"Telling the Bees" by John Greenleaf Whittier.

The artifact that I did goes with the poem "Telling the Bees" by John Greenleaf Whittier. In the poem the speaker is walking back to his love's place in the country after a month of not seeing her. As he walks by, everything to him is the exactly the same as when he left it. The surroundings are all the same as when he last saw them, but it seems like an eternity since he last saw his love. The only things that he notices different are the beehives. He sees the chore girl draping a black cloth over each hive while telling the bees not to fly away because of the death of Mary, which was apparently his girlfriend.

In the poem it mentions about 'telling the bees' and draping a shred of black over the beehives. This is one example of a superstition. The custom of 'telling the bees' is well displayed in Sussex. Bees, it was once said, must always be treated as members of the family and kept informed of important news, particularly deaths and births. Someone should go out to the hives, tap each gently with the front-door key, and tell the news and some say one should also put black cloth on them after a death, and white ribbon for a joyful event. If the bees were not told of a death, another death would soon follow in the household; while if they were not told of a birth, the child might die, or might grow up unable to digest honey.

For my artifact I looked up some superstitions and how people thought they originated.

Friday the 13th

There are many different theories about the origin of 13 being considered an unlucky number. For Christians, 13 was the number at the Last Supper when Judas betrayed Jesus. It is also claimed that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, Noah's flood started on a Friday and Christ was crucified on a Friday so it is likely these days and numbers combined were given the sign of bad luck.

Black Cats

During the Middle Ages it was believed that witches could turn themselves into black cats. Thus when such a cat was seen, it was considered to be a witch in disguise.

Walking under a ladder

One belief is that the ladder forms a triangle with the floor and the ground. This either represents a holy symbol from Egyptian times or the holy trinity from Christianity. Either way, walking through that triangle, violates it and brings bad luck.

Weddings

The bride's veil is to protect her from evil spirits who are jealous of happiness.

Wedding rings are gold and plain, a symbol of eternity, and are worn on the left 'ring finger' because it was believed that a vein runs from that finger to the heart.

Umbrellas

This superstition began in the Old World many years ago, when umbrellas were made big enough to cover a whole family. When opened indoors, these clumsy, thick things usually hurt someone or broke something in the house.

Mirrors

It is thought that breaking a mirror would bring bad luck because it would distort the figure which was believed as glimpses of the soul. Romans decided that it meant not only bad luck but seven whole years of it. That number was chosen because it was thought that life renewed itself every seven years. The Romans thought it would take a person that long to recover from such a blow.

Full Moon

Popular legend has it that the full moon brings out the worst in people: more violence, more suicides, more accidents, and more aggression. The belief that the full moon causes mental disorders and strange behavior was widespread throughout Europe in the Middle Ages.

These are just a few popular ones that many have heard of before. As you can see, superstitions once played a very important part in peoples' lives, and for some they still do, even if they are regarded as being silly or foolish.