Protective Charms Deployed About The House
- "If you hang a bottle of bluing down a fireplace, it will keep Satan away." Negro.
- An old woman eighty years old (born before 1855) said she was never bewitched or her people, because her grandfather, then her father, always on the 6th of January, the Three Kings' Day, would put the letters C.M.B. over all outside doors before sunup, so the witches could not get in; and would put the same letters over the stable door so no one could bewitch the cattle." German. (According to German folklore, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar -- C.M.B. -- were the names of the three magi or kings who brought gifts to the infant Jesus in the stable on the 12th day of Christmas, January 6th.)
- "If you keep chickens with the feathers turned back the wrong way, you will never be hoodooed. Negro. These are "frizzled fowl" or "frizzly chickens" -- birds with twisted and deformed feathers; black frizzled hens are considered especially efficacious in rooting out of the dirt any powders that have been laid down around the yard by enemies.
- "To keep the witches out of the house, place a dime under the fireplace." Irish.
- "If you put a horseshoe over your door with the point down, a witch will never come under your door." Irish.
- "If a person try to hoodoo you in leap year, put a horseshoe over your door and they can't hoodoo you." Negro.
- "I always keep onions in the house to keep the devils out." Negro.
- "I always keep red pepper in the house so I will have good luck and not be hoodooed." Negro.
- "If you sprinkle black pepper and salt around your house, then sweep it up and burn it, it will keep your enemies away." Negro.
- "Take a sack of salt and make a cross on it and put it under the front doorstep, and you will keep away all evil." Negro.
- "If you will put a pair of scissors under your pillow, open with the points to the head of the bed, no one can harm you or bewitch you. I was bewitched years ago, and someone told me about putting the scissors under my pillow, open with the points to the head, and I have been doing this every night for years. I never go to sleep without the scissors under my pillow, and I have never been bewitched since that time." German.
- "If you put a piece of silver under your head while you sleep, the witches will not bother you ." German.
- "To keep your enemies out of your house, put a tablespoonful of vinegar and a tablespoonsful of sulphur in a little can and keep that in the house, and they will never bother you." German.
- "If you think someone is hoodooing you, burn sulphur and salt every day; and open the door and your trouble will blow out." Negro.
Books You Might Enjoy:
John Dee - The Rosie Crucian Secrets
Scott Cunningham - Cunningham Encyclopedia Of Wicca In The Kitchen
Aristotle - On The Soul
