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Rabbit's Foot
In some cultures, the foot of a rabbit is carried as an amulet believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in a great number of places around the world, including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. In variations of this superstition, the donor rabbit must possess certain attributes, such as having been killed in a particular place, using a particular method, or by a person possessing particular attributes (e.g., by a cross-eyed man). It has been suggested by Benjamin Radford that the rabbit's foot could be connected to a European good luck charm called the Hand of Glory, a hand cut from a hanged man and then pickled. Humorist R. E. Shay is credited with the witticism, "Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit." In North American culture The belief in North American folklore may originate in the system of folk magic known as " hoodoo". A number of strictures attached to the charm are now observed mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rabbitsfoot
The rabbitsfoot (''Theliderma cylindrica'') is a species of freshwater mussel. It is an aquatic bivalve mollusk, in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. This species is native to the United States, where it is widespread in the drainages of the Ohio River and the Great Lakes. It has disappeared from over half its historic range. Subspecies Two subspecies have been described. It is unclear whether they represent distinct evolutionary lineages, or are merely ecophenotypic variation which would not warrant any taxonomic status. A 2007 genetic study has cast doubt upon the validity of the existence of two subspecies. * ''Theliderma cylindrica cylindrica'' (Say, 1817) — * ''Theliderma cylindrica strigillata'' (Wright, 1898) — Rough rabbitsfoot, found only in the headwaters of the Tennessee River. See also *List of non-marine molluscs of the United States The non-marine mollusks of the United States are a part of the molluscan fauna of the United States. Freshwater ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augury
Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" (Latin ''auspicium'') literally means "looking at birds", and Latin ''auspex'', another word for "augur", literally means "one who looks at birds". Depending upon the birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable ('' auspicious'' or ''inauspicious''). Sometimes politically motivated augurs would fabricate unfavorable auspices in order to delay certain state functions, such as elections. Pliny the Elder attributes the invention of auspicy to Tiresias the seer of Thebes, the generic model of a seer in the Greco-Roman literary culture. This type of omen reading was already a millennium old in the time of Classical Greece: in the fourteenth-century BC diplomatic correspondence preserved in Egypt called the "Amarna correspondence", ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of some forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, shamanism, and many other religions. ''Relic'' derives from the Latin ''reliquiae'', meaning "remains", and a form of the Latin verb ''relinquere'', to "leave behind, or abandon". A reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics. In classical antiquity In ancient Greece, a polis, city or Greek temple, sanctuary might claim to possess, without necessarily displaying, the remains of a venerated hero as a part of a Greek hero cult, hero cult. Other venerable objects associated with the hero were more likely to be on display in sanctuaries, such as spears, shields, or other weaponry; chariots, ships or Figurehead (object), figureheads ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goodness And Value Theory
In ethics and the social sciences, value theory involves various approaches that examine how, why, and to what degree humans value things and whether the object or subject of valuing is a person, idea, object, or anything else. Within philosophy, it is also known as ethics or axiology. Traditionally, philosophical investigations in value theory have sought to understand the concept of "the good". Today, some work in value theory has trended more towards empirical sciences, recording what people do value and attempting to understand why they value it in the context of psychology, sociology, and economics. In ecological economics, value theory is separated into two types: donor-type value and receiver-type value. Ecological economists tend to believe that 'real wealth' needs an accrual-determined value as a measure of what things were needed to make an item or generate a service ( H. T. Odum, ''Environmental Accounting: Emergy and environmental decision-making'', 1996). In othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used malevolent magic against their own community, and often to have communed with evil beings. It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by cunning folk or folk healers. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or killed. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. In some regions, many of those accused of witchcraft were folk healers or midwives. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment. Contemporary cultures that believe in magic and the superna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Cat
A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed. The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. The Bombay breed is exclusively black. All-black fur pigmentation is slightly more prevalent in male cats than female cats. Most black cats have golden irises due to their high melanin pigment content. In popular myths, witches are believed to be associated with black cats. Coat Any cat whose fur is a single color, including black, is known as a "solid" or "self". A "solid black" cat may be coal black, grayish black, or brownish black. Most solid-colored cats result from a recessive gene that suppresses the tabby pattern. Sometimes the tabby pattern is not completely suppressed; faint markings may appear in certain lights, even on a solid black cat. A cat having black fur with white roots is known as a "black smoke". Black cats can also "rust" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John The Conqueror
John the Conqueror, also known as High John de Conqueror, John, Jack, and many other folk variants, is a folk hero from African-American folklore. He is associated with the roots of ''Ipomoea purga'', the John the Conqueror root or John the Conqueroo, to which magical powers are ascribed in American folklore, especially among the hoodoo tradition of folk magic. Muddy Waters mentions him as Johnny Cocheroo in the songs "Mannish Boy" and "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man". In "Mannish Boy", the line is "I think I'll go down/To old Kansas too/I'm gonna bring back my second cousin/That little Johnny Conqueroo" and in "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", it is called "John De Conquer Blue". Folk hero Sometimes, John is an African prince (son of a king of Congo), said to have ridden a giant crow called "Old Familiar." He was sold as a slave in the Americas. Despite his enslavement, his spirit was never broken. He survived in folklore as a reluctant folk hero, a sort of trickster figure, be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mojo (African American Culture)
Mojo , in the African-American spiritual practice called Hoodoo, is an amulet consisting of a flannel bag containing one or more magical items. It is a " prayer in a bag", or a spell that can be carried with or on the host's body. Alternative American names for the mojo bag include gris-gris bag,Bradley, Jude; Coen, Cheré Dastugue (2010). ''Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris and Sachets''. Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn. hand, mojo hand, conjure hand, lucky hand, conjure bag, trick bag, tricken bag, root bag, toby and jomo. The making of mojo bags in Hoodoo is a system of African-American occult magic. The creation of mojo bags is an esoteric system that involves sometimes housing spirits inside of bags for either protection, healing, or harm and to consult with spirits. Other times mojo bags are created to manifest results in a person's life such as good-luck, money or love. History and ideology Central and West Africans all practiced the spiritual art o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Cat Bone
A black cat bone is a type of lucky charm used in the magical tradition of hoodoo. It is thought to ensure a variety of positive effects, such as invisibility, good luck, protection from malevolent magic, rebirth after death, and romantic success. ''...Got a black cat bonegot a mojo too,I got John the Conqueror root,I'm gonna mess with you...'' :—"Hoochie Coochie Man," Muddy Waters'' The bone, anointed with Van Van oil, may be carried as a component of a mojo bag; alternatively, without the coating of oil, it is held in the charm-user's mouth. Origins The black cat has been a symbol of both good and ill luck in near-worldwide folklore accounts. Magical traditions involving black cat ''bones'', specifically, have been found in German-Canadian practice as well as in hoodoo; these German-Canadian magic-makers were not previously in contact with hoodooists, suggesting a European origin to the charm. The use of the black cat bone to ensure invisibility, specifically as an ai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoochie Coochie Man
"Hoochie Coochie Man" (originally titled "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man") is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. The song makes reference to hoodoo folk magic elements and makes novel use of a stop-time musical arrangement. It became one of Waters' most popular and identifiable songs and helped secure Dixon's role as Chess Records' chief songwriter. The song is a classic of Chicago blues and one of Waters' first recordings with a full backing band. Dixon's lyrics build on Waters' earlier use of ''braggadocio'' and themes of fortune and sex appeal. The stop-time riff was "soon absorbed into the ''lingua franca'' of blues, R&B, jazz, and rock and roll", according to musicologist Robert Palmer, and is used in several popular songs. When Bo Diddley adapted it for " I'm a Man", it became one of the most recognizable musical phrases in blues. After the song's initial success in 1954, Waters recorded several live and new studio ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues.Trager, Oliver (2004). ''Keys to the Rain: The Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia''. Billboard Books. pp. 298–299. . Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of his most famous compositions includes "Hoochie Coochie Man", " I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Little Red Rooster", "My Babe", "Spoonful", and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover". These songs were written during the peak years of Chess Records, from 1950 to 1965, and wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rabbit Foot Blues
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family (biology), family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order (biology), order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit species and its descendants, the world's List of rabbit breeds, 305 breeds of domestic rabbit. ''Sylvilagus'' includes 13 wild rabbit species, among them the seven types of cottontail rabbit, cottontail. The European rabbit, which has been introduced on every continent except Antarctica, is familiar throughout the world as a wild prey animal and as a domesticated form of livestock and pet. With its widespread effect on ecologies and cultures, the rabbit is, in many areas of the world, a part of daily life—as food, clothing, a companion, and a source of artistic inspiration. Although once considered rodents, lagomorphs like rabbits have been discovered to have diverged separately and earlier than their rode ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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