haint blue paint meaning

Color us intrigued. The folklore is that slaves descended from central and West Africa created this tradition.

Best Haint Blue Paint Colors For Your Porch Ceiling

Occasionally I have to wipe down my ceiling and I use a little bleach and water on a rag.

. The Gullah people also known as the Geechee or Gullah Geechee in Georgia a subsection of enslaved people who lived on island and costal plantations were the first to use this color blue as a protection against evil spirits. Slathered on the doors windowsills and porch ceilings of their homes it served to create a safety barrier against the invisible and destructive haints that roamed the lowlands looking for souls to haunt. Haint blue can still be seen on houses in Charleston today.

Parks writes In the Low Country the unique shade is both a protective talisman and a source of unspeakable suffering. These descendants of central and west African enslaved people painted their doors window frames shutters and porch ceilings blue as a means of protection. Haint blue was originally thought to ward off ghosts or evil spirits also called haints and was meant to mimic the appearance of the sky or water and trick the spirit into leaving.

Haint blue paint use originated with the Gullah people African Americans in the Lowcountry region of the US. There is folklore surrounding various ways to prevent distract or trap haints including the use of a unique color of house paint called haint blue on doors windows shutters and porches. The folklore piece refers to the concept of haint a Southern variation on the word haunt that refers to a ghost or spirit.

Although the superstition of Haints and their mischievous actions have waned in the past decades the tradition remains to paint your ceiling a light blue when you have a porch in the South. The word Haint is a variation of the word haunt and the light blue color is meant to look like the color of water. After some research I learned the color stemmed from the local Gullah Culture.

Haints tend to be mischievous and dubious and will enter your home and wreak havoc on your family and your belongings. Haint blue is a collection of pale shades of blue-green that are traditionally used to paint porch ceilings in the southern United States. Download paint color formulas.

They believed that the color would act as a repellant for haints or spirits. Haint blue was supposed to protect people from bad spirits. According to the Southern belief blue paint applied to the porch ceiling as well as door and window trim can keep haints away.

Because a haint cant cross water. The tradition originated with the Gullah in Georgia and South Carolina. We accept things repeat them generation after generation without ever stopping to wonder why we do it.

The blue color tricks haints into thinking they are approaching water over which they cannot cross. A Haint is a restless spirit that has not yet moved on to the afterlife. The ceiling of the slave quarters at the OwensThomas House in Savannah Georgia built in the early nineteenth century was painted haint blue.

Haint blue is a light sky-colored blue that keeps the nasties away. The pigment was source. Blue represented water and apparently spirits.

It works like a charm and removes mildew. The blue paint tricks the spirits into thinking theyve stumbled into water which they cannot cross or tumbled into the sky falling farther away from their victims. What is Haint Blue.

To understand why it is called Haint Blue you first need to know what a Haint is. Therefore if you want to keep the haints out you paint your porch ceiling this light blue color. The Gullahs believe haints aka ghosts haunts or restless spirits could not cross water and the light blue.

But for the most part this paint helps keep the mildew at bay. Haint Blue and its intriguing meaning The Haunting History of Haint Blue Ceilings my veranda with Haint Blue Ceiling Since early childhood I have been fascinated by words and their meanings. And when the haint sees this blue color it gets all confused and thinks its next to a pond or ocean or something and goes away.

A short article by Shoshi Parks What the Color Haint Blue Means to the Descendants of Enslaved Africans gives further details. So the ceilings were not painted blue to mimic the sky after all. Last summer I visited Charleston SC.

When blue paints were first used on ceilings they were usually milk paints and those paints often had lye mixed into the composition. Haint blue Whether you want to keep creepy colors at bay add a subtle pop of color or just like tradition this is. The hue is also said to bring good luck extend daylight and scare away evil spirits or haints hence the shades alternate nickname.

This color was used on far more than just ceilings it was used on exterior trim decor and more and thought to help protect the home. Haint Blue is significant because of its power to ward off evil spirits. 5 Haint Blue Paint Color Formulas South Shutter Dark Green.

The color has deep meaning to the descendants of the enslaved. The color haint blue got its name from the belief that it could ward off evil spirits. The term haint was originally a variation of the word haunt Haints are lost souls or the deads restless spirits.

Beautiful on porch ceilings trim and shutters.

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