Superstitions

Are you superstitious? 

Personally, I find it all quite odd as some of them I will never do, like: open an umbrella indoors & put new shoes on the table. Some I will always do, for example, if I spill salt I'll throw some over my shoulder (in to the devils eye apparently!) and I always touch wood for that little bit of extra good luck! Yet there are others like walking under a ladder that do not bother me so much.

I think not walking under ladders is more about common sense than old superstitions. I tend not to walk under ladders just incase the person up it drops something heavy just as i'm passing underneath, or worse still, I bump into it with a stray elbow causing them to fall off and die or sue me, or possibly take me with them as they fall, which if either were to happen, would certainly be bad luck. I think that 'bad luck walking under ladders' thing really states the obvious for the unlucky few though i think the superstition is something to do with breaking the triangle of life, which the ladder forms when it is leant up against a wall. Then you have to stay silent until you see a four legged beast or something like that, and no doubt a few compulsory spits here and there to ward off the evil spirits

I guess it's also bad luck for the unlucky few who stepped off the curb to avoid walking under the ladder (which is bad luck), only to get squashed by a passing truck.

I do not believe in superstitions but out of habit and fun I still do some I grew up with, like calling rabbits, rabbits, rabbits and crossing my fingers until I see a dog, when I see a hay wagon. Oh and you mustn't see it from the back or bad luck comes your way.  Touch wood is a favourite too.

When the bottoms of my my feet (or foot) itch, I always say I'll be walking on new ground and when the palms of my hands itch it's always giving or receiving money, though I can't for the life of me remember which hand is which; I solve that by saying its receiving for both hands .

I must admit that it's a bit uncanny that I ususally do tread on new ground after my feet itch .

I have a superstition about walking under a falling piano without crossing my fingers. I believe the superstition started after a Laurel and Hardy film.

Hi Sue, I can relate to both the itchy feet & hands  haven't heard the one about the rabbits though.

Hi Dennis, can't say I've heard the one about walking under falling pianos either, but my advice is forget crossing your fingers, just run!

My mum was brought up in the early 20th Century, and there were lots of superstitions that almost controlled their lives, the ones I will recall are the ones I remember coming from my mum.

How about not telling a dream before breakfast, because if you do it will surely come true.

If you peeled an apple without the peel breaking, you then threw that peel over your shoulder and looked at where it landed, the letter it most closely represented was the first letter of the name of the man/woman to whom you would marry.

Oh and a favourite of mine because my husband and I are teetotal and I always, never fail get wet when I do the dishes. If your apron gets wet when you are doing the dishes it means you will marry a drunk.

Enough for now  . 

I always thought a black cat was bad luck, because it was the bakers black cat that started the fire of London. Also because the black cat was a witches familiar. There is no accounting for some superstitions is there? So I cross my fingers and hope that I have made no spelling mistakes.

Peter Evans

I f anyone labours under the belief that saluting a magpie will ward off bad luck....let me release you from it...I was in a traumatic situation 20 years ago.....and as I sat by a window every morning I would 'salute' a flock of magpies flitting about below....the worst happened......I ignore them now.

Sue

I like the song about Magpies. One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy abd so on.

Magpies mate for life, so if you see one, the mate is probably dead. If you see two, they are surviving. If you see three, it is most liely that the third is a female offspring,females tend to be stronger than males. If you see four, the chances are that there are male and female surviving offspring. That is the explanation that I heard anyway.

May not be true, but it sounds good.

Peter Evans