Virginia

Entries

• #29

  To drink water out of a bucket which is being carried on a child’s head stops its growth.

  Virginia.
• #30

  To step over a young child stops its growing.

  Virginia.
• #37

  If you let a child look into a looking-glass before it is a year old, it will cut its teeth hard.

  Baltimore, Md. (negro), and Virginia.
• #551

  To dream of losing a tooth means losing a friend.

  Virginia.
• #646

  It is bad luck to spill salt unless it is burned.

  Virginia.
• #652

  Carrying ashes out of the house after sunset is bad luck.

  Virginia.
• #653

  It is ill luck to sweep dirt out of doors after sunset.

  Virginia.
• #657

  Returning to the house for something and starting again without sitting down is bad luck.

  Virginia.
• #1161

  Carrying through the house a hoe, spade, or axe indicates a death in the family.

  Virginia.
• #1169

  To see a “winding-sheet” in the candle has the same significance.

  Virginia.
• #1170

  Three lamps or candles burned close together mean death.

  Virginia.
• #1172

  If a coffin creaks in a carpenter’s shop, another order soon follows.

  Newark, N. J., and Virginia.
• #1175

  If a clock, long motionless, suddenly begins to tick or strike, it is a sign of approaching death or misfortune.

  Newark, N. J., Virginia, and North Carolina.
• #1181

  To knock on a door and receive no answer is a sign of death.

  Virginia and Englewood, Ill.
• #1187

  It is a sign of death to see a tree blossoming in the fall.

  Orange Co., Va.
• #1194

  If one goes to a funeral with the intention of following to the grave but does not do so, a death soon follows in his family.

  Virginia.
• #1211

  The hearing of three raps is a sign that some member of the family is dead.

  Boston, Mass., and Orange Co., Va.
• #1222

  If some one is sick and a storm comes, it is a sign he will die during its continuance.

  Virginia.
• #1227

  If you sneeze at table with the mouth full, an acquaintance will die soon.

  Virginia and Alabama.
• #1260

  It is bad luck to meet a corpse. One may follow it, but never meet it. A colored person will turn square about on seeing a funeral procession approaching.

  Talladega, Ala., and Virginia.
• #1264

  If a grave is left open over night without the corpse, another death in the family will soon follow.

  Virginia.