Are there any superstitions you still 'believe' in?

[BlueIris]

Last edited Thu Jun 28, 2012, 06:26 AM - Edit history (1)

I put believe in quotes because I sincerely doubt anyone here would treat a habit as a serious spiritual practice.

But even as evolved as we are, (heh) I think there are still a few things we are prone to do that are left over from our old (material, unconscious) way of life. If anyone wants to admit them, here's your thread.

Mine: I always eat the fortune cookie (unless I don't want the fortune to come true.)

I try to avoid using the 'M' word when referring to Shakespeare's Scottish Play.

I never walk under a ladder (especially if it's near Halloween.)


Anyone else?

[felix_numinous]

1. I knock on wood

a lot!

[RainbowSuperfund]

2. I have 2 that might fall into that category.

1. I believe there are unlucky behaviors, like leaving the toilet lid up and opening an umbrella inside the house. I think walking under a ladder would fall into that category too. I thought that was silly when I was younger, but after you drop a few things into an open toilet you begin to see why it is lucky behavior to close the lid when your finished. Also my kids loved to open umbrellas in the house, and it never ended well.

2. I used to say things like "I'm sick of that", or "I'm tired of____", I try to phrase those things differently now, in a no damage to me wording like: "I'm done with that" or "Please stop____".
I slip up sometimes, and I notice it more now if words things this way. If I do I say to myself "undo", and try to think of a better wording.

I feel kind of silly saying it but those are my 2.

[yellerpup]

3. If I have extra salt on my fingers while I'm cooking

or if I spill salt, I always toss a few grains over my left shoulder. Grandma did it, mom did it, and now I do too and I don't know why!

[murielm99]

4. I do it, too, and

I don't know why. Why do people do that?

[yellerpup]

7. Thanks to the next post, we now know why.

Even when we are not in Rome, we do as Romans do.

[luv_mykatz]

5. Hmm...sounds like some folks have combined two old customs with salt.

Some cultures cast pinches of salt across cooking pots of food. This was supposed to 'blind the hex' that evil magician types would try to cast on the food.

Salt was also very valuable/expensive in earlier times, because it was much harder to produce and transport. Most people have heard that Roman soldiers were paid with salt. Because salt was so valuable, spilling or wasting it was considered unlucky, and could be seen as an omen of lost income/wealth. Throwing a pinch of the spilled salt over one's left shoulder was supposed to 'blind the demon' of bad luck.

Habits that I still do: knock on wood when any statement I make could be considered to be boasting about good fortune.

This one supposedly comes from Celtic culture. Supposedly, it was believed that the gods/spirits did not approve of boasting. So, people 'knocked on' trees, and later wood, as a way of honoring the gods/spirits, which were seen as inhabiting trees, and nature generally. I guess the gesture was intended as a sign of respect.

Another habit: I don't open umbrellas indoors. My grandma had a cow about me doing that once. She took the umbrella away from me, closed it firmly, and made me stand on her porch in the pouring rain before she would give the umbrella back to me.

Somewhere I read, that belief also comes from Rome, or thereabouts. Apparently it relates to the umbrellas other function: as a parasol. The 'sol' part refers to the sun. It was thought to be an insult to the sun god to open a parasol indoors.

And yeah, I learned the superstition about fortune cookies back in the 1970's, from my former husband. That one is not ancient...fortune cookies began in this country, as an advertisement for a Chinese restaurant. Can't remember if they were invented in the 1940's or 1950's.

Oh, one last one: I always store brooms with the bristles pointing up and the handle down. I also learned this one from my grandma. She said it was bad luck to store brooms bristle-side down...and the bristles last longer and stay in better shape.

[BlueIris]

6. One I forgot: I never ask for a miracle unless I need one.

Miracles are serious business.

[Celebration]

8. not sure about belief, but

I refuse to hand a salt shaker to someone directly, or take it directly out of someone's hand. It has to be put down first. I also throw salt over my left shoulder if I spill some. I won't walk under a ladder but I am rarely forced with making that choice. Horseshoes need to have the semi-circle at the bottom! I have one Irish cross over one of my doors...............I'm sure there is more stuff. Occasionally I will knock on wood. I love the song Knock on Wood.

[davsand]

9. No hats on the bed and the idea that good (and bad) things happen in threes.

Oh--I also was taught never to sing or whistle at the dinner table...



I gotta admit I really am a simple frozen cave woman.





Laura

[icymist]

10. Hahahaha! I have LOTS of them!

At work, when the facility is quiet and the patients are resting comfortably, we nurses NEVER talk about it until the end of the shift! Now and then a new nurse will say something like, "My, what a nice quiet night we're having!" Without fail, shortly afterward somebodies blood sugar crashes or the fire alarm goes off or a barrage of call lights happen all at once or...

[felix_numinous]

11. Oh I forgot about that one!!!!

We --never-- said 'Oh what a quiet day we're having today!' at work. Ooooooh we knew better than that!!! You made me remember another one, whenever a complex procedure was scheduled, we got --all ready--down to every detail--because we noticed: The more ready you are for something, the less chance it would happen. And I think in life I do this too--prepare for the worst and hope for the best!!! LOL!!

[elleng]

13. ZACKLY!

Bring the umbrella>it won't rain!

[elleng]

12. Not exactly, but

it does appear I jinx the athletic teams I support if I actually WATCH their games!
:OMG:

[FirstLight]

14. yea

I still have a few...

salt, left shoulder, yes

ladders, yep

occasionally knock wood

I have a big thing about shoes on a table, and sleeping feet toward the door.
I guess shoes on the table were something an undertaker did when someone died, and the feet toward the door is the way they carry out a body... those superstitions give me the willies.

oh and deaths happening in 3's

[Ricochet21]

15. What a great question?!

It made my mind tilt.

[BlueIris]

16. A couple more: I try not to watch pots of water if I want them to boil,

ditto with Macs I want to boot up, and websites I want to load.

I knock on wood, too, though I'm trying to cut back. (It feels painfully dorky to me.)

[Fire Walk With Me]

17. No good deed goes unpunished.

[felix_numinous]

18. What about buildings not having a 13th floor--

I know this is a little off the subject--but the first time I noticed an actual building missing it's 13th floor--I was aghast at the supposed modern age we live in. All of these macho men stoically constructing a 20th century infrastructure....and they decide--well, we can't build a 13th floor because...

[NuttyFluffers]

19. crap, there's a lot i do, now that i think about it.

knock on wood.
salt over the shoulder.
no knives as wedding gifts (learned that one the hard way -- receiver divorced).
mirrors -- and elephants -- near the entrance door (keeps away misfortune).
don't share good plans until it happens (even those who love you may unconsciously think ill and sabotage your fortune).
open a window of the recently deceased (to let the spirit free and not linger).
new ant invasion is herald of good luck (but we get rid of them anyway).
1st spider of new home is good luck.
no chopsticks sticking straight out of your rice (invites thoughts of death because that's how rice bowl is presented to ancestors).
how far up you hold your chopsticks determines how far away you'll live from home.
throw the horns upon ill fated omens or gross misfortune crossing your path.
pray for the dead when driving by the cemetery (or car accident).
horseshoes, calligraphy of Allah, crucifix, etc. by doorways to keep areas clean.
always eat your kimchi/veggies/etc. oh, and never waste food or one day you'll go hungry.
etc....

... but then my extended family and childhood neighborhoods have always been cosmopolitan. being exposed to a little of everything leaves me like the lint magnet of cultural taboos, customs, and superstitions. sometimes i have to ask myself is it just etiquette or is it just superstition.

[kimmerspixelated]

20. Wow,

I was about to reply that I had outgrown several of them, but after reading the answers here, I realize I knock on wood(my head, pshaw), and the umbrella thing, at least!