Over the past few years, I have been collecting quite a few superstitions on Strange Ago. Today I found this short article, originally published in 1892, detailing another form of wish magic as well as childcare for the game of tag.
Odd Beliefs of Children
Spitting on the Underside of a Stone to Bring Wishes and Cures
The superstition of children at the South as used in their little games, “telling fortunes,” etc., are very interesting. For instance, in some parts of the South in the game of tag, if the boy or girl giving the “tag” is quick enough to say, “Ticky, ticky, tag, my tag’s poison, you can’t get my tag till tomorrow after sundown,” that girl or boy is under a “spell” and is exempt from “tags” until the time specified, after which the spell is off.
In making a wish which they are anxious to have come true they pick up a stone that is imbedded in the ground, spit on the underside and replace it, being careful to fit it in just as it was; by so doing they think they will “get their wish.” The same method is used for curing toothache, but first the gum around the tooth is pricked until it bleeds. Warts also are removed in this way. They believe that a tooth that is extracted should always be buried; otherwise the coming one will be a dog’s tooth.
Source: Pittsburg dispatch. (Pittsburg [Pa.]), 17 April 1892.
