Caribbean Folklore

As I know it, pointer broom just outside of a room is good luck; interchangeably said to sweep away bad luck, or to sweep in good luck. Now, some say that the pointer broom should hang outside of the room, maybe over the door or entrance, and others say that the pointer broom should rest just outside of the room by the door. For my own part, I've never hung my pointer broom outside of any room; but did rest it just outside of the door of my son's room starting when he was a baby, and when my son was a baby seems to coincide with when the pointer broom was acquired in the first place, or at least that's how I remember it.  But, whenever my pointer broom was acquired, why take chances when children are involved, even if sometimes you're not so sure for you own self?

And by the time my daughter was born and our family had moved, my pointer broom found its way at the point of the intersection of two rooms, right next to the fire extinguisher; and eventually resting in a tall, decorative vase given by friends as a gift for some occasion or the other; and pointer broom and vase seem to work well together, as these things go, resting just outside the two rooms. Safety first, of course, and beauty and culture, too.

In thinking about it now, there seems to have been an implied that there is enough potency from one pointer broom to help two rooms, and two kids. Or maybe just enough culture and decorative flair to go around, if you feel like thinking about it that way.

Cabbage broom is a reference sometimes used to refer to what would be a pointer broom elsewhere in the Caribbean; but strictly speaking the cabbage palm and any broom made from its dried branches is different from the coconut tree and any broom made from its dried leaf spines; but it's fine anyway that a buba broom in Jamaica can be a reference to a broom from either the cabbage palm, or the coconut tree.  But, so we're clear, I would hedge my bets with any good yard broom; and I don't actually care whether you call it pointer broom; or cabbage broom or buba broom; or whether cocoyea broom or coconut broom, as might be used variously in such as Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Antigua and Barbados.

I wonder if it matters what you call it for it to work; and if differences by country in how its effectiveness is defined will impact its benefits? But maybe if it works it works and this wouldn't likely matter?

Now, this is more pointer broom cure than pointer broom luck, but pointer broom is reportedly also good for help in curing a sick child, especially one suffering from bad eye. Some say that you can jaray a sick child by using three pointers (the dried leaf spines of which many are tied together to make up a pointer broom), reportedly by waving the pointers appropriately across the forehead and body of the sick child and saying the appropriate psalms and such, and with this ritual to be performed at 6 am, 12:00 pm and 6 pm, convenient and practical at least as to the omission of twelve, midnight from the mix.

While we're on the subject of pointer broom, my pointer broom I believe was stripped in the same way as I remember broom being stripped, or made. And, in case you're wondering, I do know how to strip broom, and even make kite with pointer, but that's all another story.

I suppose that if you know something about these things, at least just enough to get you started thinking, some of you could be wondering about manicole broom and where this fits in the mix. Well, the manicole palm also makes a good broom, but I've never heard of it sweeping away bad luck, or sweeping in good luck; but it's a broom, so I wouldn't rule anything out; but everyone knows that manicole broom is for sure useful for beating and breaking the back of Old Higue. I wonder if manicole broom would work on Soukouyan, too? It should . . . .

As I know it, pointer broom does sweep away bad luck, and sweep in good luck; and I find myself at the very least an unconscious, and hopefully not too self conscious, devotee of its benefits, and I've been so for years. Do you know about pointer broom luck? How do you know it?