Appalachian Folklore, Wives Tales, and Superstitions: The lore and sayings may vary based on location, family tradition, and other factors, but this is just what I’m sharing from my experiences!
•Deaths and births always come in threes.
• Don’t throw your hair out! If a bird builds a nest with it, you’ll have migraines.
• “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning.”
• If the leaves on trees are flipped over with their backsides showing, rain’s coming.
• If you’re giving someone a wallet or purse as a present, put money in it to ensure they’ll never financially struggle.
• Spirits can’t cross running water.
• Cats and dogs won’t enter a room where spirits are present.
• Carry an acorn in your pocket for good luck, a penny for prosperity, and a nail for protection.
• If you’re having nightmares, put a Bible under your pillow. They’ll go away.
• Take a spoonful of honey to keep your words sweet.
• It’s bad luck to walk over a grave.
• A horseshoe hung above a door ensures good luck.
• A horseshoe in the bedroom staves away nightmares.
• If your right hand itches, you’ll soon be receiving money. If the left itches, you’ll be paying it.
• Rubbing a bit of potato on a wart helps it to go away.
• If the soles of your feet itch, you will soon walk on strange grounds.
• Black eyed peas, greens, and/or pork and sauerkraut should be eaten on New Year’s Day to welcome good luck and good fortune.
• Driving a nail into a bedframe or crib will drive away curses.
• If your ears are burning, someone’s talking about you.
• If you dream of fish, you are or will soon be pregnant.
• Listen to the wisdom of children, they see and know more than we think.
• To dream of death means birth, to dream of birth means death.