Haint Blue

[AshleyMel]

My Low Country Heritage will always be a part of me. Even three thousand miles away I have tried to sustain traditions and hold fast to the memories of my Low Country home. I painted the door to my house Haint blue.

Well, the closest variation I could find in this California town.

A quick internet search will delight with pictures of all types of Low Country homes deliberately painted.

Haint blue was derived from Indigo dye. Indigo plants thrived in the marshes of the Low Country. The enslaved and later the Gullah Geechee used the color to protect from spirits - Haints. The spirits were said to be unable to cross bodies of water, thus, houses are adorned with the color on porches, doors, windows and ceiling to keep the occupants safe and sound against any restless ghosts.

One the practical side, it is thought the color also repels insects (in past the paint contained lye) and would keep birds from making nest.

I am happy to say, I have never had the pleasure of meeting any mysterious spirits since we've moved in.

I also really think it is calming and soothing color. A very comforting reminder of home.

 

[lelliott19]

One the practical side, it is thought the color also repels insects (in past the paint contained lye)

Is Haint Blue the same color that ceilings of porches are painted in the South? I always heard it was to keep the flies and mosquitoes away, but never knew why or how it worked.

 

[AshleyMel]

Is Haint Blue the same color that ceilings of porches are painted in the South? I always heard it was to keep the flies and mosquitoes away, but never knew why or how it worked.

Yup, yup. Take a leisurely drive through Savannah, GA or Beaufort or Charleston, SC and one will see lots of blue on Southern porches!
There are various shades of Haint Blue. You will see shades from light blue to turquoise, to deep royals. Many times you will also see a stripe of blue just around the post of the porches. This is a also a sign of HooDoo and Root.
In addition to keeping the spirits at bay, insects and birds are supposed to confuse the color with the sky and not build webs or nests.
(I would still get eat up by skeeters up as a young'un though! Nanny said it was because I was so sweet!)
More than likely it was the toxic lye in the old types of paint that kept some of the bugs away.
I have plans to paint the patio ceiling in my back yard haint blue. For bugs or spirits -Ya know, just to be sure either way.

 

[gentlemanrob]

The first time I heard about haint blue was on a ghost tour in Savannah.

 

[AshleyMel]

The first time I heard about haint blue was on a ghost tour in Savannah.

Yes! My husband used to work giving horse carriage tours and many of the homes with haint blue were featured during their Halloween tour. It was the first time he had ever heard of it as well. For me, I always thought it was interesting to see these homes talked about and featured - the stories and recognition of the color has come into the main stream - when it was just a part of our daily life.

 

[AshleyMel]

I've been trying to find some public domain pictures of the old houses with haint blue. Daufuskie Island had some wonderful examples. Not sure if they are still there since the island has been developed so much. My sister's and I would play there when Daddy would take us out in the boat on weekends.

 

[RobertP]

My grandmother's porch ceiling (c. 1870 house) was the light blue color and they always told me it was to repel bugs. Very common in the South.

 

[RobertP]

Years ago we had a thread on bottle trees in the South. I remember them in front of rural black occupied houses when I was a kid in the 1950's. They were always cobalt blue glass and my father said it was believed they could capture and trap evil spirits. Sounds similar to the Haint blue doors.

 

[Mrs. V]

The porch cielings on the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island are painted blue..

 

[AshleyMel]

Oh Yes! I think I remember that thread! Absolutely! Bottle trees and Haint blue to together like peas and carrots.
Blue is significantly important in these traditions. A very importation color in HooDoo. It represent the energy of water and the Heavens and healing.

 

[bankerpapaw]

Very nice!!!

 

[CSA Today]

My Low Country Heritage will always be a part of me. Even three thousand miles away I have tried to sustain traditions and hold fast to the memories of my Low Country home. I painted the door to my house Haint blue.

View attachment 366315

Well, the closest variation I could find in this California town.

A quick internet search will delight with pictures of all types of Low Country homes deliberately painted.

Haint blue was derived from Indigo dye. Indigo plants thrived in the marshes of the Low Country. The enslaved and later the Gullah Geechee used the color to protect from spirits - Haints. The spirits were said to be unable to cross bodies of water, thus, houses are adorned with the color on porches, doors, windows and ceiling to keep the occupants safe and sound against any restless ghosts.

One the practical side, it is thought the color also repels insects (in past the paint contained lye) and would keep birds from making nest.

I am happy to say, I have never had the pleasure of meeting any mysterious spirits since we've moved in.

I also really think it is calming and soothing color. A very comforting reminder of home.

Reminds me of my youth in rural North Carolina.

 

[AshleyMel]

Reminds me of my youth in rural North Carolina.

Lots of good memories I hope!

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

This is a also a sign of HooDoo and Root.

What are these?

 

[CSA Today]

Lots of good memories I hope!

The best.

 

[AshleyMel]

What are these?

I'ma fixing to get together something on this too!

 

[JD Mayo]

I got haint gray walls painted threw out my condo.

 

[Lubliner]

I had never heard of this superstition and I was raised in the south. On the other hand, it sort of reminded me of the origins of Passover in Egypt.
Lubliner.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

The bug thing might make sense but I like the water genesis story better! Anyone know which it might be? Grew up in a big old Victorian with one of those wrap-around porches, ceiling was just teeny strips of wood colored wood up here in PA.

Yes, interested to hear of HooDoo although sounds familiar? Think there's a thread years ago maybe? Like Hex's, ( and apparently that's been ' debunked ' which is silly. Deep vein of this stuff around when we were kids- remember Dad's church council president got mad at him and hung out ' the black sheets ' against him ) here in PA Dutch area, Old Country stuff? Is Root the same kind of thing?

 

[KianGaf]

My Low Country Heritage will always be a part of me. Even three thousand miles away I have tried to sustain traditions and hold fast to the memories of my Low Country home. I painted the door to my house Haint blue.

View attachment 366315

Well, the closest variation I could find in this California town.

A quick internet search will delight with pictures of all types of Low Country homes deliberately painted.

Haint blue was derived from Indigo dye. Indigo plants thrived in the marshes of the Low Country. The enslaved and later the Gullah Geechee used the color to protect from spirits - Haints. The spirits were said to be unable to cross bodies of water, thus, houses are adorned with the color on porches, doors, windows and ceiling to keep the occupants safe and sound against any restless ghosts.

One the practical side, it is thought the color also repels insects (in past the paint contained lye) and would keep birds from making nest.

I am happy to say, I have never had the pleasure of meeting any mysterious spirits since we've moved in.

I also really think it is calming and soothing color. A very comforting reminder of home.

Where you grow up stays with you for life. It influences and stays with you for better or worse. A persons culture is what defines them for the most part in my experience.The people are part of the low country and the low country is part of the people Id say. There is a Gaelic Irish phrase that sums up my home for me Mise Éire - I am Ireland.