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Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?

22 Feb 10 - 04:56 PM (#2847023)
Subject: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Cuilionn

Yesterday I caught the tail end of an interview with Amy Greene, the Appalachian author of an intriguing debut novel called "Bloodroot." A colour called "haint blue" (not sure if I'm spelling "haint" correctly) seems to be central to the story. She says that many windowsills and doorframes on backroads homes are still painted this colour, which is supposed to ward off "haints" or bad spirits.

So... can anyone give me a sense of how I might recognize this colour of blue? Does it match the colour of a particular flower? Is it the colour at the center of a clear sky? Closer to cobalt or teal?

--Cuilionn (you may think this request is funny, but it haint.)

22 Feb 10 - 05:08 PM (#2847037)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Melissa

http://www.squidoo.com/haintblue


I thought the blue on porch ceilings was to confuse/discourage flies..

22 Feb 10 - 05:39 PM (#2847062)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Kampervan

If it haint blue then maybe it's red???

Exit stage left ....rapidly

22 Feb 10 - 05:41 PM (#2847063)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Ebbie

Hmmmm. I had forgotten that - one finds 'haint blue' in Virginia also. I knew several homes in the Waynesboro/Stuarts Draft area that each featured it.

I believe the 'haint' part actually refers to a wraith, but is a take off on 'haunt'.

22 Feb 10 - 05:44 PM (#2847069)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Melissa

aren't we supposed to paint the inside of our linen closets blue to keep the linens fresh and bugless?

22 Feb 10 - 06:26 PM (#2847101)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Amos

Haints are ghosts, wraiths, disembodied spirits, etc. Never heard they were a color, though!!
Using housepaint as a sort of totem is popular in Amish country--barns often have large icons painted on them as wards. This is also a strongbelief amongst African tribes and their offshoots in the Caribbean.

So maybe its not the color of the haint, but the color used to ward him off.

A

22 Feb 10 - 06:29 PM (#2847107)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Melissa

haints (who can't cross water) think the paint is water..and won't cross it.

22 Feb 10 - 06:41 PM (#2847117)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Cuilionn

Melissa.. thanks for the squidoo link and other info. Amos-- thanks for your info, too. I've seen "hex signs" and such before, but the haint blue thing is new to me. Anybody know if there's a link--as there is with most Appalachian folklore--to any Celtic/British beliefs or customs?

--Amos

22 Feb 10 - 07:06 PM (#2847141)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: maeve

I have seen periwinkle to hydrangea blues used on doors in Italy (especially in Murano and Burano) and (via photos) Greece; a kind of visual "avert!" to bad luck. All of the outside doors and window boxes on our house were within that range of blues- simply because it made my heart sing.

I don't know of any Celtic/British connection. Are you thinking of a tie-in with woad?

maeve

22 Feb 10 - 11:48 PM (#2847291)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: open mike

oohh--window boxes...hope you are able to have these again one day!

here is a play...http://www.haintblueplay.com/

14 Jun 12 - 07:41 PM (#3363529)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: GUEST,olentangy john

Hi there,

I know there's a cielo blue that was used to paint doors in Yoruba (west african)culture to keep out evil spirits, and it wouldn't suprise me at all if that transmuted through appalachian culture. here's the color:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_E66IzYq9uJQ/TLMwAfk7C1I/AAAAAAAAEiQ/KCC0-Qegb_E/s1600/Cuba.BlueDoorMask.9.5.10Web.JPG

14 Jun 12 - 08:01 PM (#3363540)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Stilly River Sage

Read through this thread at Dirt Doctor.com and you'll find a discussion about how it works and what it looks like. And a way to immobilize and move wasps, if you're so inclined.

SRS

15 Jun 12 - 08:07 AM (#3363683)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Carole Bannister

Woad is blue and the ancient British tribes reputedly painted themselves with it to scare off their enemies. A reference to protection?

In the art world blue was the most costly colour to produce in the medeival period which is why it was used mainly to represent "high status" figures such as the Virgin Mary. (or so I am told)

15 Jun 12 - 03:40 PM (#3363859)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: GUEST,Ebor_Fiddler

Yes Carole, it was originally made from Lapis Lazuli when painting on manuscripts or Ikons. In Ikonography, blue represents power. Other colours represent other aspects of sanctity.

15 Jun 12 - 03:41 PM (#3363861)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: GUEST,Ebor_Fiddler

Sorry - I mesnt power for giving protection, as can be still seen on Greek fishing boats.

16 Jun 12 - 04:26 PM (#3364297)
Subject: RE: Folklore: colour known as 'haint blue' ?!?
From: Ged Fox

Isn't it simply "Hainault blue," alternative name for Flemish blue?