Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child

The following proverb appears in the Bible:

Found in the book of Proverbs, which is a sort of collection of lessons or guidelines by which one should live their life, the proverb essentially means that it is important to be a good and attentive parent.  As the story explains, a good father takes the time to discipline his child and explain to him why his actions were wrong, eliminating the need for physical discipline.  A bad father, on the other hand, would only look to punish his child by spanking him or by other form of physical discipline.  This sort of behavior only alienates the child and drives a distance between father and child, whereas taking the time to teach the child has the dual benefits of sustaining the closeness of the relationship and sparing the child any physical harm.

Interestingly, my friend’s father would always jokingly reverse the saying, as a humorous way of reminding his son to stay in line.

Never Let a Cat Near a Baby

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2000
Primary Language: English

My informant for this story is my friend’s mother.

She has always loved cats.  When I would spend time at their house, I would see the cats and pet them and I developed an appreciation for them.  This was fairly new to me, because my family had always preferred dogs so I had never had a great deal of experience with cats.  One time, the cat swiped its claws at my hand and scratched it deep enough to draw blood.

My friend’s mother felt bad and she mentioned something about the fact that cats shouldn’t ever be around babies.  I asked her why and what that meant and she explained the superstition that cats such the breath out of a baby and kill it.  She also explained that the basis for this fear is the multitude of times in history when a cat would smell the milk or lactic acid on a baby’s breath and jump up on to the baby and put its own mouth near the baby’s mouth.  Most times, as is imaginable, the parents thought this was very cute and left it.  But, sometimes the cat would be too heavy and would constrict the baby’s lungs or airway, causing them to suffocate and die.  It is understandable that with the proximity of the cat’s mouth to the baby’s mouth, an association would be made that resembled a cat sucking the life out of a baby.

Beware Pregnancy Cravings

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2004
Primary Language: English

My informant for this story is my friend’s mother.

Everyone has heard that pregnant women have very powerful and often strange cravings.  For example, they may crave two totally different foods that they would ordinarily not want.  Whether it is because of hormones or chemicals that occur as a result of the pregnancy, it certainly seems to be true, at least based on what I have heard.  My mother’s friend used to tell a joke that “If you crave something while you’re pregnant and you don’t get it, the baby will be born with a birthmark of the item that the mother was craving and didn’t get.”

I have never heard this anywhere else, except in my friend’s family.  But I must admit that every time I see someone’s birthmark now, I examine it to try to discern what kind of food it most resembles and then imagine that person’s mother craving that food during the pregnancy.  For example, a friend of mine has a birth mark on her left fore arm that looks very much like a strawberry.  I have told her the joke and she thought it was very amusing.

Whistle When Passing a Cemetery

Nationality: American
Age: 70s
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2002
Primary Language: English

My informant for this story is my friend’s grandfather.

He was a Methodist minister and used to preach at churches across North and South Carolina.  At each church, there was, of course, a cemetery.  He would tell his children, when they were young, to whistle every time they passed the cemetery.  He said that whistling while you passed a cemetery kept the devil away and prevented him from stealing your soul.  This was interesting to me from the first time I heard it, mainly because of the idea on which it centers–that the devil or an evil force resides within a cemetery.  I find this interesting because I have always seen cemeteries a little differently, as peaceful and solemn places in which our loved ones could find eternal peace, though I know many people see cemeteries as a little scary because of the simple fact that there are a number of dead bodies buried in them.

Interestingly enough, since he told me about this concept many years ago, I have heard other people tell similar stories, with slightly different variations.  For example, the most prominent variation suggests holding one’s breath while passing the cemetery rather than whistling.  This is the only difference in the story.  This is fascinating, in my opinion, as it suggests some credence to the superstition and its prevalence.  In other words, it is not simply a strange tale made up by one family or in one local town.  The variations of it suggest that there is some historical significance to it and that many different people have heard about it.

A Burning Ring of Fire

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Residence: NC
Performance Date: 2002
Primary Language: English

In the mountains of North Carolina, there is still a presence and reverence for Native Americans.  Pieces of folklore are still retold today including the tale of fire.  My informant for this story was my friend’s mother who told it to us on the way to school one day.  The tale starts at the beginning of the world when the bear owned fire.  He used it to warm his people through the cold nights.  One day, bear set part of a forest on fire to roast some acorns for his people.  The fire soared for a while, but then began to die down and called out to Bear to feed it so it could go on burning.  Bear didn’t hear the fire’s cries, but someone else did and he fed it all kinds of sticks and wood.  Bear came back to get fire, but fire was mad that bear had left him to die and he was now owned by man.

My informant recalls hearing this story from her relatives as a child.  She thinks it may serve as a form of remembrance as to how we treat the Earth and how we came to “own” nature and everything it entails.  This Native American tale is certainly unique among the others I’ve heard as it doesn’t appeal to someone’s logic as much as other pieces of folklore.