Or have superstitions 'died out'? So many existed when I was a child - if you spilt salt you must take a pinch from the salt pot with your right hand and throw it over your left shoulder; see a pin and pick it up , all your days you'll have good luck, see a pin and let it lie, someone close is sure to die; if you drop a glove never pick it up yourself,, always ask someone else to do it for you; if you forget to say 'rabbits' on the first morning of the month, say 'white rabbits and turn round three times!
Yes they sound really daft in these days when AI is upon us but my mother stuck to all those - I suppose I did as a child but once I reached teenage years I realised just how ridiculous they were.
I do remember neighbours sitting under the stairs during thunderstorms - my mother would have liked to but my father ridiculed it and would not allow it - in fact he loved them and would stand with the back door open watching the lightning and the heavy rain - and reassuring my mother that thunder was just the delayed noise of the lightning as light travels faster than sound.
Remember the (now 'old fashioned' but if you wait long enough they will become high fashion again)bowls which folk hung from the ceiling to cloak the light bulb? We had one in the dining room and one winter's evening when my Aunt Kate was staying we had the light on and as we ate a cloaked hooded black figure went round the room. I was only small and caught their horror so we all three sat there mesmerised until my father came in and pointed out it was a fly walking round the inside of the light bowl!
Oh how times have changed and how blase we have become about such things. But will there be things we do which future generations find hilarious and pooh-pooh? I'm sure there will.
Looking through the book my niece sent me I find many which can be laughed at: July 1677 ' Beware of violent heat; and sudden cold, which are the great Distempers of this month and produce Pestilential Diseases; and June 1677 'use a light and thin diet for the stomach is weaker now than in former months'.**
**British Merlin 1677
.JPG)
36 comments:
Yes I am. Superstitions were so drilled into me by my mother I could hardly be anything else.
I guess I am as I still reflexively toss a pinch of spilled salt over my shoulder, never walk under ladders, knock wood (usually humorously using my head if no other wood is available) and pick up pins--though mostly I do the latter to protect the dog's paws. :)
Still touch wood but have never spat on my hand to shake another 'spat on hand' to close a deal.
No shoes allowed on the table, even if still new and in their box. Probably the only one I stick to!
Oh, how I love your posts Weaver! My Mother (born 1918 in Tennessee USA) had many superstitions. I remember following along as a young child and discounting most of them as I became a teen. As I go about my day today, I will be reflecting on this subject, as is usually the case with the interesting topics you raise. Thank you for making my days more meaningful by offering your dedicated readers food for thought. Jackie
I'm a little superstitious. I find myself knocking on wood to counteract something I've said that I don't want to happen. I also grip my little make-up mirror firmly whenever I use it. I've dropped it a few times over the years but to my relief, it's remained intact. Seven years bad luck is a heavy sentence so even though it's a silly superstition, I'll keep gripping that mirror snugly.
Love the fly story! I can so clearly envision it.
Ceci
My Mum was and I still Touch Wood for luck but things like walking under ladders I ignore.
I love Thunderstorms too - my Auntie used to shut all the curtains and hide which seemed very odd to us.
I still don't wash blankets in May, as it is believed you will wash a family member away. They say you should never cast a clout before May is out too. Both of these superstitions are based on our changeable British weather I believe. Pollie.
Surprising how many people say 'touch wood 'still, myself included...and saying 'bless you' to another after a sneeze is still ingrained it seems from medieval days with the plague!- Pam.
Yes, I continue to touch/knock on wood, pick up pins, not walk under ladders, toss a pinch of salt when salt is spilled, and others.
Have a wonderful weekend!
I am on the fence about superstitions. My close uncle was a believer and Catholic as well. He prayed to counteract superstitions. He had a Saint for just about anything. He also feared thunder and especially lightening. He had lightening rods installed on the peaks of his home.
Yet he still shuddered and prayed until the storm was gone.
I work in the Emergency department of our hospital. We do not say the name of clients that have been there in the past. "I wonder how Mr X is doing?". That will cause them to be a patient in the next day or two, just as sure as Adam ate little apples! My husband says, "you dont really believe that, do you?" But I do. It happens all the time! That is my most strongly held superstition. Anne in Wyoming USA
I still follow a few of them, no shoes whether new or old on the table, white rabbits on the first of the month, why May is an unlucky month I have no idea, but most of my closest friends were born in May. Not walking under ladders, exchanging a penny for a sharp object like a knife or scissors. There must be more, but I can't think of any at the moment.
Like some of your other readers I pick and choose my superstitions.
I will happily walk under a ladder butI really wince when I see a pair of new shoes on the table and always, always throw spilt salt over my left shoulder.
I smiled to myself the other day when I saw my adult daughter do the same thing with the salt!
Never leave port on a Friday. We never did and had very good luck sailing.
What fun! I remember from childhood: 'Step on a crack (in the sidewalk), break your mother's back.'
I'm not really superstitious but still don't walk under ladders and touch wood when it's necessary! Just habit, no thought or worry involved.
Hugs!
My husband's Gran would stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve and with her brush sweep the old year out and New Year in. Father in law can remember sitting under the stairs with his siblings during thunder storms. My sister's husband will not leave the house unless he is wearing a St Christopher.
I still touch wood and do not walk under ladders. I do remember when my Nan died and I was pregnant, one of her sisters had to make sure I did not view her body. Look into the face of death and you won't feel your babies breath.
I am definitely not superstitious. In my professional life I was trained to look at the evidence, find the facts and make judgments - so walking under ladders, throwing salt over my shoulder etc isn’t on the radar screen for me.
Unlike you and Rachel I wasn't brought up on a diet of superstition. However. Oh my god, I couldn't believe it. One Sunday morning, I must have been about eleven, and we always had meals together as a family round the table, one breakfast my father spilt something onto the table cloth - can't remember now whether it was salt or sugar. It was white. Probably sugar. My father is a man of intellect, reason and rationality. To see him hyperventilating, literally going hysterical at the sight of some white stuff scattered on the table cloth was astounding.
He ordered me to clean it up since it was bad luck if he did it himself. Come again? It was one of those pivotal moments of my life where I learned to take things he said with a pinch of whatever it was and, most certainly, not seriously.
You write about such great subjects, Pat, conjuring up your readers' memories. And before I forget, you know the one about a cat crossing your path left to right, right to left? The motherland has both options covered so nothing to worry about either way. And both rhyme. All is well.
U
T Don’t go outside after washing your hair and not drying it or you will catch a cold. Don’t go to bed with your hair wet. If your palm itches, you will come into money. Knife falls on floor means a man is coming. Those were my mother’s superstitions.
A lady who grew up in the Southern U.S. told me that when she was little and there was a thunderstorm to not be scared,it meant that God was moving his furniture.
I do like to have Hoppin John or chili on New Year’s Eve but it isn’t because it is supposed to bring good luck for the coming yesr. I just like beans.
My 12 year old grandson sent me a pinched forefinger and thumb emojie and closed fist emojie on 1st June. I replied with 3 white rabbit emojies.
Carrying on old customs with an updated slant.
Enjoyed this so much.
My grandma had one that goes if your palm itches don't scratch because money is coming.
Superstitions ?
Not as many now I’m older
I have an inner voice that often tells me who is a good un and who is a bad un
I’m rarely wrong.
Take care my old friend xx
My grandparents always covered the mirrors in the house if there was a thunderstorm (apparently to stop the lightening from reflecting back into the room). Also, never open an umbrella inside.
I don't think my father was superstitious, but I do remember him insisting that I give my mother a penny after she had treated me to a fine pair of dressmaker's scissors for my birthday. It was to protect me from harming myself with a sharp tool. As for thunderstorms, no-one sat under the stairs but one of my aunts took shelter there during an air raid in WW2!
I think that I used to be a lot more superstitious. I know that my maternal grandmother was full of mystical stories and once nearly fainted when I opened an umbrella in the house. My paternal grandfather was a dowser. however, I was not raised in a superstitious home.
My mother taught me that if I saw crossed knives to always remove the bottom one. I still do this today; goodness knows why!
Goodness, I haven't thought about such things for years - since my MIL died and I stopped having to be careful I didn't upset her. One of my mother-in-law's was that if you gave someone a present of a knife, you had to give them a coin as well. Why? No idea! But she was very set upon it. I don't remember any such superstitions in my own family, but as they were staunch Roman Catholics they had plenty of rituals to keep them busy anyway.
I hope those nasty Shingles are much better?
My husband made Santoku knives that were beautiful and a work of art in the kitchen. Someone on his school staff suggested he make one for a woman who was retiring. Only after the presentation did we know about bad luck involving knives as gifts. I asked him on reading the comment above if he knew about the coin. He said he did now.' What's the story with the coin' I asked, and his reply was ' you'd have to live next door to an Italian'. For him, growing up in that situation, he learnt there were many cultural superstitions families carried with them to their new country..- Pam, Aust.
What interesting posts you write Pat! I remember most of those superstitions you mentioned, but probably only use " touch wood" when I say something that might be tempting fate. Do you remember the one about if you were pulling a funny face and the wind changes you would stay that way?
Superstitions are something I would never discuss except with my immediate family when we remember them because of our home life once upon a time. Superstitions in the home in the countryside go much deeper than keeping ones fingers crossed or touching wood. Outside the family I would never laugh about them and I do still think of many country superstitions in my daily life. They are in some ways a comfort and remind me of my mother and sometimes they do even seem to be right!
The story about peacock feathers in the house bringing bad luck was to stop the locals from stealing your peacock's feathers. A lost of superstitions were to scare children, but they continue scaring them as adults. Look at the Catholic Church, for instance. I like superstitions. I wish I had more.
A fantastic lot of superstitions and lots of laughter in your replies. Thank you everyone.
Yes, and have written many blog posts about superstitions. Somewhere i heard to throw the salt
over the left shoulder, as that is where the devil stands.
I am a martyr to the solitary magpie. Seeing one used to involve 3 star jumps, but now I just say 'Hello Mr Magpie how is Mrs Magpie and all the children'to ward off any bad luck. On even a short walk this can quickly become tiresome!
Post a Comment