HAPPY FRIDAY P.O.U.!
We continue our series on Caribbean and African-American Ghost Stories…
SPIRITS & WITCHES
(Coastal Georgia)
The following are several stories collected by the Federal Writers’ Project in Georgia in the 1930s:
Cuffy Wilson, sitting in the clean-swept yard which surrounded his whitewashed house, told us about the much discussed experience of a neighbor of his. This dealt with the current belief concerning the necessity of asking leave to enter the graveyard.
“Grant Johnson, he wannuh cut some wood an he git obuh duh fence uh duh cimiterry,” he explained to us. “He didn ax leab uh* nobody. He wuz a cuttin duh wood down as fas as he could wen all ub a sudden he see a big black dog wut come attuh im. Dat wuz a shadduh an he ain lose no time in jumpin obuh duh fence.
“Wen yuh hab a fewnul eben today, yuh hab tuh ax leab tuh entuh duh cimiterry gate. Duh spirit ain gonuh let yuh in lessn yuh ask leab ub it.” — As told by Cuffy Wilson, Sapelo Island, GA
*“leab uh” = Legba, the Guardian of all entrances
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Spirits of the dead often wander along the dark roadways, and frequently some belated stroller runs screaming in terror, declaring that he is being pursued. The spirits may appear as misshapen men or women, as sheep, dogs, and cats. A spirit need not always assume the same appearance but may change form entirely each time.
The following story was told by a woman in the community:
“I sho believe in spirits. I have seen em wid muh own eyes. One evenin jis as it wuz gittn dusty I wuz goin in tuh town tuh see duh dressmakuh. I walk tuh duh cah tracks an deah sittin on a rail wuz a lill tiny man, bout long as dis. I nevuh seen sech a lill man. He wuz so lill he ain good fuh nuthin. I look at im hahd. On his head wuz a lill tin lamp wut gleamed in duh dahk. He wuz kine of an Indian culluh. He wuz a grown man fuh sho fuh he hab a lill mustache. I holluh fuh a man tuh come out an see wut I foun, but wen he git deah duh lill man hab disappeah. Jis den duh cah blowed an I hab tuh leab.
“Wen I gits home dat night, it wuz real dahk. I ain goin tuh walk dat dahk road by mysef an I holluh fuh every man I knowd dat live neahby. I make em all walk home wid me, but deah wuzn no signs of duh lill man.
“Attuh dat lots of folks say dey see im. Wen duh moon is noo an deah is a drizzle, he come walkin along wid his lill lamp. He take all kine uh shapes. Sometime he’s a man an sometime he’s a animal. Dey say he’s comin roun cuz deah’s buried treasure neah yuh.” — As told by Lizzie Jenkins, Sandfly, GA
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The next person we interviewed several blocks away expressed an absolute faith in the return of the dead in various shapes. This was a man, who spoke with great earnestness of two experiences he had undergone, one with spirits, the other with a witch. He, too, had been born with a caul.
“Muh fus time tuh see a ghos wuz in a rainstawm. Me an muh brudduh wuz caught, so we run tuh a ole vacant house an soons we git inside, duh doe slam shut. We tought it wuz duh win, but wen uh look roun deah wuz standin in duh cawnuh two men wid no head. I tought muh brudduh see em too. Wen duh rain stop, we lef. Muh brudduh didn say nuttn, so I say, ‘Did you see dem mens in dat house’? He say, ‘No, wut mens?’ Wen I tole im, he tought I bin crazy. But lots uh time attuh dat I seen ghos.” He folded his lips and nodded sagely.
“Now bout witches. Yuh know ghos an witches is diffunt. Witches is libin people an ghos is spirits uh duh dead. I know a ole uhmun ebrybody say wuz a witch. Well, bery soon she wuz ridin me. 69 I could eben see uh come. Duh winduh–it would go up, an den uh would begin tuh choke an smudduh till somebody wake me up. I git reel tin an po. Den cross duh street wuz a man wich wuz complainin bout his wife bein rid by a witch. It seem lak duh witch would ride me, den go obuh tuh his house. So he say he would trap uh. He stay up. When he heah his wife strugglin, he git a axe hanl an begin frailin roun in duh dahk till he hit sumpm. It let out a screech an a cat run out duh winduh an down duh paat. So duh nex mawnin duh man git his dog an put im on duh cat’s trail. Well, suh, bout half a mile down duh road in duh fence cawnuh wuz ole Malinda Edmonde wid tree rib broke. She beg im not tuh kill uh, but dat broke up duh witch ridin.” — As told by S.B. Holmes, Old Fort, GA
(SOURCE: Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes)