Being superstitious is maybe something of the past
as science fills our world with proven intelligent fact. But many of these old thoughts
live strong in some people and even over run their lives. Many of our superstitions
revolve around the elimination of bad luck or the avoidance of it altogether. Take
the year 2013 for instance, it was toted as one of the worst years ever for life in general and for unexpected and unwelcomed events to arise . 13 being an unlucky number and having
to do with the number of Witches in a Coven coinciding with the number of
cycles of the Moon in a 12 month period and also the number of yearly menstrual
cycles of a woman. Being born on the 13th of any month is bad
according to folk lore, you will have bad luck your whole life. I am not too
sure about that as I was born on the 13th and have used 13 as my
lucky number often and succeeded. I’ll leave that to your perception.
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So what is superstition? According to Webster’s it
is religion, opinion or practice based on belief in luck or magic. If you were raised
with people who believed in superstitions then one would think the influence
would rub off. And it usually does according to nature and nurture. So what
makes us want to believe in superstitions? Well based on the definition above,
who would not want a little luck or magic in their lives?
After a brief over the dinner table interview with
family one night at the cottage a summer or so past we came up with the following
list of superstitions. Some, of course you will have heard of and some maybe
not.
An itchy left palm is money coming in or you will
find money
An itchy right palm is money going out or you will
lose money
Killing a spider makes it rain
Breaking a mirror is seven years bad luck
Walking under a ladder is bad luck
Opening an umbrella in side is bad luck
When your ears burn someone is talking about you
Knitting a hair into the garment brings the
recipient to you
Killing a Lady Bug is bad luck, your house will burn
down
Knock on wood to keep evil spirits away
Snapping a wishbone, the larger side recipient will
have their wish come true
Candles on the birthday cake were to keep evil
spirits away from the birthday person and a wish will come true when they are blown
out
A bay leaf in your wallet will keep the money
flowing into your wallet
Wearing a wedding band on the ring finger of your
left hand encircles a vein to the heart to hold onto love
It is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before
the alter
Making a wish on a penny and tossing it into a
fountain or another body of moving water is supposed to make the wish come true
Toss a pinch of salt over your right shoulder to
keep away evil spirits
The playing of Amazing Grace for a safe ship voyage
Saying “Bless you” after someone sneezes prevents
the Devil from entering the sneezer’s body
Jasmine rice sprinkled across the threshold to your
home invites a marriage proposal from your sweetheart
A raw cut onion will draw off sickness 9we are
actually not too far off on this one, as smell a it is)
Finding a four leaf clover is good luck
Carrying a rabbits foot is good luck
A horse shoe hung over a doorway keeps money flowing
A black cat crossing your path is bad luck
If you have a
favorite superstition one from a family member or one that you like to practice
please leave it in the comments on the FB page and share with us where it is from. I would
love to hear some of your stories.
