Our culture abounds in folk beliefs whose physical presence survive even after their meanings have been forgotten. Things we use for decoration or wear as jewelry often have their roots in olden beliefs in magic and evil spirits.

It’s summer and in the South that means siting on a porch visiting with neighbors. Yes, we still do that. One old tradition is painting porch ceilings a light blue, commonly known as fly-speck blue.

Though still popular, many people do not know the tradition behind “fly-speck” blue porch ceilings. One of several possible origins of that paint scheme is the tradition that the color blue could repel evil spirits known as haints. So the painting of the ceiling a light blue insured no evil spirits would come under it. Because of that, a light blue porch ceiling color was sometimes called “haint blue.” Another “fly-speck blue” tradition was that insects would think the ceiling was open sky and avoid porches as they would a wide open unprotected space.

While a lot of old things have turned up in yards and gardens in Columbus, the oldest Euro-American artifact I have come across is a 1790 Spanish half reale silver coin. It is a coin that had a hole in it and a value of 6 1/4 cents. It’s not unusual to see old silver coins with holes in them. Coins were “holed” usually for one of three reasons. One reason was travelers would use the hole to pin coins to the inside of their coats for safe keeping when traveling. The other two reasons are related.

Silver coins were once believed to be protective charms. In his 1926 study of Southern folk beliefs, Columbus native Newbell Niles Puckett wrote about “good luck charms.” They included “a buckeye carried in the pocket,” “a ring made of a horseshoe nail,” “nutmeg worn about the neck” and a silver coin. Puckett described how a silver coin worn about the ankle or as a necklace was considered “effective in warding off conjuration” and in “bringing good luck. It was probably out of that tradition that coin jewelry became popular.

Bottle trees have become a common garden and yard ornament, but their roots also come out of protection against haints.

Bottle trees come from traditions that began in both Africa and Europe that pretty glass would attract evil spirits or wandering witches. Many of those spirits traveled around at night and it was thought that they could be caught and trapped in an open bottom with sealed top glass bottle. In colonial times bottles were made that way to trap flies and wasps as they would try to escape by flying up instead of down.

One Southern tradition was to lay a pretty or blue bottle on its side on the ground at night. If the next morning any insect or animal was caught in it, then it was actually a witch having taken that creature’s form. A bottle tree worked in a similar fashion, though with many bottles set on branches to catch flying spirits or witches. It was believed that bottle trees placed near doors would safeguard the entry into the house. Night spirits thus caught would be killed by the morning sun.

Another old tradition that is less well known concerns the medicine of a person who has died. To make sure that one who has died continues to take what medicine they needed, their remaining medicine bottles are turned upside down on their grave so that the medicine can soak into the ground there. Years ago I encountered several sunken unmarked graves along the Tombigbee, and there were several very old medicine bottles in the leaves around the graves. I picked one up to try and date it, and in researching it, came across a reference to the tradition about the last medicine. The bottle was from the late 1800s.

Rufus Ward is a local historian. Email your questions about local history to him at [email protected].

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

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