Mountain superstitions of Appalachia Myths Wives Tales and Signs

These beautiful rugged hills of Appalachia, they're as old as time itself. And as people come in here hundreds of years ago and even carried these old wise tales and these superstitions from the old country where they come from and they still carry on today. Now these old people when they come in here they had their own superstitions and they noticed nature year by year. Certain things happened certain ways and they noticed they put two and two together. This happened, this happened down the road. And this is how a lot of these superstitions come to be. Some of them are just myth, some of them are just old wise tales. But these old people they lived by these superstitions. Now they was real religious and they believed in the bible and they believed in their family and they loved this country. But this is just some of the superstitions of these old mountains. Now some are common everyday superstitions and some are not. I was surprised when I dug up some of this research that I didn't know some of these and I know I broke some of these superstitions. But that's just part of life. So there's so many to choose from. I just picked out a few dozen here and there. So I hope you enjoyed this and I'm going to go through some of them on just different things and different superstitions in these mountains. I'm sure you have a lot too. So it's unlimited superstitions in these mountains. So hope you enjoy this and here we go. First off is weather. Signs of weather, superstitions, how they could predict the weather. Now my grandmother she was a real firm believer in that. She could tell you what was going to happen by just the signs of nature, what was going to happen in the winter. A lot of people still go by this old farmer's almanac. It's great for planting seasons, time of the moon, phases, when to plant and stuff. But it's an old thing that still goes on today and a lot of people go by this. But our list of superstitions of weather starts out with persimmon seeds. Now these old persimmon trees they usually start out in late August, September. And if you ever take a persimmon and cut it open and the saying goes that if you cut it open the seed in half it looks like a spoon you're going to have a heavy winter after you dig yourself out. And if it's a pork it's going to be both and both mixed and both. It's not going to be just all winter. It's going to be good winter, bad winter. I mean in a knife it's going to be completely mild winter. So I've always always just seen a spoon. Well anyway here's the next on the list is a groundhog. This is a common thing every year. If a groundhog sees his shadow it's going to be six more weeks of bad weather. And if you don't see his shadow that means it's going to be good weather the next six weeks. Spring will be early. So that's an old common sign that we see every day. And the next old saying here is I didn't really know if you hang a dead snake on a fence that's a promise of rain. And the next up is the woolly worms. Now these woolly worms my grandmother really believed in these. You can see here how they are what the colors are. Black means real extreme bad weather and then the brown means mild weather. So here's a mixture of what they're supposed to stand for when you see a woolly worm. And a lot of people go by that today. I do myself. Now the next step if you see squirrels building their nest higher than normal up in a tree is a sign of bad weather in the winter coming. And then lightning during a snowstorm means two more weeks of bad weather. And when flowers turn bright white which is really weeds we call them frost flowers. They'll be a frost when they get snow white. And my grandmother was real firm believer of that one. And next on this list when you see smoke coming out of a chimney it comes up and then it goes close to the ground instead of on out in the sky. That means snow is coming. And I've noticed that myself it really happened. And an old saying is red sky at night sailors delight. Red sky in the morning sailors warning. And that seems to be right on the weather. And if you see a hornet's nest close to the ground it means bad winter coming. They build them close to the ground where they can get in there real easy. And when the sun's out and it's raining I've always heard the old saying it's the devil beating his wife. That's an old mountain saying. And if it thunders in December there'll be snow on the same day in March. That's an old wise tale of weather. And finally on this list there's so many of them. The number of heavy frogs that you have in August is the number of snows you'll have this coming winter. So there's so many other disciplines I just highlighted some of them. You could go on and on. Well that's the weather. So let's move on to the next. Now the next up is just common superstitions and some rare ones around the house around the home. When we start out stuff you know just common stuff around the house. Some you know some you don't know. Like horseshoes being hung in the bedroom will keep help help keep nightmares away. And never carry a hole into the house. It's really bad luck. That could mean a death in the family. And never rock an empty rocking chair. That's a sign of death in the family. That's a no-no. My grandmother really believed in that one. And never put a hat on a bed. That's bad luck. Now used to paint their whole porches special shade of blue to keep evil spirits away. Called them Hanes. I always noticed that while they always painted them porches like a bluish gray color. And never put a pocket book on the floor. That's just a sign of money will go out the door. And if you eat both ends of the bread loaf of bread at once you'll never be able to make ends meet in life. That's an old saying. And everybody's heard of break a mirror is seven years of bad luck. And yeah I've had bad luck and I broke mirrors too. I don't know nobody that ain't really over the years. And never walk under a standing ladder. That's an old common one for bad luck. And find a penny. If you find a penny heads up it's good luck. Pick it up. And if it's heads down it's bad luck. Leave it lay. But I've done both ways and it really don't matter. A penny's a penny. That's good luck just finding one. Silver's even better. And bad luck usually comes in threes. Bad things happen in threes. Or death in the family over the years in threes. If people's noticed that. And when somebody dies in the home they would cover their mirrors in the house. That would keep spirit from being trapped in the house. So that was an old saying. That was an old tale. And they carried that on for many years and probably still goes on today in some places. Don't open an umbrella in a house. That's bad luck. That's an old saying. And never add a door in a place of a window in a house. That's bad luck. Grandmother was real keen on that one. And never give a knife as a housewarming present gift to someone. They may become your enemy later. That's an old saying. And finally on this list. Never take an old broom to a new house. Throw it away and buy a new one. It's bad luck to take an old broom to a new house. That was an old saying in these mountains. So that's just some of the common superstition around the home. So we'll move on. Now here's some superstition around animals. The things they do. What it stands for. What the old mountain people claimed it done. First off if animals have a heavier cold of hair in this late summer, it's a sign of a bad winter coming. And if you see a red cardinal, it means angels are near. That's an old saying. Don't kill a cricket in the house. The old farmers would say the cow would go dry. That was an old saying. An old saying everybody's heard. If a snapping turtle bit you, bit someone, it would not turn loose until the sun goes down. And if a bird flies in the house, that's a sign of somebody will die. Seeing cattle laying down means a fish won't bite that day. And cattle laying upright, severe weather is not far away. And if you see buzzards circling overhead, that usually meant old signs like this. The old saying. One flying is a sign of sorrow. Two flying is a sign of joy. And three flying is a sign of a boy. And hearing a dove three mornings in a row cooing, someone in the family will die. And crow circling around your house is a sign of bad luck. And a black cat crosses your path. If it crosses to the left, it's bad luck. If it crosses to the right, it's good luck. That's an old saying. And a cat with white paws crosses your path, you will receive money. And this is just some of the old animal superstitions that goes on and on. So that's just a highlight of some of the animals. Now here's some superstition of just people itself, general superstition of all the old mountain people. First up on the list, if you bite your tongue while eating, you've recently told a lie. I didn't know that one. And if you drop a fork, that means company's coming. And if your ears are burning, an old saying is somebody's talking about you. And if your nose is itching, someone's coming with a hole in their bridges, somebody's coming. It's bad luck to whistle indoors. I've always heard that one. And if your right hand itches, you will receive money. And if your left hand itches, that means you'll lose money. And sudden cold shivers means that someone's stepping on your grave or someone close to you. Knock on wood is an old saying to keep things from happening that you're just talking about. Never wear new shoes on Easter. An old saying said it was bad luck. Never take a man's hat off his head. That's bad luck. Being frightened by an animal while you're pregnant will mark a child in the womb. That's an old saying I've heard. Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day will bring you good luck all year long. And no heavy work on Christmas Day, January 6th. That is extremely bad luck. My grandmother really expressed that one to all of us. So there's just some general ones of people that it just goes on and on. There's so many superstitions and traditions. So we'll move on. But finally, up is superstitions of death and dreams. Now this is one I really don't care much about. A lot of old people believe in these seriously. And the first on the list is to dream of muddy water is a sign of death. If a pitcher falls in the house, someone will die. And if a clock gongs for no apparent reason, it's a sign of death. If you have a dream of birth, there will be a death. And when your ears are ringing, it'll last for a few several days. That's a sign of a death that's to be expected in the family. If you dream of a death, they will be a bird. And if a baby talks before it learns to walk, it will die. Dreaming of a fall and not waking up and hitting the bottom, you will die. Never cut a baby's hair before it's a year old. That's bad luck. It will die. If you sweep under a bed with someone in it, they will get sick. And another thing is, if you sweep under a bed of a sick person, they will die. And if you sweep your floors on New Year's Day, you will sweep away your family. And forever frog you kill makes your life shorter. But these are just some of the old legends and old myths, superstitions. It goes on and on. These mountain people, it just, you could, you could fill a book, 500 pages of nothing but superstitions. And some of them are just myth, wise tales. But some of them are true. And some of them do happen. So I thought I would share this with you. Hope you enjoyed this. This is a deep subject to get into. But a lot of these mountain people and Southern people and across the country believe in these traditions and these old superstitions. So I hope you enjoyed. I want to thank you for watching. And I'll see you next time.