Take Down the Cedar Tree, Daughter...

  Being born in the early 1900s and growing up in the Kentucky hills, my dad was a firm believer in superstitions. He grew up believing that if you walked under a ladder you may face some serious consequences. He also believed you were in for a long seven years of bad luck if you broke a mirror. When I was a small child, I remember a rabbit’s foot he carried in his pocket. “To keep bad luck away,” he told me. Being a farmer on the side, he never planted a crop without consulting the Farmer's Almanac. "Never plant a crop when the signs is in the heart," he advised. My dad was a man with his own beliefs and nothing much ever changed his mind. He had enough of those superstitions to fill a book and he believed every one of them to be true. For instance, when I first got married and had my own home, I planted a small cedar tree in the back yard.  “Daughter, you gotta’ take down that cedar tree,” he told me…When I questioned why, he answer, "I  always heerd (heard) if you plant a cedar tree and it gets big enough to shade your grave, you died.” “Well, mercy, Dad! I’m going to die when the Lord calls me whether that tree shades my grave or not,” I told him. “Yes, daughter, but it ain’t no need to rush things. Now do me a favor and take that thing down and throw it away.”

     My dad owned a country grocery store and the day he opened it for business he nailed a horseshoe over the entrance door. “To keep bad luck out,” he said. I’m thinking it may have been something to that one because on two different occasions  a thief tried to break in the store. Neither time anyone entered successfully, nor did Dad kill anyone with the old shotgun he aimed and fired. I am not sure, if they outran the bullet, or if Dads bad eyesight made him a lousy shot. Somehow, everything turned out okay. Or at least, we didn't hear of anyone on the Knob (The community we lived in)  complaining of a gunshot wound.

     One of my favorite stories to tell about Dad was a trip we made to deliver groceries to a family who lived on the Knob... The man of the household was very ill and the family was out of food. This was something dad did often. I guess you could say it was his ministry. He loved children and could not rest at night if he thought one child in the community went to bed hungry… On this particular evening, he told me to get a box of food ready and we would take it to the family before dark fell. As we drove along, I was enjoying the scenery and not really paying much attention to where we were going. All at once, he stopped so quickly it almost threw me through the windshield. “Good Lord, dad,” I yelled. “What are you doing?” He informed me that a black cat just ran across the road in front of us and we have to stop. He just sat there! “We can’t go on until another car passes,” he informed me. “Why is that?” I asked him. “Another car passing the spot breaks the spell,” he told me."Do we give our bad luck to someone else? I asked. "Naw, they just break the spell," he answered."

Now picture this: Here we sit on a graveled road about twelve miles from the nearest town, dense civilization around us. It is the year of 1956; a time when traffic was almost nothing after evening  in the country. You could stay there for the entire night with nobody coming off that hill! I was not sure what his intentions were or how long he intended to stay there. I thought to myself, we have some sandwich food in that box of groceries and it may come in handy around midnight... However, he only sat there for a short time until he concluded that we must go. So he started the old truck and slowly drove away being very cautious as he went. He almost had me convinced there was something to this bad luck theory when the next morning there was a flat tire on his truck.“See, I told you that black cat was bad luck” he reminded me.

    One day a salesperson came into the store with item to stock the shelves. Dad went through each item and decided on several things. He picked up an umbrella, looked at it, and told the man, “I don’t believe I want any of these umbrellas.” After the man left, I ask dad why he didn’t take the umbrellas. I still laugh when I think of his answer… “I am afraid too many people will be opening them up in here and it might bring enough bad luck to burn the store down.” I decided to not comment on that one. "Just leave it alone, Mary Frances," I told myself.

     I believe those old superstitions are of a somewhat innocent culture that has been handed down generation after generation. There are those who still believe in them even in our society of modern technology where there is an answer for everything.  However, there is a world of bad going on that is not so innocent. 
     We live in a world filled with worries. Our businesses are falling apart, economy low, and family unity is certainly nothing like it used to be. We are searching for something and trying to find the answers through witchcraft, soothsayers, and mediums with their crystal balls who claim to be able to read our future. Of Course for a sum of money they will tell you just about anything and keep you coming back. These people, in my opinion is a slap in the face to Jesus Christ. 

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his sons or his daughter pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all these things are an abomination unto the Lord, because of these abominations the Lord thy God will drive them out from before thee... Deuteronomy 18:10-12

Walk with God

Mary Frances King

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