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Black cats. Walking under ladders. Friday the 13th. Exiting the same door you entered.
I'm not superstitious - at least not that I'm aware. (although every time I wear my Redskins shirt on game day, they lose. Of course that probably has more to do with the fact that they're not very good )
Here's one of my favorites:
I ask a friend to borrow his knife.
He reaches into his pocket, opens it and hands it to me.
I finish with it and close it - and attempt to hand it back.
He refuses, and tells me to open it back up.
I do, and he holds out his hand.
I place it in his hand and he closes the knife.
Back in his pocket it goes.
Not a word was said.
I've read all of Carl Sagan and Bertrand Russell, so I'm sort of leery of superstitions.
Quote:
"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.."
―Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Funny I was just talking to someone about this recently after I told her I broke my hand mirror. She freaked out about me having bad luck. I told her I'm not superstitious. My mother always knocks on wood, throws salt over her shoulder, gives someone a penny if she gets a sharp gift and all other kinds of silly things. There is no basis in fact for any of these superstitions.
Of course most people know logically that superstitions are just that...but we may still have some lurking, especially when there are many unknowns and we feel powerless, that's when superstitions come into play.
About my only one is to not tempt fate and jinx something good that I think will be happening - so I tend not to talk about stuff like that as a certainty (so it won't be taken away) and sometimes knock wood.
One time I gave my mother a new billfold and put a penny in it because I knew SHE would be thinking about that.
Of course most people know logically that superstitions are just that...but we may still have some lurking, especially when there are many unknowns and we feel powerless, that's when superstitions come into play.
About my only one is to not tempt fate and jinx something good that I think will be happening - so I tend not to talk about stuff like that as a certainty (so it won't be taken away) and sometimes knock wood.
One time I gave my mother a new billfold and put a penny in it because I knew SHE would be thinking about that.
I agree with everything about this post.
The part I highlighted, I call it "Don't let the devil hear you" but it's the same idea. And in my family, any time we give purse, or a billfold, etc., we always stick some money in it, for good luck. lol
And I'm a knock on wood gal. Even if it's my own noggin I'm knocking on.
Funny I was just talking to someone about this recently after I told her I broke my hand mirror. She freaked out about me having bad luck. I told her I'm not superstitious. My mother always knocks on wood, throws salt over her shoulder, gives someone a penny if she gets a sharp gift and all other kinds of silly things. There is no basis in fact for any of these superstitions.
Some of those superstitions have very, very old roots.
Knock on wood to awake the spirit of the tree (the dryad) to act on your behalf.
Salt over the shoulder counteracts evil and drives away the devil. Salt has lots and lots of significance in ancient cultures. Consider all the Biblical references to salt...and folklore follows right along. "He's worth his salt" - Roman soldiers were paid partially in salt. Salt is found in tears, which flow during extreme emotion - both joy and sorrow. Salt licks were valuable property in pioneer days, as salt was used to preserve meat - licks also drew game.
Your mother is "paying" for the sharp gift so it won't cut the love between her and her friend.
My maternal family is Scots-Irish in origin, and a good many old beliefs and superstitions of this kind survived, but not as serious beliefs - just entertaining things. A lady's petticoat or dress hem is accidentally turned up when she dons it - if she kisses the turned-up part, she'll get a new dress or petticoat. Accidentally put on a garment inside out - don't change it, and you'll have good luck all day.
Eat your breadcrusts and you'll have curly hair. Cut of the tip off a piece of pie, eat it last and make a wish, and it will come true.
If it's raining while the sun is shining, the devil is beating his wife. If sunbeams are emanating down from the clouds, the sun is drawing water for the next rain shower. A ring around the moon means snow within the same number of days as there are stars within the ring (some truth to this one).
The number 13. It's my lucky number. I always wanted to live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Who wouldn't want to have a fire breathing dragon under the staircase and live with Frankenstein and vampires and baby wolf man? Okay maybe it has more to do with my love for Halloween and spooky old houses vs being superstitious.
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