Ozark Magic and FolkloreDover Publications, 1964 - 367 páginas The Ozark region of Missouri and Arkansas has long been an enclave of resistance to innovation and newfangled ideas. Many of the old-time superstitions and customs have been nurtured and kept alive through the area's relative isolation and the strong attachment of the hillfolk to these old attitudes. Though modern science and education have been making important inroads in the last few decades, the region is still a fertile source of quaint ideas, observances, and traditions. People are normally reticent about their deepest beliefs, especially with outsiders. The author, however, has lived in the Ozarks since 1920 and has long since been a student of Ozark life--and a writer of a number of books and articles on various aspects of the subject. Through casual conversations rather than by direct questioning, he has been able gradually to compile a singularly authentic record of Ozark superstition. His book contains a vast amount of folkloristic material, including legends, beliefs, ritual verses and sayings and odd practices of the hillpeople, plus a wealth of general cultural data. Mr. Randolph discusses weather signs; beliefs about auspicious times for planting crops, butchering hogs, etc.; prenatal influence in marking babies; backwoods beauty treatments; lucky charms, omens and auguries; courtship jinxes, love potions, etc.; dummy suppers; and numerous other customs and convictions--many racy and amusing, others somewhat grisly or spooky. Here you'll meet and learn about the yarb doctor who prepared curious remedies of herbs and odd concoctions; power doctors who use charms, spells, and exorcism to effect cures; granny-women (mountain midwives); doodlebuggers and witch wigglers who find water with the aid of divining rods; conjurefolk and Holy Rollers; witches and goomer doctors; clairvoyants and fortune-tellers; plus the ordinary finger-crossing, wish-making citizens of the area. The general reader as well as the specialist in particular fields of cultural anthropology, etc. will truly enjoy this lively survey of lore and practice--a little-known but fascinating slice of American life. Its gentle humor takes the reader into the hills with the author. The book deserves a place in any general collection of Americana and in all collections of folklore, U.S. QUARTERLY BOOKLIST. A veritable treasury of backwoods custom and belief... [ a ] wealth of circumstantial detail and cultural background, Carl Withers, N.Y. TIMES. |
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Página 34
... moon is the period from the full moon to the new , the decrease or waning of the moon ; the other half of the lunar season , from the new moon to the full , when the moon is waxing or increasing in size , is known as the " light " of ...
... moon is the period from the full moon to the new , the decrease or waning of the moon ; the other half of the lunar season , from the new moon to the full , when the moon is waxing or increasing in size , is known as the " light " of ...
Página 41
... moon the log will show a definite tendency to sink into the ground , while a log cut in the light of the moon will not sink . Shingles or " shakes " rived out in the dark of the moon lie flat , but if made or put on during the moon's ...
... moon the log will show a definite tendency to sink into the ground , while a log cut in the light of the moon will not sink . Shingles or " shakes " rived out in the dark of the moon lie flat , but if made or put on during the moon's ...
Página 64
... moon it " spatters up high in the middle of the kettle . " Soap made in the increase of the moon is light in color ; that made in the decrease of the moon is considerably darker . I believe that the majority of soapmakers prefer to work ...
... moon it " spatters up high in the middle of the kettle . " Soap made in the increase of the moon is light in color ; that made in the decrease of the moon is considerably darker . I believe that the majority of soapmakers prefer to work ...
Contenido
INTRODUCTION | 3 |
WEATHER SIGNS | 32 |
HOUSEHOLD SUPERSTITIONS | 53 |
Derechos de autor | |
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aint Arkansas baby backwoods bad luck Baxter county birds blood buried burn C. P. Mahnkey cabin called charm chicken child Christian county crow cure dead death eggs Eureka Springs farmers fire Folklore Galena ghost girl granny-women grave Greene county Groundhog Groundhog Day hair hand heard hillfolk hillfolk believe hillman hogs horse Kennedy McCord killed known live looked man's married McDonald county means milk Missouri moon mother neighborhood neighbors nest never night old folks old woman old-timers once Otto Ernest Rayburn Ozark country patient pawpaw person Pineville plant poultice rain salt sassafras seen snake somehow sometimes sort souri Springfield Springfield Missouri Springs stick stone Stone county story stuff supposed sure Taney county tell thing told tree walk wart Washington county water witch weather witchcraft women yarb doctors young