Folktales has always been a part of all cultures. Where-ever
    there's been human life there's always been a tale to tell.
    As a child growing up in the back woods of Virginia I recall
    hearing my relatives speak of spell casting, root doctors, palm
    reading, black cats and such,but I was to busy playing doctor
    under the front porch to take it all in. Speaking of cats! Have you
    heard the old tale that if a black cat crosses your path you will
    have bad luck? Or if you walk in another persons foot-prints you
    will develop a head ache? How about the most well known one; If
    you break a mirror you will have seven years bad luck? Some my
    view this form of thinking as none sense- but is it? What some
    people considers to be none-sense is very real to others. The belief
    in things such as witchcraft,black magic,vampires,voodoo and the
    like,has been around for centuries-and will be-as long as mankind
    walks  the earth. Some older people believes that if a pregnant
    woman is frighten by an animal before her child is born,the child
    will be born resembling the animal that frightened her;they call it
    "marking". My father,being of African and Indian heritage has
    told me some very strange tales of people he met while growing
    up on the old plantations of Virginia. My favorite being of a man
    called Buck Jackson;a tall slim narrow faced black man. As my
    father tells it, Buck was a great harmonica player and had other
    strange talents as well. The story goes like this. Every Sunday
    people would  gather at the old church and looked forward to
    hearing Buck play. Buck would start playing the harmonica,
    remove it from his mouth,lay it on the hood of his old car and the
    harmonica would continue to play,while Buck clapped his hands
    and said "play it boy." It was also said that whenever Buck was
    locked up by the local police he had to be closely watched,for Buck
    appeared to be a black Houdini (an escape artist). Buck also had a
    strange appetite for things like burning cigarettes,coins,and glass
    lamp chimneys. The glass chimneys must have been a delicacy to
    Buck. It was said that he would bite them off piece by piece until
    it was all consumed. After which,Buck would give his chest a
    hard pound and the glass would come flying from his mouth.

    When it comes to old tales such as this-did it happen?Maybe it
    did; maybe it didn't. But one thing's for Certain there are many
    different people in this world, capable of many different things;
    God planned it that way. Lets not forget that the bible's full of
    people that performed many great deeds called miracles;but were
    they miracles,or just perceived to be so?
    There was a time in history when people were hanged,or burned
    at the stake for performing certain deeds;as in the Salem witch
    trials;and with Christ; many thought him to be a demon or
    sorcerer,for which contributed to his crucifixion.
    The fear of such people still exists in our so called modern day
    world. Many people are strong believers in spell casting and has
    ways to prevent them. One way is to rube a string in sulfur,tie a
    certain number of knots in the string and wear it around the
    waist for a certain number of days and no one can cast a spell
    upon you. A spell can be broken by the same means. I heard this
    from an old African man and I promised not to print all details
    concerning this. Folk tales such as this has been told through
    many generations and cultures. How much truth there is in them
    is hard to say,but my belief is that there is some truth in all old
    tales.
Old Man Tale
oldcure.com