These are not necessarily Ozark/Ouachita Mountain superstitions, but I thought that they were interesting.
To prevent your family from having a quarrel on Christmas day, everyone must place their shoes side by side on Christmas Eve night.
To have good luck during the following year, take three sips of salt water before eating your Christmas dinner.
And I was happy to find a Christmas superstition that goes with the 'dumb supper' ritual:
The dumb cake was made at midnight on Christmas Eve. It is prepared in complete silence by bachelors and spinsters. The baker of each cake left their initials on the upper surface of the cake--(I guess after it was done?). If their silence remained unbroken throughout the night, the future partner was believed to come and leave their initials on the cake. If one walked backwards to bed after eating dumb cake, a dream about a future spouse was sure to visit them.
Merry Christmas!
Can you imagine trying to stay silent during and after making your cake? :D
ReplyDeleteWell I see why it is called a "dumb" cake. Can you imagine?
ReplyDeleteI love your old wives tales.
LOL...I love the dumb cake stories! What if the one walking backwards fell and got knocked out;)They would be feeling dumb for sure,lol! Merry Christmas to you and your family and furbabies!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh dear. A cake baked by bachelors really sounds dumb. :)
ReplyDeleteI wanted to pop by to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas, Rose Mary!
:)
Zuzu
I wonder how these superstitions came about? Very strange ones, indeed.
ReplyDeleteLoved them! The only one I've heard before it the last one about the dumb supper-so funny!
ReplyDelete