova Scotia brought with them from the old lands
a belief in the existence of fairies (sidh, pronounced shee or
shay). The whole district which the town of Inverness now covers
was formerly called the Shean (from the Gaelic Sithean, meaning
the house of the sidh). In this district there was a small hill,
shaped something like a large stack, where the old people used
to see the "little people" in thousands."

silver
Sympathetic Magic, Charm, Talisman: "silver coins were powerful
against witchcraft". 1. An elderly woman possessed a "magic coin"
through inheritance. When neighbourhood animals became ill, she
went to a spot on her farm where two brooks met. Here she
would use the coin to inscribe a cross on the water, "saying at
the same time words of the Sign of the Cross". Collecting water
from that place she would give it to sick animals. After the lady's
death a family conclave was held to decide who would take charge
of this powerful talisman.

silver thaw
Sympathetic Magic: The appearance of a silver thaw was said to
indicate storm.

This condition is described as the "silver freeze" or "silver frost" in

Pratt's Dictionary of Prince Edward Island English but "silver thaw"
is the common usage in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Usually
the effect occurs in the winter when there is an overnight thaw
which allows the fall of rain. Towards dawn this freezes spreading
a glittering sheath of ice over exposed surfaces.

sin
Sympathetic Magic: 1. "Many people connect dancing and card-
playing with sin." Creighton, BG, p. 93. Honouring this connection
is the superstition that the Devil is a gambler.
2. To cross the fingers while telling a lie negated the sin.
The Anglo-Saxon word "synn" is still much used but it is not widely
known that word relates to the Teutonic goddess Syn, whose
name was once a synonym for "truth". She was at first the
guardian of the door to Frigga's (the consort of Odin) palace. She
symbolically presided over all tribunals and trials in the northlands,
and whenever anything was vetoed it was declared that "Syn has
turned her eyes from it!" With the advent of Christianity synn
came to have the current meaning of "a transgressor of the truth."
sing
Sympathetic Magic: To sing at the table was a bad omen. "Sing
before you eat, cry before you sleep."

sky-people
Magic Race: Creighton reported that one of her interviewees
noted "a man who came down from the sky." On the ground he
commented: "I came down like thunder and I'm going back like
thunder." BG, p. 166. This creature corresponds with the
Kaqtukwaq of the Abenaki.

sleep
Sympathetic Magic: 1. To sleep with the head pointing toward the
north courted death. 2. A lumberman who slep with his head
facing downstream risked drowning. 3. A man who went to bed
leaving an axe embedded in wood would have an uneasy night.

Smoky Joe
Magic Race: A resident of the New Brunswick woodlands. A little
one-eyed man who frequently hired on with human crews for the
fall cutting. He was able to perform an uncanny amount of work
but was disliked for his abilities at fortune-telling and sleight-of-
hand. Where he worked, mysterious accidents and spontaneous
fires were common. One of this race, working in the Kilmarnock
woods, claimed that he had participated in Cromwell's wars while a
resident of Great Britain. Smoke Joe frequently disappeared with
the first snow of winter, leaving no tracks of his passing. The
following summer was invariably hot and plagued by forest fires.

This creature appears to correspond with the Gaelic "Fear Dearg"

which has also been described as a little forest-dweller with a
dark complexion. The name translates as "red man", and like
Smoky Joe, he had the habit of appearing on the scene in the
midst of a severe thunder storm. In some regions he was known
as the "Munster". He has been described as "a little old man about
two and a half feet high, with a red sugar loaf hat and a long
scarlet coat...his hair was long and gray, and his face yeloow and
wrinkled. He went over to the fire (which the family had quitted in
their fear), sat down and dried his clothes, and began smoking a
pipe which he found there. The family went to bed and in the
morning he was gone." Unfortunately this seemingly harmless
addition to the farmstead usually became fond of a particular place
and would knock for admittance at a set hour each evening. If the
door was not opened to him an accident, involving the residents
or cattle, invariably happened on the morning. "On the whole,
however, his visits brought good luck, and the family
prospered...(because of his presence)." Keightley, TFM, p. 369.

snake
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Snakes were generated from horse-hairs
which fell into puddles. 2. To kill a snake sympathetically put
down an enemy. 3. Children were advised to kill the first three
snakes they saw, thus being enables to "conquer all enemies".
Creighton, BM, p. 137. 4. People were to kill the first snake seen
in the spring season so as to be free of enemies throughout the
year. "The first snake you see in the season is an enemy unless
you kill it." Creighton, BM, p. 137. 5. The hair of the witch
turned to snakes at her will. This could ocassionally happen to
ordinary women if they were influenced by standing in the light of
a full moon, which see. 6. Snakes were thought immune to
infection. 7. A dead snake found lying upside down was
immediately inverted to prevent serious floods. 8. Snakes seen
moving sluggishly in the summer presaged a lean harvest.
The Anglo-Saxons distinguished themselves as "the coiled serpent
people", the builders of mounds having this configuration. The
Celts of Britain unquestionable identified snakes with these
Teutonic conquerors, thinking that these animals were familiars of
this people.

sneeze
Sympathetic Magic: 1. "Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on Tuesday, for a stranger; Sneeze on Wednesday,
expect a letter; or on Thursday, for something better; Sneeze on
Saturday, sweetheart's coming; Sneeze on Sunday..." 2. "Once a
wish, Twice a kiss; Three times a letter; Four, something better."
Creighton, BM, p. 155. 3. At a sneeze one should say, "God bless
you!" 4. Sneezes invited the Devil. Those who sneezed were
advised to throw salt over the left shoulder to prevent his entry.
5. It was unlucky to sneeze at the dinner table.

Sneezes were seen as involuntary exits of the internal soul

through the the mouth and nose, and hence times of danger.

snow
Folk Medicine: 1.On Easter morning it waas traditional practice to
collect any snow that had fallen and melt it. This was preserved
as a cure for witchcraft and less specific ailments. 2. The fall of
huge wet flakes meant the storm would soon turn to rain, but tiny
fluffy flakes were seen to presage a heavy snowstorm. 3. The
fall of snow used to be termed "God's dandruff" or "Mother
Goose's feathers."

song
Sympathetic Magic: It was bad luck to sing at sea, and storms
arose at the singing of tragic folk tunes such as "The Ghostly
Sailors" or "Young Charlotte". Creighton, BM, p. 125.

The sea-spirits considered themselves the ultimate musicians and

disliked human competition. Singing of death, naturally portended
death.

soot
Folk Medicine: Soot taken from the chimney was mixed with water
and fed to animals for a cure against indigestion. Apparently it
was not always a useful remedy as a Karsdale, N.S. farmer noted:
"We did this once when a critter was bloated. It jumped ten feet
up in the air and came back down dead!"

soul

sortilege

speak
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was unlucky to "speak" (loud hail) a
ghost ship. 2. It often proved fatal for mariners to state the
time of their final voyage. 3. It was considered unlucky for miners
to speak of their date of retirement. 4. It was bad mannered and
dangerous to call upon the Devil for help.

"Speaking" the dead was considered to draw the attention of Ran,

the marine goddess of death. Since it was felt that the sea-
people possessed clairaudience it was always considered
unwise to reveal one's plans. Former attitudes may be expressed
in the World War II phrase: "Loose lips sink ships!" Miners had
similar respect for the kobolds or bodachs of the mine who did
not like to see men end their attachments to the underworld.
There is an old saying: "Speak of the Devil and he is sure to
appear!" According to legend, Ike Foley of Middle Musquodobit,
N.S., was prone to swearing and impetuously requested the Devil's
help in removing a huge stone from a river because it was
impeding a log-drive. Ike was summoned after dark by a loud
voice which spoke three times from the direction of the river. He
refused to answer but the next morning the rock was removed
and that winter he fell through the ice at the place where it had
rested. After his drowning, the "devil's chains" were heard at that
place. See also swearing.

spell
Wonder-Work: 1. Spells were easy to place on those "who were
getting on too well." Creighton, p. 20. 2. Children were easy
subjects for spell-binding, and once bound, these became jonahs
or hard-luck individuals, who were easily re-bound by any
individual, witch or amateur spell-caster. "If a spell is put on you
as a child and is never taken off anyone can witch you."
Creighton, BM, p. 20. 4. A witch-spell could be broken if she was
compelled to thrown two buckets of cold water over the afflicted
individual or animal.

The word spell originally indicated the recitation of words to magic

effect. The countercharm suggested above was aimed at
surprising the invasive familiar into a retreat from the body of the
possessed individual.

spider
Sympathetic Magic: 1. People who had spiders crawl on their body
expected to receive something new. Creighton, BM, p. 137.
2. Killing a spider generated rain.

spirit
Magic Race: "When Sebastian died, when his last breath came, the
whole shape of him came out his mouth like he was a young man,
no longer old and wrinkled, and it just went out the door. Just
before he died three little taps came to the door...Sebastian's
mother was seen twice by two women after she died." Tancook
Island, N.S. Creighton, BG, p. 79.

This word is from the Latin "spirare", to breathe or blow, and

hence the essential unseen ingredient or breath of life. Our
ancestors supected that the dwelling place of the spirit was
directly beneath the breast bone, where it could be observed
fluttering like a caged bird. They also suspected that this "soul"
had an external counterpart housed in an invisible body which they
referred to as the runner or shadow man. When witches flew
off to their rites they projected their external souls upon these
runners, who were then called familiars. Other common men who
were gifted were able to see visions of the past or present
through the inadvertent and unplanned union of their internal and
external souls, which travelled as forerunners or backrunners.
1. In some places a spirit was considered as a vocal creature of
the unseen world as distinguished from the ghost, which could
always be seen but never spoke. 2. An individual, badly used
during his lifetime, was likely to reappear as a haunt.

spirit, unclean
Sympathetic Magic: Sometimes referred to as "noisy spirits", and
synonymous with "poltergeist". They were considered the effect
of diabolical possession, the usurpers being open to banishment if
rites of exorcism were conducted by a cleric having the gift or
similar special powers.

spit
Sympathetic Magic: 1. "If when running you should take a pain,
bend down, pick up a stone, spit on it and put it back with the spit
next the ground. The pain will disappear." Fraser quoting an
interviewee, FONS, p. 25. 2. "It is bad luck to spit into the hold of
a vessel". Creighton, FOLC, p. 15. 3. Fishermen spit on their bait
for good luck. Creighton, BM, p. 121. 4. A newborn child was
made lucky if the mother spit on it.

The first superstition had the intention of taking the injury "to
earth". The earth itself was, formerly, considered full of god-spirit
to which minor pain-spirits were naturally attracted. Spitting into
the hold of a vessel symbollically placed water within the ship. It
was guessed that this might attract larger quantities of sea-water,
sinking the ship durings travel.
sprain
Charm: "Sprains were cured by saying a rhyme over the injured
member." Fraser, FONS, p. 26. Sympathetic Magic: Sprains might
be treated by placing a bracelet of white thread, bearing seven
knots, directly over the injury. Fraser, p. 26.

"If knots were supposed to kill, they are also supposed to cure.
This follows from the belief that to undo knots causing sickness
will bring the sufferer relief. But apart from this negative virtue
...there are certain beneficial knots to which the power of postive
healing is ascribed. Pliny tells us that some folk cured diseases of
the groin by taking a thread, tying seven or nine knots on it, and
then fastyening it to the patient; but to make each knot effectual
it was necessary to name some widow as each knot was tied..."
Sir James Fraser, TGB, p. 281. In the above instance, the pain
spirit was assumed caught up in each knot as it was tied. In some
instances the knots were finally untied and blown upon. When the
last was undone the string was thrown into water after which the
injury quickly cured.

squirrel
Divination: If squirrels stored a large reserve of nuts a harsh
winter lay ahead.

Saint Columa's Cake

Divination: A barley, rye or oat-cake baked by the Gaels on the
eve of Saint Columba's Day (June 9). A small silver coin was
placed in the dough, and the cake was toasted over rowen, yew,
oak or some other sacred wood. The chilkd of the family who
found the money in his portion was given the crop of lambs for
that year.

stag-boots
Sympathetic Magic: It is unlucky to wear stage-boots (cut-down
hip waders) aboard a fishing vessel.
"Stage" boots were known to have little utility beyong getting the
wearer to and from the outhouse. Most were leaky retirees from
a long life at sea. To fishermen, leaky boots symbolized leaky
boats, and were considered an omen of bad luck.

star
Sympathetic Magic: 1.If the big-dipper was overturned in the sky,
rain was expected. 2. The direction taken by a "shooting-star"
was believed to prognosticate the direction of wind on the
following day.

Notice the relationship of the first superstition to the idea that it

was bad luck to turn anything upside down aboard ship, an act
loosing symbolic waters and storm.

stair
Sympathetic Magic: The bad luck of meeting on a stair could be
cushioned if the two individuals crossed fingers

star
Sympathetic Magic: "A Norwegian barque was once lost in
Petpeswick (N.S.) Harbour and was sunk. Since then it has often
been seen before a storm entering the harbour either as a vessel,
or as a huge light light a big star..." Creighton< BG, p. 125.

stone
Sympathetic Magic: It was always good luck to wear a birthstone.
2. During World War II Canadian pilots picked up a pebble before
leaving on missions and replaced it on the ground after landing.
To fail in this was thought to court death.

The ancients set great store on the magical properties of

precious stones, such being used as amulets long before they
were worn as mere decorations. Among the Celts, the snake-
stone was ground to a powder and sprinkled on sanke-bites. The
wine-coloured amythest, whose name means "not drunken" kept its
wearer sober, while magnetite was worn by brothers who wished
to live in unity, their interests being drawn together by its
magnetic properties. The most famous Celtic stone was that
known as "Lia Fail" which sang when a person worthy od kingship
stood upon it, declared the innocence of a party by causing him to
whiten, and declared the sterility of certain women by exuding
blood. It has been suspected of being a "theophany of the soil
divinity, the only divinity to recognize his master (in this case the
King of Ireland)." Eliade, PICR, p.222. This same author has noted
that, "stones, rocks and menhirs are places where fairies came
and ity is to them that offerings were brought. No real worship
was given to them but there was always somthing to ask them
for." PICR, p. 225. In certain parts of Europe people were cured
of illness by being passed bodily through the great holed-stones.
Comape this with a similar local rite relating to trees.

Stone of Mineota

storm
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Restless cattle seen at dusk indicated
storm. 2. Dreaming of dead relatives was another storm indicator.

stranger

stretch
Sympathetic Magic: To stretch before a trip meant it would not be
undertaken that day.

suit-case
Sympathetic Magic: A black suitcase was considered a jonah if
brought aboard ship.

Quite simply, anything black was symbolic of storm, while a black

suitcase was seen as a storm-carrier.
sun
Divination: 1. If the sun crossed "the line" on March 21st amidst
storm, three additional months of "winter" was predicted. 2. Sun-
dogs seen in the morning indicated a storm at sea. Those
observed in the afternoon pointed up windy weather. Mariners
disliked seeing the "dogs" in winter because the wind was always
coupled with low temperatures. 3. A beautiful sunset on the last
Friday of the month meant the following month would be one of
good weather. Creighton, FOLC, p. 103. 4. If the sun was setting
her "backstays" over the ocean one might expect wind and rain.
5. If the sun rose tinged with red wind was expected. "Red sun in
the morning, sailors take warning; red sun at night, sailor's delight.
6. A rainbow seen in the morning pointed to three days of squall
at sea. 7. To have the sun shine on Good Friday indicated a hot
dry summer. 8. Ships were always turned "with the sun", or
clockwise, a counter-clockwise turn being considered ominous.

In agricultural communities the year was divided into quarters

following periods of solstice and equinox. At the winter solstice
the sun had its briefest stay in the sky and at the summer its
longest. The spring and fall equinoxes were equidistant between
these times. Those interested in omens watched the weather
very carefully at the equinoxes when it was thought that the
weather of the daylight hours prognosticated the weather to be
expected in the coming three months.

Sunday
Divination: 1. Bad luck could always be promised those who
worked on Sunday. 2. Fingernails were not cut on Sunday. 3. To
sneeze on Sunday before breakfast was to hear of a death
before the week was complete. 4. To sneeze on Sunday was to
invite the company of the Devil for the week. 5. Those who
insisted on working on Sunday would spend the afterlife eternally
working at that particular job. A spirit-man is supposed to
continue cutting, sawing and hauling operations at Sackville, N.S.
because he was killed while logging on a Subnday.
The Anglo-Saxon "Sunnandaeg" was devoted to sun worship long
before it was taken as a time to honour the Christian God. "It is
not everyone that can see the elves; and one person may
perceive them dancing while another sees nothing. Sunday
children as they are called, are remarkable for possessing this
property..." Keightley, TFM, p. 81.

supernatural
Sympathetic Magic: To speak of a supernatural experience would
generate another of that kind.

swallow
Sympathetic Magic: 1.If a swallow's nest was intentionally
destroyed, cow's would give milk containing blood. Fraser, FNS, p.
24.

Primitives identified the soul as an internal animal which could be

felt "flying about" just beneath the breast-bone. When individuals
were in hallucinogenic trances it appeared that this "bird of life"
was elsewhere so it was assumed that the soul might absent itself
from the body without causing death. A German warlock said: "I
cannot die, for I have no heart in my breast. In a certain church
lives a bird and in it my heart. So long as the bird lives I live. It
cannot die of itself, and no one can catch it; therefore I am
immortal." Any bird or other animal, which entered a home where
it was not normally resident, was suspected of being a witch-
familiar and this was considered an extremely bad augury. In
ancient Greece the bird would be caught and a holy oil poured on
its tail before release, a rite supposed "to make the curse fly
away." In Atlantic Canada, it is assumed that not all believers
understood that destroying the swallow's nest was the equivalent
of ravaging the home of a witch, and likely to bring retribution. 2.
"When the barn was being cleaned, I remember my father telling
the men, "Don't touch those swallows' mud nests under the eaves.
They're our insurance." Wylie McGinley, once of Chipman, N.B.,
quoted by Stuart Trueman, Telegraph Journal, July 15, 1989.
Questioned on this, McGinley said this was not to ensure keeping
down the mosquitos, but "it was believed swallows would not build
in a place that might burn down..."

swear words
Sympathetic Magic: These were profane oaths or curses intended
to make mockery of the god being implored. Local examples
include: "by the old horned spoon, Lordy old cock-robin Christ,
Holey Old Jesus, by cracky, by the rattley-eyed Jesus, by the
rory-eyed Christ, by sweet humpbacked Jesus, by the holy old
twist." 1. Profanity attracted the attention of the Devil, who often
responded by claiming his own. 2. Swearing an oath as a jest did
not exonerate the oath-taker. A fisherman At French Village, N.S.,
laughingly promised his two fish to "The Devil, if we meet him!" On
the road they encountered"a great big animal larger than a dog.
But we didn't give it the fish!" Creighton, BG, p. 107.

sweeping
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was unwise to sweep after dark. 2. To
sweep after dark indicated a drowning at sea. Creighton, BM, p.
127. 3. Some mariners considered it unlucky to sweep after six
o'clock in the afternoon. 3. Sweepings should never be swept
over the sill into the yard.

Sweeping was the perogative of house or sea-spirits in the hours

after dusk. To preempt the minor duties of kaboutermanikins,
kobolds, brownies or bodachs was thought to make them angry
and retributive.

switch
Sympathetic Magic: Witches could be chased off with switches.

Men were thought closely related to the tree-spirits and able to

obtain their help by cutting their own "witch-wands" for use as
countercharms.

talisman

tea
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Bubbles floating on tea represented
money, which might be "collected" by transporting them on a
spoon to the mouth. Care had to be exercised to prevent the
bubbles from touching the sides of either spoon or teacup. 2. A
tea leaf floating at the surface was termed a "visitor". To
determine which door he might enter the handle was turned away
from the body and the liquid stirred. If the leaf came to rest
nearer the bowl he would enter by the back door and was
probably a tradesman; if nearer the handle, the front, and a
person of importance. 3. Those who left a cover off a teapot
expected visitors. 4. It was unlucky to thank a person for
reading tea leaves. 5. Before reading a fortune in the tea leaves
the cup had to be inverted and turned three times in a counter-
clockwise direction. 6. Tea was never stirred with a spoon.
When coffeee became popular this rite was extended to that
beverage.

Bubbles, having a circular shape, were taken as symbolic of coins.

In removing fay treasure one had to be careful to keep it from the
sides of the money pit, thus this figurative necessity.

Teazer Light
Sympathetic Magic: The light of a phantom, or fire-ship said to
haunt Mahone Bay, N.S. The "Young Teazer" was a Yankee
privateer trapped by the British in Mahone Bay. A young officer
burned her to the waterline rather than surrender. Since she
carried powder, the resulting explosion shattered windows as far
distant as Blanford. Since that time, the apparation has been seen
as a fire-ship, local fishermen having to veer hard to avoid
collision. Some claim to have seen the crew in the burning rigging
although physical incidents have occured. See fire-ship.
telephone pole
Sympathetic Magic: People who walked on opposite sides of a
telephone pole or a fence post were expected to quarrel.

theatre
Sympathetic magic: 1. It was bad luck to whistle in a dressing
room. 2. It was considered an ill omen to place a hat on a bed or
shoes on a table. 3. Peacock feathers were not permitted on
stage. 4. It was thought unfortunate to quote from
Shakespeare's Macbeth or Hamlet, and the former was never
referred to by name. 5. Misfortune followed speaking the last
lines of a play in rehersal. 6. Real flowers were not permitted on
stage noe were they accepted as a tribute if passed over the
footlights. 7. Yellow and green costumes were avoided. 8.
Crutches were unlucky if used on stage. 9. Knitting on stage was
considered an evil omen. 10. Umbrellas were excluded from the
stage. 11. Squeaky shoes and canes were considered lucky
props. 12. In hit plays the costumes worn on opening night were
pressed into continuous wear. 13. To trip on making a first entry
was fortunate. 14. Dancers spit into their shoes before putting
them on.

thirteen
Numerology: 1. The thirteenth day of any month was an unlucky
time to take a fishing boat to sea. 2. Miners disliked entering the
underground on the thirteenth day of the month. 3. To seat
thirteen at a meal meant one would die before the year was out.

The number thirteen is persistently regarded as unlucky, possibly

because of Odin's difficulty with Loki, the thirteenth member of his
Aesir. It is noteworthy that Jesus also had twelve useful
compatriarts and the traitor, Judas.

thistle
Divination: In deciding between prospective mates, our ancestors
took thistle tops from the bull or the spear thistle and chipped
away all of the purple bloom from a number equal to the
contendors. Each was named and placed beneath the pillow, that
which re-grew a purple top representing the true love.

The naming of objects was considered to imbue them with some of

the spirit of the person or animal who was named. In the above
instance it was presumed that the shadow man or runner of
the named individual would force the growth of the plant to make
his human known to the future loved one.

three
Divination: 1. A house fire occurring after midnight on Sunday
was an omen that three more would follow. 2. Three lights burning
in a single room would cause a ship to upset at sea. 3. Three
brothers aboard a vessel brought fatal results to the ship. Two
brothers promised danger but three, a calamity. 4. In the mines if
one man was killed before Christmas two more might be expected
to die. Christmas was a bad time for accidents. 5. If three
knocking sounds were heard in a mine the workers would come to
the surface and suspend activity for the day. 6. "Three times a
bridesmaid, never a bride." 7. To break a dish meant two more
would follow. "Misfortune comes in threes." 8. Lost objects could
be found after reciting the Lord's Prayer three times. 9. Lighting
a third cigarette from a single match was unlucky. 10. If three
individuals were photographed together the one in the centre
would be the first to die.

The number three has extremely rich symbolism: It has a

connotation of completeness, since, initially, counting left off with
the number two, three being an indication of any greater quantity.
Medieval Christian numerologists noticed many uses of the number
in Biblical lore, for example the three gifts of the magi, the three
days between the crucifiction and ressurection, and recurrent
references to the God as a Trinity. Three-fold deities are much
older, Osirus, Isis and Horus having been found and ancient Egypt;
the edler gods, Loki, Hler and Kari in Scandinavia; and Morrigan,
Medb, and Macha among the Celts. Richard Cavendish considers
three, "the luckiest of numbers, since it stands for the godhead,
truth and perfection", but the above superstitions suggests that
the number is jealously guarded as the sole perogative of the
pagan gods.

thunder
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Thunder soured milk. 2. Thunder was "God
rolling potatoes" or "angels bowling.

Sky gods who controlled the storm are prevalent in European

myth, the most notable being Thor, or Donar, who rode out of the
northern sky. The Celtic counterpart is found in the goddess
Bolg, or Boann, (whose name appears in the River Boyne) and in
Taranis (whose name derives from the Gaelic "torann" (thunder).
The ancient pagans believed in the literal presence of sky gods
who were usually associated with intense storms, the oak tree
and various bird which were thought to presage the weather. The
Christians transferred his or her attributes to the "One God",
where they survive as superstitions.

tide
Sympathetic Magic: Meat obtained from animals killed on the rising
tide was supposed to swell; that on the falling tide, shrink.

Dwellers at the sea could not help but notice the periodic tides.
The inflowing tide was seen, not merely as a symbol, but as the
potential cause of prosperity and life, while the ebb was discerned
as a real agent of failure, weakness and death. The Breton
peasant was very sure that plants sown while the tide was
receeding would fail to reach maturity and that cows fed on it
would bloat and die. Throughout Britain, it was long assumed that
the elderly could not die until the tide was completely out and
could not be born until it was at full flood.
Tit's Day
Sympathetic Magic: Tit or Tibb's Day was a pagan feast and
recuperation day following Tit's Eve (which see). At one time it
was the first day of the month and celebration termed Yule. In
revised Christianized form Tit's Day was described as the day
following the final Ressurrection and Judgement Eve, a day after
time when accounts were beyond settlement. To have a Maritimer
promise that he would repay money on Tit's Day meant that the
loan-agent could not expect to recoup money in this or any other
world.

This feast day clearly belonged to the pagan deities Thor and
Frey. C.L. Apperson, the writer of English Proverbs and Proverbial
Phrases has guessed that this was "a day neither before nor after
Christmass" and that "tibb" is synonymous with "never". Desultry
attempts were perhaps made to give the day a Christian veneer
by referring to it as Saint Tit's Day, but the connotations of the
word made this unsuccessful. Certainly The Old English Chronicle
does list a Saint Tibba, circa 963, but Brewer's Dictionary of
Phrase and Fable (1870) insists there was never a legitimate saint
who bore this peculiar name. The Oxford English Dictionary
regards the word as a "hypocoristic" (i.e an abbreviated and
endearing) form of the name Isabel, but they do not explain how it
came to be the equivalent of "a girl or lass, a sweetheart, and a
strumpet.

Tit's Eve
Sympathetic Magic: Also known as Saint Tit's Eve, Tibb's Eve, Tip's
Eve, or Tipsy Eve. The evening of the twenty-third day of
December.

This holiday was known in some parts as the Mother Night and
followed the shortest day of the year. In former times, the
overindulgence on this night marked the beginning of Yule, which
see. It has been guessed that the word "tit" may have
descended from the Icelandic "tittr", which at first described a
small song bird and was extended from that to anything of small
size including all teat-like projections, such as the human nipple.
Fire festivals always included a lively amount of sexual activity
which probably led to the creation of the Middle English verb
"titten", to slap, pinch, squeeze, tease, pull, jerk or twitch." The
excesses of Tit's Eve resulted in secondary meanings for "tit" or
"tib", including "an inferior horse, a nagging woman, a jade, a
whore, a small morsel or bite of food. The phrase "tit for tat" had
an origin in early "lover's quarrels" where relalitory blows followed
the usual squeezing and pinching of the human breast and other
parts.

toad
Sympatheic Magic: 1. People who picked up toads contracted
warts. 2. To catch a toad, salt was thrown on it. 3. It was bad
luck to kill a toad. Folk Medicine: 3. In spite of the above advice
farmers thought that "fedder bone on the hoof" could be
corrected by splitting the body of a toad and binding it to the
injury.

Toads were kept by witches as familiars and as ingredients for

many of their potions. The formula for catching a toad was
thought equally useful against god-spirits and the fay. Among
some Indian tribes the frog, or toad, was thought to harbour a
benevolent water-spirit, which ensured the purity of water and
hence the health of crops. On the other hand, many of the British
tribesmen feared and loathed them as emissaries of witches and
the Devil. Aside from the fact that they were likely to cause
wartss, they were generally supposed to have a poisonous
tongue (after the fashion of certain snakes). Any farmer who felt
that his cattle were bewitched burned a toad alive at midnight, a
rite certain to draw the witch to his side. Sir Walter Scott wrote
of a family treasure known as a "toadstone", an amulet "sovereign
for protecting new-born children and their mothers from the
power of fairies..." This gemstone was supposed found in the
head of certain aged toads, and had the additional power of
indicating the presence of poison by changing colour when placed
in a suspect drink.

token

tools
Workmen whose tools struck accidentally on the job would work
together during the coming year.

tooth
Sympathetic Magic: 1. To have teeth set far apart meant that the
possessor would travel. 2. If a cat or dog swallowed a human
tooth, that person would grow a cat or a dog tooth in its place.
3. The fairies exchanged money for teeth lost by children. 3.
People who had a tooth extracted were warned from sticking their
tongue into the opening for fear one made of fairy-gold would
grow there. 4. In some places it was considered lucky to bury an
extracted or fallen tooth.

A few of the ancients were adverse to discarding body parts,

preserving all against eventual reuse in a reincarnated form. At
the least, they arranged for the careful return of these parts to
the god or goddesss-spirit of the earth, anything less leaving
them open to the danger that teeth, hair or spittal might serve as
the base for a spell or charm which could be used against
them. Naturally, the fairies were anxious to exchange cash for
teeth, since this gave them magical control over a human.

tobacco
Sympathetic Magic: Tobacco was a preferred commodity for
propitiating all of the fay. At Saint John's Reversing Falls, the
Maliseets believed that a spinning log trapped in one of the
eddies represented a demon who was appeased by shooting
arrows, with tobacco pouches attached, into it. Again, the
ghosts of woodsmen were often seen presenting a pipe in an
appeal for tobacco, and the living frequently complied with these
requests.

toothache
Folk Medicine: 1. Sufferers used to go into the woods and drive
a "rusty nail" into a tree while chanting: ""May you be there, all
pains and aches." Fraser, FONS, p. 26; 2. A prophylactic against
tootache was to chew wood from a tree which had been struck by
lightning; 3. Christian (or pagan) prayers could be written on
paper and placed in the mouth directly over the aching tooth.
Fraser, FONS, p. 27. 4. In Gaelic places the "eolas an deideidh"
(charm for a toothache) was recited.

Gods, such as Thor, were thought to take temporary rest and

recreation in the form of the oldest and highest trees in the
forest. The fact that these were often struck by lightning was
considered proof that the thunder god favoured the tree.
Chewing the actual substance of a potent tree god was seen as a
useful act.

towel
Sympathetic Magic: Two people who used the same towel
invariably quarreled.

travel
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Meeting a woman on the road was bad luck,
but if she happened to be red-headed an immediate turn about
was advised. Fraser, FONS, p. 28.

The ancient Germans believed that women were holy and

consulted them as oracles. In the most extreme cases they were
venerated as living reincarnate goddesses. In pagan times one
did what he could to escape the notice of deities who might
embody themselves in an unassuming form. It should be noted
that there was once reason to fear the "fire-haired" Norns of
northern Europe, "whose principal occupations were to weave the
web of fate for both men and the gods." In that matriarchial
society, the power of divination was thought restricted to women
and their predictions were never questioned. Also known as the
Vala, Idises, Dises, or Hagedises, they officiated at forest shrines
and rode with the armies of their people, urging them to victory.
Their rites included blood sacrifice of enemies, wild dancing and
the plunging of their arms into tubs of collected blood. Quite
naturally they were greatly feared and propitiated. In Germany the
present-day witch is still identified as a "hagge" and her kind are
supposed to have been too powerful to kill; thus, the Christians
banished them to the mountain top called Brocken, from which
they ride forth on the eve of Valpurgisnacht. 2. It was
traditionally certain that one would never again see an individual if
their train or ship was watched until it was out of sight. 3. It
was bad luck to turn back while travelling.See also visit. 4. All
supernatural creatures had the capacity for instantaneous travel;
thus, "...suddenly this woman appeared and walked up to mother,
stroked her on the cheek and said, "Emma, how fat you are
getting!" They did not see the witch either coming or going. The
next morning the mother could neither open nor close her mouth
and the imprint of the witch's hand was on her face. She could not
speak but a gypsy prescribed a gargle and oil..." Creighton, BM, p.
63. 5. It was considered lucky to have an old shoe thrown after
one on starting a trip, "whether going hunting or to find a sheeep
that had strayed. MacNeil, TTUD, p. 211.

treasure
Sympathetic Magic: 1. The knowledge of buried treasure was
better than possession, since the latter rarely brought joy or
good luck. 2. Treaures were grotected by spirits known as
guardians created by interring a corpse with the valuables. The
guardian had boring work and might plead with humans to remove
the treasure, but he (or she) was bound to make every effort to
secure it. 3. Some said that guardians, and the treasure, could
only be unbound it new blood was spilled. One guardian thus
admitted, "Theres money here and I want you to get it," but
added, "You've got to draw blood from two twins." Creighton, BG,
p. 49. The author herself thought that blood from two lambs
would have sufficed. 4. According to local legend, pirates set the
following charm upon their booty: "Devil take the keys to this till
rooster plough and hen harrow." Kevin Bond of Codys says that
this has been attempted in New Brunswick. Creighton
was told of a man from Rose Bay, N.S., who completing this step,
"found a chest full of money and jewels and never wanted again all
the rest of his life." 5. Some individuals favoured binding the
guardian by inscribing a circle about the site. 6. Midnight was
considered an appropriate hour for retrieving treasure and
digging had to take place without speech. The guardian was
bound from physically interfering with the diggers unless they
spoke, although he might present a good light and sound show. 7.
Live frogs have supposedly been removed from treasure pits. 8.
Dreams were frequently led to treasure troves, and instructions
given in them were taken seriously if the same dream was
repeated three times. 9. Lights hovering above the ground and
rocks whiich fell from the sky to the ground were thought
indicative of treasure. 10. Treasure came to the surface "for a
bath" in seven-year cycles. 11. The noise of thunder, falling rocks
or cracking ice frequently accompanied attempts to retrieve
objects from a money-pit. 12. It was sometimes believed that the
treasure chest could be secured by throwing a coat over it. 13. It
was almost universally supposed that trasure could only be
obtained after the seekers had either added a coin to the trove
or taken one from it. 14. In the event that the "niceites" were not
observed the considerable physical force of the guardian would
be unleashed in which case the treasure chest would sink back
into the earth, seekers might be transposed to some other
location, blasted with energy, chased by a presence or otherwise
harried.

tree
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Certain venerable trees were saluted, on
passing, with wishes and song. 2. In parts of the countryside,
individuals attributed their good fortune to the presence of
certain trees on their property. In at least one case, the owner
used to place a nosegay beneath his tree each May Eve. 3. At
Scotsburn, N.S., stood seven elm trees through which children
passed alternately, touching each and wishing as they passed.
4. It was thought ill-omened to have a fruit tree bloom twice in a
single year. 5. It was bad luck to plant a weeping willow.
Divination: 6. When the bark was thick on the north side of a tree
a harsh winter lay in store; if the bark was thin and white the
winter would be mild. 6. To cure illness certain species (e.g the
alder) were split lengthwise and the patient passed through.

Men were considered to have arisen from trees and the gods
often took their rest in the form of an elderly tree, thus the
salutations. May Eve was the night before the Celtic fire-festival
known as the Beltane and thus a sensible time for giving special
honour to one of the pagan gods. In older times orchards were
the site of carolling (round dancing) and cider-soaked toast was
left in the branches for the benefit of the hob-robin, or hob-goblin,
a descendant of some earlier nature-spirit. In those times, it was
considered necessary to place a dead animal at the roots of a
newly planted fruit tree if it was expected to bear. See also
apple. "...the peasantry believe that in and under the elder-tree
dwells a being called Hyldemoer (elder-mother), with her ministrant
spirits." Before a Dane would cut one he would chant three times:
"Hyldemoer, Hyldemoer; let me take some of thee, and I will in time
give of mine in return. If this was omitted he would be severely
punished...The linden or lime tree is also a favourite haunt of the
elves...and not safe to be near after dark." See also various
species names. Mircea Eliade does not note the passing of
children through trees , but the act is surely associated with "that
of placing the sick child for a moment in a crevice in the ground, or
a hole in a rock, or the hollow of a tree..." According to her the
function was to transfer the child's illness to tree. rock or ground
and to symbolize rebirth. See PICR, p. 251.

trouble
Sympathetic Magic: The effects of witchcraft were referred to as
troubling and had a meaning similar to "blighting", "hexing",
"charming" and "enchanting".

trow

Tuatha daoine
Magic Race: Gaelic, pronounced "tootha danan", translates as the
"people of the goddess Dan. The name given the god-like wizards
defeated by the modern Irish, or Milesians, in the remote past.
They were afterwards known as the Daoine sidh or little people.

turned coat

turlutex
Acadian equivalent of mouth music.

two
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Turing up a "deuce" in a card game was
bad luck. 2. Taking a two-dollar bill was briefly considered ill-
omened.

Twelfth-tide, Twelfth Night

Sympathetic Night. Epiphany in Christian times, December 5th.
"The only tradition...in Acadia was the Twelfth Night Cake. In some
regions, the cake contained a ring, a medal and a button. When
the cake was cut, it was said that the person who found the ring
would be married soon; the person who found the medal had a
religious vocation; and the person who found the button would
remain a bachelor or an old maid. In other areas, a white beran
and a kidney bean replaced the ring and the medal. It was
arranged thatthe white bean would be found in a girl's peice and
the kidney bean in a boys's. This couple became the king and
queen, presided over the evenings festivities and led off the
dancing." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 491.

tylwyth teg

umbrella
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Umbrellas were never opened indoors for
fear of bad luck. 2. It was considered bad luck to pick up one's
own umbrella. 3. Umbrellas were bad luck aboard a ship.
4. Umbrellas were considered bad luck when placed on a table or
hung over a doorknob. 5. To drop an umbrella was bad luck
unless it was recovered by a second party. 6. There is at least
one record of an umbrella having served as a witch-wand: "Mother
N. went out and saw the heifer lying there...she took an umbrella
and swung it around her head three times by the handle, and
when she swung the handle the third time, she pointed the handle
right at the heifer...And when Anthony came over he couldn't get
the animal up, and her one leg was broken, and Grandfather
Frederick had to kill that animal right where she laid." Creighton,
BM, p. 59.

Umbrellas originally had wooden handles and were seen as having

some of the properties of a magic rod, wand or staff. To open an
umbrella anticipated storm and storm symbolized more general
bad luck. No one wanted storm aboard a ship, thus umbrellas
were excluded from shipboard.

Utopia Monster

Valentine's Day
"Until 1935" (this day) was an occasion for the exercise of popular
satire and sanctions...the time for ridiculing eccentricities or
pretensions, for offering cutting reminders of foolish acts or
idiosyncracies, or even for wreaking small vengeances. It was the
occasion for mailing anonymous caricatures or drawings with
certain featuresor words added to make the references more
pointed. Lauraine Leger, LSPEA, p. 72.

visit
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Visitors to to an unknown residence were
expected to pause on the threshold and wish for luck. 2. In
some places the visitor ceremoniously fell backwards toward the
door while wishing. Creighton, BM, p. 160. 3. To visit and leave
something behind meant that the person would return at a later
date.

Formerly, visiting unknown neighbours was a dangerous business,

thus calling upon a god for assistance was thought sensible. It
was assumed that those who faced their exit while entering had
the best chance of escap[ing a hostile blade. Of course the
earliest guests were frequently hostages, who later descended
on their host to get back anything which had been left behind.

wake

1. At death the body was covered with a white sheet, and mirrors
and windows similarly shielded. 2. A candle burned near the body
at all times. 3. Unless a boy was decomposing it was not placed in
the homemade pine coffin until it was time to leave for the church.
4. Wakes were held for several consecutive nights, a midnight
supper being served.

walking
Sympathetic Magic: It was bad luck to change sides while walking.

wart
Sympathetic Magic: 1.Individuals with the gift were able to
transfer warts to a pea, which they would then tie in a rag and
dispose of by throwing into a well. As the pea disintegrated, so
would the wart. Fraser, FONS, p. 25; 2. Blood from a wart used to
be placed on a cloth, which was then dropped ona frequently
travelled path. Another individual picking up the cloth out of
curiosity became the new "owner" of the disease. Fraser, p. 25;
Alternately, blood could be squeezed out on pebbles, which were
then placed in a bag left on the road to be picked up by some
less knowledgeable person. Fraser, p. 25; 3. Raw meat could be
rubbed over the warts and then buried. An incantation, such as
"Take this with you and rot in the grave!" assisted the process.
As the meat decayed the warts were supposed to disappear; 4.
"Another certain cure was to tie knots above the warts,
corresponding exactly to their number, and then throw the string
after a passing funeral procession.

All of the above superstitions presume that the wart is a result of

the spells or charms of witchcraft, at the least a magical blight
caused by the presence of an unwanted visitor-spirit. These are
traditional means of taking this spirit "to earth".

wash
Sympathetic Magic: Cows were sometimes unbound from blights
by boiling silver in water and using it to wash the animal from
head to foot.

water
Divination: 1. It was thought impossible for winter to take a
serious grip on the land until the rivers and streams were full of
water. 2. Certain springs (e.g. the Wilmot springs in Nova Scotia)
were thought to have curative properties. 3. None of the fay
races could cross moving water. 4. Sea monsters could not pass
from salt to fresh water. 5. The water from a "boundary stream"
(where two properties met) was taken into the mouth on
Hallowe'en Eve and held there while the person made his first
visit to a home in the community. Approaching closely without
making himself evident, the individual would listen for inside talk
being especially attuned to names. It was believed that the first
name heard would correspond with that of the person destined to
be a future mate. "I heard a story about three people, three girls,
who went down to the stream and took up water. The three of
them proceeded toward the hopuse...someone (within) at the
table called out to someone else...and the name called out was
the first name of their future husbands...all the husbands turned
out to have the same name..." MacNeil, TUD, p. 207.

"the cult of water, and particularly of springs held to be curative...

displays a striking continuity. No religious revolution has ever put
a stop to it; fed by popular devotion, the cult of water came to be
tolerated even by Christianity, after the fruitless persecuting of it
in the Middle Ages...the cult seems to have lasted from the
Neolithic until the present day...In England springs near some of
the prehistoric barrows are held by local inhabitants to be
miraculous or beneficent." Eliade, PICR, p. 200. Water was the
medium of the elder god named Hler, Ler or Llyr, and was onced
considered peopled by a host of magical creatures who might lend
their powers to man if propitiated. Thus, in earlier times there
was a custom of throwing cakes and garlands upon water and
fertility rites of "throwing shirts, trowsers and shifts into the
deep." Although some of these habits persisted into the
nineteenth century participants "did not really know their object in
doing so." These were not always benevolent forces, the Fomors
and the Vana being accused of cannibalism, sexual assault and
attacks against summer; thus the need for full streams before
their power could fall upon the land.

wave
Sympathetic Magic: Certain witches waves their hats in the air to
raise storms that prevented ships from leaving harbour, or drove
them ashore. Creighton, BM, p. 56.

As the hat disturbed the local air in a minor way, it was assumed
that the motion would extend to the harbour-front, raising a storm,
which would prevent the ships from leaving or create chaos.

weather
Divination: 1. It was believed that the weather seen during each of
the twelve days of Yule corresponded with what might be
expected during the twelve months of the year.

wedding
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was customary to fire guns at weddings.
2. In some places the bride and groom were restricted from the
first dance at the reception, in other regions they were served
first at the banquet and expected to lead the dance. Divination:
3. Place wedding cake under the pillow to dream of a mate.

Noise making at weddings was meant to offend, and drive off, evil
spirits and witches.

well
Sympathetic Magic: Individuals who used a common drinking vessel
to share water from a well would become involved in a relationship
leading to marriage.

whistle
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was thought bad luck to whistle on
Sunday. 2. "A whistling girl or a crowing hen, will certain come to
a bad end!"

white
Sympathetic magic: 1. It is unlucky to wear anything other than
white mittens aboard a fishing boat. 2. White rocks in ballast
brought bad luck to a ship. 3. Seeing a white horse was lucky
provided the viewer thumped his open left hand with his right fist;
uncurled the fingers of that hand and kissed them; slapped the
knee with closed fist; thumped the left hand again and made a
wish, Creighton, BM, p. 135. 4. On seeing a white horse it was
protocol to bow three times, spit as it passed, and avoid looking
at the tail. Creighton, BM, p. 135. 5. On seeing a white horse
people were advised to cross two fingers of the right hand and
recite "White horse, criss-cross; Money 'fore the days out!" One
then had to spit and make a wish. 6. Others advised that the
chant should be: "Lucky, lucky white horse, lucky, lucky lee;
Lucky, lucky white horse, bring good luck to me!" Similar to
Creighton, BM, p. 135. 7. Those exposed to a white horse were
advised to keep their fingers crossed until they encountered a
dog. 8. Alternately, the viewer might lick his fingers, touch the
palm of the hand, stamp the hand and wish. 8. In general, white
horses were considered good luck. 9. An individual who lost
three wives was considered "white-livered".

The word white correponds with the old Anglo-Saxon "whit", which
is synonymous with "witch". White linen was the clothing most
commonly associated with witches, god-spirits and the fay.

White Gift Day

white lady
Magic Race: 1. The white lady walked beaches before storms
without leaving tracks in the sand. Her passage was an omen of
storm. Creighton, BG, p. 182. 2. The white or gray lady often
materialized near flood swollen streams to warn humans of bridges
which had been swept away. She never spoke but her wraith-like
presence upset horses and dogs. 3. The woman in white
sometimes walked on the ocean and carried a light which led
fishermen home through storms. 4. This spirit sometimes
knocked three times at the door of families where the death of
an absent relative had occured. See revanter and runner

whistle
Sympathetic Magic: Whistling aboard ship will cause an excess of
wind or some other form of bad luck. Creighton, FOLC, p. 15.

Music at sea was considered the perogative of the undersea

peoples, who considered themselves the ultimate musicians.
Human competition was never appreciated and sea-demons were
likely to raise the wind in response. It may also be supposed that
a tiny whistle was seen as leading to the larger whistle of the wind
itself.

whooping cough
Sympathetic Magic: Mare's milk was recommended for whooping
cough. Dunn, HS, p. 42.

whore's egg
Sympathetic Magic: Name for the marine animal known more
generally as the sea-urchin. This echinoderm is a flattened sphere
completely covered with spines. As a collector-diver
of living biological specimens I had hands completely filled with
these troublesome "needles", which took about four years to work
their way free of the skin. Fishermen also had trouble with them!
Since they had no cash value and were a genuine annoyance they
received this extremely graphic name. As we've noted elsewhere,
Christianity was opposed to the fertility cults and their
missionaries suggested that overindulgence was likely to lead to
physical problems, but this is an overstatement!

widow's peak
Sympathetic Magic: If a woman possessed a widow's peak she
would outlive her husband and vice versa.

A few individuals have hair which peaks in the area between the
eyes, in imitation of a medieval headdress favoured by alchemists
and the Devil. Although the fay were not considered immortal
they were thought to live unusually long lives, thus the above
superstition.

wight, wicht or wichtlein

Magic Race: A Germanic name formerly applied to people in
general, but later narrowed to identify "a species of being that
greatly resemble the dwarfs...all about three quarters of an ell
high. Their appearance is that of old men with long beards."
Keightley, TFM, p. 229. "Wight, answering to the German "wicht"
seems to have been used in the time of Chaucer for elf or fairy,
most probably for such as haunted houses or it may have had the
signification of "witch"... Keightley, TFM, p. 319. Infrequently used
in Germanic areas of Maritime Canada.

will o' the wisp

wind
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Wind would not change direction before
the change of the tide. 2. "when wind comes from south; look for
rain from the hake's mouth." 3. A hard blow from the northwest
was always followed by three days of severre storm. 4. It was
said that a wind that went to bed with the sun would rise with it.
5. "When wind rises 'gainst the sun; trust it for another run. 4.
When the wind travels with the sun; fine weather has just begun.
5. Southern winds were thought to carry rain.

winter
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Severe winter weather followed when
animals grew heavy coats of fur. 2. When the nut harvest was
unusually large a hard winter was predicted. 3. "Onion's skin very
thin, mild winter coming in. Onion's skin thick and tough, coming
winter, cold and rough." Ashley, SPAL, p. 14. 4. Skunks making an
early retreat from the woods to the barns was considered a bad
omen.

wish
Sympathetic Magic: 1. This word was sometimes employed as a
synonym for curse, spell or blight or blessing. "It was claimed that
my French grandmother put a wish on the Lusbys (of Amherst)
because Mrs. Lusby did her a kind act. She wished she would walk
on gold and prosper, and she did. If she disliked you, however,
her black curses would be on you. Creighton, BM, p. 63. 2. It
was considered "improvident" to wish oneself elsewhere after
dark. Fraser, FON, p. 52.
The last is associated with the thought that the shadow man or
runner of the individual would be instantaneously moved to that
location. This was considered rash since any harm which came to
the apparition would transfer to the human. In one Antigonish, N.S.
home a "grown lad" named Malcolm was awakened by "a great
pressure on his chest". He was amazed to see the wraith of his
sister, Mary, kneeling upon him with an umbrella opened over her
head. She began pounding him on the chest and he only managed
to drive her off by using great force. When he wrote asking his
sister what she had been doing at that time, she replied she had
been walking a distant stree in Montreal in the pouring rain
protected by a umbrella. She was "very lonely in the big city, and
had wished with all her heart that she was with Malcolm." She had
a few bruises to show for the encounter, which might have been
avoided by saying, "I wish..., but not with a night's wish!" Fraser,
FONS, p. 53.

witch
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Witches obtained their craft by cursing
their parents, signing a blood contract with devil and reading
black art books. 2. Witches were addicted to borrowing, and
those who lent fell within the power of her spells. 3. Our colonial
witches were of either sex and could bewitch or "do down" cattle,
people and their possessions. 4. These individuals practiced
witchcraft, sometimes termed magic. 5. The witch was
incapable of passing over a broomstick before dark and could not
cross running water. 6. Witches "cant live unless they are
tormenting someone; they are still doing it (1947). Creighton, BM,
p. 21. 7. Those who set countercharms against the craft
expected three visits from the witch. In each instance she
attempted to borrow or extract a favour. If successful, her spell
or charm continued; if she failed, she was no longer able to have
power over the individual. 8. It was considered bad luck to talk
about witches. 9. Accepting any gift from a witch was bad luck.

The local description of the witch does not differ greatly from the
medieval characterization, viz: "Witches, sorcerers and
soceresses are people who deny God, and who renounce him and
his grace; who have made a league with the Devil; have given
themselves up to him body and soul; who attend his assemblies
and sabbaths; and are given poison powder; and as his subjects,
receive comands from him to injure and destroy men and animals;
who through devilish arts stir up storms, damage the corn,
meadows and the fields; and confound the powers of nature."
This is, of course, a particularly Christian point of view, and there
is strong suspicion that witchcraft was a decayed version of some
older faith, the rites preserved as folklore. An Italian equivalent
for witchcraft is "la vecchia" or "the old religion". "The truism that
the god of the old religion becomes the devil of the new was
particularly true of Christianity; since it admitted only one god all
the "spare" ones from the older faith had to become either saints
or devils. Thus the wood and tree spirits were metamorphosized
into devils - or fairies, which were akin to devils." Tindall, AHOW, p.
33. Incidentally, the term witch derived from the Anglo-Saxon
"wicce" (fem) and "wicca" (mas), and originally identified people
who lived on embayments of the ocean. It can be guessed that
the derogatory parts of their "craft" were first noted by their
Norman conquerors, who took England in the Conquest of 1066.

witch-bottle
Sympathetic Magic: A countercharm used against witches.
Consisted of a common bottle filled with a liquid (salt water, fresh
water, or urine from the victim). It was considered that any action
taken against the bottle would damage the witch. Thus, if it was
sunk in a deep ocean trench, she would drown; if the water was
boiled away she would become dehydrated; and if buried, she
would suffocate. Sometimes new pins and/or needles were placed
in the bottle to create a particularly virulent charm.

witch's egg
Sympathetic Magic: Name given to a small yolkless egg. Also
sometimes the sea-urchin or whore's egg.
witch-doctor's tree
Folk Medicine: A young ash tree wedges apart for the passage of
a sick child, bore the above name.

In remote mythology men and women are thought to have been

tree spirits given "souls", motion, senses, and "blood and blooming
complexions" by the elementals or elder gods of the north. The
man was thought to have arise from the ash tree, and the woman
from the elm. A little less remotely, ash trees were considered to
contain nature spirits, whose force could be tapped with good
result, as suggested above.

witch-hazel
Sympathetic Magic: Once considered a useful liquid for keeping
witches at bay.

witchmaster
Sympathetic Magic: An elder witch, who possessed sufficient
power to control other witches in the district. Ordinary citizens
applied to him for countercharms, provided upon payment in kind
or money.

wolf in the tail

Sympathetic Magic: This was the name given indigestion in cattle.
It was thought cured by splitting the cow's tail and filling it with
coarse salt and/or pepper and turpentine.

woman
Sympathetic Magic: 1. It was bad luck to have a woman aboard
ship. 2. It was good luck to have a woman aboard ship,
Creighton, BM, p. 123. 3. Women were unwelcome at the
christening of a boat. 4. Women were unwelcome in mines. 5.
Fish would not bite for boats carrying women.

As noted elsewhere, the first witches might be of either sex, but

in medieval times when witch-burning was in vogue, women were
found to be easier victims, and the witch is now inexactly defined
as, "a female practitioner of magic." In the not-too-distant past
men still excluded women from their company on the suspicion that
they might be witches.

woman in white
Magic Race: See white lady.

wood
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Wood shavings left on the deck of a ship
brought bad luck unless quickly brushed overboard. 2. To
protect themselves those who boasted were advised to knock
on wood if they wished to survive.

Sailors once put unusual faith in the power of the ship's

figurehead. In the great shipbuilding centres of Flanders, it was
the custom to plant guardian trees (see runner, shadow man) at
the birth of every child. The fate of such trees was considered
intimately entwined with their life and longevity. At death child-
souls were thought to enter and become resident in their tree.
These trees were especially sought for figureheads, since the
spirits, termed "klaubermannikins" took on the duty of ship's god-
spirit, warning against disaster, helping the sailors at their work,
and repelling forces of illness and witchcraft. In some parts of
Europe, peasants asked the pardon of resident tree spirits before
felloing it. Working with wood was seen as an indignity to the
tree, the shavings being disposed of before the tree spirit
became annoyed and antagonistic. Knocking three times on wood
is a means of contacting and propitiating tree spirits.

word
Sympathetic Magic: Individuals who vocalized the same word at
the same time were to link their little fingers while saying: "May
your wish and mine never break."
word, written
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Individuals who wished protection from the
fay, or any general evil, often had spells written on paper which
they carried pinned to an innner article of clothing. 2. A
traditional means of ending an infestation of rats was to write the
unwanted creatures a letter suggesting a better farm where they
might find residence. The paper was then greased to make it
edible and pushed into a rat-hole. Once digested, the animals
usually got the idea that they were not wanted.

Among those who cannot read and write, written language has
always appeared as no less than magically bound words
transferred to strange symbols, bound on paper. Uncritical
observation suggested that magicaians used spellers, or witch-
wands to unbind these words, releasing them to the air as spoken
words. "The alphabet in itself has a quality of mysticism and
power for the illiterate. They tend to treat the written word as if
it had some virtue per se; there are recorded instances, both in
past centuries and among simple people today, of a scrap of
paper with words on it being regarded as an amulet by someone
who is actually ignorant of what the words say." Tindall, AHOW, p.
119.

worm
Sympathetic Magic: To eliminate worms, angle worms were tied in
a bag at the waist or neck. As these animals died, it was believed
that the internal worms followed the example.

wreck
Sympathetic Magic: Those who built homes of wood salvaged from
the wreckage of ships were always troubled.

yarn
Sympathetic Magic: 1. Farmers who discovered their animals
wound about with yarn knew that they had been charmed and
would die. One countercharm was to place the animal on its
back and light a circle of fire about it. Creighton, BM, p. 42. 2. A
wool-ball ghost haunted a home in Nova Scotia: "My mother told
me...that a wooll ball came in the front door and ran along the
room." Creighton, BG, p. 165. 3. Far more eccentric was the
kitten seen near the "Ghost Place" at Eagle's Head, N.S. which
came "down out of the sky, not straight, but sideways", pursing a
ball of yarn. Creighton, BG, p. 165. Divination: 4. An individual
wishing to have a vision of a true love was advised to runa ball of
yarn down into a well on a darked night, whicle chanting: We'll
wind and bind our true love to find. The colour of hair, the clothes
he'll wear, on the day we wed." Afterwards there would an
appropriate dream.

To tie knots about, or encircle animals or objects with string,

thread or rope, was considered anti-social. Such acts of
homeopathic magic were considered equivalent of crossing the
air, an action intended to thwart the free-flow of natural spirits in
the neighbourhood. In the above case, the physical binding of the
animal was seen as symbolic of the psychic binding of its spirit.