Thirteen SUPERSTITIONS
Since it’s Halloween I’m all about superstition today. All of these come from the Collins Gem book of Superstitions.
1. A drowning person sees their life flash before their eyes.
2. If your right hand itches you are going to receive money. If your left hand itches you are going to give money away.
3. Cross your fingers for luck, especially as you tell a white lie.
4. If you have a mole above an eye you’ll find love early and have many children.
5. Spit on a child to protect them from harm. ~ men! Hubby came along, read this and started spitting. EEK!!
6. Happy the bride the sun shines on: for a bride to be hit by a shaft of sunlight on her wedding day was the very best of omens. A ray of sunlight falling on a funeral mourner was a death omen.
7. A four leaf clover is lucky. Horseshoes are lucky. ~ hubby has come back after spitting on the dog. He says horseshoes shouldn’t be tipped upside down cause the luck will fall out.
8. Cat’s don’t have nine lives. It is lucky if a black cat crosses your path, enters your house or comes on board your ship. ~ Hmm, anyone out there own a ship?
9. Money is the root of all evil. A coin in a new purse or wallet brings good luck.
10. When sweeping you must sweep inside rather than outside because otherwise you’ll sweep away all your good luck.
11. It’s bad luck to walk under a ladder. ~ I’ve always thought this was commonsense. Who wants the person up the ladder to drop something on their head???
12. Breaking a mirror brings seven year’s bad luck.
13. 13 is unlucky and Friday the 13th is the unluckiest day.
Does anyone have a favorite superstition to add?
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November 1st, 2007 at 4:23 am · Link
My mother in law is the Queen of Superstitions. (She learned at the feet of the master: Her mother-in-law.
)
A few she introduced me to:
You must always leave a house thru the same door you entered or you’ll have bad luck.
Never put shoes on a bed or table (I made the mistake of putting a bag of new shoes on the kitchen table when I came home from shopping one afternoon and the poor lady whisked them away as if they were plutonium.)
Never pass a knife between people. Put the knife down and let the other person pick it up. Otherwise you and the knife recipient will have a fight.
If someone sneezes after you finish a statement, that means you’re telling the truth.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
November 1st, 2007 at 5:13 am · Link
I’ve broken about 11 of these in the last day alone! LOL
Here’s one I learned from my grandmother, who hailed from the old country. If you compliment your own children you have to spit so you don’t jinx them.
November 1st, 2007 at 5:33 am · Link
Great T13! I love reading about superstitions. Hehehe!
November 1st, 2007 at 7:13 am · Link
Oh, these are great. Mine were some theater ones. No whistling in the theater.
And don’t quote Macbeth.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:42 am · Link
The sweeping one caught my eye.
I never remember why to toss salt over your right shoulder if you spill it, but I always do…
November 1st, 2007 at 8:06 am · Link
eeeek. I have to confess to participating in quite a few of those! On my wedding day a stray black cat curled up in a ball under the ladder we left in the tent.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:09 am · Link
I refuse to follow superstitions. It’s too much like adding an extra layer of rules to my life. However I have a few hangups about picking up pennies.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:59 am · Link
Very cool, actually my right hand itched the other day and I got my first royalty cheque when I got home. Hmm maybe it’s true and we all know why Friday the 13th is unlucky, that’s when the Templar Knights were massacered. LOL!!! Great list as always Shelley! :)
November 1st, 2007 at 9:16 am · Link
You ate supposed to throw spilled salt over your left shoulder into the eye of the devil.
Wearing opals is bad luck unless they are your birthstone. If a butterfly lands on you, you are getting a new dress.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:24 am · Link
Great list, Shelley!
My favorite was always avoid cracks because you’ll break your mama’s back if you step on them. I’m ashamed to say that I stomped many a crack when I was younger. I hope it’s not related to my mom’s back pain these days. =(
November 1st, 2007 at 10:01 am · Link
Just well I’m not superstitius. It makes life complicated.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:02 pm · Link
Maybe that’s how moms got started slicking their kids up with spit, thinking it was good luck. Or maybe that good luck was a device moms came up with to justify slicking the kids up with spit. :D
And it seems to me like throwing salt into the devil’s eye would piss him off, but oh well.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:21 pm · Link
I like the spitting one myself. My dogs are going to be thrilled when I get home.
And I heard that about opals, but only once before.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:23 pm · Link
My MIL is very superstitious but I usually forget about them and go about doing my thing. Oh, apart from the ladder. I still maintain that makes good sense.
When we worked in London there was a pub in Earl’s Court. We worked there for a while and the landlady was superstitious. We lived on the third floor so there were lots of steps and she had a thing about passing on steps being bad luck. She’d make us go all the way back down just so she didn’t pass us on the steps. It was a good way of getting fit. I’m sure she used to time it on purpose!!
November 1st, 2007 at 12:37 pm · Link
Out here in the Maritimes, pretty much everyone knocks wood if they have the slightest worry of a bad outcome. Including me. And if I can’t find wood, I use my noggin.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:41 pm · Link
Lisa – I have it on good authority that the dog didn’t enjoy the spitting thing any more than me!
November 1st, 2007 at 4:40 pm · Link
your hubby cracks me up!
did anyone mention stepping on cracks would break your mother’s back?
November 1st, 2007 at 6:17 pm · Link
Great list of superstitions! The spitting one reminds me of the scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding — “Did she just spit on him?”
November 1st, 2007 at 6:47 pm · Link
Rhi – hubby cracks me up, too
Heather – I’d forgotten that scene. My Big Fat GreekWedding is such a great movie.