........................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Voodoo ............................................................................................................................ 2 Superstition ..................................................................................................................... 5 African Influence ........................................................................................................... 17 The Gulf Coast: Early Colonial Period .......................................................................... 18 The Development of Folklore ......................................................................................... 23 Gulf Coast: 1930s .......................................................................................................... 24 Chapter 2 ................................................................................................................................... 32 The Devil and the black cat bone ................................................................................... 45 Characteristics of the Devil in the 1930s ........................................................................ 49 The black cat bone and the forks of the road .................................................................. 51 Chapter 3 ................................................................................................................................... 55 Early Colonial Period ..................................................................................................... 60 Snake Wisdom ................................................................................................................ 65 Snakes and Conjure Doctors .......................................................................................... 68 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 76