If a Girl Wants to be Married…

A worker with the Virginia Folklife Society collected this practice from Mildred Harlow of Rockingham County in 1947, filing it as a superstition.

It depicts the steps to a ritual for a girl who wants to be married to find out the initials of her future spouse. It requires two women: the girl who wants to find a husband and, ideally, “an old woman who understands spells.” The girl should take a door key and tie it in a bible at Ruth 1: 16–17. The two women should each hold the bible by the key, with their palms facing up (as shown in the drawing.) The girl should recite the bible verse while her helper recites the alphabet. The bible will turn around when they reach her future lover’s initial.

Citation: Virginia Folklore Society Records, MSS 9936. Box 25. Special Collections, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA