Mountain Superstitions and Why We Believe

by Gaylord Cooper
Coopergl@roadrunner.com

We are an enlightened people. We no longer believe the Earth revolves around the sun and some, not all of you, know the moon does not have faces or is made of green cheese. So we have dispensed with superstitions, haven't we? We don't need them anymore-or do we? The ancient Celtics down through the Scots-Irish (who mainly settled this area) brought with them their families, religion, language and superstitions.

Superstition in Eastern Kentucky, Southern Ohio and the Appalachian mountains are still a big part of every day life even though people here will tell you that superstitions as a way of life ended years ago. We are told that we live in a modern world where education and modern technology has put these quaint beliefs to rest. Superstitions are no longer needed to explain the physical world. So we are told. But despite the disclaimer ancient superstitions are still alive and well in everyday life in the hills and hollows and on the streets and in the towns of Appalachia.

Most beliefs have been passed down through generations and not questioned. They just became part of the "common" knowledge our culture. Every one "knows" a frog will give you warts. Some superstitions are funny. Some are practical and some are rather dark.

Most have no idea why they believe in something. It's just something they've heard all lives. Their parents believed in them, their grandparents did it so too s they believe them without questioning or wondering why.

Kentucky and Appalachia do not have corner on superstitions but we do seem to have our own particular and, at times, peculiar set of them.

I was perhaps ten years old when I went with my mother to a home of a deceased neighbor. It was a small house and in those days the deceased was "laid out" or shown at home until the funeral. There were only two mirrors in the house. One was turned to the wall and the other had a dark blanket draped over it. I remember the explanations went something like it was bad luck not to do it or it showed respect for the dead. No one seemed to know exactly why it was done, they just did it.

The ancient Celts down through the Irish had a belief that a mirror reflected the soul of the one peering into it. It was believed that if the soul of the deceased would see the reflected soul of a living loved one in a mirror it might be tempted to take that soul with them. This superstition has its roots in self-preservation. This belief was passed to us from our Irish ancestors and the meaning and reasons were forgotten over time.

I was taking a walk one day when a neighbor lady stopped me and asked if I were going by the old community graveyard. I assured her I was. I was asked to take back a rose that she had picked that morning. She was beside herself that she had committed such a breach. She believed that if you picked a flower from a grave then as it withered so would you. I took the flower back to the grave and I guess all was right. After all these years the lady is still living.

Of course, this was practical. People did not want their children or anyone else marauding through graveyards and picking or destroying what was obviously planted out of love and respect. We are very good at taking care of old graveyards in Kentucky often planting a favorite rose or shrub on the deceased grave. This superstition related to respect and decency. .

In Eastern Kentucky there are a lot of superstitions and beliefs that have to do with death. In earlier times death was personal and frequent. Most sick and injured were nursed at home and often died there. No one was called to whisk away the deceased and the next we see of them they have been transformed into someone at peace regardless of how ravaging the sickness or injury they died from. It was family and neighbors that took care of getting the deceased read for burial. Death was a fact of life that had to be dealt with often so it is not unusual that death and premonitions of death lead to many, many beliefs.

The howling of a dog at night points to a death in the community. One does not need to be superstitious to be disturbed by this mournful and lonely sound in the middle of the night.

This superstition seems to have come from the Irish again. It points toward the Banshee wailing at the death in the night. Although the Banshee was appointed to only certain clans the warning of death in the Appalachians seems to be less elitist. It was for every man. It could be, also, that the early settlers had little use for Banshees but had a lot of dogs.

Other superstitions that portend death or rituals dealing with death abound. If a bird flies into the house there will be a death in the family shortly. When someone died you should close their eyes so they will not see a loved one and take them with them.

If you let a cedar tree grow tall enough to shade a grave then you will die soon. Also it is bad luck to walk on a grave, bad luck for someone expecting to attend a funeral and if one should eat honey on the day of the funeral of a loved one then that sprit will be tied to the earth.

Some superstitions were of a practical nature. . Watching the weather was very important to our ancestors. If leaves on a tree turn upward in a breeze then it is likely it will rain soon. This is true. The same conditions that cause the updraft and leaves turning over is responsible for unsettled weather also.

To make it rain, kill a snake and hang it on the fence. I've seen this practiced in Eastern Kentucky as late as last summer. There will be as many snows in January as there are morning fogs in August So many of the weather superstitions were of benefit to the early settlers.

A lot of bad luck superstitions come to us from the ancient Celts and their beliefs.

It's bad luck to go out a different way than you came in. This has to do with Celt warriors. They would go into a dwelling of someone they did not trust and post a few guards outside the door. To leave a different way was to put oneself in danger. You knew who and what was outside the door you came through but had no idea who or what awaited you on the outside of a strange door.

If someone hands you a knife it is bad luck not to hand it back in the same condition that you received it. If it was open you should return it open and if you received it closed and open it then it is upon you to close it before offering it back. This superstition hails from the Celts also. In their culture to unsheathe a weapon meant that you were going to fight. If you unsheathed a knife and handed it to someone it meant you either trusted that individual with your life or you meant for that person to defend themselves against your attack. If you received a knife unsheathed and put it back in the sheath and handed it back it was an insult and if you received it sheathed and unsheathed the knife it meant you intended to do harm. This practice with knives is still alive and well in Eastern Kentucky today.

There are a lot of good luck superstitions also. A horseshoe hung over a door way is good luck. Ancient Ireland had many fairies and creatures that roamed the land. They had a hatred of all things mortal but one thing they feared was iron. Putting an iron horseshoe over your door ensured that none of the ghosts and goblins and fairies would enter your home.

Knocking on wood is a universal superstition and act that is not seen much in Appalachia anymore. The practice comes from the ancient Celtic belief that spirits lived in trees. To ensure good luck you would ask a wood spirit for something. To gain their attention you would knock on the tree to wake them. You needed to knock at least there time to arouse the spirit. So knocking on wood for good luck is asking the spirit that supposed lived in the tree that the wood came from for its intercession for you in this mortal world.

Of course there are many superstitions in the world. Kentucky and the Appalachian mountains are home to many not seen elsewhere. A lot of our superstitions were simply ways of dealing with the physical and supernatural world that our ancestors had to deal with. The ones that I've listed are ones that we know have been handed down through the ages from our Scotch-Irish ancestors and the even more ancient Celtic tribes.

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Gaylord Cooper is the Director Eastern Kentucky Storytellers Guild. Is married, living in Kentucky, took early retirement from Norfolk Southern Railroad. Now a freelance writer and photographer, wrote column on Eastern KY for the Lexington Herald leader Newspaper. Published short stories, poetry and political opinions in various magazines. Gaylord has also written political commentary, and major articles for newsmagazines about Vietnam, as well as a lot of local history of the rivercities.

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