doorSympathetic Magic: To enter by one door and leave by anotherinvited strangers and bad luck.

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

doppelgangerMagic Race: German equivalent of the revanter or fetch: "...aperson's own ghost." Fowke, CF, p. 95.

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

Two heads were, traditionally better than one and any twinedobject was considered to have magical powers. Twined peoplewere were once thought to be capable of obtaining theirinnermost desires and to be controllers of the weather. Cursesand blessings which were pronounced twice were considered invalid, the second cancelling the power of the first. Thus, to swear"by the cross of Christ" was a solemn promise; but, "by the twocrosses", although vehement, indicated a hoax

drawingSympathetic Magic: 1. Silver bullets made from coin shavingswere fired against drawings of witches in the belief that any injurydone 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 aninjured hip because that was where they shot the image." Creighton, BM, p. 40.

In earlier days, god-spirits were periodically loaded down with theills of the community and put to death. These were, typicallyrepresented by humans or animals. When a "divine" animal wasslain the skin was often cured and kept, for various supertitiousrites. The skin was, in fact, considered not just a token ormemorial of the god, but a container for his spirit. Thisrepresentative of the god was sometimes dollied up andstretched upon a framework to make it more lifelike, or enscribedwith 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 annualrites were practiced without any loss of life. If a god could havehis spirit captured in a drawing on parchament, it followed that thespirit of any human might be bound to paper by a skilled magician. When the camera first came to the highlands of Scotland, it wasregarded as an infernal device capable of capturing the externalsoul of a Scot. Any drawing or photograph was considereddangerous since damage done to it would probably transfer to theperson represented. The use of silver to damage a witch istraditional.

dreagSympathetic Magic: A star-like object seen low in the sky, trailinga comet-like tail. Said to have presaged the death of importantindividuals. The length of the tail was thought to in proportion tothe funeral cortege.

The Anglo-Norman "dragon" appears related. The word derivesfrom the Latin "draco", "to look upon with fear". It refers, ofcourse, to a mythical, winged, fire-breathing monster, but it hassecondary meanings, and particularly: "A luminous exhilation frommarshy 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 onBritish soil certainly presaged difficulties, and the longer the tail ofthe dragon ship, the greater the hazard for "important" people.

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

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

Those low on the social scale, fairies, demons, witches andpeasants, frequently wore furs rather than clothing made of cloth. These were frequently turned, so that the fur faced the body andprovided an extra degree of warmth. "Humans" sometimesdeliberately turned their coats to escape the notice of these "evil"creatures. The turned coats were always turned up at the wristsand the about the legs. A "lady" who suffered the unintentionalindignity of having a turned hem, knew she might be mistaken forone of the lower classes, or that she had been marked for theattention of evil-doers. Spitting was a method of affirming an oathand in an earlier day it may be guessed that the person, who feltherself at hazard, accompanied this act with a counter-spell.

droch-chromhalaichenSympatheric Magic: Gaelic equivalent of the English Jonah or aMarked Man or Woman. An individual subject to witchcraft ordevilish possession as a child, followed in adulthood by extremebad 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 suggestedthat nice things were being said about the individual. 2. In theday-time, the ringing sensation in the right ear implied good news,but in the left, that someone was saying destructive things. 3. Anitchy left ear indicated bad rumours were being passed about theperson. If the right ear had an itch something good was beingsaid.

The human forerunner, or home shadow, had chores somewhatakin to the ravens of Odin, who flew forth into the world toobserve and spy out the doings of men. It was believed that eachperson was born with an internal and an external soul, the latterhoused in the fylgie, or home shadow. Gifted individuals could seeand hear things which transpired at a distance through the eyesand ears of their shadow, but most folk received distortedmessages, blurred visions of the past, present, or future, or amere ringing in the ears. Left-handed happenings, whether atthe dance or elsewhere, were always considered of evil omen, andapparently represented an attempt at short-hand on the part ofthe shadow-man.

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

Earrings of earlier times were usuallly in the form of a ring, a primesymbol of the fairy and the witch kind.

east

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

EasterSympathetic Magic: 1. At Blanford, N.S. they placed caps linmedwith spruce boughs hoping to get eggs from the Easter Bunny. Sometimes a cabbage leaf or carrot was left in the hat for theBunny 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 eggswith especially strong shells, the game beginning on Good Fridayand continuing through the Easter week-end. Participants walkedabout the community carrying a basket with a dozen eggs, andwhen they met, one would say: "How are you for a tip?" Thestrength of eggs would then be tested by banging them againstone another at the pointed ends, cracked eggs going to thesuccessful tipper. The eggs were decorated with tissue paperand dyed yellow with an onion skin wash, in distinctive patterns sothat they could be traced to the owner. This was necessary sincethere were cases of people who pierced their eggs, blew thecontents, and filled the interior with resin. Fist fights sometimesbroke out over the fairness of an egg, the day ending with"eggshells everywhere", the possessor of the largest numberbeing termed the "King Tipper." Creighton, FOLC, p. 62. 3. It wasclaimed that the sun danced at the horizon at dawn on Eastermorning. Creighton, BM, p. 131. Also noted in Acadia, see Daigle,TAOTM, p. 494. 3. "My husband walked three miles beforesunrise Easter Sunday to get dogwood to make crosses to putover the door." Creighton, BM. p. 38. "Put dogwood in two piecesand drive together with new pins like a cross and put it aboveevery door and window in the house before daybreak on Eastermorning. This will keep the witches out. 4. "In Kent County, NewBrunswick, it was the custom to go about at midnight in smallgroups to the homes of those already in bed and sing, to the tuneof the Latin hymn "O fili et filiae":

Awake, ye who sleepOur Lord is risen.In Galilee you will find him,Alleluyia!

The people of the house, who were not always thrilled bythis late night visit, were expected to get up, invite theunwelcome 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 drawnbackhand from a stream or river. "This water would not spoil andwas considered medicinal." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 494. See also egg.

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

Eastern BigfootMagic Race:

eggSympathetic Magic: 1. A abnormally small hen's egg was thoughtto be an unlucky omen, which could be countered by throwing theoffending 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 mosthyperactive rooster was identified and buried alive. 3. An eggwas sometimes rocked in a shoe in an attempt to cause danger toa ship at sea. 4. The presence of an egg in a hole in the groundindicated treasure. Creighton, BG, p. 209. 5. It was unlucky tobring an egg into the house after dark. 6. It is unlucky to use theword egg aboard ship. 5. Eggs blessed at Easter warded offillness and witchcraft. 6. Hens did not lay during the winter. Eggslaid before Easter were considered to have medicinal properties ifkept and eaten on the morning of that holiday.

In ancient times, when might made right, "big" was equated withpower and "little" with weakness. An abnormally large double-yolked egg therefore was considered a good omen, and ayolkless egg, a bad signal from the god-spirits. The routefollowed by an egg thrown over a roof was that of a partial-circleor horseshoe, which see. Live burial of a bewitched animal usedto be common where the afflicted creature was not too large toobject. The reasoning was that the most "high-spirited" animalwas the focus of witchcraft, containing some witch-spirit inaddition to that usual to it. Death was seen to be a "god-spirit"ritual which took the unwanted evil "to earth". The identify of thegod-spirit Egg or "Ygg" is unquestionably Odin, and much of theabove can be interpreted with this in mind. "Yggdrasil", or Odin'stree was described as the foundation of the universe, and hisname has travelled as far west as the Scottish island called Eigg. Elsewhere, we have theorized that the word "pig" can be tracedto a similar beginning, and it is noteworthy that it was alsoverbotten aboard ships at sea

Egg Day

In southern New Brunswick, the first school day following Easterwas designated as Egg Day. Children were given small paper bagsand asked to bring an egg from home. These were contributed tothe Protestant Orphan's Home at Saint John.

Eggs have traditionally represented the resurrection of natureafter the "death" of winter. See Easter.

elderSympathetic Magic: See alder.

elf bolt or elf arrowWonder Work: Stones were sometimes lobbed at farmhouses, orbullets fired at them by unseen marksmen. In a few cases fireybrands were hurled. People hit by these magic missilessometimes suffered "elf-stroke", a disease shortened to "stroke"and now technically termed "cerebral thrombosis", or a bloood-clotin the brain. Those hit in the limbs developed a stiffening, latertermed poliomyelitus, and now credited to other vectors. It wassaid that the wound itself was impercepitible to the common eye,although discernable and treatable by "gifted" persons. The elfarrows which were triangular bits of flint were seen scatteredacross Britain, being most plentiful in Scotland. Although these arenow credited as the work of aboriginal peoples, it was oncecommonly thought that they were the work of the fairies. In anearly Anglo-Saxon poem they are described as "ylpa zercot" (elfarrows) at one point and as the "aera zercot" (god arrows) inanother, reinforcing the idea that the little people weredemoted gods.

elfboreWonder Work: Occasionally the wood in a fence, wall, or closethad a large hole in it where a knot had dried an dropped out. Anelfbore was a bore hole where objects pressed in had the

disconcerting habit of popping out again. In Britain this sport usedto be called "laking with Boggart." The elfbore is also known inDenmark, where folk used to say that those who peered into onemight see things not necessarily to their advantage.

enchant

Eoghann a' Chinn BhigMagic Race: The Gaelic Ian of the "little head". "A few InvernessCounty (Cape Breton) informants claimed in 1978 to have seenEoghann riding by on his horse." Shaw, editor, TUD, introduction,xxxv. A surprisingly widespread legend relates to an thisancestor of the Maclaines of Lochbuie and Cape Breton. Ewan ofthe Little Head was relieved of it in a battle against his own father,Ian the Toothless. He afterwards appeared as a wraith topresage the death of Maclaines of Lochbuie. Dr. Flora Macdonaldof Salen, who was well versed in the folklore of the Island of Mullfrom which this clan came, said that the headless rider was seen inScotland in 1909 when Murdoch Maclaine fell ill and was attendedby her late husband, the doctor on the island. Arriving at thedoor of Lochbuie House, he was met by a black dog which heassumed belonged to some resident. "After attending to the oldchief, who was obviously very ill, he joined the family for a mealand mentioned the dog...On hearing this one of the Maclaines toldhim of the old family legend...and announced that this was a suresign that the old man would be dead before morning. Sureenough, in the early hours of the morning Lochbuie passed away." At about this same time, an elderly Cape Bretoner belonging tothis same clan lay near death. His attention seem fixed on the wallof the bedroom and one of those in attendance asked what hethought he was doing. "Waiting," explained the Maclaine, "justwaiting". At dusk, one of the circle who was closest the windowthought he heard the sound of a poorly shod horse approachingon the road. Sensing a presence beyond the window he turnedjust in time to catch a glimpse of a headless man. As the wraithpassed from view his gaze came back to the bed, and in that brief

time, the man who was ill had died. Interestingly, the horse usedby Ewan had partially thrown a shoe as a result of that ancientbattle, and wherever the ghost horse has been heard, its sound isbased on an irregular gait.

evil eyeSympathetic 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 atyour pig and it would be sick the next day." Creighton, BM, p. 54. A man at Lunenburg noted "an old fellow sitting on his stepslooking at me through his fingers. When I got to his house thehorse stopped short and I couldn't get the animal beyond thatgate...He didn't want me, a stranger, to take gravel from thebeach." Creighton, BM, p. 56.

One medieval authority suggested that "witches have two eyes intheir one eye, while Illyrian witches have the sme peculiarity inboth eyes. They mortally enchanted those who looked at them,and killed those who gazed at them for a long time...One Spaniardhad such an evil eye that he caused the windows to break bystaring at them..." De Plancey, DOW, p. 59.

There are much earlier accounts of beings who possessed the evileye, in particular the Fomorian sea-giants who invaded Ireland andScotland from an undersea kingdown in the western Atlantic. TheirCeltic enemies described them as cannibals, shape-changers, whomight appear in human disguise or as a being equal in height to thetallest tree in the forest. They frequently appeared to haveanimal heads and human bodies, but their "normal" configurationfavoured a single uncanny eye centred in the forehead. One ofthe last of these was Balor of the Piercing Eye: "His eye was neveropened but on the battlefield, when four men thrust a polishedhandle through the lid to lift it. Then men died by the thousandfrom the venomous fumes that emanated from it." Balor waschallenged by the land-hero, Lugh, who fired a shot at him carrying

the eye completely out through the back of his skull. circa 3500B.C. Katherine Scherman, TFOI, p. 56.

eyeSympathetic Magic: 1. Sties in the eye were removed by "eloasnan Sul" (the charm for eyes). This had to be recited by threepeople having the same first names. Dunn, HS, p. 43. 2. Anquivering left eye was bad luck; but a right eye an omen of goodfortune.

Itches, quivers,and jerks of the human body were consideredsympathetic reactions of the forerunner as he observed thefuture. An evil sight was relayed back from the future to the lefteye, a good view to the right.

eyebrowsSympathetic Magic: Individuals whose eyebrows met wouldbecome wealthy.

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

fairies Sympathetic Magic: "Mr. Rory Mackinnon, of Sugar Loaf, said thatthere 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 inthe same breath almost as though the two were connected in hismind." Creighton, BM, p. 61.

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

fairy goldSympathetic Magic: The traditional name for hidden lodes, forexample the lost gold of Kejimkujik (Micmac: choked gut, a lakehaving a constriction due to fish weirs), N.S. Jim Charles of thelocal Micmac band found "wisosooleawa" (brown silver) somewherein the vicinty of "Kej" during the 1870s. When a man namedHamilton confronted Jim demanding a share of the gold, heresponded by hitting him with the butt of a gun thus killing him. Afraid he would be convicted of murder, he fled up the ShelburneRiver to Two Fan Lake but continued to mine the fairy gold. Hewas acquitted of the murder charge but the interest of white goldseekers made it impossible for him utilize his mine. In 1881 hewent into partnership with David Lewis and a gold mining mill wasestablished on Buckshot Lake, the source of the Shelburne River. After a brief prosperity, Charles experienced very bad luck anddied a rheumatic cripple in 1905. In spite of the facts manywoodsmen contended that the mother lode was never revealledand that the woods were haunted by Jim's ghost. Raddall,

FOOF,p. 197.

Fairy Hole

Fairy LakeMagical Place: "...at Mother Cary's Orchard Indian BuryingGrounds...the Micmacs told the first white settlers fearsomestories of pixies (the mikumwess) and mysterious beings thatruled the region, so it was named Fairy Lake." Bird, OTINS, p. 107.

Fairie Queene

fallSympathetic Magic: 1. To have a hatch-cover fall into the hold of aship was bad luck. 2. To stumble while crossing a neighboursthreshold was considered bad luck. This could be countered bysnapping the fingers three times or by rotating three timesclockwise saying: "Three turns about, bad luck to rout."

The downward passage of the cover was seen as a presage ofthe ship falling into the "hold" of the sea. Falling on the thresholdwas, in medieval times, taken as evidence that the person was awitch. The "sunwise" turns were therefore necessary, sincewitches were unable to make this "Christian" manoeuvre.

familiarWonder Work: 1. Witches injured in their familiar form whiletravelling at night, would show a similar defect when they returnedto the human form by day. The injury would not become apparentuntil day-break and would appear due to a natural agency. 2. Witches who failed to return home by sun-up were often seenmaking travelling the last few miles in their night clothes. 3. In thefamiliar 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 andan external spirit. The first was housed in human form but thelatter often took the form of the family's totem animal. Ordinaryfolk were unaware of this runner but those with the two sightsand practiced witches were always aware of them, and in the caseof the later, they sometimes took material form. Gillian Tindallthought that small animal familiars were a "peculiarly Britishphenomena", which was not unnatural to them since "the British aredotty about animals." Favoured animals were the cat, the dog, thecrow, the frog, and the horse, although some harboured ferrets,hedgehogs and snakes. The term "familiar" still connotates anabnormally close relationship, and it has been suggested thatthere was "a symbiosis between the witch and her animal whichwas often pushed to unhealthy lengths." The Christians promotedthis view, adding that the familiar was a gift from the Devil, andnoting 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 asopposed to earlier "innocently pagan" supporters of the craft. Itwas generally assumed that the witch could transfer her internalsoul to her counterpart during the night hours, but at any time,the health of witch and familiar were intertwined, any damage toone reflecting ultimately on the other. In the medieval period nodistinction was made between the bee and the fly. In that sametime, the word "wit" or "witch" was understood as the equivalentof "white" and a white bee or fly was quite literally a witch-bee ora witch-fly.

far sightWonder Work: The observation of distant land masses in a clearatmosphere pointed to storm. See calm.

Father, Son and Holy GhostBlessing: According to local tradition, the three most potentwords of the Christian God spells. Like most of the elements ofChristian ritual it has frequently been subverted as a curse, eg:

"Father, Son and Holy Ghost; nail the Devil to this post..."

fear deargAmong the Abenaki the reddening of the sky under meteoricpassage was considered prophetic of war. This view was sharedby the Acadians. See Ruben Gold Thwaites, TJR, p. 5-55.

featherSympathetic Magic: 1. It was said that people were innatelyincapable of dying when placed on a feather tick, which includedthe feathers of wild birds. 2. To lie on a feather bed promotedrheumatism and asthma. 3. The identity of the witch used to bedetermined by dipping black feathers in a volitile solution andnaming them for suspected persons. Each was fired and thatwhich would not burn spotted the witch. 4. Theatre peopleconsided peacock feathers an ill omen.

fetchSympathetic Magic: See gopher or runner. This is NewfoundlandIrish usage according to Mackenzie, TIICBI, p. 60.

fern sporesSympathetic Magic: 1.Individuals who consumed fern sporesbecame invisible. 2. Fern plants touched by undesirablecharacters withered and died.

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

fiddleSympathetic Magic: "...elders of the Presbyterian church hadsolemnly smashed fiddles and burnt the pipes of those carnallyminded 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 fiddlerefused to remain in tune bad weather lay ahead.

fiftyNumerology: A man who survived a serious disease at the age offifty would live to advanced age.

fireSympathetic Magic: 1. To have a fire fail to light meant that a bestfriend was speaking evil of the individual. In the case of a marriedwoman the person in a bad humour was the husband. Creighton,BM, p. 151. 2. An individual had to know a person for sevenyears before "poking up" his fire. 3. Salt directed against achimney fire would extinguish it. 4. As a countercharm, nine newpins and three new needles used to be placed in brownwrapping paper, and this used to wrap the heart of an animal killedby witchcraft. After the heart was burned, the power of thewitch was broken provided the victim refused her three favours.5. As a countercharm the end of the tail of a bewitched animalwas thrown in fire. An instance is mentioned where "an old man(an experienced witch) was taken cripple from that day, althoughhe could never tell what crippled him. 6. A snake-skin kept in ahouse protercted it against fire. Those found in the spring weremore potent than those found during the fall. 7. If a fire was seento draw badly, the Devil was thought to be nearby. As acountercharm the poker was often placed so as to form a crosswith the grate. 8. If a fire burned more brightly after poking itwas said that an absent relative was in good spirits. 9. A hotcinder which popped from the fire indicated a guest might beexpected. 10. A boquet of dried seaweed placed on the mantleprotected against house fire. 11. If a fire lit on New Year's mornwas allowed to go out during that day bad luck was to beexpected throughout the year. 12. A Seabright, N.S., fishermanonce sighted a vessel on the Gaspe coast. He was about to

speak it when he reconsidered. Consulting with others helearned that, "It was a good thing we didn't speak it, for thatwould have been the end of us. You see, if we had spoken it, notrealizing she was a ghost ship, that would have been our doom." Others saw this pass as "a ball of fire" and interpreted this as "nofriendly gesture."

There is strong evidence that fire-festivals, involving the kindlingof "new fire", round dancing, ritual sex, and ritual or real sacrificeswere customary in Europe before the Middle Ages. Sir JamesFraser sees the strongest case for these fires in "the attemptsmade by Christian synods in the eighth century to put them downas heathenish rites." The seasons of the fires were usually springand mid-summer; but in some places, they were a tradition at theend of fall or at mid-winter. There is no question that effiges wereburned in these fires, or at the very least, a pretense was madeof burning a living person. These a grounds for suspicion thatsomething more sinister once occurred. Our superstitions have tobe examined with this in mind. In parts of Britain, the lighting ofthe fire was a sub-ritual demanding the attention of twins, peoplewith the same names, or collections of three or nine crime-freeindividuals. If there was a blemish in any one of these the firewould not light and the whole community considered itself liable toa full year of hardship and evil. The Atlantic Canadian version ofthe dangers implicit in a failed fire is much less pointed. InScotland, an probably elsewhere, the hearth was considered to befull of omens. In the highlands, Briid's Day is celebrated on theeve of the first day of February. All of the family participate indressing a sheaf of oats in woman's apparel. This is placed in alarge basket and a wooden club laid beside it. Just before bed,the people of the house shout three times to the darkness: "Briidis come, Briid is welcome." When they rise in the morning they goimmediately to "look among the ashes, expecting to see theimpression of Briid's club there; which if they do they reckon it atrue presage of a good crop and a prosperous, and the contrarythey take as an ill omen." They, of course, resented strangers

interfering with their ashes and possibly misrepresenting theirfuture. When men were burned and reduced to ash, theseremains were seen as the reproductive "seeds" of theirreincarnation, scattered on the fields and fed to cattle to imbuethe crops with the spirit of those who had "passed on" or "over"rather than "died" in the classic Christian pattern. Some of thisstill-burning ash was taken home to the hearth to relight all of theparish fires, hence fire and ash once had ritual importance andstrangers could not be certain what they were about when theyraked up a fire. In addition, fire has always been regarded ashaving a purifactory function. The old bone-fires were guessedto protect the field against lightning strikes in the area where lighthappened to fall. Since hail was associated with thunder andlightning, which was thought caused by witches, it may bepresumed that, "the great evil against which fire was directedappears to have been withcraft." Fraser said: "Forermost amongeveils we may reckon the diseases od cattle; and of all the ills thatwitches were believed to work, there was probably none moreconstantly insisted on that harm they did to herds. It iossignificant that the need-fire...was kindled above all as a remedyfor a "murrain" or other disease of cattle (suggesting that) thecustom of kindling fire goes back tpo a time when the Europeanpeoples subsisted chiefly on the products of their herds...Further,brands were taken from the bonfire and commonly kept in thehouse to guard against conflagration; and though this may perhapshave been done on the principle of homeopathic magic, one firebeing thought to act as a preventive against another, it is alsopossible that the intention may have been to keep witch-incendiaries at bay. Again, people lept over the midsummer firesor circumambulated them as a preventive for colic, and looked atthe flames steadily (as aremedy for) sore eyes. (Such) was alsothought to prevent a person from feeling pains in the back atreaping;... 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 willo' the wisp. "The northern nations believed that the tombs oftheir heroes emitted a kind of lambent flame, which was alwaysvisible 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 moreparticularly to surround such tombs as contained hiddentreasures. Keightley, TFM, footnote, p. 73.

fire, spontaneousWonder Work: The work of the knocky boh was infrequentlyaccompanied by outbreaks of fires and in some instances fierybrands were supposed to have been hurled from unseen hands atfarm-houses. The best chronicled was at Caledonia Mills. SeeSherwood, MM, p. 107. fishSympathetic Magic: Fish was "brain food". Divination: To view afuture loved one eat salted herring before going to bed. In adream, the future wife (or husband) would appear offering water.

Fish were never of great appeal as the familiars of witches, beingconsidered "a symbol of chastity". In addition, they lacked a"companionable personality". As these animals were notrepresented as having a great interest in sex it was presumedthat they were cerebral. Among the Ottawa Indians it wascommon to lecture the fish, "imploring them to come and becaught, and to be of good courage and fear nothing, for it was allto serve their friends who houred them and did not burn theirbones." Since fish were considered very intelligent creatureseating them sympathetically passed this understanding to theeaters.

flannelSympathetic Magic: 1.Red flannel was considered useful inconstructing countercharms. Typically, urine was drawn from the

victim of witchcraft and nine new pins and nine new needlesinserted in the flannel, with "words" said at each placement. Thecloth was placed in the urine in an iron pot and boiled. Thisinvariably called the witch whose power was terminated if thethree traditional requests she made were turned down.

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

flyingWonder Work: It was generally acknowledged that all of the fayfolk could fly. Thus: 1. A farmer "got up one morning real earlyand went quietly out to the barn and there was an old womanmilking the cow, and she flew out the window, and it was hisneighbour, a little woman blamed all over the country as a witch." Creighton, BM, p. 64. 2. That afternoon it rained, and it waswinter. I travelled back in moonlight and at Northfield there was achurch. As I got opposite it a figure came out of it and was abouta foot off the ground. He had a gown and a topknot and therewasn't much wind and still the gown was blowing and he came rightout on the road. There was ice between men and this man...hetripped me and my head struck the ice. I got up and he walkedwith 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 heliumballoons, or mechanical appartati, was ascribed to druids, whowere enemies of the baobh, or witch, as well as to gods, god-spirits, elves, the sidh and fairies. This peculiartity extended tothe Norse Valkyrie and the Christian angels. Few witches claimedmastery 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) adivining rod, or a simple broomstick. Clearly, some of this wasmetaphorical rather than real flight. The Scottish witch, IsobelGowdie, admitted to ownership of a little horse, over which shecast the spell of, "Horse and Hattock, in the Devillis name!" Afterthat, he "flew away" as "straws upon the highway!" Fairies and theIndian mikumwess shared this ability of instantaneous transport,although they (originally) lacked wings. "Witch-flight" wasinvariably tied to the ritual application of "flying ointment", whoseactive ingredients are well known: viz. deadly nightshade(belladonna); "persil", or poison hemlock and aconite. The firsttwo are deadly poisons, but in small quantity, gained by inhalationor permeation, they produce no more than excitement anddelirium. "It is easy to see, therefore . that these ointments mightwell have produced the "sensation" of flying in those who usedthem." It was always stated that the flying ointment was put intouse by rubbing it on the skin, but medical men argued this was aninefficient way of getting the drugs into the blood circulatorysystem. A.J. Clark has, however, pointed out that, in pastcenturies, people were vermin-ridden, and had many skinpunctures, which gave direct access to these drugs. In the firstcase of witchcraft prosecuted in England (1324) Dame AliceKyteler's closet turned up evidence in the form of a "Pipe ofoyntment, wherewith she greased a staffe, upon which she ambledand galloped through thick and thin..." This does not seem tosuggest physical flight, but a hobby-horse style of locomtion. Some have suggested that the magic staff of the witch wasactually used as a vaulting pole.

fog1. A summer fog for fair, a winter fog for rain. A fact mosteverywhere in valley or on plain. 2. When the fog goes up, therain is o'er. When the fog comes down, twill rain some more. 3. Evening fogs will not burn soon. Morning fogs will burn off bynoon. 4. Fog that starts before the night. Will last beyond themorning light. Phillips, FAF, p. 78.

footSympathetic Magic: A person with an itchy foot might expect totravel. 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 shadowman, who is already embrarked on future travel.

footprintSympathetic Magic: 1. A witch could be prevented from"wandering" if a steel knife or some other sharp iron object wasdriven into his or her footprint. 2. A lover might be bewitched byplanting a sunflower seed in earth gathered from a footprint. Asthe plant grew and matures so would the feelings of the lovedone,

forerunnerMagic Race: 1."My husband was in his bunk ready to go to seawhen first thing a bundle of papers came flying across the roomand hit him...he turned over and there was a blaze of fire the sizeof a man in the centre of the floor. A voice said, "Don't go in thisship or you'll be lost. If you don't go you'll live to be an old manand die at home," so the next day he packed up and left theship...the ship sailed and was never heard of again." CaptainGodfrey'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 wasbright. There was alittle outbuilding nearby with a window in it,and she said to my mother, "There's a woman looking out thatwindow. It's myself, and I have a baby in my arms." Mother wentto the window and looked, and she could see it too... fifteen yearslater when she died (Aunt Maime) had a baby in her arms."

In legend apparitions of the living were called runners, homeshadows or the fylgiar. Each individual born into the world was

thought accompanied by a external spirit, who was an invisiblecounterpart. If this runner travelled into the future he was calleda forerunner. To actually encounter the forerunner face-to-facewas an omen of death.

foresightSympathetic Magic: An ability to see visions of the futuresuperimposed on the present. Often foresight involved observingfunerals or accidents destined to take place. Those whopossessed this gift found the transitory experience exhausting. As a rule these phantoms of the future were taken as warnings ofdanger for the individual or his immediate kin. Those who hadforesight were often described as "double-sighted". "There was awoman in Mira who could see a funeral ahead of time, evensometimes before the person had taken sick, and she would knowwhose funeral it was. When it happened she would be walkingalong the road and would be pushed aside by the crowd followingthe hearse..." Creighton, BG, p. 70.

This ability used to be explained in terms of the invisible humancounterpart which the Anglo-Saxons called the runner or shadowman. Each human was though born with one of these protectors,who carried his external soul. Those who were gifted werethought capable of projecting their internal soul into this familiar. As a forerunner the shadow man might travel into and observethe future. It was the soul alone that travelled but eventsobserved through the eyes of the runner were also seen by thehuman counterpart. This activity required an expenditure ofenergy leaving the double-sighted in need of rest.

found objectSympathetic Magic: 1. It was bad luck to fail to pick up moneyfound on the street. 2. "Find a pin and pick it up and all the dayyou'll have good luck!" 3. To give away any found object was togive away personal luck.

To lose an object was obvious bad luck, thus the converse wastaken as a good omen, a gift from the gods. Naturally, one shouldnot refuse such gifts, nor give them away. Coins found on the waywere 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 fireSympathetic Magic: Same as will o' the wisp or gopher, whichsee.

FridaySympathetic Magic: 1. Work commenced on Friday was nevercompleted unless it could be finished before the day was out. 2. Boats were never launched on a Friday. 3. It was bad luck to sailon 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 tobegin work on Friday. 7. Woods-workers would not begin workon Friday. 8. It was inadvisible to cut hair or nails on Friday. 9.Friday the thirteenth of any month was unlucky except for thosepossessing it as their birth-date. 10. Those troubled by witcheswere advised to "take certain words from the Bible, go to thedoor on Good Friday, and make a wish. Say certain words andwhoever is the witch will come at daylight and die by your door." 11. If the weather was bad throughout theweek it would clear on Friday. Friday's weather was said to be the"fairest" or the "foulest" in the week. 12. The pattern of weatherseen in the last Friday of the month was considered indicative ofthat expected in the coming month. 13. A woodsman hired onFriday 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 Niordand Skadi, the patroness of beauty and love. According to myth,she was a sea-woman, born in Vanaheim, on the southern coast ofSweden. For this reason, she was sometimes known as Vanadis orVanabride. Some consider this female deity an invention of thescalds (poets) corresponding to "her brother" Freyr or Frey. "Shedid not long remain a mere poetic abstraction, but wasworshipped 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 martialtaste, leading the female Valkyrs down from the heavens to thebattlefields of the north. From that place, she had the right totransport half of the spirits of the heroic dead to Folkvang, therest being claimed by Odin and his land of Valhalla.

Freya has been described as "the most beloved of all thegoddesses". but this was only true in the Teutonic north. Whilethe Norsemen and the Anglo-Saxons respected her, the Celts hadno wish to meet her or any of her kind. Adherents of Freyanaturally considered Friday an auspicious time to start anyenterprise, including launching their longboats against GreatBritain. British seamen knew better than to try to put to sea onthis day since the "black crow" symbol was more often seen atthat time. From their point of view, it was fairly certain that anyjob started on Friday would end badly, if at all.

fright

Sympathetic Magic: 1. Fright caused the child of a pregnantwoman to develop a birthmark. The shape of the mark resembledthe form of the fear-producing agent, e.g. "A snake scare willcause a snake-shaped birthmark." Creighton, FOLC, p. 16. Seealso, pregnancy. 2. People who created fear were in danger ofbeing frightened. Creighton, FOLC, p. 23.

Fearful results were always expected to accompany fear. Theidea that fear-generators could expect fear was implicit in thepagan idea that the world was full of checks and balances, thatthose who gained in one incarnation were destined to be putdown in the next.

fulling

Sympathetic Magic: The cloth-making process was onceconsidered 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 wovencloth. The business of manufacturing cloth was called weaving,and this was followed by fulling, the cleansing, shrinking andthickening of cloth through the application of water, heat andpressure. In local Gaelic communities the rites of fulling were asfollows: 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 theFather." The next eldest made his turn, "in honour of the Son", andthe third for the "Spioraid" or "Holy Spirit". The three then recited:"Each sunwise turn is in the service of the Trinity; each rotation ofthe cloth for the sake of the Trinity; each turn in the service ofthe Trinity". Following that, the ordinary business of making up thecloth was accomplished by teams of ordinary folk.

In ancient communities, long-lived individuals were considered toharbour more than the usual amount of god-given spirit, and beingcloser God, or the gods, were chosen for important rites such asthe fulling ceremony. The above ceremony is esentially paganexpect that the "rounds" are made with rather than against thesun and Christian deities have replaced one of several oldertrinities.

frog, toad

Amulet: 1. Frogs and toads are biologically indistinguishable, butwitches preferred species with a lumpy skin surface, keeping themas familiars and for their spittal, which was often called for incasting spells. The fact that the magic of the witch was exactlythat of the common man, except that she was a specialist, isshown in the fact that some ordinary people used it to ward offevil and bring good luck. There are bones within the skeleton ofthis animal, "one shaped like a fork, the other like a spoon". To beuseful as an amulet, these bones had to be extracted from theanimal without killing it and hung from a gold or silver chain at theneck. While construction of this charm might seem impossible, thefrog had only to be placed in a shoebox and buried it in an ant-hillso that it expired at the hands of others. After decay, it was dugup and the bones taken. It was advised that those indirectlyresponsible for the death should avoid standing by to hear thedeath 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. Inother times the frogs association with water earned it areputation as a custodian of rain, and since rain was generallydesirable, as a spirit of good luck. There was (and may still be) afruitful branch of imitative magic which supposed that potentcharms might be made from the bones of dead animals. The ideawas that dead bones cannot see, hear or speak, and thatblindness, deafness, or dumbness might be projected at othersfrom such an amulet. Since even a frog contained some of theessence of the god-spirit, this was to be feared and could only bebound into a useful charm it the nature-spirit entrapped in thebones was satisfied that the wearer was not responsible for hisdeath. Folk Medicine: 3. At Kingsburg, N.S. a girl who sufferedfrom goitre was treated with three live frogs wrapped in a flannelcloth bound to her throat. "In half an hour they were dead so shereplaced them with three more. She got better." In parts of NewEngland a similar remedy involved a single live frog which wasplaced within the mouth until it died. Obviously, the localtreatment is better protocol since the nature-spirit resident in the

god could not blame the suffering human for his death. This isparalleled by the old Roman custom of having those with atoothache spit into the mouth of a frog, requesting it to take awaythe pain, and then releasing it. Wonder Work: 4. To create apermanent countercharm against disease and evil it was advisedthat one should catch a frog and imprison it in the hand until itdied. After that that hand would have the healing touch, providedthe individual knew "the proper healing words" to go with it. ALunenburg respondent told Helen Creighton that these wordswere "Heliga rissa", but elsewhere, "By Father, Son and Holy Spirit"were recommended.

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

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

Also called "drammoch", this dish takes its name from the Gaelicword "fuar" (cold). It is similar to the "crowdie" of lowlandScotland. The "cream-fuarag", which seems to be that referred toby Shaw, was said "an indispensible dish at the Kern or HarvestHome. It was never restricted to this special day being providedon all festive ocassions. It is considered an extremely ancientpreparation and among articles at the Scottish National Museum ofAntiqities is an old fro'ing stick, consisting of a wooden crosssurrounded by a ring of cow's hair at one end, once used forbeating the cream and whey in fuarag. This food was made bytoasting coarse oatmeal lightly before a fire or in an oven. Creamwas beaten and stirred into the oatmeal which was sweetenedwith whey and spices to the individual taste. The toasting gave anutty "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 thering might expect to marry in the near future, while the recipientof the coin would become wealthy and the thimble-bearer mightexpect a life full of toil. See Saint Columba's Cake.

funeralSympathetic Magic: 1. Meeting a funeral parade was regarded asa bad omen, although the danger was relieved if the personhappened to be travelling in the same direction as the procession.The meeting of a wedding party with a funeral cortege was thoughto predict particularly bad luck. Another example of contactmagic, death being implicit, and perhaps catching, in thiscircumstance. 2. Any noticeable gap in a funeral procession letway for another funeral in the immediate future. ghostMagic Race: 1. Those who searched for ghosts never found them.2. Ghosts guarded buried treasure. 3. Ghosts were usuallyinvisible but might materialize in full-blown human form, as wraithsdressed in white, as balls of fire, as animals, as lights or asmonsters of uncertain species. Alternately, they might berepresented in a cold irresistible force, which could be violent orpassive. 4. A ghost was the product of unfinished earthlybusiness and could only be exorcized if his purpose was fulfilled. The ghost was unable to speak unless spoken to. 5. Thepresence of a ghost chilled the air. 6. It was unwise to makerequests of ghosts since, like the Devil, they were apt to comply. At Myer's Point, Head of Jeddore, N.S., a boy once called outjokingly, "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 ofthe Maritimes. The word derives from the Anglo-Saxon "gast"

(breath, soul, spirit) and resembles the Germanic "geist" (whichappears in "poltergeist"). A ghost is currently understood torepresent 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 aworld where overindulgence of any sort was suspected ofoffending the god-spirits, by attempting to exhibit god-like energy.Those who made a fetish of any hobby from seeking treasure toghosts were thought certain to fail.

ghost shipSympathetic 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, orshadow man of any human, as well as certain of the sidh mighttake up the business of transporting a virulent light, whichtravelled about the countryside after dark and could kill oncontact. These lights were considered an omen of the death of aparticular individual (the light being carried by his runner). Typically, the light-carrir would not be observed but the sphere offire would emerge from the place of death and preasage the routeof some future funeral procession.

giftSympathetic Magic: Those born during meteor showers, heavydisplays of northern lights, in the season of a comet, or duringsevere electriucal storms were considered "gifted", or destined tolead uncommon lives. Those for with the caul of luck (an amnioticmembrane present over the head) were similarly described aswere 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 downwardarrow of hair between the eyes. Those facing imminent deathwere also considered gifted with prophetic information.

gisreagWonder Work: The Gaelic equivalent of the English spell. Literally"projected energy". Currently, "giseagan" refers to individuals whoare superstitious.

glinSympathetic Magic: "A southern glin leads to wet skin". The wordrelates to "glint" and "glimmer" and referred to a sunny pocketfound within a bank of sea fog.

Glooscap or Kluscap

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

godMagic Race: The pagan gods of Europe are lost to memory, and inAtlantic 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 wordis descended from the past participle of the Sankrist "huta", to callupon or invoke for help. Interestingly, the Welsh still refer to Godas "hu", and this Celtic word has been engrafted to English in thename "Hugh". "Huan" translates from the Cymric-tongue as sun andthis corresponds with the Gaelic word "aod", now written as "kay".

Gods may be distinguished as the elder and the mortal gods, hubeing one of the former. The elder gods were also spoken of aselementals since they were immortal and in control of one of theelements: viz. fire, water, and air. In northern mythology thethree elder gods were considered subservient to the Allfatherand 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 seawas Llyr in Wales; Ler in Gaelic lands; Hler in Teutonic area; Aegiror Eagor in England. Kari or Carry was the best known god of thewind. In each case, these names were completely synonymouswith the words fire, water and wind. The mortal gods and thegiants were independent creations of the Allfather, the formerbeing, at first, immortals like the elder gods. To dominante thegiants the gods are supposed to have had sexual liasions withtheir foe, using the offspring to help wage war. In this they weresuccessful but this cohabitation destroyed their immortality. Thusan explanation was provided for the "passing" or "going to earth"of such mortal-gods as Thor, Odin, Niord, Frey and Bragi. Sincethese gods had elements of immortality, their rebirth wasexpected in the royal houses of Europe. God-spirit was thename attached to a god not visible in the flesh. When gods weredemoted they came to be called demons, devils, witches or fairies.

GodMagic Ruler: 1. Rain was referred to as "God's tears."2. A natural illness was referred to as "the hand of God". SeeCreighton, BM, p. 6l. The one God of Christianity has some notable connections with thethe elder and the mortal gods. Missionaries were careful toemphasize his "oneness" but confused the issue by referring toHim as the "Three in One". Pagan mythology is awash with trinitiesand perhaps the Christians sought points of contact between oldbeliefs and the new? In any instance, local folklore insists that

"Father, Son and Holy Ghost" or "Holy Spirit" are "the mostpowerful words in the Bible."There are other parallels, notable those listed above: The ideathat weather was visited on mankind by a god or goddess is verygeneral. People looked to the sun-gods to provide energy forplant and animal growth; to the wind gods to power their boats;and to the water-gods for necessary rainfall. "Among them wasthe fair goddess Holda, who graciously dispensed many rich gifts. As she presided over the weather, the people were wont todeclare when the snowflakes fell that Frau Holda, or Holle wasshaking her bed, and when it rained, that she was washing herclothes." Guerber, TN, p. 51.

goldSympathetic Magic: It was once common to incorporate a goldchain into chimney flues for good luck.

The chimney of the house, like the nose of a man, was alwaysopen to the invasive activities of god-spirits, demons, or littlepeople, which gold might attract and entrap until they weredispersed by the light of dawn. It was assumed that these "evil"spirits would be unable to resist the lure of gold but could nottake it away since it was fixed to the flue. More importantly it wasfashioned in interconnected rings, or a chain, which mightencompass the spirit forcing it to travel in left-hand circles untilunbound and dissipated.

good catastropheSympathetic Magic: The curse of a witch was cancelled by threemisfortunes plaguing those who were troubled.

Good FridayTalisman: 1. Preserve a bun baked on this day and it wouldharden without spoilage. If kept in a house or aboard ship thistalisman would preserve either against fire, or general loss. 2. Itwas thought bad luck to remove cattle from their barn on Good

Friday. Both from Creighton, BM, p. 131. 3. Nails were not to bedriven on Good Friday, Creighton, BM, p. 141. 4. A ring blessedon Good Friday was a potent talisman. 5. Bees were bestmoved on this day. 6. To avoid bad luck iron was neverhammered on this Friday (presumably because it recalled thehammering of nails at the crucifixion). 7. Clothese were not hungfor fear they would dry spotted with blood. 8. It was consideredof ill omen to plow or spade the earth, thus bringing iron intocontact with the ground. 10. "In memory of Our Lord's death, theearly Acadians marked Good Friday by severe fasting. In somefamilies a religious silence was observed until three o'clock." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 494. 11. No butchering or hunting waspermitted.See Friday.

As noted elsewhere Friday was sacred to the fertility goddessFreya, or Freja, and most British tribesman objected to doinganything on this day. The word "good" derives from "god" and theparticular God honoured on Good Friday was Christian. The hot-crossed bun baked on this day was even marked to cross outFreya, and the viking Norsemen, and became a present-daytalisman as a result of this connection. As with all high, holy, orspecial days, most pagan "gods" were considered unbound for abrief spell. Iron was particularly disliked by the older gods, whosesupporters had fallen before weapons made of it, and it was badform to show it at a time when they might object by raising stormsor other kinds of magical force.

good neighbour

good shipwreckSympathetic Magic: "God's purposes are hidden from man...If a shipis 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 mainlandhas people on its barren coast who need a cauldron, a barrel ofwhite flour, a fine mahogany door with a brass handle, firewood, a

box of nails, or even, it may happen, a trousseau fopr amarriageable daughter. Well, the wreckage washed up on thesands or caught on the reefs contains all that. Is it then a goodshipwreck or not?" Darios, STOC, p. 55.

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

Reference is to a mysterious cold flame seen after dark andalternately known as the will o' the wisp. A harmful variant wasthe corpse candle. In Abenaki legend these lambent flameswere known to issue from decaying organic matter andphosphorescent logs were deliberately left at Indian burial places"to give light to the spirits". The runner of the dead ofteninhabited such logs crying out or singing from them "because theyare lonesome."

gorbeySympathetic Magic: Men who damaged the gorbey would beinjured in like manner.

"Gorbey" appears to be an anglicization of "corbeaux", a word theFrench used to describe members of the Crow Family (i.e. theRaven, Crow, Canada Jay and Blue Jay). All of these animals arefamiliar, plentiful and bold. The Gray, or Canada Jay, is alternatelyknown as the Carrying Jay, Carrion Jay, or Whisky Jack.

gooseberriesSympathetic Magic: Gooseberries presented to a loved onestrengthened affection.

Gras, Jour de

Litterally, Fatty Days; the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday beforeLent, a time for unbridled entertainment: partying, card playing,singing and dancing, before the forty pentitent days of lent. Atmidnight on Shrive Tuseday, Lent commennced and thesediversions ended. "There was a good deal of visiting...sometimestotally spoiled, by alcoholic beverages." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 492.

grassSympathetic Magic: 1.Grass would not grow where fairiesdanced. 2. Grass would not grow in certain places where peoplehad 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 disquiseobtained holy water from the Roman Catholic priest and sprinkledit on his fields, incanting: "Now, get to Hell with you!" Theyvanished. Mary L. Fraser, FONS, p. 31. The pagan idea that livingthings contained the god-spirit, which was periodicallyreincarnated, extended to insects as well as other animals andplants. As such, any creature might serve as a familiar towitches, pagan gods, god-spirits, little people or demons. Thecountercharm suggested above involved a simple curse ofexorcism. Holy water was used here as a talisman, a symbolonce thought to embody the power of the god (in this case theChristian God). In ancient times the waters of the sea wereconsidered the province of the elemental or elder god namedvariously Eagor, Hler, Llyr or Ler, who was considered thesupreme deity in that element. Landlocked fresh-water wasbelieved to harbour his magic especially where it was bound withina circle of stones. The water of wells and springs was oftenreputed to contain water-spirits, who were actual sub-divisions ofthe god, whose power might be directed through them withcurative effect. When they came to Europe, the Christianmissionaries re-dedicated many of these holy places, sometimes

actually building a church about the water source.

griefSympathetic Magic: Overlong grief for the dead caused them torest uneasily in their graves. Creighton, FOLC, p. 22. In the oldworld men did not believe in ultimate death and ultimateressurection, but supposed that all people were periodicallyreincarnated after their spirits spent a brief period of rest with"mother earth". There was therefore no need for much grief and itwas felt that "like-affecting-like" the needed rest was interruptedby the uneemly wailing, hair-pulling, and breast-beating of theliving.

grimoire

Groundhog DaySympathetic Magic: Our local woodchuck is expected to appearon 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 inLunenburg County, N.S. In a few places referred to asTimberdoodle Day

We have secularized this day in North America, but in Britain it wasCandlemas Day, the time when the holy candles of the Churchwere ritually blessed. The holiday has been identified as the daywhen Christ was presented in the temple, or as the feast of thePurification 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 bythe Celts from the Brigantines, who occupied Northumberlandshireat the time of the Roman occupation. Their goddess was bornwith a corona of fire, or a will o' the wisp, extending from her headinto the heavens. Her eventual followers lit a perpetual flame fromthis source, which was afterwards guarded by virgins. Thismaternal religion focused on the smelting of metals and the healingarts. When the Christians invaded Britain, they replaced the

guardians with nuns, but wisely kept the home-fires burning forseveral centuries, and renamed the deity Saint Brigit. Thegroundhog day legend seems to attach to Brigit, for the Scots stillinsist that: "If Candlemas dawns light and clear, there'll be twa'winters in the year." Until the last century the eve of Brigit's Daywas used in fashioning a replica of the goddess from a sheaf ofoats. It was dressed in women's clothing and laid in a basket witha wooden club at the side. Members of the family would then cryinto the dusk: "Bridd's bed is laid, Bridd is welcome!" As this wasthe date of the earliest planting in Scotland, this rite is seen as anattempt to aid in fertilizing the soil, and this Christian "saint" isclearly a symbol of some earlier fertility cult. The club was clearlya phallic symbol, and in the morning residents of the house lookedclosely to see if it had been used. Under the most desirablecircumstances it would be seen to have disturbed the ashes onthe hearth, in which case good luck was expected for the comingplanting season. Daks Day may relate to the Old Danish "dack", astaggerer, one who wavers while walking. The ritual use of liquorwas prominent in all such fire-festivals.

Groundhog DayDivination: 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 onthe eve of Imbolc (G.v. to retreat into the woods for sacrifices). In Celtic parts, Imbolc Day was said to coincide with the firstlactation of ewes or with the first planting of seed. It became atraditional Quarter, or Rent-paying Day in Scotland, the other timesbeing May 1, August 2 and November 1, which were the dates forsimilar pagan fire-festivals and fertility rites. In North America thetradition that relates to this day suggests that if the groundhogemerges and sees his shadow, he will have to retreat to hisburrow 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 Celticgoddess of hearth and home. Her divinity was recognized at birthby a lambent flame which issued from her head into the heavens. By-standers rescued some of this "divine-fire" and used it tocreate perpetual flames in Ireland and Scotland. These weretended by virgins who were skilled in the metal and healing arts,and were later kept by Christian nuns well past the pagan era. Inthe old rites, the virgin-goddess, or bride, was married to abridge-groom, and they were publically mated in ceremonies meantto awaken the vegetation, sunshine and procreative acts ofspring. Until recently, Scottish families lay out a basket and a clubfor the Briid at their hearths. At dusk on Februrary 1st, theystood at the door and invited the old goddess to stay the night. The next day they looked carefully for indications that the ashesof the hearth had been disturbed, a mark of good fortune for thecoming year.

guardianMagic Race: a runner or a ghost conscripted to guard buriedtreasure by scaring off treasure-seekers. This earth-bound spiritwas duty bound to create supernatural lights and sound, but wasanxious to see the treasure removed from the ground thus endinghis period of imprisonment. According to Mr. Enos Hartlam ofSouth East Passage, N.S., a naieve member of a pirate crew usually"volunteered" for the function, after which, "they had a party andsoused him and buried him alive with the treasure." Creighton, BG,p. 47. It was supposed that the guardian had no physical potentialas long as the seekers remained silent while digging. If they wereable to withstand a barrage of transient images and sound, thetreasure could be obtained, but they usually bolted or spoke orscreamed. In the latter case, the guardian was released to chaseor kill those whoinvaded his domain. Some guardians were virulentbecause of their confinement but others were apparently boredwith their work. A fisherman rowing past Clam Island, N.S. wasconfronted by a wraith who stood on the shore shouting "Comeashore 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 gotto stay here another hundred years?" While the guardian mightlaed people to treasure all of the various taboos had to beobserved. See treasure.

guess cakeSympathetic Magic: At all-day fairs arranged to fund church orschool activities guess cakes were sometimes featured. Thesewere baked by unmarried women and concealed an unexpecteditem which prospective purchasers had to divine. The person whodeduced the contents won the cake (and sometimes the affectionof the lady).

gunSympathetic Magic: 1. As a countercharm against witchery,water from a place where two streams met could be run throughthe barrel of a gun while chanting an appropriate spell. This calledthe witch and led to the breaking of the original charm where thetraditional 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 wardingoff witchcraft and the gun barrel, additionally, has the shape of thering which has the capacity to entrap free spirits. With the witchfamiliar 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, alwaysfrightened off witches and their influence. It is a matter of recordthat many of the little people removed themselves from Europebecause of the loud noises which accompanied the Christian "invasion". Apparently, thetraditional witches were country herdsmen, who disliked the"plaguey bells" of the church as much as the sounds of agriculturalindustrialization.

gumSympathetic 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, butyesterday, water was thought to the medium of water-spirits, whomight create such illness from spite.

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

gypsiesSympathetic Magic: It was thought bad luck to short-change, orbadly treat, gypsies.

hag-riddenWonder-Work: Witches, or hags, were able to take animal formand crouch upon the chests of sleeping victims, infusing them withbad dreams. These unfortunates awoke from a sleep of poorquality, bathed in sweat, with their hair lutinized. It was claimedthis was because the witches, fairies, or devils rode the victim asone might ride a horse, using the hair as reins. According to localfolklore they could be driven off as long as they were not actuallycrouched on the chest. One victim noted: "If she'd gone on mybreat 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 theirbaobhs, to the old god-spirit called Aog (Angus Og, or AngusYoung), or to the sidh known as the Alp. "Hag" arises from theMiddle English "hagge", the first part of the word correspondingwith "haw" or "hedge", hence a "hedge" or "woods-woman", andsimilar in basic meaning to witch, excepot that the latter identifieda costal dweller. All of the various fay-tribes have been accussedof this activity, and the English form is called the Night Mare. Richard Hartlan encountered this phenomena when he visited theHartlan "ghost house" at South West Passage, N.S.: "The only time Iever saw anything was one Sunday afternoon. After I ate mydinner I went and had a lay down and I fell into a doze ofsleep...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 shewas a woman with a black and white spotted dress on and I was alther of sweat with the water pouring off me as big as marbles. Whatever it was, witch or not, God knows." Creighton, BM, p. 275.

hairSympathetic Magic, Divination: 1. If a lock of hair was stolen from agirl it was thought she would be unable to refuse reasonable, orunreasonable, requests. 2. A woman's hair knit into a seaman'ssocks would ensure that he would come back to the land, dead oralive. 3. It was unlucky to comb the hair after dark. 4. A personborn with a "cow-lick" or "two-crowns" on the head would neverdrown. 5. Hair taken from a dog or cat was burned "to keepwitches out." Creighton, BM, p. 45. 6. Curly hair was lucky andcould be encouraged by eating bread crusts, carrots or spinachand prunes (or any other food a fractious child was likely torefuse). 7. Rain caused hair to grow more quickly and to curl. Thesame effect was produced by frequent cutting. 8. A man whohad his hair cut during the waning of the moon was likely to gobald. 9. Eating a raven's egg would cause the hair to turn black,but a severe fright would cause it to whiten. 10. Sports figuresinvolved in a winning streak often vowed not to shave until theluck has ended. 11. Male children who wished to grow hair ontheir chests were advised to eat substantial foods such as meatand potatoes. 12. Masturbation resulted in the growth of hair onthe palms of the hands.14. People used to go outside backwards beneath the light of thenew moon and "pick something off the ground and bring it indoorsand then it would be taken apart to see if they could find a hair init. If they found a hair, , even if it came from some animal, theyused to think that hair would be the hair colour of their futurelover." MacNeil, TUD, p. 104. 16. In Acadian communities hair wasnot 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 alock of hair was able to bring it within the physical compass of hisspirit, and through force of will, make the two, one. It isnoteworthy that Napoleon always asked for souvenir locks , andmany of these are still extant. It was thought that the power ofspiritual love was such that corpses lost at sea would actuallyfloat home if hair was knit into the socks. The various fay-folkwere abroad after dark and might make nefarious use of lost hair,which explains the proscription against combing after dark. Inearlier communities, hair receivers were kept to protect it againstmisuse until it could be ritually hidden from danger. The Fomors,and various other sea-peoples, were sometimes pictured ashaving a crest on their head. Humans born with two parts werethought to show a relationship to these sea-dwellers, and werethought protected by them. Some captains attempted to hire onthese individuals trusting that their protection might extend to theship. Since cats and dogs were frequent familiars of witches itwas reasoned that they might be frightened off by the smell ofothers of their kind who had, apprently, been incinerated. Most ofthe above superstitions have obvious connotations, but we haveto add that witches considered their powers to be resident intheir hair, hence their lack of elegant coiffures. These peoplewere the first hippies, refusing to cut their hair and shave. Sportsfigures on a winning binge are following this ancient tradition whenthey refrain from sprucing up for fear of interfering with their goodluck. The business with masturbation is based on the idea that"bestial acts" create a beastial appearnce.

halibutSympathetic Magic: To see the ghost of a halibut was an omen of death. Caspar Henneberry was supposed to have attendedand "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 inthe form of a halibut..." The next day Caspar was found drownedand the island has since been called "Devil's Island". Creighton, BG,p. 110.

Hallowe'enSympathetic Magic, Divination, Wonder Work: 1. Waste water wasnot to be thrown out on this night for fear it might fall on a spiritand rouse his wrath against the family. 2. Salt cake was eatenbefore retiring to bed, it being assumed that the thirsty dreamerwould be approached by a future mate offering a glass of water. Fraser, FONS, p. 104. 3. People walked backwards into the cellarlooking in a mirror, expecting to see the forerunner of theirfuture mate. 4. In German areas it was customary to eatcolcannon (a salad made of turnips, cabbage and potatoes) onthis evening. Within the dish lay buried omens: a penny, match,ring and button, symbolizing marriage, old maid-ship, money andpoverty, repectively. Creighton, FOLC, p. 60. Charm: 5. OnHallowee'en a fatal charm could be fashioned by placing a humanskull on the ground and firing three shotgun blasts at the moon. Under ideal conditions, three spots of blood would fall from theinjured moon into an eye of the skull. A shot ball was then placedin the eye cavity and removed for use against an enemy. It wasclaimed that this charmed shot, on being fired, would find its wayto 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 wereheld and burned on Hallowe'en, Manny. 7. Potaoe harvesting wasfollowed by "pancake parties at which they played cards - forty-fivees, cribbage, snap, old maid - while the women cooked...thenthey danced and ate and sang." Fowke, CF, p. 103.

Fraser has suggested that Hallowe'en, formerly called theSamhainn Eve, was the oldest and most important special time ofthe year, "since the Celts. would seem to have dated the

beginnings of the year from it..." The Celtic New Year began onSamhainn Day (November 1) and both the eve and the day werefilled with attempts at divination. "Throughout Europe, the nightwhich marks the transition from autumn to winter, seems to havebeen the time of year when the souls of the departed weresupposed to revisit their old homes in order to warm themselvesby the fire...But it is not only the souls of the departed who weresupposed to be hovering unseen...Witches then speed on theirerrands of mischief. The fairies too are all let loose, andhobgoblins of every sort roam freely about." Fraser, TGB, p. 735.

handSympathetic Magic: To have an itchy right hand led one toexpect a stranger and pay out money; left, one would receivemoney. Here again, a forerunner might feel the exchange ofmoney before it took place. Since it was held, in some quartersthat it was "better to give than receive", such premonitionsinvolved the right hand. The earliest exchanges were in kind, andthe introduction of coinage into the bartering system, createdadditional possibilities for fraud. The receipt of money was achancey business, thus any portent of this sort, affected the lefthand, which see.

Harvest HomeSympathetic Magic: 1. For the crop of the next year to be largeit was thought that the last sheaf should be large. 2. The lastsheaf taken had to be bound by a woman for good luck. 3. Aneffigy of a child was sometimes fashioned from a shaef of corn oroats 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 wasconsidered lucky to find such "Indian corn" and the finderexpected this was sufficient excuse to extort a kiss from a girlfriend. A survival of this is seen in the dried decorative cornwhich people buy at supermarkets for attachment to their autumndoors.

Harvest Home was the gathering and bringing home of theharvest; the time of harvest; and the feast traditionally held at itsclose. It is also certain folksongs sung by the reapers as theyreturned from their last stint in the fields. This is an extremelyancient European celebration, which originally had magical andreligious connotations, not all of which are pleasant. Acharacteristic of the rites was the creation of a doll from plantmaterials, which was often decorated with ribbons or flowers. Typically it had the shape of a woman, but in some cases it wasobviously a four-footed animal. Whatever the shpe it obviouslyrepresented a nature-spirit and once fashioned from the lastsheaf, was carried from the field at the head of a farm processionwhich was both bawdy and uprorious. The image was variouslycalled the corn mother, kirn baby, kirn doll, corn maiden, oldwoman, fox in the field, last goose, etc. and was regarded asemblematic of the "corn spirit". To put it simply, the farmersregarded the soul of the corn to be as real as that of men, andconsidered that it fled before the scythes and sycles, taking finalrefuge in the last sheaf. In this form it was overwintered, andbeing fed at last to the ploughman and plough animals at the firstof the next season, was returned through their digestive tracts tothe soil. Often one of the workers was forced to take the roll ofharvest queen and another that of the corn king. In former timesit is suspected that they were participants in sexual rites whichended 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 latterwas reserved to the festivities of Celtic herders who used acrooked stick, or hock, to tend their flocks. Interestingly, thepagan festival was put down by the Christian church only to bepartially revived by the Church of England in the 1840s. Althoughthe Reverend R.S. Hawker, who served a Celtic parish, balked atsanctioning blessing the earth by sprinkling blood on the fields, hedid 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 withThanksgiving, but this obviously comes long after the fact. TheAmerican Thanksgiving, first held in 1621, and now established asthe fourth Thursday of November, is obviously entirely unrelated,and there are few superstitions surrounding it.

hawthorn

The fair maid who, on the first of MayGoes to the woods at break of dayAnd bathes in the dew of hawthorne treeShall ever after handsome be.

Sympathetic Magic: During the month of May it was consideredbad luck to keep hawthorn blossoms in a house. "Pick flower, picksickness." Creighton, BM, p. 156. The word "hawthorn" derivesfrom the Anglo-Saxon English, "hagathorn", which relates to theGermanic "hagge", a witch, and the English "haw", a hedge. Thehawthorn tree also identified the entrances of "fairy hills". MayEve was formerly known as the Beltane, an important Europeanfire-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, asat Hallowe'en. This superstition probably centers on the ideathat those who gathered hawthorns and kept them in the house,invited unpleasant company. In olden days those who returnedfrom the left-hand dances were often seen to be physically ormentally ill, thus the association of the flower of the hawthornplant with illness.

haySympathetic Magic: A wish could be made on a wagon load of hay.The words "hay" and "haw" are connecteed, both being akin to theword "hedge" and related to the Germanic "hagge", a witch. The

word hay was formerly used as the equivalent of hawthorne, thesymbolic plant of the fairy people. Since these were failed god-spirits, it is assumed that wishing on the hay was the equivalent ofwishing on a star, calling upon a "god" for supernatural help.

hemlockSympathetic Magic: Crosses steeped in hemlock were believedmost potent against witchcraft. The word hemlock originallydescribed several species of poisonous herbs, with finely-cutleaves and white flowers, but in North America, the term has beenapplied to pineaceous trees. THe use of hemlock against witcheswas a matter of fighting fire with fire. A common Continental namefor the witch was "venefica", the "poisoner", and one of herpoisons was the European hemlock. Neither the witch, norcommon folk, had any understanding of the precise action ofdrugs. While we would consider the administration of poisonsufficient to kill and individual, our ancestors frequently buried apot of poison near the threhold of the intended victim, anduttered curses, without being absolutely certain which of thethree actions created the desired effect. It used to be assumedthat the cross had a potency quite aside from the hemlock, whichacted against the witch by projecting an invisible force of its own.

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

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

hillSympathetic Magic: People who were troubled would hitch ironchains to any animal dead through witchcraft and haul the corpsefirst 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 "highplaces", and when the dead were passed above them it wasthought that the spirit of death might affect them. Iron ringswere, of course, a talisman against evil, reinforcing the effect.

Holy GhostMagic Race: Derived from Christian mythology, the Holy Ghost, orHoly 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 supernaturalmanifestations of the God-spirit, as it is sometimes defined as "theangelicus". 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 HolyGhost or Holy Spirit has troublesome pagan connotations. Theprefix "Holy" is confluent with "holly, wholey, hooley," and "holey". The Middle English word "holy" originally indicated anything whichwas "whole" or soundly crafted for example a brass container. This became associated with the concept of objects set apartto service a deity, e.g. "holy" vessels. All early religious rites tookplace out-of-doors in natural ampitheatres, more simply called"holes" or "holy" places. The Teutonic goddess Holle isremembered in the Middle English word "hole", which also indicates"a cavern in the ground" According to myth she dwelt in the cavecalled Horselberg, in the province of Thuringia, Germany. FrauHolle presided over the weather in pagan times, gifted mankindwith a knowledge of the use of flax, and lured mortals into herrealm, detaining them forever in a sexual limbo. Her most famousvictim was Tannhauser, who escaped her power and fled to Romeseeking absolution for this unnatural "connection". The Popedeclared that the German knighht could no more hope for pardonthan have his staff bear buds and bloom. Although this did occur,it was too late for Tannhauser who returned to the hole in theearth. See also spirit and ghost.

hoodooSympathetic Magic: An alternate name for the runner, or shadowman. 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 wearingapparel of monks, invisible god-spirits, and little people), andperhaps, voodoo.

hornSympathetic Magic: l. Horns were erected above doors andhearths to ward off witchcraft. 2. When horns were knocked offanimals, some old-timers advised binding them in place with tar andstring.

Herding peoples frequently identified their deities as possessinghorns so their loss on farm animals was considered an ill omen. Conceivably, those hung above doors were first meant to identifyadherents 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 wouldfrighten off witches and devils.

horn sicknessFolk Medicine: The name given distemper in cattle. The traditionalcure 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 goodsupply of blood to function properly and that "horn sickness"mysteriously diverts the supply of blood to the horns. Surprisinglythe horns are cold when the stomach is upset!

horriblesSympathetic Magic: costumed individuals who paraded on New

Year's Day. The equivalent of guisers (disguisers) kris kringlersand belsnickers, who were also abroad during the Yuletide. Particulary noted on Prince Edward Island. "In Canada, the customapparently died out during the First World War." See OldChristmas.

horseSympathetic Magic: 1. Mariners disliked dreaming of horses.2. Horses suffering sprained feet were subjected to the "eolas ant-sniomh" (charm for a sprain) in Gaelic villages. The charm-makerknotted string about the injury following traditional patterns,while reciting: "Christ came out; he found the bones of the horsebroken. He placed blood next to blood, flesh to flesh; as he curedthen, so cure now." 3. A stallion would always side with his humanmaster, but a mare had the potential to take the side ofsupernaturals. A countercharm was a simple thread of wool tiedabout the neck. 4. On buying a horse: "One white foot, try him;two white feet, buy him; three white feet, deny him. Four whitefeet and one white nose: cut off his head and throw him to thecrows!" Spray, WOTW, p. 5. The horse hoof was symbolic of theDevil. A lady who swore that she would go dancing with anypartner, "even the devil," was accomodated and was afterwardsfound with "the devil's mark, the imprint of a horse's hoof" on herforehead. Creighton, BG, p. 93. 6. A pregnant mare was workedclose to the time of delivery since it was believed this wouldproduce a healthy foal. 7. If a donkey ran with a new foal it wasbelieved that animal would be free of disease. 8. Horses brasseswith the crescent moon or stars were often suspended over ahorse'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, butalso because they observed that the mythical god and fairy-spirits(e.g. the kelpy, nuckalavee, and sea-serpents) frequently had thehead of a horse. Because witchcraft came to be regarded as afemale occupation, female animals, whatever their species, were

always considered more dangerous than male. The above is atraditional charm, the word "Christ" having been inserted into thelitany in place of a dishonoured god-spirit. Knotted string had thesame properties as rings. It may be guessed that red woolthread would be preferred as a countercharm.

Horseman's WordMagic Assembly: A magical cult which originated in Britain and atone time embraced almost the entire labourer population of thenorth-east. Its principle ceremony, celebrated at the time ofMartimas, aimed at the creation of "made horsemen" from theyoung males of the neighbourhood. It was a secret societyimported to Canada in the early part of the eighteenth century.

Actual members have stated that the number of initiates wasalways odd rather than even and that the place of initiation was abarn well off the beaten path. Inductees were summoned by thereceipt of a single horsehair enclosed in an envelope, and had tobring with them a bottle of whisky, bread and a jar of jam. Withmost of the countryside bedded down, these novices travelled topre-selected points where they were blindfolded and led to thedoor of the barn where rites were to be held. There each had togive the three "horseman's knocks" and be interrogated by agateman. Among the questions were "Who bade ye come here?",the invariable answer being "Old Clootie" (the Devil). At midnightthe ceremony began: The novices, blindfolded, knelt in a circleabout the central figure of a horse-master, who informed themthat the order was instigated by Tubal Cain, the first Horsemanand gave them the secret words of cult. He also revealled twoverses of the Bible which he said copuld be read in reverse toinvoke the Prince of Darkness. After they were conversant withthe "Word" the initiates had to promise that they would "neitherwrite, nor dite, nor recite" anything they had been told. Immediately following, the master would attempt to trick them intodoing just that by lifting their blindfolds and commanding them towrite 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 themeaning of secrecy. The lads were again blindfolded and taken toshake hands with "old Hornie" (who might be represented by aman dressed in an animal skin or a live calf or goat). In any case,no youth became a "made horseman" until he had shaken handswith the "devil" of the Horseman's Word. This done, the whiskybread and jam was produced, the initiates unblinded and a partyput into motion. The Horseman's Word promised help from thesupernatural but was really a brand of Freemasonry, in the sensethat the older men recognized obligations of help and counseltowards new members. It is suspected that the cult evolved outof the Hayman's Word in 1820 when horses began to supplantoxen for farm work. It persisted until about 1914 when machinesdisplaced the horse. It was hardly a trade union! One son of adeceased member said that it was, "purely connected with blackmagic, the occult, the language of horses &c."horseshoeSympathetic Magic: 1. Horseshoes could be placed above anydoor to ensure good luck. To be useful the tines had to pointupward to "hold the luck in" and three nails were used. The pointson the underside of the shoe had to be placed pointing inward. 2."A horseshoe should be nailed on the step of the barn in theposition of the horse walking out. They say bad luck can't come inthen, 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 isa year of luck." Creighton, BM, p. 139. 4. Horseshoes found onthe road indicated good luck where the tines pointed toward thefinder; bad luck if they pointed away. 5. To prevent witches fromnoticing horseshoes erected against them they were sometimessheathed with lead foil. 6. Wool in which the dye failed to set orwhere the colour proved other than expected was considered tohave been witched. As a countercharm a horseshoe washeated until red and then plunged into the dye. Creighton, BM, p.46. When a man at West Pubnico, N.S., was refused wool heplaced a spell on her dyes. Realizing this she attempted the

horseshoe treatment and when she did, "the man writhed inagony."When wild horses were first tamed, their "binding" to the tasks ofman was marked by the horseshoe. The process was referred toas "the breaking of their spirit", which was considered essentiallydangerous and evil. Having been in intimate contact with a tamedhorse, the shoe was thought potent against general evils andcapable of providing omens. In European legend it was suggestedthat any uncanny spirit was drawn into this incomplete circle andforced to resonate between the tines of the horseshoe duringthe hours between dusk and day.

Indian summerSympathetic Magic: it was claimed that a period of extremelywarm weather invariably followed the first snowstorm of the fall orwinter.

inspirational writingSympathetic Magic: "Eighty years ago (1898) I used to writestrips for the Pictou Advocate and I stumbled on a way of writingwithout thinking. I did it much better than I could do with anyamount of thinking...Where did the power come from? God and theDevil were ones I'd heard of and I didn't feel like blaming eitherone..." Creighton, BM, p. 190

inversionSympathetic Magic: The inversion of any object at sea wasthought 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 thoughtcomparable with the ship itself, hence inverting one was likely totip over the other.

invisible wallSympathetic Magic: 1. Captain David Hayden was climbing a fenceone night when he was stopped by "a strong force that pulled him

back." 2. This was as baffling as "the force that held a fishingvessel back as it was sailing up the La Have River. There was agood 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 seacaptain" who attempted to sail his "shallop" betweenTatamagouche, N.S. and "the Island" (Prince Edward Island): "Oneday he was sailing there undera steady breeze when suddenly inthe Strait, far from land and in deep water, his vessel without anyreason whatever suddenly stopped. An ordinary mariner wouldhave been at a loss to understand so strange a phenomenon butthis old salt...was a master of witchcraft. He knew the plight hadbeen wished upon him by his enemy...He lashed the wheel andthen disappeared inmto the cabin. In a moment he re-appeared,carrying...an old musket...and a rough slab (of wood) on which hesketchedthe likeness of his enemy, the witch. Placing the slab bythe mast he shot at it...Scarcely had the report died away whenthe vessel began to move..." Patterson, HOT, p. 57.

ironSympathetic Magic: 1. As a countercharm against the witchingof milk, an iron pin was placed in fire and then plunged into milkfrom the afflicted cattle. 2. Farmers, whose animals weretroubled would fill their vest pockets with iron nails and beattheir cattle with it. The torment was believed passed on to thewitch who was called by this action. 3. In all remedies newiron was usually specified. Iron has had an extremely highreputation 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 whichwas smelted, cast and annealed, was regarded as a magic metal,and the black smith was regarded as a practitioner of one of thedangerous 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 werefirst subjugated by iron weapons, which were far keener thanthose of brass and bronze, which they possessed. Hence, theirdistaste for any object made of the hated metal.

itchSympathetic Magic: 1. An itchy right hand indicated that thatperson would soon shake hands with a stranger; an itchy left, thatone would soon receive money. 2. Itchy lips presaged a kiss orthe passage of a dram of whisky. Itches, twitches, and quivers inthe human body were seen as the actions of forerunners orhindrunners examining the future or the past on behalf of theirhuman counterparts. A forerunner parroted every future activityof his birth-mate, but his attempts to warn of eventual happeningscould only be seen by those with the gift. Omens relayed throughthe right hand were usually considered innocuous, but thosethrough the left suggested danger or dealings with potentiallydangerous matter (e.g. money).

Jack O'LanternSympathetic Magic: Those who observed "swamp-lights" wereforced to follow them unless they had the foresight to "turn-coat".The Jack was a god-spirit, or fairy, a light-carrying creature similarto the corpse candle or gopher. He inhabited swamps and hislight often mislead travellers, but he he was potentially dangerousrather than omen-laded like the corpse candle. All of the fay-kindwore the turned-coat of animal hide, the fur turned inward towardthe body, but outward at the waist, collar and wrists. Any"human", who reversed his clothing, acted to make himselfindistinguishable from the "enemy".

janneySympathetic Magic: a mummer, sandy, or belsnicker. See OldChristmas.

jaundiceSympathetic Magic: Cold water was dumped over the body of thevictim without prior notice. Dunn, HS, p. 43. Fright or surprisewas considered on possible means of exorcizing unwantedspirits.

jipijkamMagic Race: Abenaki creatures, water-dwellers, "thehorned'serpent people". Similar to the Gaelic Fomors, a race whichinhabited the sea, lakes and ocean, and had highly developedshape-changing abilities. They might appear as humans, but one oftheir resting forms was that of great mountains. When disturbedthey were believed to swim off through earth or water in theforms of great snake-like creatures. The former event led toearthquakes. They formed sexual alliances with humans, who weresubverted to their kingdom by this act. In serpent form, the waterpeople carried a yellow and a blue horn upon their foreheads, andthese were valued as an aphrodisiac. The Utopia Monster appears to be of this kind.

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

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

kelpy or kelpie

keyholeWonder-Work: Witches and fairies, demons and sidh were all ableto dematerialize and pass through a keyhole. The Celtic Fomors,

or sea-people, who were supposed to have been the first toinhabit Britain after the great world-flood, were descibed asshape-changers, who could dematerialize and reconstitutethemselves after this fashion. Possibly the ability was in theirgenotype, and many humans admitted cohabitation with this usuallyanti-social race.

kisulkwSympathic Magic: The Abenaki word for moon, which was alwayspersonified in their mythology as a goddess. "Whenever they sawthe new moon they had prayers. What they asked for...they wouldget." Parsons, MF.

kitchen racketSympathetic Magic: See wake.

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

knifeSympathetic Magic: 1. It was bad luck to close a jacknife openedby another person. 2. To create a wind a knife was stuck intothe spar of a sailing ship. 3. It was bad luck to rotate a knife onthe table. 4. Two knifes crossed on a table indicated bad luck. 5. People were advised not to accept an opened jacknife as itmight "cut a friendship". 6. A witch is unable to pass over a knifedriven into any part of the doorframe. 7. When cows went dry,and witchcraft was supected, the woman of the house wouldobtain 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 wasexpected to have a cross cut on her forehead and would beseeking a favour. If these were refused the witching would cease.7. A countercharm used against the witching of animals was toplace milk from affected cows on the stove, cross it with a steelknife, boil it, and then slash it randomly. This would cause the

witch to develop a fever as well as facial cuts. Closing a jacknifewas the equivalent of sheathing another man's sword, a blunder ofetiquette at best, an act likely to result in death in harsher times. The fay disliked iron, and knifes were made of this metal. A knifestuck in the spar of a sailing ship was fully visible to the sea-dwelling Fomors and similar creatures, who supposedly reacted tothe sight by raising the wind. The table was considered a basicsymbol of the family's prosperity since it held what they ate. Evenwhen food was not present, the spirits of the food were thoughto linger, and to be exorcized by inappropriate actions with iron.

knittingSympathetic Magic: Knitting was done after dark when the sheepwere asleep.

knock a ballsMagic Race. "I had never heard the knock-a-balls until I visited theSmith family at Blanche (N.S.)...They are knockings which have nonatural explanation. If we took the Bible out and opened it wewouldn't hear a sound but, if we closed it we would hear theknockings..." Creighton, BM, p. 276.

The knocky boh have been described as the poltersprites orpoltergeists of England. In other parts of Europe they werecalled the pulter klaes, nicker-knockers, bubka, or klopferles. They were considered to be spirits related to the bodach, thebrownie or the kobold but instead of performing household choresthey delighted in making noise (hence the designation poltergeist,which translates as noisy ghost). They travelled about the houseinvisibly or in the forms of squirrels or cats, rattling and knockingtheir way through shelves of dishes, causing objects to vibrate orfly through the air. They would throw objects dowen stairways,thump softly from beneath the wainscotting, patter about on theroof, throw rocks at the walls, make the beds squeak withoutobvious cause, swing on creaky doors and act as a generalnusiance. When someone in the family was destined to die they

made an unusually loud clammer to warn of the coming event.

knockersMagic Race: The knockers or tommy knockers are related to thehouse 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 anaccident. Men often seen lights before an accident and theywould quit and come up...In Stellarton if miners heard a certyainknocking in the mine they would come up and close it down andstop work for that day." Again she found that "Tommy Knockerrsused 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 diminutivecreatures who dressed in leather miner's clothing and picked awayat the ore in galleries unused by men. By following the sounds oftheir knocking it was believed that men could find the richest veinsof ore. Three sharp sounds from the underground wereunderstood to suggest an impending cave-in or some otherdisaster. Miners were careful not to sing or whistle undergroundas this upset the knockers. They were also careful not to makethe sign of the cross as this tribe were enemies of Christianity andresenting its symbols, might create an underground "bump".

kobold

kukweskMagic 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.

ladderSympathetic Magic: It was considered bad luck to walk beneath aladder; some people would cross their fingers after inadvertentlymaking such a move. Ladders were frequently used in northern

Europe to spread-eagle witches and criminals while they weredisembowelled. Standing in the shadow of a ladder could be aunlucky business, since it was closely related to the spirit ofdeath.

ladybugSympathetic Magic: Killing a ladybug was bad luck; it had to betaken out of doors and released.

lambkillerDivination: It was considered that there would inevitably be aharsh March storm just after lambs were foaled.

launchingSympathetic Magic: Lucky ships turned with their bow to the landimmediately after launching. Ships, like people, seemed to enterlife with an invisible forerunners, which predicted future eventsby subtle interactions with the craft. If this spirit turned the shipto the land upon launching, it was assumed that she would makemany safe returns. When the Bluenose II was launched, this isexactly what happened, and she has had a very successful careersince her maiden voyage.

leafSympathetic Magic: Catching a falling leaf would lead to twelvemonths of good luck.

leap yearSympathetic Magic: February twenty-ninth was feared if it fell on aFriday. Among the Teutons, Friday was held sacred to Freya, orFreyja, who considered it a lucky day. In Britain, where the vikingNorse were feared, the reverse was true. Leap-year days wereconsidered "out-of-phase" and somewhat dangerous; a time whenfemales might proposition males, and other unlikely or fay-eventsoccur. The coincidence of both was considered doubly ominous.

leftSympathetic Magic: 1. Ropes were never coiled in a left-handed orcounter-clockwise fashion. 2. Left-handed children forced towrite with the right hand would stutter. Tyr, the Scandinavian godof war, was relieved of his right hand by the wolf Fenris. As aresult he was a left-handed deity, and his people were also lefties.This is not entirely an unfounded myth. Many of the northern clansof Scotland have a heavy percentage of left-handed individualsafter intermarriage with invading viking tribesmen. In general,however, the British were extremely suspicious of left handedindividuals since they were perceived as having an unfairadvantage in matters of peace and war. It will be recalled thatmost "normal" warriors carried a shield on their left arm and asword in the right. On meeting, they would put aside the weaponsand show mutual accord by shaking hands with their right. Lefties,were of course adept with their shield arm, and could easilyovercome right-handed men if they reversed their usual way ofcarrying arms, and hid a spare sword behind the shield. Thecircular dances of the left-handed northerners, with their "lord ofthe dance" at the centre, were invariably counter-clockwise.

LentLent was forty days of penitence ushered in by Ash Wednesday. It was described as a time of fasting, "very severe for thosebetween the ages of twenty-one and sixty." In Acadian villagesthe allowance was two ounces of bread in the morning, a goodmeal at noon, and a light snack, consisting of eight ounces of foodat night. Meat was at first prohibited throughout the week, lateron Wednesdays and Fridays. Children gave up candies and somemen smoking. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 493.

leprachaun

levitation

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

lieSympathetic Magic: Lies blistered the tongue producing a "lielump" or "lumps". A sore tongue indicated one had lied.

lightSympathetic Magic: l. Miners disliked seeing lights in their mine,and would often quit work and come to the surface when theywere seen. These lights were thought to have been carried bythe tommy-knockers or bodachs of the mine, who correspondedwith 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 thattreasure was buried nearby.

lightningSympathetic Magic: 1. Lightning never strikes twice in the sameplace. 2. To protect against lightning sleep in a feather bed with asteel thimble or knife under the pillow, or equip the bedroom withhawthorn cut on holy Thursday. Burnt sticks taken from a bonfireat Easter served the same purpose. 3. It was observed thatthree or four days of cold weather invariably followed a severelightning storm. 4. Birds ceased to sing before a severe storm.

It is patently untrue that lightning never strikes twice, but the ideawas based on the principle of checks and balances, whichsupposed that men received an equal supply of good and badluck. Birds seemed not to be struck by lightning, so disguisingoneself as a bird seemed commonsense. Thunder was generatedby the god-spirits (Odin, Thor, Loki, and Bolg) and iron productsrepealled them as successfully as it did witches and fairies. Thehawthorn was sacred to the little people and was cut on Thor'sday, so this was perhaps an attempt at propitiation or disguise?

Burnt sticks taken home from any of the pagan fire-festivals hadthe same effect.

lightning bugDivination: Light bugs heralded the beginning of a stretch of dryheat.

little people

locustDivination: The song of the locust prognosticated warm weather.

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

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

lumbagoSympathetic Magic: Cured by lying face down on the floor andhaving 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 thosewhose feet came first had a special strength with respect towalking. Some of this magical power was passed by contact.

lutin

mackerel skyDivination: "Mackerel sky, ne'er twenty-four hours dry!" Amackerel sky was spotted with many small colouds, all blue-graylike the fish.

making clearSympathetic Magic: A phrase describing the effect of employing

countercharms against witchcraft.

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

MarchSympathetic Magic: Because of the lingering winter weather thismonth was described as "long-legged" or "hungry March".

marriageSympathetic Magic: 1. "Marry in Lent, sure to repent." Creighton,BM, p. 145. 2. A person who stumbled and fell while walking up astairway would not marry in that year. 3. "Monday for health,Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday the best day of all. Thursday forlosses, Friday for crosses, while Saturday is no day at all! 4. "It isunlucky to marry in May; this has something to do with havingchildren." Creighton, BM, p. 146. 5. "June is the best month for amarriage, and Wednesday the best day." Creighton, BM, p. 146. 6. "Happy is the bride the sun shines on." 7. The bride whomarried in black was believed to tempt an early death. 8. Oldshoes were tied to the car used on the honeymoon to promotegood luck. 9. Rice, or confetti, was thrown after newly-marriedcouples for "good luck". 10. A dog howling during a wedding wasbad luck. 11. Two spoons inadvertently placed in a single saucerwere the sign of a wedding. 12. It was considered unlucky topostpone a wedding. 13. When four hands crossed in shakinghands at leave-taking, a wedding was indicated. 14. "Three timesa bridesmaid never a bride." 15. The bridesmaid who caught thebride's boquet would be next to wed. 16. To lose a wedding ringmeant the loss of the mate. 17. If the wedding ring was to beremoved, the husband was to be the first to take it off. 18. Therecipient of the last piece of cake on the plate was likely to go

unmarried. To take the last piece meant a lonely existence, but tooffered the last piece was good luck. 19. In Acadian villages thewagon or sleigh transporting the couple was decorted withribbons. The groom and maid of honour drove to the church inone carriage; while the bride and best man travelled in another. On return, the bride and groom came in the first and the best manand maid of honour in the second. Daigle. TAOTM, p. 485. 20. Among Acadians the fathers of the bride and groom acted aswitnesses. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 485. 21. Weddings normally tookplace in the winter. Among Acadians a prefered time was afterEpiphany on a Tuesday morning. 22. Acadian brides were fittedwith red ribbons draped from head to waist. The groom wore aribbons of the same colour in the buttonhole of his jacket. Attendants were similar decked, and the attire was worn for thewhole day. Mgr. Joseph-Octave Plessis, JDVD, in LFDC, 1865, vol.3, p. 229. (Le Foyer canadien). 23. The Acadian wedding dinnerwas held with the bride's parents and included lavish dishes, thesinging of customary bridal songs, and a dance, the last led by thenewlyweds. At midnight the couple shook hands with everyoneand left for bed. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 487. 24. The Acadian"shivaree" took place under extraorinary circumstances; summerand winter marriages, the loss of a longtime bachelor, or in thecase of a widower thought to have marriaed too soon after theloss of his previous wife: In this case, after the couple had retiredthey 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 severalweeks. It did not traditionally end until the sleepless newly-wedsappeared offering rum or other refreshmentd to their tormenters. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 487.

The proscription against May as a month for weddings has to dowith former festivities of the Beltane, which were practiced onMay Eve by various British tribesmen. The relic known as the May-tree, or May-pole, is assuredly a phallic symbol of lapsed fertilitycults. In other times, this was considered the eve of summer, the

only other recognized season being winter. At the fire-festivalmale and female representatives of the pagan gods indulged inritual sex for the good of the land, and the common folk wereencouraged to follow this example. In those days, the peasantryhad little energy for romantic love, and May Day couplings wereusually a matter of chance. Impregnation was not usual, but it didhappen, therefore "love-matches" were discouraged in a periodwhere there was the chance that children might be born withcharacteristics unlike those of the male parent. If the femalemenustrated at the end of May, a match during June wasconsidered of good omen. Wednesday was considered propitiousby all Teutonic tribesmen, who worshipped Woden, after whom theday was named. Monday was sacred to the Anglo-Saxon goddessMonan, a deity of the moon and healing, and thus a fairly safe timefor unions. Tuseday was devoted to Tyr, the god of war andagriculture, and wealth. Thor's day, or Thurday, was a stormy timebecause he was the god of thunder and lightning, and thosemarried on his day were thought certain to fight. Freya's day, orFriday, was formerly considered very propitious, but only amongthose of Teutonic background. As for Saturday, it was first knownas Laugardag, or Loki's day, after the god of fire. When he fellfrom grace, even among pagans, the day was renamed, not afterSaturn, the Roman god, but for Sataere, the "thief in ambush", anagricultural deity who appears to be a another personification ofLoki. It has been noted that no shrines were erected to Loki, the"playman", thus this was "no day at all", a period without religioussignificance, but an unlucky time since it was associated with thegod of the southern wind, heat, humidity, volcanic fire and summerstorms and whirlwinds. Marriages which happened to take placeon a sunny day were considered blessed by the sun, or day god. In Ireland he was called Crom, in Wales Hu, in Scotland Aod, andCornwall, Cernu, and throughout Scandinavia as Frey. The latterrode the golden bristled boar named Gullin-bursti, a personificationof the sun. The sun gods were considered to have taught manthe arts of agriculture and scattered fruits and flowers whereverthey travelled. Their radiant beams of light were seen to raise

crops and it was generally considered that they had the samebeneficent effect on animals and people. Thus those married on asunny day might expect a fertile union and many children. Blackwas the colour of the garb worn by various deities of death (e.g.the Scandinavian goddess Hel) and to wear clothing so colouredwas to ask for the attention of some dark lord or lady. In formertimes, the most important aspect of marriage was sexual fertilty,since couples hoped for large numbers of male offspring whocould aid them farming. Seeds which were seen to sprout after awinter of rest were thought to contain the earth spirit. Whenbridal couples were pelleted with seeds it was the intention thatsome of this energy might be transmitted to them, promoting theirfertility. Rice and surrogate seeds, in the form of confetti, are thelast in a long line of missiles used for this purpose. As notedelsewhere, the dog is closely associated with witch familiars and issometimes identified as a form preferred by the Devil. Howlingdogs were therefore taken as an ill omen. Most of the othermarriage superstitions are straight forward, but the business ofthe male mate being first to remove the wedding ring hinges onthe old belief that a major artery connected the ring finger withthe heart of the woman. If the ring was removed by a stranger itwas suspected that the love-spirit might be drained off throughthis finger.

mast-moneySympathetic Magic: 1. "Money was put under the masts of shipswhen being built to bring prosperity. Creighton, BM, p. 119. 2."...a five dollar gold piece was put where the mast was steppedinto the kelson, for luck..." Creighton, BM, p. 119.

Gold was the passion of Ran, goddess over those who died atsea. Because she lined her halls with gold, which was their solesource of light, she was frequently called the "flame of the sea". Noting phospheresence at sea, sailors said that this was the lightof these caverns reflected to the surface. Those who embarkedon the "ocean-sea" as opposed to various "inland-seas" always

carried gold or some precious mineral on their person in case theirship went down and they were forced to bargain with Ran fordecent treatment. In time it became the custom to place thismetal under the mast, where it could not be stolen. Mast moneyhad the additional property of turning away sea-serpents byspreading a net of invisibilty below the ship. In latter days base-coinage of copper, brass, and iron was substituted for gold andsilver with no difference in effecxt,

May1. Because of the nature of the weather usual to this month it waslabelled "up May hill month". 2. The first snowfall of the month wasthought medicinal for sore eyes, ear aches and the like. TheAcadians collected and melted down several bottles of "Maywater" for this purpose.

May DaySympathetic Magic: 1. "It is a custom among Catholic farmers tosprinkle their cattle with holy water early in the morning of thisday... (In addition), the hair on the backs of the animals is singedwith the flame of a blessed candle. These ceremonies are toavert the influence of the Evil Eye." Folk Medicine: 2. Snow thatfell 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 curefor sore eyes." 3. In Pomquet, Antigonish County May Day waterwas collected on May Eve, before sunset from a brook with abucket placed so that the mouth stood back to the water current.Water thus collected was said to remain fresh for many years andwas a useful cure-all. Fraser, FONS, p. 103. 4. It was consideredbad luck to give anything away on the first day of May. "On thefirst day of May, Give nothing away." Creighton, FOLC, p. 23. 5. "AMay day visit could be an unsettling experience in Margaree (N.S.)where the first living thing (from) "off the property" to enter afarmhouse would get doused with hot water. Visitors thought itprudent to shove a dog, cat or rabbit in ahead of them to be

ducked." 6. May Day Cakes (called bannoch Bealltain in Gaelicdistricts) were marked with a cross on one side and a circle onthe other. These were rolled down hillsides on Beltane morning inthe 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 ofthe fire of the Bael. "Bael" or "Baile" was a general description forvarious local gods, and is preserved in numerous British placenames, 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 ofthe hag-goddess). The extinguishing of all fire and the renewal ofa single sacred flame, which was scattered to re-light the hearthfires was an essential rite of Beltane eve. In addition the Celtsused to build two adjacent fires and herd their cattle throughsmoke and the singing flame to drive off disease and protectagainst witchcraft. Using a "holy candle" to this same purpose is asimplified variant of rites which gone but not forgotten. In earliertimes humans and animals were burnt in the flames so that theirspirits could return to, and rejuvenate the soil. To this end theirashes were scattered over the fields, and in line with recent localpractice, water or ashes collected from these fields wasconsidered potent with spirits. Spirits of good, and ill, were allunbound at this season. Those who received any token on thisday, considered their destiny implicit within it. To give away sucha talisman was to give away luck. Additionally, people believedthey were especially prone to be weakened by gift-giving at thistime, when spirits of evil might seize upon any object formerly incontact with a person to gain control of that individual.

May Eve

mensesSympathetic Magic: To swim while menstruating invited insanity,since the blood "would go to the brain."

All body openings were considered possible exit routes for thecontrolling spirit, and potential entry routes for evil spirits. Theloss of blood was always feared, even when the cause wasnatural. Essential spirit was thought lost to the body in bleedingand the person was thought open to acts of witchcraft or invasionby devils or demons. Not much was known concerning anatomy,and country folk were convinced that invasive water-spirits wereimplicated in diseases formerly classed as "brain-fever".

mentukMagic Race: "Mn'tu'k are Persons, entities who do not need totake form, although they can and do. as it pleases them. Theworld shimmers with their presence. Abenaki creatures, similar tothe European god-spirits.

mercurySympathetic Magic: Mercury was sometimes placed in holesdrilled in the wooden sills of animal barns to protect animals fromsupernatural harm. After placement, this heavy liquid metal waspegged into place.

Mercury, or quicksilver, had a shadowy reputation because of itscolour, liquid state, extreme weight per unit of volume andexcessive cohesion. Peasants who saw rounded balls of thisstrange metal, noted the reflective surface, and said that witches,spirits and devils would be diverted after seeing their repulsiveimages in it.

mickeleen

MicaremeThe Acadian mid-Lent. "On that day, children, young people andsometimes even married couples would dress up in costumesprepared several days before in any of countless fashions. Theywould wear homemade masks, often woolen stockings with holescut for eyes, nose and mouth. Thus costumed and armed with

sticks, they would go about, alone and in groups, from house tohouse. The game consisted of escaping recognition, while makinggestures, dancing, and even speaking, in an assumed voice...Insome parts of Acadia, the mid-Lent celebrants distributed candyto chgildren, who were allowed to eat it on that day. In someparts of Prince Edward Island and the magdelen Islands, Mid-Lentwas an opportunity to collect gifts for the poor. MId-Lent wasoriginally a single day, and later two days...Today this tradition hasdisappeared except in the Cheticamp region of Cape BretonIsland, Daigle, TAOTM, p. 493.

mickeramSympathetic Magic: Also (for French-speakers) Mi-Careme. Afestival held a mid-Lent in Acadian and some Irish communities. Gerorges Arsenault described it as having some of the elementsof belsnicking or mummery: Traditionally each family had itsparticular mummer who appeared at the door in disguise at dusk. The role was normally taken by an elder member of the family whowrapped himself in blankets and carried a a long pole a cane and asack. The latter he laid on the floor and motioned children to taketheir pick of the treats it contained. Through the rest of the yearbad children were threatened with abduction by the mickeleen andit was rumoured he would take his rod or cane to those who hadbeen bad.

mikumwessMagical People: The resident "little people" of the Abenaki werecalled 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 oftransporting someone through the air." Carole Spray, WOTW, p.53. "The mikumwesuk are beautiful and strong - flute-playerswhose music enchants. Male and female, they appear to humanslost in the woods. They themselves are thought to have oncebeen People, having become throough Power the ultimate

realization of human potential...Time runs differently in amikumwesu wigwam: one night with them, and a year has passed inthe camps of the people..." Whitehead, SFTSW, p. 6. Theequivalent of the sidh, elfs or fairies.

milkSympathetic Magic: As a countercharm against the witching ofcows, milk was boiled with pins in it and then discarded, aprocedure thought to "prick" the witch.

For the witch to influence the milk of the cow, it was assumed thatshe had to project some part of her spirit into the animal. If thecow gave milk, some of the witch-spirit was necessarily passedinto the milk bucket. If the milk was boiled, the heat wassympathetically transferred back through the witch familiar withinthe cow to the witch who lay at home abed. If pins were jiggledabout in the boiling milk, they moved similarly within the witch-woman. Made aware of heat and pricking, the witch was forced tocall upon the person posing the countercharm hoping for reliefby the granting of a favour. If the this favour was refused threetimes then the original charm was broken and the witch was atthe complete mercy of her tormenter, who could lerave off, or boilher to death.

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

ministerSympathetic Magic: Priests and ministers were never invitedaboard a ship for the maiden voyage, and their presence wasavoided 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 underseagod-spirits, known as the Fomors in Gaelic parts and the Vana inScandinavia. These creatures possesssed the evil-eye, shape-changing abilities, and a taste for people, raw, boiled or fried. Thesea-people were very protective of their domain and dislikedvisiting "missionaries" whether pagan or Christian. If they spotteda priest or minister aboard a ship they were likely to raise a stormin which all hands might be lost.

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

Women have been traditionally associated with the warriorHagedisis 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 andwould carefully exclude ore samples from their view.

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

Ancient peoples distinguished between their internal and theirexternal soul. The former was usual present in the human exceptduring sleep anmd at death. The latter wandered was a shadowman or runner. Some believed that the shadow was the runner,as were reflections, whether seen in water or a mirror. Thereflection-soul living apart from the human soul with which it wasborn, was always at hazard. Some people would not look into darkpools thinking that water-spirits might catch and kill their external-

soul thus killing their internal-soul. Since some rather unsurleyspirits were known to be abroad after dark, our ancestorsavoided mirrors at that time for exactly the same reason. Incidentally, this explains the common local custom of coveringmirrors 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 beabout and capture an external soul of the living through a mirrorimage. Sir James Fraser noted that he met persons in the west ofScotland who refused to have their photograph taken, citing "thecases of several friends who never had a day's health after beingphotographed." The tearing of a photograph or the breaking ofan image-beraing mirror was taken as an evil omen, since it wasthought that fragmentation of the human mind or body had tofollow. See also mercury.

moleSympathetic Magic: Moles were incapable of crossing a road, andwould 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 ofher binding required that she could only travel across boundariesby moving underground.

MondaySympathetic Magic: 1. Work commenced on Monday would expandto fill the week. 2. Those who spent money on Monday wouldhave an outflow through the remaining days of the week. 3. Those who received gifts or money on Monday would have similarpresents 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 fullydevoted to religious rites, and the adverb "Mondayish" wasfrequently 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 inlength. Backcountrymen were put to great effort to attendservices and and thus in no condition to begin a major project atthe first of the week. Since they were not mentally alert, theirsuperstitions warned them against making deals and spendingmoney on "Blue Monday". Those who received gifts or money onthis day were once thought favoured of the moon goddess,named Samh in Gaelic mythology.

moonSympathetic Magic, Divination: 1. Crops tend to grow more lavishlyduring the "waxing" of the moon, crops ripening as much by moonas by sunlight; 2. A farmer would not kill an animal at the waning ofthe moon, but would wait until the increase; 3. Girls would only cuttheir hair on the waning of the moon, "otherwise it would grow toofast". 4. To see the new moon over the left shoulder was badluck, but good when seen over the right; 5. Wishes made onseeing the new moon came true provided one had an object inhand at the sighting and made the Sign of the Cross. Fraser,FONS, p. 30. 5. Observing the new moon through glass wasconsidered bad luck. 6. Those who saw the moon through glasswere advised to go outside and bow three times to it. 7. Whenthe phase of the moon altered on a Sunday and there was no rainin the following week, rain had to come before sundown onSaturday. 8. Pickle rose on sauerkraut during the fullness of themoon. 9. Alder brush could be permanently eradicated bycutting it following the waning of the "bad" moon in August. 10. Awet 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 ofwater and dry days were said to lie ahead. 10. "The women werealways eager to have a man point out the new moon to them, forthey were certain it brought good luck." MacNeil, THHINS, p. 84. 11. The hair of witches might turn into snakes under the influenceof the moon. 12. On first sighting the new moon people were

advised to view it over the left shoulder at the same time pickingup whatever happened to underfoot. The following was recited: "New moon and moon of truth, Tell me without falsehood in whatdirection my true love lies. The clothes he wears and the colourof his hair." After this, the stick or rock was taken home andplaced beneath the pillow. "...according to the belief you wouldsee your future love in a dream." MacNeil, TUD, p.204.

From the Anglo-Saxon pagan-goddess "Monas", whose namederives from eastern words, initially used to measure periods oftime. In Britain, as elsewhere, the full moon was taken as the basefor a lunar calendar, which is now defunct. "Moon" is confluent withthe words "measure, month, Monday" and "menses". It wasobserved that the moon grew in size, or waxed, and at othertimes diminished, or waned. Any kind of plant or animal growthwas 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 sufferwasting diseases while still in the womb. Left-handed viewing ofthe moon revealled an attachment to the Devil, which see. Seeingit through glass allowed the same damaging potential as seeingobjects in a mirror after dark. Celtic time was based on thephases of the moon, their weeks, months and periodic thirtyyears' cycles being dated from the sixth day after the waxing ofthe new moon. A "bad" moon was that which came just before thefire-festival known as the Lunastain (literally night of the blood-stained moon. During these rites the elder or alder people, whowere 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 tointerfere with their future reproductive capacity, and this held foralder trees, the totems of the elle-folk. "There is a great deal ofethnological evidence to show that witchcraft is athing bestowedby the moon either directly, or through the intermediary opfsnakes." Eliade, PICR, p. 168.

moneySympathetic Magic: 1. To spend money on Moday morning meantan outflow of cash through the remainder of the week. Creighton,FOLC, p. 20. 2. Money which had been found was never givenaway as this "gave away your luck". Creighton, FOLC, p. 21. 3. Tothrow a cent overboard would cause the wind to rise. 3. A pursehad to contain at least a single coin if the individual was receiveadditional funds. 4. Purses given as presents were alwaysequipped with a penny. 5. Those who gave sharp or pointedobjects as presents always asked a penny in return. 6. When thetwo dollar bill was new they were often refused as habringers ofbad luck. 6. Money placed in the four corners of the house woulddrive off witches and other evil spirits. 8. Some peopleconsidered it good luck to carry a coin bearing their birth date. 9.Turning up a coin with a plow was considered unluckly. The usualcountercharm was to spit of both sides before pocketing it. 10.Bent coins and those found with a hole in them were thought tobe lucky. 11. Tossing a coin into water brought good luck (e.g.the fountain at Market Square, Saint John, which was diassembledbecause of the monthly pile-up and drainage problems.) 12. In afew places coins were placed on the eyelids of the dead. 13. Asmall child who refused a coin from an adult was thought destinedto become a spendthrift and reckless with money.

See moon and Monday for an explantion of the first superstitionmentioned above. Found money was considered a talisman givenby the gods as a symbol of favour, and not to be given away. Base metals were disliked by the sea gods, who would raise thewind against those who threw iron or copper into their realm. THeland-fay also disliked these metals and thus placing them within thefour corners of a home protected it against evil. The giving of apenny had similar symbolism. Knives, scissors and other sharpobjects might cut the shadow-man of the giver or receiverleading to back luck or death, a possibilty countered by crossingthe path of the gift with a coin as an omen of good luck. Theword "two" relates to "deuce" from the old Teutonic word "Tiu" or

"Diu", their god of war. His name is now encountered in Tuesdayand in the Anglo-Saxon "deoful", full of Deo, Tiu, or Tyr. The latterword is now preserved as "devil".

moss peopleMagic Race: The moss or woods people were said to be two tothree feet in height, and so well camouflagued in moss andgrasses as to be indetectable. Their faces were old andfurrowed, their bodies hairy and their skin gray. Old-timers saidthat they spun the "Spanish" moss which hung from trees. Themales were reclusive and bad tempered but the femalessometimes dressed in the conventional clothing of the district andoffered farm-help in return for human baking or the mending oftheir pots and pans. They had the ability to become invisible andcreate vortexes of wind in the forest. Combining these forcesthey sometimes disconcerted human travellers by drawingtogether sticks and bits of greenery into a temporary assembly ofmonstrous proportions. Most people fled from these creations,which Indians sometimes called the "moosewood-man". Thiscreature was similar to the sea-weed man reported by HelenCreighton. Those who maintained their courage and approachedthese beasts found that they disassembled into a harmless pile ofplant life.

These people were well-known in Europe where they were calledthe Moswyfjes among the Flemish, the Lohjungfern by Germans,and the Finzweiberl among Bavarians. All agreed that they hadknowledge of the medicinal value of plants, could promote thegrowth of crops by dancing in the fields and sometimes giftedhumans with gold which they produced from transmutated leaves. "They were even generous with complete strangers, leaning downfrom their tree-nests to hand them a ball of yarn. No matter howmany sweaters are knitted from this wool, it will never come to anend." Arrowsmith, AFGTTLP, p. 178.

movementSympathetic Magic: Witches were capable of casting spells orloosing charms which prevented animals from moving.

movingSympathetic Magic: People who changed residences were advisedagainst transporting salt, a cat, or a broom.

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

In other times, alcoholic beverages were restricted to ritual use atthe time of the pagan fire-festivals. "Strong drink" and its magicaldistortions of time and place were associated with god-spirits,little people, witches and devils, who could be propitiated withofferings of drink. In British tradition, many of the paganceremonies commenced with the pouring of a libation upon theground, the first drink going to a nature-spirit.

muin wapskwMagic Race: The Abenaki "white bear", whose flesh was fatal tomankind. Whitehead has noted that the polar bear concentratesVitamin A in its liver to an extent that the organ is deadly wheneaten by humans. In addition this bear is frequently parasitized bythe trichina worm, whose consumption may lead to a painful death.The power of any animal in Indian legend is emphasized bydescribing it as white. The pole pole star formation, which in ourlegend is sometimes called the Great Bear, is named "muin" inAbenaki and has the same connotations. The adjacent little bearis similarly labellled as "muinjij". Like Europeans, the Indiansobserved that the Great Bear revolved about "oqwatnukeweykloqoej", the North Star, which appeared immobile in the sky andwas considered the focus of great power.

mummerSympathetic Magic: A guiser, janney, belsnicker or sandy. SeeOld Christmas. These people disguised themselves and made"house-visits". The host was often required to guess the identityof these neighbours, who expected to receive food or money inreturn for "entertainment."

nailSympathetic Magic: 1. White spots on the nail of the little fingerpointed to a journey. 2. In Acadian villages the nails of a new-bornchild were not clipped until a year after birth.

In Europe, as in America, the spirit of the individual was thought todrain away by degrees as hair and nails were clipped from thebody, the final result being old age and death. A child wasincapable of controlling his spirit, it was thus thought wise to avoidcutting his hair for at laest one year. Otherwise, it was thoughtthat his genie, or wits, might escape, leaving him an idiot.

nameWonder Work: A man with more than two Christian names wasuntrustworthy and unlikely to advance in his profession. "I wasbrought to be christened befor I could speak; so I cannot accountfor this terrible freak: My motherand father were both of onemind, 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 thehandle 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 Chipmanrecounted by Spray. WOTW, p. 10. Sympathetic Magic: Tounintentionally mention an individual's name meant that the distantindividual was thinking of the speaker. 11. Acadian children wereoften named after the saint of their birth day or were given a

Biblical name. "These given names were the only ones used inAcadian circles. The family name was used for correspondence,official papers and outsiders. In order to distinguishone personfrom another of the same name, they added that of the father oreven his grandfather: Pierre a Jacques a Thomas etc." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 479. 12. Given names were the only ones used inpolite socirty.

H.A. Guerber has written that the god Odin "had no less than twohundred names, almost all descriptive of some phase of hisactivities." This is only partly the case; as fraser notes: "...thefurtive savage conceals his real name because he fears thatsorcerers might make evil use of it, so he fancies also that hisgods must likewise keep their true names secret, lest other godsor even men should learn the mystic sounds and thus be able toconjure with them..." On this basis, pagans employed manypseudo-names for themselves and their gods, hence the abovesuperstition. It was assumed that shadow-men or forerunnerscommunicating with men brought indidividual names to humantongues by direct sympathetic magic.

neck

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

As mentioned elsewhere base metals, such as copper, iron andsteel had a part in the defeat of the fay-people, and werethroughly disliked by them. Pointed needles could prick people,so it was assumed they could also prick the shadow-men orfamiliars of the witch and fairy world. To be effective the points

had to face outward against the enemy rather than inward, wherethey might impinge the external spirits of the human inhabitants. Pins placed in bewitched milk fell into a liquid containing some ofthe familiar-spirit of the witch. Pricking this virtual individual, thepain was passed back to the controlling witch causing her pain.

New Year's Eve1. "After 12 o'clock on New Year's look in the mirror and you willsee the man you are going to marry." Creighton, FOLC, p. 17. Sympathetic Magic: 2. Belsnicking took place through the entireYuletide 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 foodand drink. After New Year's these disguised people changed theirblack costumes for white and carried guns in order "to fire the oldyear out and the New Year in." A former participant said that thevisitors sang a song at each home, which translated from Germanas 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 fireSo we will blast away!

In some parts, New Year's Eve was referred to as Old Year'sNight, New Year's being reserved to the time following twelvemidnight. Creighton, FOLC, pp. 59-60. 3. Children born on thisevening were never dressed in white. 4. It was consideredunwise to turn away the first carollers who appeared on NewYear's Eve. 5. It was thought that calendars should never behung before the eve of the New Year. 6. People who sewed onNew Year's were likely to sew throughout the remainder of theyear. 7. For good luck the "first-footer" should be a dark-haired

man carrying coal and a potatoe. Women and light-haired menwere considered an omen of bad luck. 8. Cattle knelt and prayedon New Year's Eve at exactly twelve o'clock. Creighton, BM, p.134. See also, cattle and Christmas. 9. In Acadian Cape Bretonthe final hours of this evening were marked by a tradition called"beating out the old year". "During the evening, young men wouldarm themselves with sticks, and in groups of three or four,approach someone's house. Once there, on a signal, they wouldpound their sticks heavily on various parts of the house,preferably near the areas where the girls would be. The peopleof the house would jump at every blow. One of the group wouldwatch through the window for the master of the house. If hebecame angry and seemed about to come outside, the groupwould beat a hasty retreat and begin again somewhere else. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 499. 10. Acadian adults stayed up untilmidnight playing cards and singing. At midnight they wentoutdoors and shot off rifles, a traditiona called "burying the oldyear". Those present would afterwards shake hands and wish oneanother 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 "OidhcheChallainn" or "Hogmanay", considered it part of the fire-festivalnamed 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. TheGaelic names for the eve of Old New Year's translate as the "Nightof Servant of the Dog" and "The Hog Man's Time". Festivities werenever restricted to Britain, the "Belsnickel" being decidedlyTeutonic and traditionally taking place near mid-winter. It has beensuggested that differences in timing are due to the fact that theCelts were a herding people, whose year was divided, simply, intowinter and summer. Their Samhainn marked the end of thesamhradh (ride of the moon-goddess "Samh") and the beginning ofthe rule of her alter-ego, the "Cailleach bheur", or winter-hag. Innorthern 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 toagricultural societies, where a chief event of the year was theseeming return of the sun to the winter sky. The Scandinaviansand the Germans therefore celebrated the beginning of their yearfollowing the eve of "Mother Night" (December 23) rather than onthe evening of October 31. To get away from paganconnotations, the Christians named this latter, All Saint's Eve or AllHallow's Eve, now abbreviated to Hallowe'en. The superstitions ofNew Year's Eve have become confounded with those of Hallowe'ensince all of Britain eventually agreed on on January 1 as the firstday of each new year.

Sir James Fraser says that religious processions always took placeat New Year's, "some worshipful animal being killed; and before orimmediately after death he is promenaded from door to door, thateach of his worshippers may receive a portion of the divinevirtues that are supposed to enamte from the dead or dying god."He thinks the rite formerly "had a great place in the rites ofEuropean peoples during prehistoric times." A survival in folk-custom, which he mentions, was still practiced in the highlands ofScotland during his lifetime: "On the last day of the year, orHogmanay as it was called, it used to be customary fora m,an todress himself up in a cow's hide and thus attired go from house tohouse, attended by ypoung fellows each armed with a staff, towhich a bit of raw hide was tied. Round each hose the hide-cladman used to run deiseal, that is according to the course of thesun (but presumably widdershins in pagan times?)...the otherspursued him, beating the hide with their staves and therebymaking a loud noise like the beating of a drum. In this disorcerlyprocession, they also struck the walls of the house. On beingadmitted, one of the party, standing within the thresholdpronounced a blessing on the family...Then each of the partysinged 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 wasimagined to secure them from diseases and witchcraft, throughout

the ensuing year."

This ceremony was probably the transition between old pagansacrificial rites and Atlantic Canada's practice of belsnicking.There is little question of the name of the god propitiated in theTeutonic version of Hogmanay. "bels" is the equivalent of theGaelic "beal", which indicates any local god. "Nick" is universallyrecognized by folklorists as an abbreviation for "Nicolaus", anEddaic name for Odin or Wuotan. This particular "nick" wassometimes identified as "old nick", or even, slightingly, as "old saintnick" to distinguish him for the more socially acceptible Good SaintNick, who has become Santa Claus (the latter word is anabbreviation of Nicolaus). Whatever he is called, the "jolly old elf"remains associated with a very pagan season and is clearly theoffspring of a pagan god-spirit. The individual belsnickles, whoonce imitated their god, were always a noisy crowd, intent ondriving off witches. In old Selesia it was reported that: "...onChristmas and New Year's Eve they fire shots over fields andmeadows, into shrubs and trees, and wrap straw around the fruittrees to prevent the spirits from doing them harm. Thebelsnicklers of Lunenburg, N.S. do not admit to this mission, but inBohemia lads used to pour out of their homes on Saint Sylvester'sDay, form themselves into circles, and pepper the landscape withshot, a process they referred to as "Shooting the Witches".

As for children born in this period refraining from the wearing ofwhite: It may be recalled that witches, fairies, and the gods allwore white undergarments, and presumably those so dressedwere endangered, since "like begets like". Since the "first-footer"on New Year's Eve was a representative of an important god, itwas, and is, bad luck to refuse him entry. The Celts naturallyfavoured dark-haired gods, since they had so much trouble withthe light-haired viking gods and their adherents.

New Year's DaySympathetic 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, shakehands and wish one another "a good and happy new year andparadise at the end of your days". The same ritual was repeatedwith neighbours and friends met at church and while visiting." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 490. 3. "One of the finest of traditionsconsisted of forgiving one another for past wrongs, of seekingreconciliation with anyone with whom one had quarrelled." JeanClaude Dupont, HDA, p. 278. 4. It was considered wise to greetthis day wearing new clothing, since this would ensure that onewould have attire throughout the year. 5. The day was one forgiving 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 abucket of cold water or with antagonistic shouts. Knowing thisthe Celts used to carry along a small dog or cat to serve as ascapegoat. 7. The first fire of the morning had to be kept alivethrough the day or misfortune followed. 8. Nothing was to leavethe 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-hairedmale visitor was always hoped for, a bachelor being preferredover a married man. In Acadia, "a fairly common superstitionrequired that the first visitor to enter a house be a person of themale sex. Sometimes this meant paying the neighbour's boy a fewpence to come in first in order to avoid having a woman do so, forif she did, it was the popular belief that she would bring bad luckto the family." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 490. 10. To have bare cupboardson this day suggested an impoverished year. 11. This was a dayfor visiting. Guests were served spruce beer, homemade wine orimported rum from the West Indies.

nightSympathetic Magic: It was unlucky to set a table after dusk.

"Ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties" as well as vikingmarauders used to be abroad after dark, so sensible people didnot attract the attention of wandering spirits by setting out foodwhere it might be detected by shadow men.

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

nineNumerology: After nine days a drowned corpse would surface.

"Nine is a number of completeness and high achievement becauseit is the last and the highest of the series from 1 to 9. A humanchild is normally born nine months after conception. Nine alsomarks the transition from the lesser set to a higher sequence andis therefore the number of initiation. Initiation rituals frequentlytook the the form of a mock "death" followed by "rebirth". Cavendish, TU. p. 167.

noseSympathetic Magic: 1. An itchy nose indicated a stranger mightbe expected. If the itch was on the right nostril, a man; the left, awoman. 2. "An itchy nose...meet a stranger, kiss a fool or be indanger."

Unexplained sensations in the human body were attributed to thepresence of the home shadows or runners, invisible presencesrepresenting the external spirits of men, fairies and god-spirits. Forerunners might knock on the walls of the house, or swing onthe door, to announce the approach of the human, who was theirbirth-mate. If this didn't draw attention they might tickle the

nostril of the house-holder. Woman were traditionally associatedwith the kin of Tyr, the left-handed god of war, thus an itch of theleft nostril led one to expect a woman. The stranger at the doorfrequently represented danger in days gone by.

oakSympathetic Magic: See also acorn

oathSympathetic Magic: The oath was a verbal promise made in thename of a god-spirit, or reverenced symbol, an immutabledeclaration. The oath was a self-directed promise as opposed tothe curse, which hoped to heap danger and illness upon someenemy. The forms might be similar, for example a farmer mightshout, "Go to hell!" to instigate a curse, but say,"I promise by thegoddess Hel to..." A few examples of the oath: "By the powers ofdelft (death)... By the holy cross...By the cross of Christ...By theblessed iron...By the blessed and holy iron... By the contents of allthe books in the world... By the stool I'm sitting on...By the pipe inmy hand...

The oath was once taken as a serious pronouncement with evilconsequences if the promise was left unkept. Yule-tide oath-making was done in Europe over the cooked corpse of "the boarof atonement" (representing the sacrificed god, Frey). The eldermale of each family was expected to appear in public at the Yulefeast, place his hand on the sacred dish and swear that he wouldbe faithful to his clan and family and fulfill certain statedobligations. The example of the king and his nobles was followedby all present, ending with those of low rank. All oaths concludedwith a toast to Thor, Bragi and Frey, the chief gods of this season.Bragi was the god of poetry, eloquence and song, and poets werecalled the bragamen and bragawomen, the toasts being containedin a ship-shaped vessel named the bragaful. As oath-takingproceeded it was not unusual for the guests to make extravagantvows, which some regretted in the morning. From Yule oath-taking

we have the expressive English verb, "to brag". Considering theconsequence of unguarded bragging, the northern Europeansdeveloped the art of the mock-oath. Several inconsequentialoaths appear in the list of local phrases, although few Maritimersare aware of origins or significance. To swear "by the cross" waslegitimate and made more powerful by crossing the forefingers ofthe two hands. To swear "by the five crosses" while crossing allthe fingers of the hands as well as the thumbs was subterfugeand the oath-taker a knave. Pagans seldom used oaths such as"by the tree of Thor" or by "Odin's runes" without solemnity andthe same held for Christians when they swore "by the cross ofChrist" reinforcing this visually by crossing two straws or twosticks. The Celts considered iron magically dangerous and fewthieves would steal it. As we note above, the metal is used toimplicate the truth of a statement. Iron swords were carried bythose who defeated the little people of Britain and weresymbols of the gods Tyr, or Saxnot, a god of war and agriculture. The Saxons undoubtly swore "by the blessed iron!" with convictionbut the Cymric-speakers and the Gaels were probably luke-warm inusing it as an oath. If the circumstance of oath-taking was amatter 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 theword "never" into an oath in place of "ever", thus negating an oathsuch as, "I swear by all the gods that were ever known."

Old Christmas1. Also called Old Yule, Yearmas, Epiphany or Three King's Day,preceeded by the Night of the Bean, Yearmas Eve, orTwelfth Night, January fifth, the last day of Christmas-tide, wasthe final day for taking down Christmas decorations if bad luck wasto be avoided. 2. Mistletoe could not be hung before the start ofYule, and was best fed to the first cow calved in the New Year. Itwas good for a stolen kiss throughout the Yuletide but had to beburned no later than this night or else all who kissed under it

became enemies. 3. In some places it was customary to bake acake containing a ring and a button. The person who found thebutton was predicted to remain unwed in the coming year, whilethe individual who got the button was said headed for matrimony.

The Gospels say nothing of the nativity of Christ, andconsequently the early Church did not celebrate his birthday. Christians in Egypt came to the conclusion that the sixth ofJanuary was the Nativity, and this date became entrenched in theeast. At the end of the fourth century, the western Church, whichhad never recognized this date, adopted December twenty-fifthas the true date, and in time "Old Christmas" was abandoned bythe eastern wing. A Christian writer said: "It was a custom of theheathen to celebrate on the twenty-fifth of December the birthdayof the sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. Inthese solemnities...the Christians also took part. Accordinglywhen the doctors of the Church perceived that Christains had aleaning to this festivity, they took counsel and resolved that thetrue Nativity should be solemnised on that day and the festival ofEpiphany on the sixth of January. Accordingly, along with thiscustom, the practice has prevailed of kindling fires until the sixth." Fraser, TGB, p. 417. This writer speaks of pagan celebrations atRome, but the fire-festival was widespread throughout Europe. Inthe north this same period was named the Yule (Wheel) tide, fromthe presumed observation of the sun as a wheel in the sky. Thetwelve days of Yule were especially sacred to the gods Frey andThor, and the month bearing the name "Yule" commenced onDecember twenty-third.Unable to quench this fire festival, the Christian missionariesencouraged drinking to the health of the Lord and this twelveapostles rather than Odin and his twelve gods. In most places theYuletide was a time of liberty when all but criminal laws weresuspended. That changed abruptly when the Night of the Banehad passed. In former times, the "Lord" of the Bane or Bean, whohad been chosen by lot at the beginning of Yule, was eitherbanished or sacrificed for the "benefit" of the land. Consequently

leaving any symbols of the festivities up after their timesuggested law-breaking and was a dangerous oversight. This isthe hidden reason for continuing to remove decorations of theChristmas season by the eve of Old Christmas.

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

Old CootieMagic Race: Another Anglo-Gaelic substitute for Devil. It will benoted that the use of "old" further trivializes the noun which ismodified. The European coot is a duck-like bird which flys in a lowerratic manner. This "old coot" is easily "winged" with stones andis hardly a "game-bird". An inept male human is therefore called"an old coot" and the ultimate parody for the Devil was to bereferred to as the Old Coot.

Old DonaldMagic Race: Also spelled Old Donal. An Anglo-Gaelic designationfor the Devil. The clan Macdonald, Lords of the Isles, were longcontenders with the Stewarts for rule of Scotland. Some sawthem as the Devil-incarnte, hence this nick-name.

Old HagMagic Race: The local name applied to the Scottish Alp or theTeutonic Hag. Edith Fowke says that, "THe "old Hag" refers tobad dreams usually about being chased by an evil creature, andthe feeling of hearing and seeing something come into the room,being pressed on the chest and nearly suffocated, and beingunable to move or cry out... CF, p. 94. She quotes Dr. Hufford assaying that such experiences are widespread and "probablyrelated to narcolepsy."

Old HornieMagic Races: Local name for the Devil. Mother Horn is one ofseveral names given the old northern goddess Freya. Accordingto myth she was the sister of the sun god, Frey, the daughter ofthe sea-god named Niord. She was the goddess of love, but nosoft and pleasure seeking diletante since she frequently led theValkyrs into battle. A goddess of fruitfulness she was central to afertilty cult, which had the cat as a major symbol. The horns ofanimals (particularly the rhinocerous) are still used as aphrodisiacsand "horney" comes down to our time as a word connotatingreadiness for sexual activity. The Christains were very muchopposed to sexual over-kill and neither Freya, nor her brother(who was her consort and mate) were much admired. She wasultimately declared a demon or a witch and was banished to anumber of European mountain-tops. In Germany, Brocken ispointed out as her special residence, and the general trystingpoint for her demon-train, which is unbound upon the land onValpurgisnacht. The swallowe, cuckoo and cat were sacred to OldHornie, and these creatures were all supposed to have haddemoniacal attributes. Further, to this day, coal black cats areidentified as the familiars of witches. At the old fire-festivals, thecentral figure, representative of the god or goddess wasfrequently dressed in skins and wore a headpiece which sproutedhorns. The source of this tradition is obvious. The ultimateincarnation of evil was always seen in terms of the matriarchal orpatriarchal nature of a particular society, hence the currenttendency to represent the Devil as masculine. Old ManMagic Race: Uncapitalized this is a means of identifyingany father-figure. Those in authority are frequently ridiculed behind theirbacks, "old" being a pronoun suggesting waning powers. Theultimate "Old Man" was, of course, the Devil himself.

Old Man of the SeaMagic 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 magicallybound to a portion of the coast. He had something of the natureof a follower repeating the acts and treading in the footsteps ofmen who chanced on his property. If he materialized and turnedto face a person this was considered an omen of death, but heusually satisfied himself with shocking those who were prudish byappearing in the nude. He sometimes acted as an outdoorpoltergeist producing a fearful racket in the brush. Like theBritish hurleywain he liked to pace horse-drawn wagons andautomobiles creating a fearful scene by diving between the tracesor the headlights. When the driver braked not blood or any signof the little man was ever seen. Some of these "old men" liked theprank of rowing an invisible boat toward shore. When men rushedto greet it after hearing the sound of oarlocks and the beaching,nothing was ever found.

Old NickMagic Race: A local name for the Devil. The Nixes, or water-people, inhabitants of lakes and rivers originated in continentalnorthwestern Europe. All traditionally dressed in green andresembled men except for their green pointed teeth. "When anyperson is to be shortly drowned, the Nixes may be previouslyseen dancing on the surface of the water." Keightley, TFM, p.259. This has been claimed as one of the surnames of the godOdin and is preserved in the family name Nixon or Nikkisen. "Allhumans who want to protect themselves from Nixen and River Menshould keep in mind that water elves do not like steel..." Arrowsmith, AFGTTLP, p. 102.

Old ReekieMagic Race: Again, the Devil. The huts of our ancestors werefrequently filled with a "reek", or smoke, since they had no regularflues or chimneys. These unpleasant places reminded the earliestChristian missionaries of Satan's supposed home, hence the abovename.

Old ScratchMagic 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 translationswere made into Old German. In either case reference was made toa house or a woods-spirit. Similar confluent words are found in allEuropean languages and Keightley thinks these are "the origin ofOld Scratch". omenSympathetic Magic: A local designation for any omen of bad luickwas "scriss".

openingsSympathetic Magic: 1. All openings into a house had to be sealedto prevent ghosts, devils and witches from entering, and at leastone exit had to be provided in exorcising them. 2. It was bad luckto create a new opening in an old house.

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

owlSympathetic Magic: 1. "There was a woman at French Village wassupposed to turn herself into a big owl. Some old fellar cut upsilver and put it in his gun and fired at the owl and the nextmorning the woman was all cut up with flesh wounds." Creighton,BM, p. 42. 2. Aowl hooting near a house was considered a signof 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 theinternal soul.

palmistrySympathetic Magic: It was considered unfortunate to attempt toread one's own palm in deducing the future.

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

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

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

pegSympathetic Magic: It was considered technically possible to pega witch to a chair by drilling a hole on the underside and driving a

peg into place while the witch was seated. Unfortunately, fewwitches would remain in plaace for the procedure, disliking theidea of going through life with a chair seat permanently anchoredto their bottom.

Seated people were thought to diffuse some of their spirit to thechair. The external soul, or familiar, of the witch found it difficultto resist entering small openings. Once on the other side it couldbe prevented from returning to the upper side of the chair if apeg was driven into the hole. Since the witch and her familiarstruggled to reunite this left the chair-bottom physicallyentrapped between the internal and the external souls.

PennyroyalFolk Medicine, see abortion.

phantom ship

physic

pinSympathetic 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 andneedles (usually nine in number) were placed in the heart of abewitched animal to "call" a witch. 4. A magical number of pinswas placed in a sod of earth from the pasture as a countercharm where cattle were considered bewitched. This was placed inwater 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 pinsin it. That was done to a woman here (Port Medway, N.S.) and shewas taken with severe headaches. Creighton, BM, p. 40. 6. As acountercharm against the witching of cows, a sod was cut andboiled, along with pins, in a little milk from the afflicted cow orcows. As the craftswoman stirred, she periodically removed pinsand stuck them in the cuff of her dress "to keep the spell off anddirect it into the witch's feet." 7. Pins could be given but never

lent. 8. Brides were cautioned against wearing pins in theirtrousseau. 9. If a pin fell to the ground and stuck upright astranger was expected. 10. To ward of a witch an object filledwith new pins was placed in the chimney way.

Pins were originally made of silver and represented very good luckif they were found on the way. Even steel and iron pins haduntility since their points were thought to prick the external souls,or familiars of witches. Notice that they were frequently boiled inan iron cauldron, a metal very much disliked by god-spirits, devilsand all the fay kind. Where the pins were placed in the heart of ananimal killed by bewitchment it was assumed that witch-spirit hadled to the death. If the heart was taken soon after death, someof this spirit lingered and pricking the heart of the beast wasthought to do the same thing to the witch. Boiling the heartsympathetically caused the witch to fall into a fever. Naturally sheresponded by coming to the farmstead where she attempted toobtain a grace, or favour, thus destroying the countercharm. The use of a sod goes back to the business of taking evil toearth, the evil familiar being absorbed within the turf andsuccumbing to death when it was returned to the earth. Thissymbolic death was believed to reflect on the internal sopul of thewitch, killing her. Notice that the woman who used pins as atalisman directed them away from her own body, since they mightotherwise prick her runner and cause illness. Some practisingwitches wore heart shaped pin-cushions, termed "person-bags" aspart of their costume. When they quarrelled with people theexpression, "I'll stick in a pin for you!" was understood as a potentthreat.

pigSympathetic Magic: l. Some mariners would not transport a pig ona ship's maiden voyage. 2. Pigs were always given a pseudonymat sea, eg. Mr. Dennis, Turf-Rooter, Mr. Gruff, little feller, ringed-tail snorter, junk, hog. 3. It was thought lucky to butcher at leastone 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 ahoodooed woman on the road. Creighton, BM, p. 118. 5. Menwere discharged from vessels for saying "pig" at sea. 6. Canadiansailors had a pig tattoed on the knee during World War II. Inexplanation they said: "A pig on the knee means safety at sea!" 7. "The theory of the pig's heart in witchcraft goes into theswine's being sent into the sea in the Bible. All animals with acloven foot or who chewed the cud are eatable but when thedevils went into the sea, something had to be taken from themand they lost the cud, but they still have the cloven hoof..." Creighton, BM, p. 20. Divination: 8. The spleen removed from adead pig was used to forecast the weather. If the organ wasregularly shaped an "even winter" was expected but if one endwas withered it was assumed that winter would "run out" earlierthan usual.

The origin of the Middle English "pigge" but it is said related to theDanish "big" and the Low German "bigge". All of these words oncehad the sense of "youthful, a creature having great power", laternarrowing as a description for a "young swine". Sir FrancisPalgrave noticed that these are similar to the Swedish "poika", aboy, the Anglo-Saxon, "piga," also a boy, and the Danish "pige", ayoung girl". Thomas Keightley added other related words: TheAnglo-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 creatureswhose names derive from various languages. The word trail islong but leads finally to Loki Lucharman (Playman or Playfellow),the ultimate "pig". The young and powerful Loki was one of thethree elder gods of the north, an elemental, the spirit of fire, hisbrothers being Kari, god of the air and Hler, god of the waters. When his realm was invaded by Odin and his kind he alone wasinvited to join the mortal gods, making thirteen thrones at theirhigh council. While Thor represented hard work and productiveactivity, Loki was the god of fun and games, whose michievous

bent finally led him into evil and malevolence. Loki played animportant role in the creation of man, endowing him with motionand blood and fiery passions. He mated with the giantess Angur-boda producing three nearly uncontrollable offspring: Hel, theFenris wolf and the world-worm named Iormungandr. He stole Sifsgolden hair, was wayward in providing Odin's ransom from dwarfcaptors, and delivered the goddess Idun into the hands of anamorous giant. These indiscretions were overlooked but after hekilled Baldur, the god of the sun, he was banished to theunderworld to await the final end of the Nine Worlds of the North. Although no shrines were erected to this evil god, the last day ofthe week, once known as Laugardag, was sacred to him. TheAnglo-Saxons demoted Loki to the status of god of undergroundfires and renamed his day Saturday, after Sataere, "the thief inambush", a Teutonic agricultural god, who has his roots in theplayfellow. Because Loki was generally disliked, so was his pigfamiliar, and mariners refrained from "speaking of the devil",believing that the mere mention of his name might conjure hispresence. Of course, men of the Royal Navy consideredthemselves the "devil's own, thus their use of a pig tattoo as atalisman against evil happenings at sea.

Trouble with pigs is not restricted to Maritimers. "Amongfishermen of the northeast Scotland, one does not mention pigs atsea. Just as touching wood can prevent evil on land, so at sea ifa pig is mentioned (especially when baiting lines), one touchesiron. Even in Church, it has been reported, whenever the story ofthe Gadarene swine is retold, the stalwart fishermen wopuld reachfor their bootnails and mutter "cauld airn"". Ashley, SPAL, p. 33. An old Scottish grace goes as follows: "Bless the sheep forDavid's sake, he herdit sheep himsel'; Bless the fish for Peter'ssake, he gruppit fish himsel'; Bless the soo (sow) for Satan'ssake, he was yince (once) a soo himsel'." KIng Jame's proposedbanquet for the Devil was "a loin of pork, a poll of ling, with a pipeof tobacco for the digestion."

pismireMagic Race: "A spoil sport or meddler", Pratt, DOPEIE, p. 113. Arude designation applied contemptuously and not used in politeconversation.

Appears to relate directly to piss+mire, the latter being an archaicname 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 theGaelic pishrogue.

pochanMagic Race: Local designation for a small boy. Usually usedaffectionately. DOPEIE, p. 114. Possibly related to the OF"pochier", to thrust, dig at, or interfere with others; a brat; but aslikely to be a mispronounciation of bogan, a synonym forbogeyman.

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

poplarSympathetic Magic: "A camp built of popple wood was bad luck

because Christ's cross was made of popple." Spray, WOTW, p. 4.

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

This is another instance of the use of Christian symbols as pagantalismen.

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

All of the above superstitions are based on the old geometricaxiom that "things which are equal to the same thing are equal toone another." In the case of #5 it was assumed that the child wasmarked by falling suddenly downward in the womb, thus the womanwould try to catch him before fright did damage. A child born withteeth in place was considered precocious and thus likely to have

genius in the use of language.

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

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

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

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

rainSympathetic Magic: 1. Rain on the flood, will come in a scud; butwith rain on the ebb, stay safely in bed." 2. "When wind blowsfrom the south; rain rises from the mouth." 3. "On July 15, if Marygoes 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, willbring the rain upon his head." 5. "Rainbow at night, sailor'sdelight; rainbow in morning, sailor's take warning!". 6. If the panon the stove boiled dry rain was implicit. 7. To promote rain: aspider was killed, ferns or heather was burned, an umbrella carriedor the garden watered. 8. A halo around the moon predictedrain. 9. Smoke hanging close to the ground, swallows flying low ora greenish sky at the horizon all indicated precipitation. 10. Whenanimals gathered at one side of a pasture or gulls flew inlandionclement weather was expected.

rabouteux et ramacheuxThe Acahisn "joiners" or "splicers", able to reset dislocated limbsand set broken bones so that they would knoit without trace ofdamage.

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

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

rent-payerSympathetic Magic: In Gaelic parts the "rent-payers to hell" weretermed the "droch-chomhalaichean", and were recognized asproverbially unlucky, individuals dogged by bad weather, accidentand 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 workceased and it was suggested that he "journey over", otherwiseanything from minor injury to earthquake might take place. Travellers particularly disliked seeing women at the start of ajourney, see travel, but were even more rattled when theyencountered an unlucky person. Fortunately there was acounterpart in persons born with the fylgie or caul of secondsight, whose presence was always welcome on land or at sea. Christian clergymen were members of this tribe in the eyes ofseamen, who would avoid transporting them especially on themaiden voyage of a ship. Bad luck was often named after therent-payer, hence: "...at Eastern Passage or Devil's Island (n.S.);grey socks were considered a jonah." Creighton, BM, p. 122. Theluck which surrounded a man might pass from him to a woodensailing 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 peopleit was once assumed that they had offended a deity and weresuffering his notice. In referring to them as "rent-payers", the old-timers equated them with witches and the little-people, who: "Andaye every seven years pay teind to hell." This appears to derivedirectly from the old pagan practice of setting aside money topurchase a criminal or imprisoned enemy for periodic sacrifice to apagan god.

requestSympathetic Magic: It was considered futile to refuse a witchanything she desired since the animal or product requested wasnever of further use to the legitimate owner.

retirementSympathetic Magic: To ward off bad luck railroad men and minerswould not name their actual time of retirement.

returnSympathetic Magic: 1. Returning home after starting on a journeywas thought unfortunate, and those who did so were advised tostop and count to ten before continuingh on their way. 2. Guestswho left personal property in a house were certain to return. Creighton, FOLC, p. 22. 2. To insure the return of a member ofthe family socks were boiled in milk. Creighton, BM, p. 44.

It was formerly considered ill-advised to travel, since strangerswere not welcomed in medieval villages. It was noted that thatvisitors carried evil spirits as an invisible entourage, and thatafterwards disease tended to rage due to their influence. Onreturning home. it often appeared that travellers had taken on evilspirits from other lands as communicable diseases came with them.Returning home after starting on a journey often brought thiseffect prematurely, and those who stopped to count the time,usually continued on their way. The animals of a farm werepsychically connected with their humans. Some of their spirit wentinto the milk and into socks boiled in milk. Therefore, sockstreated in this manner served to remind a man or woman of formeraffiliations and draw him home.

revanterWonder Work: The dead were thought to warn relatives of theirrecent departure by making a brief appearance as a "revanter". Those with debts, or incompleted work in the mortal world, oftenbecame wraiths who haunted their old homes or places of work. Mr. Sandy Stoddard of Lower Ship Harbour, N.S. told HelenCreighton that he was returning to walking to meet friends at ahunting camp, and crossing a sand spit when he saw a "man"coming towards him: "His face and hands were white and I realizedthen I knew him all right, only he'd been dead for two years. I wastoo surprised to speak, but I intyended to if a ever sawe himagain, 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 guardianangel. Those with the two-sights of witchcraft were supposedto be able to see this counterpart and to move into it at will, usingit to travel instantaneously into the past, the future, or remotelands, while their souless body remained behind. At death, it wasthis runner, which appeared as a revanter. The unemployedshadow man became a haunt if his dead counterpart hadunfinished business on earth.

ringSympathetic Magic: It was bad luck to remove a ring from thefinger of a corpse, particularly where he or she had stipulated awish to be buried with it. Poltergeistic activity usually followedand could only be terminated by punching a hole into the coffinand returning the object at midnight. Divination: "Dipping the ring"required a wedding band and a human hair. A glass was partiallyfilled with water and the ring allowed to sink to the bottom andthen brought to a position just above the surface of the water. As the ring broke the surface of the water it usually swung wildlyand hit the inside of the glass. If it struck three times this wasconsidered to indicate that the person whose hair was used wouldwed within three years. If the ring failed to strike the side, thatperson would remain unmarried. This type of divination wasattempted on Hallowe'en or on the Quarter Days.

rightSympathetic Magic: 1. Mariners were careful to step aboard shipright foot first.

Starting anything with the left foot gave honour to the Teutonicgod Tyr, whose major interest was warfare. Mariners thought thatthis action drew attention to various unwelcome creaturesstanding at the left side of darkness.

rooster

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

roseSympathetic Magic: 1. If roses were observed to bloom in the falland epidemic was predicted for the following year. 2. Theblooming of the Scotch rose out of season meant there would bea shipwreck involving local people. 3. It was bad luck to scatterred rose petals on the ground. 4. Wild roses were recommendedfor planting about the gate leading to a cow pasture as they wereknown to ward off witches.

rowan

In vain might midnight hags colleagueTo witch poor crumbies milk, if sheHad only o'er her crib a twigCut from the rowan tree!

-Evan McColl, 1885

Sympathetic Magic: 1. Red rowan branches were placed in thepens of sick and/or bewitched animals. 2. Red rowan berriesdecorated the kitchens of housewives who wished to keep faypeople at bay. 3. It was unlucky to use rowan wood as fuel.

According to Gaelic legend, red berries were the food of the godsand were not intended for human consumption. In the remote pastall of the plants which produced red berries were believed toimpart eternal life and were found on a small island in the northernsector of Lake Awe. A woman who had heard of their reputationpersuaded her son to defeat the dragon-guardian of the islandand bring home the berries. Unfortunately, the red berries provedpoisonous, but the seeds from them spread the plants to themainland. Similar stories are told elsewhere in Europe. In eachcase, the magic berries having been purloined, they have become

a defense against god-spirits.

rowing man

rune

runnerDivination: Knowledge of the past, the future, or distant events inthe present used to be obtained through the conjuration and useof a god-spirit known as a runner, or shadow man in Englishcommunities, as a fylgiar in Scandanavian lands and as a taibh inGaelic parts. This invisible herald was referred to as a forerunnerif he sought information concerning the future and was called ahindrunner if his specialty was the past. Divination of the formerwas referred to as foresight, while knowledge of the latter wastermed hindsight. Those who wished to spy on events takingplace many miles away sought the use of the farrunner, whospecialty was farsight, sometimes called telescopic sight. It usedto be said that these were the Fates, or Nornir, "maids who cometo each child that is born, and shape its life, and are of the race ofthe gods...The good Nornir and well descended shape a good life;but as to those who meet with misfortune, it is caused bymalignant Nornir." As a rule people did not notice their invisbledoubles, who in later myth were distinguished as male and female. Occasionally the shadow man might take the form of a totem animaltravelling either before or after the individual or flying above as abird. The Christians did not banish these supernaturals, givingtheir 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 bestrunners were unobtrusive, but some were flawed, creating humanswho tripped "over their own shadow". The shadow man wasexpected to announce the arrival of his human by knocking aboutthe hallways of homes about to be visited. Sometimes he wouldswing 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 adoor quickly behind a guest, for fear the shadow man might bekept out or squeezed between the door and the frame. Duringhis life a man or woman might see his shadow materialized, but thiswas of no consequence unless the creature turned to approachhim, that being a omen of death. In the latter case, it was hopedthat the god-spirit would not appear bloodied, an indicator of agruesome end. Some individuals were able to see and/or heartheir 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". Theabilty to use the shadow man as a familiar, thus observing tokensor visions, was credited to those born with eyes of differingcolour, which became the same as the child aged, and to thoseborn with the amniotic sac, or flygie, still in place over the head. The gift was often referred to as "the second sight", becauseforesight was generally of more interest than "the first sight" ordetails concerning the past. A person born under the caul, orveil, immediately became a hoodoo or jonah if a malignant oruntutored mid-wife burned the caul. If this was avoided, the luckybaby was promised an interesting life, free of want and worry. Aboy born with a caul was was desirable on ocean-going ships sinceit was believed that he could not drown and that a ship could notsink if a veil happened to be aboard. While mariners carried theirveil in a pocket, some landsmen protected it by burying it beneaththe stone doorstep, believing this would prevent their house fromburning. Girls who kept their caul were promised great ability as aseamstress if they took a single stitch in it as soon as they wereable to hold needle and thread. Lord Larbolt, who studied thephenomenon of the two sights in 1652 found that it was notrestricted to a particular age, sex or class and that most peoplewho were able to divine the future through vision or sound werenot particularly happy with the "gift". It was generally noted thatthe vision persisted only as long as it might be regarded withoutblinking or distraction. Those who were timid saw the past orfuture for a briefer span than those who were unafraid of the

result, which often involved a death in the community. Severalunusual foresightings have occurred: A phantom train ran atBarrachois, Cape Breton for several months until its physicalcounterpart ran down a man at the crossing where itcharacteristically faded from view. Fraser, FONS, pp. 45-46. Mountain Rory, a noted witch from Antigonish County, N.S., detailedthe work and looks of a gypsum mine long before it wasdeveloped in 1928. Fraser, FONS, p. 37. Years before similarworks were installed at Iona, in Victoria County, a wooded covewas "the haunt of the spirits of present-day workers; theirmachinery and railway trains...So frequent were these occurrencesthat people in nearing the present location of the plant, used toget into the water and wade past it; for the belief was that spiritsmight not touch you while you were in the water." Fraser, FONS, p.49. It should be noted that the shadow-men are realted tovarious sea-spirits, and that the caul-wearer was consideredfavoured by this clan since the amniotic sac was known to be filledwith water. "And people might hear a sound as if somebody wereon the threshold. They weren't hitting the door at all, youunderstand, there was no knock on the door but you would hearthe stamping as if somebody put his foot on the threshold thoughno one was there. And they would say. "It won't be long before astranger comes to the house. Did you not hear the footfall?" MacNeil, TTUD, p. 210.

saltSympathetic Magic: 1. Salt was considered to ward off the Aog, asoul-seeker who plagued human dead. 2. Salt blessed by aCatholic 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 anotherperson's food. 4. Spilling salt was bad luck, relieved by throwinga bit over the left shoulder. In some places the procedure hadto be repeated three times. 5. Witches were unable to stepover salt, so a small amount was sometimes placed beneath thedoormat to protect the house. 6. Bags of salt were sometimes

tied about the necks of men and cattle "to keep witches fromriding". 7. Some "experts" said that witches left their skins behindwhile travelling in the familiar form. If this could be found andsprinkled with salt it was believed that the witch would be injured. "Here (Darmouth, N.S.) a witch once once discarded her skin...andmy father claimed he got the skin and put salt on it and the womanwalked 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. Saltwas the first condiment placed on the table. 10. A pinch of saltwas added to the butter churn to "help the butter come." 10. Salted cakes were eaten by unmarried women since it was thoughtthe man they would marry might come in a dream proffering aglass of water. Also held by the Acadians, see Daigle, TAOTM, p.487. 11. The Gaels believed that it tempted fate to carry saltfrom 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 ofthe land. Since they seemed averse to its use, it was declareduseful as a countercharm. It has been noted that witches didnot make use of salt at their sabbats.

Sam hillSympathetic Magic: A corrupted anglicized form of the name,Samhainn, one of the two most important fire-festivals of the CelticYear. Employed by my grandfather as a mild curse. SeeHallowe'en.

Satan's stainWonder Work: "She always had a watchful eye on me lest I shouldswerve from duty, keeping me always on my guard before Satancould place his stain one me." Song composed in Gaelic byArchibald Macdonald of New Boston, Cape Breton, on the death ofhis 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 thecoven. 'after this the devil would put his mark upon them, usuallyby a scratch from one of his claws. It was painful and took sometime to heal, leaving a red or blue mark behind. This was theorigin of the "witch-marks" for which seventeenth-century witch-hunters searched so diligently." Tindall, HOW, p. 44.

SaturdayWonder Work: 1. On Saturday Mary, the Mother of God, visitedevery kitchen in the land, thus care was taken to see thateverything was in order anticipating this visit. 2. Although itrained throughout the week, some sunlight was guarnteed onSaturday, "in honour of our Blessed Lady". 3. Saturday was anexcellent day to embark on a sea voyage.

Saturday is rather unfortunately named after a personification ofLoki, the god of mischief. It is generally thought that the last dayof 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 keeninterest in household activities, but in northern Europe she isknown to have displaced Bertha, the White Lady, an agriculturaldeity, who lived "in a hollow mountain" and tended the shadowchildren of the unborn. These she led from place to place,instructing her infant troop in the care and watering of plants. Shewas the legendary ancestress of many of the European royalfamilies, and the mythical mother of the emperor, Charlemagne. She was claimed as progenitor of the German royal family, whoexplained that she appeared before them, in their palace, beforeany personal or national calamity. He shadow was last reported in1884. She was a goddess of spinning, and from thispreoccupation developed the "reine pedauque", or splayed foot,which is widely represented in art depicting her medievaldescendants. She was naturally regarded as patroness of thiscraft and was said to "flit through the village, at nightfall, duringthe twelve days between Christmas and January 6, peering intoevery window to inspect the spinning of the household. The

maidens whose work had been carefully performed were rewardedby a present of one of her own golden threads or a distaff full ofextra fine flax; but wherever a careless spinner was found, herwheel was broken, her flax spoiled, and if she had failed to honourthe goddess by eatingh plenty of the cakes baked at that season,she was cruelly punished..." Guerber, TN, p. 57. Since this tookplace during the Yuletide which was confiscated by the Christians,the goddess was deliberately confounded with Mary, "The Motherof God".

scissorsSympathetic Magic: 1. The individual who dropped a pair ofscissors always allowed a second party to retrieve them toprevent a quarrel. 2. A witch was unable to pass over scissorsplaced at the threshold with their points facing upward. If she didmanage to pass it was claimed that, "her spirit was weakened."

The sharp cutting-points of scissors endangered the runner whowas the external soul of each inmdividual. Once, the person whopicked up a glove or a thrown knife, or other sharp object, wasconsidered to have accepted a legal obligation to duel.

scortchingSympathetic Magic: As a countercharm milk was burned on thestove, a procedure certain to call the witch responsible forblighting the cows.

For the familiar of a cow to lessen the flow of milk it had to enterthe udder of the cow. Milk from this source carried with it someof this external spirit. Scortching the milk, scorched the familiarand through it, the witch was damaged. The witch naturallyresponded to this call, hoping to have the countercharm offsetthrough a favour or grace.

scrissSympathetic Magic: Local designation for an omen of bad luck, a

curse, an unwelcome group of people.

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

This disease was formerly decribed as "tuberculous in nature, aswelling and cheesey degeneration of the lymphatic nodes,especially those of the neck. It is associated with the chronicinflammation of the skin and the joints and is most common inchildhood." See seven.

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

Among my Fundy island relatives the storm petrels were referredto as Mother Carey's Chickens, which see.

sea-sepentMagic Race: 1. Sea-serpents have been sighted in Cranberry Lakenear Sydney, Cape Breton. Thew observer saw something "like ahorse's head" moving across the water."Then the neck appeared. In a moment the animal or sea-serpent went under water, turningitself over so that the last he swa of it was its tail. He judged itto be twelve feet in length." Creighton, BG, p. 155. 2. Creightonalso interviewed a fisheramn who sighted one in the Bay of Fundynear Victoria Beach, N.S. "...it stood up forty or eighty feet in theair and had a head like a horse and eyes like saucers..."

Creighton, BG, p. 156. See also Lake Utopia Monster, and nuck.

sea-weed peopleMagic Race: The sea-weed "men" were thought to have beeninvisible little spirits who used the wind to construct mannikins ofseaweed or grasses. Their control of nature was tentative andthese images diassembled in a short time. Will Lowe, a fishermanat Moser's River, N.S. observed one of these while visiting on TobyIsland during the lobster season. While waiting for the return ofhis co-worker he was three times awakened by noises in thenight. Finally, he left his shelter to confront, "a man all coveredwith eel grass." He laughed thinking his friend had created anelaborate hoax, but as he watched, "the figure dissolved beforehis eyes, and in a moment there was nothing left of his visitor buta pool of water and some eel grass." Creighton, BG. p. 142. Seealso moss people.

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

sellingSympathetic Magic: It was bad luck to sell any object obtained asa gift.

separationSympathetic Magic: Those who had a third person pass betweenthem would quarrel. See also telephone pole.

SeptemberNumerology: People born in the seventh month were destined tohave foot ailments and be hypercritical. See seven.

sevenNumerology: 1. Among the Scot's highlanders of Nova Scotia, the

"seventh son" of any family was thought to be able to curedisease by stroking the afflicted part of the body. Fraser, FONS,p. 25. 2. If a use was not discovered for an object saved forseven years it had to be destroyed by fire. 3. Trees werethought to produce exteremely large crops of nuts in seven yearcycles. 4. The seventh son of a seventh son was thought giftedwith healing abilities. Daigle, TAOTM, p. 479.

Seven was an uncanny number. The tale of the fall of Jericho inthe Bible (Joshua, chapter 6) illustrated its reputation as a focusof magical power, and this was frequently reinforced particularly inthe book of Revelation. The pagans believed that the cycles oflife and death, of growth and decay, centred on the waxing andwaning of the moon in the sky. The moon's cycle was observed toconsist of four phases of approximately seven days each, heancethe origin of months having four weeks of seven days each. Seven came to be regarded as a number governing the majorrhythms 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 fulluse of runners or shadow men. Seventh sons could cure atootache, burn, or nosebleed, or stop bleeding from a wound bytouching the afflicted part.

sewingSympathetic Magic: 1. To mend a garmet while it was worn meantthat the sewer would die poor or have lies told about her. It wascautioned that if this could not be avoided, the thread had to beheld between the teeth while working, to avoid the loss ofmemory or even intelligence. Creighton, FOLC, p. 21. 2. A dressleft with basting threads in place was unpaid for. 3. Sewing abutton on a garment on Sunday prompted bad luck, and thebutton would have to be replaced by Monday. "If you sew onSunday, you'll have to take every stitch out with your nose in Hell."Creighton, BM, p. 163. 4. The bride who sewed on her ownwedding dress would afterwards sew all of her own clothing. 5.

To break a needle on an article of personal clothing meant thatthe 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 ofmen. The danger to the internal soul was thought mostpronounced when the clothing was mended while worn. It wasreasoned that any psychic damage to runner, would reflect uponthe condition of his human counterpart.

shadowSympathetic Magic: Many Maritimers believed that any injuryinflicted 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 theshadow was a runner, the external soul of the individual to whomit was attached. At times it was observed that the shadow wasabsent, and during these periods, it was assumed that he wasrunning into the future or the past, or examining present events ata distance, to forewarn his human counterpart of possibledangers. The shadow man or home shadow was supposedlyvisible to witches and "gifted" individuals, who could project theirinternal soul into this external familiar using it to travelinstantaneously in time and place. The shadow appears related tothe European doppelganger a creature who looks like theoriginal human but leads an independent existence. "Reports areheard from time to time of one man being recognized by friends atthe same time in two widely separated places. The record forsuch appearances is probably held by Johannes Teutonicus, whoone day in 1221 was seen celebrating Mass at Mainz, Halberstadt,and Cologne, all at the same hour. Fortunately thesedoppelganger did not meet, for Germans believe that if a manmeets his double face to face, he must die." Ashley, SPAL, p. 5. The existence of more than one home shadow or guardian angelis not uncommon, Saint Patrick having consorted with two, who

were given to him at birth.

shakingDivination: A shaking sensation in the arms meant one would soonundertaking carrying a casket.

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

These hungry sea-scavengers were thought to sense anypotential meal. In Scot's mythology these creatures were believedto be under the direct command of the Cailleach Bheur, or WinterHag, who appears to be a female personification of Odin. It wassaid that as her power failed in Februrary, she sent her wolvesand her air-sharks out across the land to remind people that shewas not yet impotent.

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

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

shellfishSympathetic Magic: 1. It was an ill omen to eat shellfish in monthslacking the letter "r".

shinglesSympathetic Magic: If the rash from shingles surrounded the trunkof the sufferer he would die.

A ring, or circle, symbolized a completed act and thus, in theabove case, termination.

ship-builderSympathetic Magic: A ship-builder would not sail on his own craftduring her maiden voyage.

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

shovelSympathetic Magic: It was thought a bad omen to carry a shovelthrough a house.

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

shuffle-the-brogueSympathetic Magic: A lumberman's game in which the camp satabout a man selected to be "It". A shoe was passed beneath themen's legs. Someone in the circle would lob the shoe at thevictim, who was forced to guess who had thrown it. If hesucceeded, the person who was responsible became "It", if not hewas open to more torment. Spray. WOTW, p. 5.

sidhMagic People: The "little people" of Ireland and Scotland, who are

supposed to have come with the settlers to Atlantic Canada. "Theearly settlers of Nova Scotia brought with them from the old landsa belief in the existence of fairies (sidh, pronounced shee orshay). The whole district which the town of Inverness now coverswas formerly called the Shean (from the Gaelic Sithean, meaningthe house of the sidh). In this district there was a small hill,shaped something like a large stack, where the old people usedto see the "little people" in thousands."

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

silver thawSympathetic Magic: The appearance of a silver thaw was said toindicate storm.

This condition is described as the "silver freeze" or "silver frost" inPratt's Dictionary of Prince Edward Island English but "silver thaw"is the common usage in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Usuallythe effect occurs in the winter when there is an overnight thawwhich allows the fall of rain. Towards dawn this freezes spreadinga glittering sheath of ice over exposed surfaces.

sinSympathetic Magic: 1. "Many people connect dancing and card-playing with sin." Creighton, BG, p. 93. Honouring this connectionis 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 widelyknown that word relates to the Teutonic goddess Syn, whosename was once a synonym for "truth". She was at first theguardian of the door to Frigga's (the consort of Odin) palace. Shesymbolically presided over all tribunals and trials in the northlands,and whenever anything was vetoed it was declared that "Syn hasturned her eyes from it!" With the advent of Christianity synncame to have the current meaning of "a transgressor of the truth."singSympathetic Magic: To sing at the table was a bad omen. "Singbefore you eat, cry before you sleep."

sky-peopleMagic Race: Creighton reported that one of her intervieweesnoted "a man who came down from the sky." On the ground hecommented: "I came down like thunder and I'm going back likethunder." BG, p. 166. This creature corresponds with theKaqtukwaq of the Abenaki.

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

Smoky JoeMagic Race: A resident of the New Brunswick woodlands. A littleone-eyed man who frequently hired on with human crews for thefall cutting. He was able to perform an uncanny amount of workbut was disliked for his abilities at fortune-telling and sleight-of-hand. Where he worked, mysterious accidents and spontaneousfires were common. One of this race, working in the Kilmarnockwoods, claimed that he had participated in Cromwell's wars while aresident of Great Britain. Smoke Joe frequently disappeared withthe 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 adark complexion. The name translates as "red man", and likeSmoky Joe, he had the habit of appearing on the scene in themidst of a severe thunder storm. In some regions he was knownas the "Munster". He has been described as "a little old man abouttwo and a half feet high, with a red sugar loaf hat and a longscarlet coat...his hair was long and gray, and his face yeloow andwrinkled. He went over to the fire (which the family had quitted intheir fear), sat down and dried his clothes, and began smoking apipe which he found there. The family went to bed and in themorning he was gone." Unfortunately this seemingly harmlessaddition to the farmstead usually became fond of a particular placeand would knock for admittance at a set hour each evening. If thedoor was not opened to him an accident, involving the residentsor cattle, invariably happened on the morning. "On the whole,however, his visits brought good luck, and the familyprospered...(because of his presence)." Keightley, TFM, p. 369.

snakeSympathetic Magic: 1. Snakes were generated from horse-hairswhich fell into puddles. 2. To kill a snake sympathetically putdown an enemy. 3. Children were advised to kill the first threesnakes they saw, thus being enables to "conquer all enemies". Creighton, BM, p. 137. 4. People were to kill the first snake seenin the spring season so as to be free of enemies throughout theyear. "The first snake you see in the season is an enemy unlessyou kill it." Creighton, BM, p. 137. 5. The hair of the witchturned to snakes at her will. This could ocassionally happen toordinary women if they were influenced by standing in the light ofa full moon, which see. 6. Snakes were thought immune toinfection. 7. A dead snake found lying upside down wasimmediately inverted to prevent serious floods. 8. Snakes seenmoving sluggishly in the summer presaged a lean harvest.

The Anglo-Saxons distinguished themselves as "the coiled serpentpeople", the builders of mounds having this configuration. TheCelts of Britain unquestionable identified snakes with theseTeutonic conquerors, thinking that these animals were familiars ofthis people.

sneezeSympathetic 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 onSaturday, sweetheart's coming; Sneeze on Sunday..." 2. "Once awish, Twice a kiss; Three times a letter; Four, something better." Creighton, BM, p. 155. 3. At a sneeze one should say, "God blessyou!" 4. Sneezes invited the Devil. Those who sneezed wereadvised 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 soulthrough the the mouth and nose, and hence times of danger.

snowFolk Medicine: 1.On Easter morning it waas traditional practice tocollect any snow that had fallen and melt it. This was preservedas a cure for witchcraft and less specific ailments. 2. The fall ofhuge wet flakes meant the storm would soon turn to rain, but tinyfluffy flakes were seen to presage a heavy snowstorm. 3. Thefall of snow used to be termed "God's dandruff" or "MotherGoose's feathers."

songSympathetic Magic: It was bad luck to sing at sea, and stormsarose at the singing of tragic folk tunes such as "The GhostlySailors" or "Young Charlotte". Creighton, BM, p. 125.

The sea-spirits considered themselves the ultimate musicians and

disliked human competition. Singing of death, naturally portendeddeath.

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

soul

sortilege

speakSympathetic Magic: 1. It was unlucky to "speak" (loud hail) aghost ship. 2. It often proved fatal for mariners to state thetime of their final voyage. 3. It was considered unlucky for minersto speak of their date of retirement. 4. It was bad mannered anddangerous 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 consideredunwise to reveal one's plans. Former attitudes may be expressedin the World War II phrase: "Loose lips sink ships!" Miners hadsimilar respect for the kobolds or bodachs of the mine who didnot like to see men end their attachments to the underworld. There is an old saying: "Speak of the Devil and he is sure toappear!" According to legend, Ike Foley of Middle Musquodobit,N.S., was prone to swearing and impetuously requested the Devil'shelp in removing a huge stone from a river because it wasimpeding a log-drive. Ike was summoned after dark by a loudvoice which spoke three times from the direction of the river. Herefused to answer but the next morning the rock was removedand that winter he fell through the ice at the place where it had

rested. After his drowning, the "devil's chains" were heard at thatplace. See also swearing.

spellWonder-Work: 1. Spells were easy to place on those "who weregetting on too well." Creighton, p. 20. 2. Children were easysubjects for spell-binding, and once bound, these became jonahsor hard-luck individuals, who were easily re-bound by anyindividual, witch or amateur spell-caster. "If a spell is put on youas a child and is never taken off anyone can witch you." Creighton, BM, p. 20. 4. A witch-spell could be broken if she wascompelled to thrown two buckets of cold water over the afflictedindividual or animal.

The word spell originally indicated the recitation of words to magiceffect. The countercharm suggested above was aimed atsurprising the invasive familiar into a retreat from the body of thepossessed individual.

spiderSympathetic Magic: 1. People who had spiders crawl on their bodyexpected to receive something new. Creighton, BM, p. 137.2. Killing a spider generated rain.

spiritMagic Race: "When Sebastian died, when his last breath came, thewhole 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. Justbefore he died three little taps came to the door...Sebastian'smother was seen twice by two women after she died." TancookIsland, N.S. Creighton, BG, p. 79.

This word is from the Latin "spirare", to breathe or blow, andhence the essential unseen ingredient or breath of life. Ourancestors supected that the dwelling place of the spirit wasdirectly 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 theyreferred to as the runner or shadow man. When witches flewoff to their rites they projected their external souls upon theserunners, who were then called familiars. Other common men whowere gifted were able to see visions of the past or presentthrough the inadvertent and unplanned union of their internal andexternal souls, which travelled as forerunners or backrunners. 1. In some places a spirit was considered as a vocal creature ofthe unseen world as distinguished from the ghost, which couldalways be seen but never spoke. 2. An individual, badly usedduring his lifetime, was likely to reappear as a haunt.

spirit, uncleanSympathetic Magic: Sometimes referred to as "noisy spirits", andsynonymous with "poltergeist". They were considered the effectof diabolical possession, the usurpers being open to banishment ifrites of exorcism were conducted by a cleric having the gift orsimilar special powers.

spitSympathetic 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 spitnext the ground. The pain will disappear." Fraser quoting aninterviewee, FONS, p. 25. 2. "It is bad luck to spit into the hold ofa vessel". Creighton, FOLC, p. 15. 3. Fishermen spit on their baitfor good luck. Creighton, BM, p. 121. 4. A newborn child wasmade lucky if the mother spit on it.

The first superstition had the intention of taking the injury "toearth". The earth itself was, formerly, considered full of god-spiritto which minor pain-spirits were naturally attracted. Spitting intothe hold of a vessel symbollically placed water within the ship. Itwas guessed that this might attract larger quantities of sea-water,sinking the ship durings travel.

sprainCharm: "Sprains were cured by saying a rhyme over the injuredmember." Fraser, FONS, p. 26. Sympathetic Magic: Sprains mightbe treated by placing a bracelet of white thread, bearing sevenknots, 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 sicknesswill bring the sufferer relief. But apart from this negative virtue...there are certain beneficial knots to which the power of postivehealing is ascribed. Pliny tells us that some folk cured diseases ofthe groin by taking a thread, tying seven or nine knots on it, andthen fastyening it to the patient; but to make each knot effectualit was necessary to name some widow as each knot was tied..." Sir James Fraser, TGB, p. 281. In the above instance, the painspirit was assumed caught up in each knot as it was tied. In someinstances the knots were finally untied and blown upon. When thelast was undone the string was thrown into water after which theinjury quickly cured.

squirrelDivination: If squirrels stored a large reserve of nuts a harshwinter lay ahead.

Saint Columa's CakeDivination: A barley, rye or oat-cake baked by the Gaels on theeve of Saint Columba's Day (June 9). A small silver coin wasplaced in the dough, and the cake was toasted over rowen, yew,oak or some other sacred wood. The chilkd of the family whofound the money in his portion was given the crop of lambs forthat year.

stag-bootsSympathetic Magic: It is unlucky to wear stage-boots (cut-downhip waders) aboard a fishing vessel.

"Stage" boots were known to have little utility beyong getting thewearer to and from the outhouse. Most were leaky retirees froma long life at sea. To fishermen, leaky boots symbolized leakyboats, and were considered an omen of bad luck.

starSympathetic 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 thefollowing day.

Notice the relationship of the first superstition to the idea that itwas bad luck to turn anything upside down aboard ship, an actloosing symbolic waters and storm.

stairSympathetic Magic: The bad luck of meeting on a stair could becushioned if the two individuals crossed fingers

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

stoneSympathetic Magic: It was always good luck to wear a birthstone.2. During World War II Canadian pilots picked up a pebble beforeleaving 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 ofprecious stones, such being used as amulets long before theywere worn as mere decorations. Among the Celts, the snake-stone was ground to a powder and sprinkled on sanke-bites. Thewine-coloured amythest, whose name means "not drunken" kept its

wearer sober, while magnetite was worn by brothers who wishedto live in unity, their interests being drawn together by itsmagnetic properties. The most famous Celtic stone was thatknown as "Lia Fail" which sang when a person worthy od kingshipstood upon it, declared the innocence of a party by causing him towhiten, and declared the sterility of certain women by exudingblood. It has been suspected of being a "theophany of the soildivinity, the only divinity to recognize his master (in this case theKing of Ireland)." Eliade, PICR, p.222. This same author has notedthat, "stones, rocks and menhirs are places where fairies cameand ity is to them that offerings were brought. No real worshipwas given to them but there was always somthing to ask themfor." PICR, p. 225. In certain parts of Europe people were curedof illness by being passed bodily through the great holed-stones. Comape this with a similar local rite relating to trees.

Stone of Mineota

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

stranger

stretchSympathetic Magic: To stretch before a trip meant it would not beundertaken that day.

suit-caseSympathetic Magic: A black suitcase was considered a jonah ifbrought aboard ship.

Quite simply, anything black was symbolic of storm, while a blacksuitcase was seen as a storm-carrier.

sunDivination: 1. If the sun crossed "the line" on March 21st amidststorm, three additional months of "winter" was predicted. 2. Sun-dogs seen in the morning indicated a storm at sea. Thoseobserved in the afternoon pointed up windy weather. Marinersdisliked seeing the "dogs" in winter because the wind was alwayscoupled with low temperatures. 3. A beautiful sunset on the lastFriday of the month meant the following month would be one ofgood weather. Creighton, FOLC, p. 103. 4. If the sun was settingher "backstays" over the ocean one might expect wind and rain. 5. If the sun rose tinged with red wind was expected. "Red sun inthe morning, sailors take warning; red sun at night, sailor's delight.6. A rainbow seen in the morning pointed to three days of squallat sea. 7. To have the sun shine on Good Friday indicated a hotdry summer. 8. Ships were always turned "with the sun", orclockwise, a counter-clockwise turn being considered ominous.

In agricultural communities the year was divided into quartersfollowing periods of solstice and equinox. At the winter solsticethe sun had its briefest stay in the sky and at the summer itslongest. The spring and fall equinoxes were equidistant betweenthese times. Those interested in omens watched the weathervery carefully at the equinoxes when it was thought that theweather of the daylight hours prognosticated the weather to beexpected in the coming three months.

SundayDivination: 1. Bad luck could always be promised those whoworked on Sunday. 2. Fingernails were not cut on Sunday. 3. Tosneeze on Sunday before breakfast was to hear of a deathbefore the week was complete. 4. To sneeze on Sunday was toinvite the company of the Devil for the week. 5. Those whoinsisted on working on Sunday would spend the afterlife eternallyworking at that particular job. A spirit-man is supposed tocontinue 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 longbefore it was taken as a time to honour the Christian God. "It isnot everyone that can see the elves; and one person mayperceive them dancing while another sees nothing. Sundaychildren as they are called, are remarkable for possessing thisproperty..." Keightley, TFM, p. 81.

supernaturalSympathetic Magic: To speak of a supernatural experience wouldgenerate another of that kind.

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

Primitives identified the soul as an internal animal which could befelt "flying about" just beneath the breast-bone. When individualswere in hallucinogenic trances it appeared that this "bird of life"was elsewhere so it was assumed that the soul might absent itselffrom the body without causing death. A German warlock said: "Icannot die, for I have no heart in my breast. In a certain churchlives a bird and in it my heart. So long as the bird lives I live. Itcannot die of itself, and no one can catch it; therefore I amimmortal." Any bird or other animal, which entered a home whereit was not normally resident, was suspected of being a witch-familiar and this was considered an extremely bad augury. Inancient Greece the bird would be caught and a holy oil poured onits tail before release, a rite supposed "to make the curse flyaway." In Atlantic Canada, it is assumed that not all believersunderstood that destroying the swallow's nest was the equivalentof ravaging the home of a witch, and likely to bring retribution. 2."When the barn was being cleaned, I remember my father tellingthe 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 keepingdown the mosquitos, but "it was believed swallows would not buildin a place that might burn down..."

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

sweepingSympathetic Magic: 1. It was unwise to sweep after dark. 2. Tosweep after dark indicated a drowning at sea. Creighton, BM, p.127. 3. Some mariners considered it unlucky to sweep after sixo'clock in the afternoon. 3. Sweepings should never be sweptover the sill into the yard.

Sweeping was the perogative of house or sea-spirits in the hoursafter dusk. To preempt the minor duties of kaboutermanikins,kobolds, brownies or bodachs was thought to make them angryand retributive.

switchSympathetic Magic: Witches could be chased off with switches.

Men were thought closely related to the tree-spirits and able toobtain their help by cutting their own "witch-wands" for use as

countercharms.

talisman

teaSympathetic Magic: 1. Bubbles floating on tea representedmoney, which might be "collected" by transporting them on aspoon to the mouth. Care had to be exercised to prevent thebubbles from touching the sides of either spoon or teacup. 2. Atea leaf floating at the surface was termed a "visitor". Todetermine which door he might enter the handle was turned awayfrom the body and the liquid stirred. If the leaf came to restnearer the bowl he would enter by the back door and wasprobably a tradesman; if nearer the handle, the front, and aperson of importance. 3. Those who left a cover off a teapotexpected visitors. 4. It was unlucky to thank a person forreading tea leaves. 5. Before reading a fortune in the tea leavesthe 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 thatbeverage.

Bubbles, having a circular shape, were taken as symbolic of coins. In removing fay treasure one had to be careful to keep it from thesides of the money pit, thus this figurative necessity.

Teazer LightSympathetic Magic: The light of a phantom, or fire-ship said tohaunt Mahone Bay, N.S. The "Young Teazer" was a Yankeeprivateer trapped by the British in Mahone Bay. A young officerburned her to the waterline rather than surrender. Since shecarried powder, the resulting explosion shattered windows as fardistant as Blanford. Since that time, the apparation has been seenas a fire-ship, local fishermen having to veer hard to avoidcollision. Some claim to have seen the crew in the burning riggingalthough physical incidents have occured. See fire-ship.

telephone poleSympathetic Magic: People who walked on opposite sides of atelephone pole or a fence post were expected to quarrel.

theatreSympathetic magic: 1. It was bad luck to whistle in a dressingroom. 2. It was considered an ill omen to place a hat on a bed orshoes on a table. 3. Peacock feathers were not permitted onstage. 4. It was thought unfortunate to quote fromShakespeare's Macbeth or Hamlet, and the former was neverreferred to by name. 5. Misfortune followed speaking the lastlines of a play in rehersal. 6. Real flowers were not permitted onstage noe were they accepted as a tribute if passed over thefootlights. 7. Yellow and green costumes were avoided. 8. Crutches were unlucky if used on stage. 9. Knitting on stage wasconsidered an evil omen. 10. Umbrellas were excluded from thestage. 11. Squeaky shoes and canes were considered luckyprops. 12. In hit plays the costumes worn on opening night werepressed into continuous wear. 13. To trip on making a first entrywas fortunate. 14. Dancers spit into their shoes before puttingthem on.

thirteenNumerology: 1. The thirteenth day of any month was an unluckytime to take a fishing boat to sea. 2. Miners disliked entering theunderground on the thirteenth day of the month. 3. To seatthirteen at a meal meant one would die before the year was out.

The number thirteen is persistently regarded as unlucky, possiblybecause of Odin's difficulty with Loki, the thirteenth member of hisAesir. It is noteworthy that Jesus also had twelve usefulcompatriarts and the traitor, Judas.

thistle

Divination: In deciding between prospective mates, our ancestorstook thistle tops from the bull or the spear thistle and chippedaway all of the purple bloom from a number equal to thecontendors. Each was named and placed beneath the pillow, thatwhich re-grew a purple top representing the true love.

The naming of objects was considered to imbue them with some ofthe spirit of the person or animal who was named. In the aboveinstance it was presumed that the shadow man or runner ofthe named individual would force the growth of the plant to makehis human known to the future loved one.

threeDivination: 1. A house fire occurring after midnight on Sundaywas an omen that three more would follow. 2. Three lights burningin a single room would cause a ship to upset at sea. 3. Threebrothers aboard a vessel brought fatal results to the ship. Twobrothers promised danger but three, a calamity. 4. In the mines ifone man was killed before Christmas two more might be expectedto die. Christmas was a bad time for accidents. 5. If threeknocking sounds were heard in a mine the workers would come tothe surface and suspend activity for the day. 6. "Three times abridesmaid, never a bride." 7. To break a dish meant two morewould follow. "Misfortune comes in threes." 8. Lost objects couldbe found after reciting the Lord's Prayer three times. 9. Lightinga third cigarette from a single match was unlucky. 10. If threeindividuals were photographed together the one in the centrewould be the first to die.

The number three has extremely rich symbolism: It has aconnotation of completeness, since, initially, counting left off withthe number two, three being an indication of any greater quantity. Medieval Christian numerologists noticed many uses of the numberin Biblical lore, for example the three gifts of the magi, the threedays between the crucifiction and ressurection, and recurrentreferences 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 considersthree, "the luckiest of numbers, since it stands for the godhead,truth and perfection", but the above superstitions suggests thatthe number is jealously guarded as the sole perogative of thepagan gods.

thunderSympathetic Magic: 1. Thunder soured milk. 2. Thunder was "Godrolling potatoes" or "angels bowling.

Sky gods who controlled the storm are prevalent in Europeanmyth, the most notable being Thor, or Donar, who rode out of thenorthern sky. The Celtic counterpart is found in the goddessBolg, or Boann, (whose name appears in the River Boyne) and inTaranis (whose name derives from the Gaelic "torann" (thunder). The ancient pagans believed in the literal presence of sky godswho were usually associated with intense storms, the oak treeand various bird which were thought to presage the weather. TheChristians transferred his or her attributes to the "One God",where they survive as superstitions.

tideSympathetic Magic: Meat obtained from animals killed on the risingtide 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 thepotential cause of prosperity and life, while the ebb was discernedas a real agent of failure, weakness and death. The Bretonpeasant was very sure that plants sown while the tide wasreceeding would fail to reach maturity and that cows fed on itwould bloat and die. Throughout Britain, it was long assumed thatthe elderly could not die until the tide was completely out andcould not be born until it was at full flood.

Tit's DaySympathetic Magic: Tit or Tibb's Day was a pagan feast andrecuperation day following Tit's Eve (which see). At one time itwas the first day of the month and celebration termed Yule. Inrevised Christianized form Tit's Day was described as the dayfollowing the final Ressurrection and Judgement Eve, a day aftertime when accounts were beyond settlement. To have a Maritimerpromise that he would repay money on Tit's Day meant that theloan-agent could not expect to recoup money in this or any otherworld.

This feast day clearly belonged to the pagan deities Thor andFrey. C.L. Apperson, the writer of English Proverbs and ProverbialPhrases has guessed that this was "a day neither before nor afterChristmass" and that "tibb" is synonymous with "never". Desultryattempts were perhaps made to give the day a Christian veneerby referring to it as Saint Tit's Day, but the connotations of theword made this unsuccessful. Certainly The Old English Chronicledoes list a Saint Tibba, circa 963, but Brewer's Dictionary ofPhrase and Fable (1870) insists there was never a legitimate saintwho bore this peculiar name. The Oxford English Dictionaryregards the word as a "hypocoristic" (i.e an abbreviated andendearing) form of the name Isabel, but they do not explain how itcame to be the equivalent of "a girl or lass, a sweetheart, and astrumpet.

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

This holiday was known in some parts as the Mother Night andfollowed the shortest day of the year. In former times, theoverindulgence on this night marked the beginning of Yule, whichsee. It has been guessed that the word "tit" may have

descended from the Icelandic "tittr", which at first described asmall song bird and was extended from that to anything of smallsize including all teat-like projections, such as the human nipple. Fire festivals always included a lively amount of sexual activitywhich probably led to the creation of the Middle English verb"titten", to slap, pinch, squeeze, tease, pull, jerk or twitch." Theexcesses of Tit's Eve resulted in secondary meanings for "tit" or"tib", including "an inferior horse, a nagging woman, a jade, awhore, a small morsel or bite of food. The phrase "tit for tat" hadan origin in early "lover's quarrels" where relalitory blows followedthe usual squeezing and pinching of the human breast and otherparts.

toadSympatheic Magic: 1. People who picked up toads contractedwarts. 2. To catch a toad, salt was thrown on it. 3. It was badluck to kill a toad. Folk Medicine: 3. In spite of the above advicefarmers thought that "fedder bone on the hoof" could becorrected by splitting the body of a toad and binding it to theinjury.

Toads were kept by witches as familiars and as ingredients formany of their potions. The formula for catching a toad wasthought equally useful against god-spirits and the fay. Amongsome Indian tribes the frog, or toad, was thought to harbour abenevolent water-spirit, which ensured the purity of water andhence the health of crops. On the other hand, many of the Britishtribesmen feared and loathed them as emissaries of witches andthe Devil. Aside from the fact that they were likely to causewartss, they were generally supposed to have a poisonoustongue (after the fashion of certain snakes). Any farmer who feltthat his cattle were bewitched burned a toad alive at midnight, arite certain to draw the witch to his side. Sir Walter Scott wroteof a family treasure known as a "toadstone", an amulet "sovereignfor protecting new-born children and their mothers from thepower of fairies..." This gemstone was supposed found in the

head of certain aged toads, and had the additional power ofindicating the presence of poison by changing colour when placedin a suspect drink.

token

toolsWorkmen whose tools struck accidentally on the job would worktogether during the coming year.

toothSympathetic Magic: 1. To have teeth set far apart meant that thepossessor would travel. 2. If a cat or dog swallowed a humantooth, 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 theirtongue into the opening for fear one made of fairy-gold wouldgrow there. 4. In some places it was considered lucky to bury anextracted or fallen tooth.

A few of the ancients were adverse to discarding body parts,preserving all against eventual reuse in a reincarnated form. Atthe least, they arranged for the careful return of these parts tothe god or goddesss-spirit of the earth, anything less leavingthem open to the danger that teeth, hair or spittal might serve asthe base for a spell or charm which could be used againstthem. Naturally, the fairies were anxious to exchange cash forteeth, since this gave them magical control over a human.

tobaccoSympathetic Magic: Tobacco was a preferred commodity forpropitiating all of the fay. At Saint John's Reversing Falls, theMaliseets believed that a spinning log trapped in one of theeddies represented a demon who was appeased by shootingarrows, with tobacco pouches attached, into it. Again, theghosts of woodsmen were often seen presenting a pipe in an

appeal for tobacco, and the living frequently complied with theserequests.

toothacheFolk Medicine: 1. Sufferers used to go into the woods and drivea "rusty nail" into a tree while chanting: ""May you be there, allpains and aches." Fraser, FONS, p. 26; 2. A prophylactic againsttootache was to chew wood from a tree which had been struck bylightning; 3. Christian (or pagan) prayers could be written onpaper 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 andrecreation in the form of the oldest and highest trees in theforest. The fact that these were often struck by lightning wasconsidered proof that the thunder god favoured the tree. Chewing the actual substance of a potent tree god was seen as auseful act.

towelSympathetic Magic: Two people who used the same towelinvariably quarreled.

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

The ancient Germans believed that women were holy andconsulted them as oracles. In the most extreme cases they werevenerated as living reincarnate goddesses. In pagan times onedid what he could to escape the notice of deities who mightembody themselves in an unassuming form. It should be noted

that there was once reason to fear the "fire-haired" Norns ofnorthern Europe, "whose principal occupations were to weave theweb of fate for both men and the gods." In that matriarchialsociety, the power of divination was thought restricted to womenand their predictions were never questioned. Also known as theVala, Idises, Dises, or Hagedises, they officiated at forest shrinesand rode with the armies of their people, urging them to victory. Their rites included blood sacrifice of enemies, wild dancing andthe plunging of their arms into tubs of collected blood. Quitenaturally they were greatly feared and propitiated. In Germany thepresent-day witch is still identified as a "hagge" and her kind aresupposed to have been too powerful to kill; thus, the Christiansbanished them to the mountain top called Brocken, from whichthey ride forth on the eve of Valpurgisnacht. 2. It wastraditionally certain that one would never again see an individual iftheir train or ship was watched until it was out of sight. 3. Itwas bad luck to turn back while travelling.See also visit. 4. Allsupernatural 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 aregetting!" They did not see the witch either coming or going. Thenext morning the mother could neither open nor close her mouthand the imprint of the witch's hand was on her face. She could notspeak but a gypsy prescribed a gargle and oil..." Creighton, BM, p.63. 5. It was considered lucky to have an old shoe thrown afterone on starting a trip, "whether going hunting or to find a sheeepthat had strayed. MacNeil, TTUD, p. 211.

treasureSympathetic Magic: 1. The knowledge of buried treasure wasbetter than possession, since the latter rarely brought joy orgood luck. 2. Treaures were grotected by spirits known asguardians created by interring a corpse with the valuables. Theguardian had boring work and might plead with humans to removethe treasure, but he (or she) was bound to make every effort tosecure it. 3. Some said that guardians, and the treasure, could

only be unbound it new blood was spilled. One guardian thusadmitted, "Theres money here and I want you to get it," butadded, "You've got to draw blood from two twins." Creighton, BG,p. 49. The author herself thought that blood from two lambswould have sufficed. 4. According to local legend, pirates set thefollowing charm upon their booty: "Devil take the keys to this tillrooster plough and hen harrow." Kevin Bond of Codys says thatthis has been attempted in New Brunswick. Creightonwas 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 allthe rest of his life." 5. Some individuals favoured binding theguardian by inscribing a circle about the site. 6. Midnight wasconsidered an appropriate hour for retrieving treasure anddigging had to take place without speech. The guardian wasbound from physically interfering with the diggers unless theyspoke, 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 instructionsgiven in them were taken seriously if the same dream wasrepeated three times. 9. Lights hovering above the ground androcks whiich fell from the sky to the ground were thoughtindicative of treasure. 10. Treasure came to the surface "for abath" in seven-year cycles. 11. The noise of thunder, falling rocksor cracking ice frequently accompanied attempts to retrieveobjects from a money-pit. 12. It was sometimes believed that thetreasure chest could be secured by throwing a coat over it. 13. Itwas almost universally supposed that trasure could only beobtained after the seekers had either added a coin to the troveor taken one from it. 14. In the event that the "niceites" were notobserved the considerable physical force of the guardian wouldbe unleashed in which case the treasure chest would sink backinto the earth, seekers might be transposed to some otherlocation, blasted with energy, chased by a presence or otherwiseharried.

tree

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

Men were considered to have arisen from trees and the godsoften took their rest in the form of an elderly tree, thus thesalutations. May Eve was the night before the Celtic fire-festivalknown as the Beltane and thus a sensible time for giving specialhonour to one of the pagan gods. In older times orchards werethe site of carolling (round dancing) and cider-soaked toast wasleft in the branches for the benefit of the hob-robin, or hob-goblin,a descendant of some earlier nature-spirit. In those times, it wasconsidered necessary to place a dead animal at the roots of anewly planted fruit tree if it was expected to bear. See alsoapple. "...the peasantry believe that in and under the elder-treedwells a being called Hyldemoer (elder-mother), with her ministrantspirits." Before a Dane would cut one he would chant three times:"Hyldemoer, Hyldemoer; let me take some of thee, and I will in timegive of mine in return. If this was omitted he would be severelypunished...The linden or lime tree is also a favourite haunt of theelves...and not safe to be near after dark." See also variousspecies names. Mircea Eliade does not note the passing ofchildren through trees , but the act is surely associated with "thatof placing the sick child for a moment in a crevice in the ground, ora hole in a rock, or the hollow of a tree..." According to her thefunction was to transfer the child's illness to tree. rock or ground

and to symbolize rebirth. See PICR, p. 251.

troubleSympathetic Magic: The effects of witchcraft were referred to astroubling and had a meaning similar to "blighting", "hexing","charming" and "enchanting".

trow

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

turned coat

turlutexAcadian equivalent of mouth music.

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

Twelfth-tide, Twelfth NightSympathetic Night. Epiphany in Christian times, December 5th. "The only tradition...in Acadia was the Twelfth Night Cake. In someregions, the cake contained a ring, a medal and a button. Whenthe cake was cut, it was said that the person who found the ringwould be married soon; the person who found the medal had areligious vocation; and the person who found the button wouldremain a bachelor or an old maid. In other areas, a white beranand a kidney bean replaced the ring and the medal. It wasarranged thatthe white bean would be found in a girl's peice andthe kidney bean in a boys's. This couple became the king and

queen, presided over the evenings festivities and led off thedancing." Daigle, TAOTM, p. 491.

tylwyth teg

umbrellaSympathetic Magic: 1. Umbrellas were never opened indoors forfear of bad luck. 2. It was considered bad luck to pick up one'sown umbrella. 3. Umbrellas were bad luck aboard a ship.4. Umbrellas were considered bad luck when placed on a table orhung over a doorknob. 5. To drop an umbrella was bad luckunless it was recovered by a second party. 6. There is at leastone record of an umbrella having served as a witch-wand: "MotherN. went out and saw the heifer lying there...she took an umbrellaand swung it around her head three times by the handle, andwhen she swung the handle the third time, she pointed the handleright at the heifer...And when Anthony came over he couldn't getthe animal up, and her one leg was broken, and GrandfatherFrederick had to kill that animal right where she laid." Creighton,BM, p. 59.

Umbrellas originally had wooden handles and were seen as havingsome of the properties of a magic rod, wand or staff. To open anumbrella anticipated storm and storm symbolized more generalbad luck. No one wanted storm aboard a ship, thus umbrellaswere excluded from shipboard.

Utopia Monster

Valentine's Day"Until 1935" (this day) was an occasion for the exercise of popularsatire and sanctions...the time for ridiculing eccentricities orpretensions, for offering cutting reminders of foolish acts oridiosyncracies, or even for wreaking small vengeances. It was theoccasion for mailing anonymous caricatures or drawings withcertain featuresor words added to make the references more

pointed. Lauraine Leger, LSPEA, p. 72.

visitSympathetic Magic: 1. Visitors to to an unknown residence wereexpected to pause on the threshold and wish for luck. 2. Insome places the visitor ceremoniously fell backwards toward thedoor while wishing. Creighton, BM, p. 160. 3. To visit and leavesomething behind meant that the person would return at a laterdate.

Formerly, visiting unknown neighbours was a dangerous business,thus calling upon a god for assistance was thought sensible. Itwas assumed that those who faced their exit while entering hadthe best chance of escap[ing a hostile blade. Of course theearliest guests were frequently hostages, who later descendedon their host to get back anything which had been left behind.

wake

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

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

wartSympathetic Magic: 1.Individuals with the gift were able totransfer warts to a pea, which they would then tie in a rag anddispose of by throwing into a well. As the pea disintegrated, sowould the wart. Fraser, FONS, p. 25; 2. Blood from a wart used tobe placed on a cloth, which was then dropped ona frequentlytravelled 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 werethen placed in a bag left on the road to be picked up by someless knowledgeable person. Fraser, p. 25; 3. Raw meat could berubbed 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 stringafter a passing funeral procession.

All of the above superstitions presume that the wart is a result ofthe spells or charms of witchcraft, at the least a magical blightcaused by the presence of an unwanted visitor-spirit. These aretraditional means of taking this spirit "to earth".

washSympathetic Magic: Cows were sometimes unbound from blightsby boiling silver in water and using it to wash the animal fromhead to foot.

waterDivination: 1. It was thought impossible for winter to take aserious grip on the land until the rivers and streams were full ofwater. 2. Certain springs (e.g. the Wilmot springs in Nova Scotia)were thought to have curative properties. 3. None of the fayraces could cross moving water. 4. Sea monsters could not passfrom salt to fresh water. 5. The water from a "boundary stream"(where two properties met) was taken into the mouth onHallowe'en Eve and held there while the person made his firstvisit to a home in the community. Approaching closely withoutmaking himself evident, the individual would listen for inside talkbeing especially attuned to names. It was believed that the firstname heard would correspond with that of the person destined tobe 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 thetable called out to someone else...and the name called out wasthe first name of their future husbands...all the husbands turnedout 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 puta stop to it; fed by popular devotion, the cult of water came to betolerated even by Christianity, after the fruitless persecuting of itin the Middle Ages...the cult seems to have lasted from theNeolithic until the present day...In England springs near some ofthe prehistoric barrows are held by local inhabitants to bemiraculous or beneficent." Eliade, PICR, p. 200. Water was themedium of the elder god named Hler, Ler or Llyr, and was oncedconsidered peopled by a host of magical creatures who might lendtheir powers to man if propitiated. Thus, in earlier times therewas a custom of throwing cakes and garlands upon water andfertility rites of "throwing shirts, trowsers and shifts into thedeep." Although some of these habits persisted into thenineteenth century participants "did not really know their object indoing so." These were not always benevolent forces, the Fomorsand the Vana being accused of cannibalism, sexual assault andattacks against summer; thus the need for full streams beforetheir power could fall upon the land.

waveSympathetic Magic: Certain witches waves their hats in the air toraise storms that prevented ships from leaving harbour, or drovethem ashore. Creighton, BM, p. 56.

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

weatherDivination: 1. It was believed that the weather seen during each of

the twelve days of Yule corresponded with what might beexpected during the twelve months of the year.

weddingSympathetic Magic: 1. It was customary to fire guns at weddings. 2. In some places the bride and groom were restricted from thefirst dance at the reception, in other regions they were servedfirst 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, evilspirits and witches.

wellSympathetic Magic: Individuals who used a common drinking vesselto share water from a well would become involved in a relationshipleading to marriage.

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

whiteSympathetic magic: 1. It is unlucky to wear anything other thanwhite mittens aboard a fishing boat. 2. White rocks in ballastbrought bad luck to a ship. 3. Seeing a white horse was luckyprovided the viewer thumped his open left hand with his right fist;uncurled the fingers of that hand and kissed them; slapped theknee with closed fist; thumped the left hand again and made awish, Creighton, BM, p. 135. 4. On seeing a white horse it wasprotocol to bow three times, spit as it passed, and avoid lookingat the tail. Creighton, BM, p. 135. 5. On seeing a white horsepeople were advised to cross two fingers of the right hand andrecite "White horse, criss-cross; Money 'fore the days out!" Onethen 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 toCreighton, BM, p. 135. 7. Those exposed to a white horse wereadvised to keep their fingers crossed until they encountered adog. 8. Alternately, the viewer might lick his fingers, touch thepalm of the hand, stamp the hand and wish. 8. In general, whitehorses were considered good luck. 9. An individual who lostthree wives was considered "white-livered".

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

White Gift Day

white ladyMagic Race: 1. The white lady walked beaches before stormswithout leaving tracks in the sand. Her passage was an omen ofstorm. Creighton, BG, p. 182. 2. The white or gray lady oftenmaterialized near flood swollen streams to warn humans of bridgeswhich had been swept away. She never spoke but her wraith-likepresence upset horses and dogs. 3. The woman in whitesometimes walked on the ocean and carried a light which ledfishermen home through storms. 4. This spirit sometimesknocked three times at the door of families where the death ofan absent relative had occured. See revanter and runner

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

Music at sea was considered the perogative of the underseapeoples, who considered themselves the ultimate musicians. Human competition was never appreciated and sea-demons werelikely to raise the wind in response. It may also be supposed thata tiny whistle was seen as leading to the larger whistle of the wind

itself.

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

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

widow's peakSympathetic Magic: If a woman possessed a widow's peak shewould outlive her husband and vice versa.

A few individuals have hair which peaks in the area between theeyes, in imitation of a medieval headdress favoured by alchemistsand the Devil. Although the fay were not considered immortalthey were thought to live unusually long lives, thus the abovesuperstition.

wight, wicht or wichtleinMagic Race: A Germanic name formerly applied to people ingeneral, but later narrowed to identify "a species of being thatgreatly resemble the dwarfs...all about three quarters of an ellhigh. 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 thesignification of "witch"... Keightley, TFM, p. 319. Infrequently usedin Germanic areas of Maritime Canada.

will o' the wisp

windSympathetic Magic: 1. Wind would not change direction beforethe change of the tide. 2. "when wind comes from south; look forrain from the hake's mouth." 3. A hard blow from the northwestwas always followed by three days of severre storm. 4. It wassaid 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.

winterSympathetic Magic: 1. Severe winter weather followed whenanimals grew heavy coats of fur. 2. When the nut harvest wasunusually large a hard winter was predicted. 3. "Onion's skin verythin, mild winter coming in. Onion's skin thick and tough, comingwinter, cold and rough." Ashley, SPAL, p. 14. 4. Skunks making anearly retreat from the woods to the barns was considered a badomen.

wishSympathetic Magic: 1. This word was sometimes employed as asynonym for curse, spell or blight or blessing. "It was claimed thatmy French grandmother put a wish on the Lusbys (of Amherst)because Mrs. Lusby did her a kind act. She wished she would walkon gold and prosper, and she did. If she disliked you, however,her black curses would be on you. Creighton, BM, p. 63. 2. Itwas considered "improvident" to wish oneself elsewhere afterdark. Fraser, FON, p. 52.

The last is associated with the thought that the shadow man orrunner of the individual would be instantaneously moved to thatlocation. This was considered rash since any harm which came tothe apparition would transfer to the human. In one Antigonish, N.S.home a "grown lad" named Malcolm was awakened by "a greatpressure on his chest". He was amazed to see the wraith of hissister, Mary, kneeling upon him with an umbrella opened over herhead. She began pounding him on the chest and he only managedto drive her off by using great force. When he wrote asking hissister what she had been doing at that time, she replied she hadbeen walking a distant stree in Montreal in the pouring rainprotected by a umbrella. She was "very lonely in the big city, andhad wished with all her heart that she was with Malcolm." She hada few bruises to show for the encounter, which might have beenavoided by saying, "I wish..., but not with a night's wish!" Fraser,FONS, p. 53.

witchSympathetic Magic: 1. Witches obtained their craft by cursingtheir parents, signing a blood contract with devil and readingblack art books. 2. Witches were addicted to borrowing, andthose who lent fell within the power of her spells. 3. Our colonialwitches were of either sex and could bewitch or "do down" cattle,people and their possessions. 4. These individuals practicedwitchcraft, sometimes termed magic. 5. The witch wasincapable of passing over a broomstick before dark and could notcross running water. 6. Witches "cant live unless they aretormenting someone; they are still doing it (1947). Creighton, BM,p. 21. 7. Those who set countercharms against the craftexpected three visits from the witch. In each instance sheattempted to borrow or extract a favour. If successful, her spellor charm continued; if she failed, she was no longer able to havepower over the individual. 8. It was considered bad luck to talkabout 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 andsoceresses are people who deny God, and who renounce him andhis grace; who have made a league with the Devil; have giventhemselves up to him body and soul; who attend his assembliesand 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 thereis strong suspicion that witchcraft was a decayed version of someolder faith, the rites preserved as folklore. An Italian equivalentfor witchcraft is "la vecchia" or "the old religion". "The truism thatthe god of the old religion becomes the devil of the new wasparticularly true of Christianity; since it admitted only one god allthe "spare" ones from the older faith had to become either saintsor devils. Thus the wood and tree spirits were metamorphosizedinto 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 peoplewho lived on embayments of the ocean. It can be guessed thatthe derogatory parts of their "craft" were first noted by theirNorman conquerors, who took England in the Conquest of 1066.

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

witch's eggSympathetic Magic: Name given to a small yolkless egg. Alsosometimes the sea-urchin or whore's egg.

witch-doctor's treeFolk Medicine: A young ash tree wedges apart for the passage ofa sick child, bore the above name.

In remote mythology men and women are thought to have beentree spirits given "souls", motion, senses, and "blood and bloomingcomplexions" by the elementals or elder gods of the north. Theman was thought to have arise from the ash tree, and the womanfrom the elm. A little less remotely, ash trees were considered tocontain nature spirits, whose force could be tapped with goodresult, as suggested above.

witch-hazelSympathetic Magic: Once considered a useful liquid for keepingwitches at bay.

witchmasterSympathetic Magic: An elder witch, who possessed sufficientpower to control other witches in the district. Ordinary citizensapplied to him for countercharms, provided upon payment in kindor money.

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

womanSympathetic Magic: 1. It was bad luck to have a woman aboardship. 2. It was good luck to have a woman aboard ship,Creighton, BM, p. 123. 3. Women were unwelcome at thechristening 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 werefound to be easier victims, and the witch is now inexactly definedas, "a female practitioner of magic." In the not-too-distant pastmen still excluded women from their company on the suspicion thatthey might be witches.

woman in whiteMagic Race: See white lady.

woodSympathetic Magic: 1. Wood shavings left on the deck of a shipbrought bad luck unless quickly brushed overboard. 2. Toprotect themselves those who boasted were advised to knockon wood if they wished to survive.

Sailors once put unusual faith in the power of the ship'sfigurehead. In the great shipbuilding centres of Flanders, it wasthe custom to plant guardian trees (see runner, shadow man) atthe birth of every child. The fate of such trees was consideredintimately 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 thespirits, 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 ofEurope, peasants asked the pardon of resident tree spirits beforefelloing it. Working with wood was seen as an indignity to thetree, the shavings being disposed of before the tree spiritbecame annoyed and antagonistic. Knocking three times on woodis a means of contacting and propitiating tree spirits.

wordSympathetic Magic: Individuals who vocalized the same word atthe same time were to link their little fingers while saying: "Mayyour wish and mine never break."

word, writtenSympathetic Magic: 1. Individuals who wished protection from thefay, or any general evil, often had spells written on paper whichthey carried pinned to an innner article of clothing. 2. Atraditional means of ending an infestation of rats was to write theunwanted creatures a letter suggesting a better farm where theymight find residence. The paper was then greased to make itedible and pushed into a rat-hole. Once digested, the animalsusually got the idea that they were not wanted.

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

wormSympathetic Magic: To eliminate worms, angle worms were tied ina bag at the waist or neck. As these animals died, it was believedthat the internal worms followed the example.

wreckSympathetic Magic: Those who built homes of wood salvaged fromthe wreckage of ships were always troubled.

yarnSympathetic Magic: 1. Farmers who discovered their animalswound about with yarn knew that they had been charmed andwould die. One countercharm was to place the animal on its

back and light a circle of fire about it. Creighton, BM, p. 42. 2. Awool-ball ghost haunted a home in Nova Scotia: "My mother toldme...that a wooll ball came in the front door and ran along theroom." Creighton, BG, p. 165. 3. Far more eccentric was thekitten seen near the "Ghost Place" at Eagle's Head, N.S. whichcame "down out of the sky, not straight, but sideways", pursing aball of yarn. Creighton, BG, p. 165. Divination: 4. An individualwishing to have a vision of a true love was advised to runa ball ofyarn down into a well on a darked night, whicle chanting: We'llwind and bind our true love to find. The colour of hair, the clotheshe'll wear, on the day we wed." Afterwards there would anappropriate dream.

To tie knots about, or encircle animals or objects with string,thread or rope, was considered anti-social. Such acts ofhomeopathic magic were considered equivalent of crossing theair, an action intended to thwart the free-flow of natural spirits inthe neighbourhood. In the above case, the physical binding of theanimal was seen as symbolic of the psychic binding of its spirit.