Ned Heite wrote:

[snipping here & there]

> Corners have a special place in witch lore.

Yes indeed, but I'm wondering:  1). if there is any distinction to be made
between corner protection and threshold protection and, 2).  if it's possible
to associate ethnic/cultural differences with one or the other.  Threshold
protection seems to be (have been) very widespread:  painting door and window
surrounds turquoise in the mediterranean (there's the color blue, again);
burying forked twigs beneath the door of Bantu houses (Walton in Paul Oliver's
_Shelter, Sign & Symbol_, 129); and our anglo 'witch balls,' shoes, and dead
cats near the door or chimney.

In particular, I was speculating about one of the possible origins of corner
protection in America as stemming from African American slaves reacting to
being forced to live in square/rectangular houses; especially those who had
traditionally lived in round houses.  I believe Vlach may have touched upon
this subject, and there is that well-known case in Georgia of a slave building
a round hut.  I know there are two new books out on African American
archaeology, but I haven't seen them yet.  Does anyone know of the prevalence
of corner wards versus threshold wards on African American sites?


> We still have not found a parallel for the discovery of what appears to be
> a blue bead at each corner of the house at Bloomsbury site in Delaware.
> There may be a connection with the discovery Eric Deetz reported of a
> bottle full of pebbles.

Eric's bottle sounds like a typical witch ball to me (needless to say, that's
only one possibility; maybe someone thought they'd found diamonds and this was
their stash <g>).  Eric, where was this structural post in relation to the
building?  Was it on the threshold, or on a corner, or in-between?  If it's
hard to tell, this bottle may potentially be a clue to the location of the
threshold.  I'm only 15 miles away; perhaps I could come by sometime and take
a look.  :)

Marty Perdue
[log in to unmask]