⚠️DNI: TWERF, SWERF, TRUSCUM, TRANSMED OR SUPPORTERS⚠️ During the summer, the pines scream and we pray for them to never stop. For when they stop, death has come and it's too late to leave 🔮Online altar/Grimoire dedicated to chaos magick, death magick, kitchen witchery, & swamp witchcraft🔮
an abandoned post office. the only visible remains of the ghost town of winchester, mississippi. the rest of the town is covered by forest. november 15, 2022.
In the south, you may come across homes that have their porches and window shutters painted specific shades of blue, resembling water or the sky. This is often referred to as "haint blue". Although these days it is commonly done for aesthetics, haint blue has some deeply rooted cultural history behind it. I'll include educational links as I go.
The term "haint" translates to "haunt" or "ghost". Haints are a type of evil, restless spirit that many in the south have grown to fear. For good reason, because haints are rather troublesome. They are capable of anything from basic trickery to chasing a person to death.
Haints aren't originally from the south, though. It was merely adopted into southern culture after African slaves were brought to the country. Haints specifically come from the Gullah Geechee people. The Gullah Geechee people are the descendants of African slaves that worked on plantations along the east coast. They were enslaved on coastal islands, isolating them and causing a unique cultural development that still lives on today.
Haint is an umbrella term for a variety of spirits, known and unknown. Some that are named are the boohag and boogermen. Regardless of there being different haints, they all generally have some things in common.
Haints are known to be able to get in houses through the tiniest of holes and crevasses, such as key holes or vents. They can't just walk through walls- they have to have an opening of some sort. Makes it a little difficult to keep them out, but there are some things that can keep them at bay.
Haint blue, as I mentioned earlier, is often painted onto porches and window shutters. The reason for this is because haint blue is meant to resemble water, and haints can't cross water. Some also say it's meant to resemble the sky during the daylight hours, which makes sense because haints also can't be out in daylight. The sun would burn them up. It can't be any shade of blue, though. It specifically has to be haint blue. By painting the porch and window shutters haint blue, haints will have a harder time entering the home.
Another thing you may see in the south are bottle trees. Bottle trees also originated in Africa and became popular after the African slaves were brought over. Although you may come across bottle trees with many colored bottles, only one color will work. The bottles specifically have to be a deep, cobalt blue color. If they're any other color, they won't work. Bottle trees are said to help ward off haints because, if the haints get too close, they will be trapped in the bottles until the sun rises and burns them.
If haints do manage to get into the home, there are ways to keep them busy until daylight comes. See, haints are known to be compulsive. They have a rather specific need to count things. People would leave out bowls of dry rice to give haints something to count and keep busy. Back when newspapers were still the primary source of keeping up with the news, people would hang old newspapers around the house so that the haints would read every single word printed. Another way people would keep haints busy, one that I myself take advantage of, is they would keep brooms around the house. Haints will count every single strand on a broom.
Of course there are other things one can do to keep haints busy. You're not limited to these those few methods alone. As useful as all of these are, some haints count faster than others. It's best to give them a few things to focus on until the sun rises.
Thanks to @buggywiththefolkmagic and @the-wandering-green-witch for helping me with this post!
when i say "dear god" and "good lord", I don't mean it in an authentically christian way; but in a force-of-habit-having-grown-up-in-a-baptist-christian-small-town way.
For my practitioners in the south: what's an old remedy, superstition or general "rule" you grew up with?
I remember the time I got stung by a wasp my dad pulled out his chewing tobacco, got it wet, put it on the sting and made me wear a band-aid over it. Was suppose to "pull out the sting". Can't say I remember if it worked or not, since it was so young.
God is an old man with fingers gnarled like the branches of an old oak and the Devil is his dark haired grandson that he just can't seem to control.
Angels are blue haired crones who's voices always seem just a little too quiet or a tad too sweet, and demons are the beautiful young mothers clad in white, perched in the choir on Sunday mornings.
•this isn't affiliated with voodoo or hoodoo, just stuff ive learned while living in louisiana•
🐸 first thing i do is ask for protection from the local swamp spirits i work with. id recommend building a relationship with them before asking for help. (will have an offering post up soon!!)
🐸 first you'll need a jar. any jar is fine.
🐸 next you'll need swamp water. can also be used for curses, but it's very helpful as a shield. *please collect it safely*
🐸 coffee grounds to catch negative energy.
🐸 i'd recommend a small piece of smokey quartz. i use it in swamp based magick, and it's good for protection against unwanted spiritual energy.
🐸 pinecones for protection against malevolent spirits/entities.
🐸 i personally add naturally collected alligator teeth. *note, please make sure it's legal in your state to collect*
🐸 and last, moss. any moss is fine. spanish moss is usually used in curses, but you could use it to tangle up negative energy.
put it all in a jar, and seal with a candle of your choice. id put a protection sigil on the lid as well 🐸
