To The Things Your Mama
Taught You
The Old Wives Tales
Superstitions and Taboos
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Letting a black cat cross your path is one thing that gives many people a twinge of regret, if not outright fear. Many people will turn their car around and go blocks out of their way to avoid a black cat.
Black cats were creatures that changed shape and helped perform rituals and spells for the witch. If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it. Mothers should always keep cats away from babies because they "suck the breath" of the child.
Frogs, like toads, were once thought to have peculiar properties, and were frequently used in healing charms, and in others of a slightly less innocent nature. A well known country cure for thrush was to hold a live frog with its head in the patient's mouth. As it breathed, so it drew the disease away and into itself. Frogs were also used in love-magic. In one tale, a girl, whose lover was untrue stuck pins all over a living frog and then buried it. The young man suffered extreme pains and eventually returned to her. She dug up the frog and removed the pins, after which the pains ceased. The man, perhaps rather unwisely, married her.
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The ancient Greeks affiliated owls with the goddess of wisdom and learning, the owl was considered wise and kind. Now, hearing an owl hoot is associated with bad luck. To counter evil owl power put irons in your fire. Or throw salt, hot peppers or vinegar into the fire, the owl will get a sore tongue, hoot no more, and no one close to you will be in trouble. When you hear an owl, take off your clothes, turn them inside out and put them back on. You might not want to do this if you are in public. If a man eats roasted owl will be obedient and a slave to his wife.
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The bright scarlet ladybug is a luck-bringer, probably because it is traditionally associated by its color with fire. It is a sign of good fortune if one lands on a person's hand or dress. It must, however, be allowed to fly away of its own accord, and must not be brushed off. It is permissible to speed it onwards by a gentle puff, and by the recitation of the rhyme which runs, The deeper the ladybird's color, the better luck it brings. The number of spots on its back are also important. The more spots...the better the luck!
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Don't get up on the wrong side (left side) of the bed in the morning. People believed that anything left-handed was unnatural, so that getting out of bed on the left side had also to be considered unlucky.
When making the bed, don't interrupt your work, or you will spend a restless night in it -
Avoid sneezing, or the soul rushes out of the body and into the bed and again will bring poor sleep -
Never turn a mattress on a Sunday
If you make a bedspread, make sure to finish it or marriage will never come to you.
Never sweep anything out the door after dark.
If you drop a dish towel, you are sure to have company soon.
Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one.
Do not lean a broom against a bed. The evil spirits in the broom will cast a spell on the bed.
If you drop a broom, you will soon have company. It is best just to pick up the broom and clean up a bit, just in case that company drops in.
Did you know eating fish and drinking milk at the same time is almost sure death. Both of my grandmothers knew it and I'll bet your's did too.
Mirrors must be covered when a dead body is in the house.
I would not use any of these remedies myself or recomend them to anyone. As the doctor told my wife, "When are you people gonna learn that turpentine is only for thinning paint. They are only reproduced here to show how it was.
Make a syurp from Mullein leaves. Let leaves wilt and put in a pan with water. Let simmer 2 or 3 days. Strain liquid and add sugar to make a thick syurp. Take a teaspoon full every 4 hours.
Cider vinegar and honey mixed together is good for coughs.
Get Peppermint leaves and pour cold water over them in a glass. Drink the water.
Take wild Cherry tree bark and boil in water. Add a little sugar and take 2 teaspoons.
Take stalks of horehound and boil in water. Add a little sugar and take 2 teaspoons.
Chop onions and place on a cloth, Put the cloth on your chest.
A nickel's worth (1900 prices) of rock candy disolved in a pint of whisky.
1 teaspoon each of salt, sugar and soda in a glass of water makes a good gargle for a cold
Make a tea of boiled Sassafras root that was dug early in February. For you youngins, that's where root beer flavor came from.
Take molasses and sulfer to cleanse the blood.
A glass of warm water with a 1/2 teaspoon salt disolved in it should be drunk every morning makes a good tonic.
Put tobacco juice from the mouth on cuts
For sprains, soak 2 brown paper bags in vinegar and apply hot to the sprain.
Chew the bark of the Slippery Elm Tree for a sore throat.
Gargle with a teaspoon of vinegar in a glass of water every hour
Put 2 or 3 drops of turpentine on sugar and swallow slowly
Swab the sore throat with iodine.
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I. The Ol' Wives Tales
Reading In Dim Light
Do not read in dim light or you will ruin your eye sight.
The truth, reading in dim light will not harm your eyes any more then taking pictures in dim light will ruin your camera. Your eye muscles may get tired from straining to see in dim light.Poison Ivy Blisters
Do not touch a Poison Ivy blister or you will spread the blisters.
The truth, nothing in the blister can spread the poison. However, clothes, shoes and tools that touched the stems and leaves will have the oil or resin on them. The poison will remain at full dtrength until throughly washed off.Milk And Ulcers
Milk is good for people who have ulcers. Even newborns live on it.
The truth, the milk stimulates the production of stomach gastric acid, which irriates the ulcer even more.Dog's Nose
If a dog's nose is dry, he is sick.
The truth, If a dog's nose is dry, it indicates he has been asleep or resting. It has nothing to do with his health.A Newborn's Smile
When a newborn smiles it's just gas.
The truth, Gas in a newborn is much more likely to produce a grimace or crying. A smile normally indicates contentment.Coffee Sobers You Up
Drinking black coffee will sober a drunk person.
The truth, coffee will keep you awake and the caffeine may help relieve a hangover, it does not change the alcohol content of the body.Tonsils and Adenoids
The Tonsils and Adenoids need to come out while you are young.
The truth, These two organs filter germs from the throat. When bacteria and viruses infect these filters, it is called tonsillitis. These filters have special cells that produce antibodies to combat the bacteria and viruses. (When I was a kid the doctor said mine had to come out. I am 71 now and still have them with no problems.)II. Superstitions
ANIMALS
CATS
FROGS
Warts could also be cured by rubbing a frog across them.
The dried body of a frog worn in a silk bag around the neck averted epilepsy and other fits.OWLS
LADYBUGS
Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home.
Your house is on fire and your children are gone.THINGS IN THE HOUSE
BEDS
BROOMS
You will sweep your luck outside. THINGS OUTSIDE THE HOUSE
III. Taboos
According to doctors at least one of them would have to be so spoiled that the smell alone would make you sick.
Otherwise the mirror will turn blackIV. The Home Remedies
Please Read This First
COUGHS
COLDS
SPRING TONICS - THINNING THE BLOOD
CUTS, BRUISES AND SPRAINS
SORE THROAT
MISCELLANIOUS
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