Superstitions

I'm not superstitious at all. When I was in labour with DS I told the nurses I'd like him to be born that night. They assumed I was superstitious as the next day was Friday 13th - when he eventually made an appearance. The reason was that my DD's birthday was the 12th of another month and I thought it would be nice if both my children had birthdays on the 12th as my brother and I both had birthdays on the 27th but of different months. Anyway for me Friday 13th was not an unlucky day at all!

When we were travelling, if we saw an emergency vehicle we had to hold our collar till we saw a four legged animal! No idea why!
I don't do it these days as I'm the one driving!

My OH says that in Lebanon and other parts of the ME if you want a guest to return you throw some water on the ground as they leave.
And if your shoes are crossed as you put them down that means you will travel soon.
And a mouse in the house is a precursor to ill fortune.

Don’t cross a knife over another. If you drop a glove sometime else must pick it up or it’s bad luck. If you bang your elbow you must quickly bump the other one. I’m from Liverpool. We’re very superstitious! 🤣

Tuaim

Theatre environments have a few superstitions attached to them but I can think of any examples. Anyone here know of any?

Don't bring a peacock feather on stage if you are an actor.
Don't light 3 candles on stage.
Don't whistle backstage in the theatre.
Say "The Scottish Play" instead of "Macbeth"
Say "Break a Leg" rather than "good luck"
Never give flowers before a show.

There are probably more!

TheMaggiejane1

Not at all superstitious but it’s funny hearing you all say that you say hello to magpies because I cannot pass a squirrel without saying ‘Hello Mr Squirrel’. I’ve no idea why apart from the fact that I think squirrels are really cute.

Yes, I get that, we have a neighbour who can’t resist touching trees. And let’s admit it is only the same as talking to a cat or dog.
Sometimes is much more productive than talking to people 😂

Not at all superstitious but it’s funny hearing you all say that you say hello to magpies because I cannot pass a squirrel without saying ‘Hello Mr Squirrel’. I’ve no idea why apart from the fact that I think squirrels are really cute.

I put silver coins in a newborns pram last week ,he was the most beautiful baby I have ever seen .His parents who are “new Scots” hadn’t come across this before but his beautiful mother got emotional when I told her it was meant to bring him luck .To be honest he was so perfect I felt emotional and Broody myself .lol I follow my mum and granny,s superstitions no new shoes on the table etc We opened the window to let mums soul out when she died ,she knew she was going to die because she said her Dad. Was at the window to collect her,he died in 1943.
I wish. I believed this was true but I don’t believe in an afterlife .Happy to let others keep their beliefs though and the superstitions are just a bit of fun

Always throw salt over my left shoulder ( into the devil's face , of course !) if I have spilt some.....
Never walk under ladders
Bit nervous on the Black Cat front.......
Never heard of the Magpie thingy but It's absolutely brilliant. The world might be a better place if we all spent time speaking to birds. Truth is, though , that the blighters always hunt in pairs so the other one is there somewhere, you just haven't seen him.!!
Green's being an unlucky colour makes me laugh.... at secondary school I spent six years in the obligatory bottle green school uniform(including bright green stockings and hat.) So there's a bunch of us condemned to bad luck for life? Unless it only counts if the green-wearing is voluntary.......

Shadowdancer

My MIL insisted on giving money (silver coins) when she gave us some knives as a present apparently to ward off bad luck. I do touch wood

I remember when babies were given silver coins, it was supposed to mean they'd never know want.

All my bins have to be empty and new shoes on to bring in New Year

I'm not particularly superstitious but there is one specialised rule in the biker community regarding guardian bells. These are small pewter bells which should be hung low on a motorcycle to ward off road imps and breakdowns. Apparently the ringing of the bell causes any malignant road imps to fall off, and that is what causes potholes! Entertaining if far-fetched. However it is considered bad luck to buy one for yourself, it should always be gifted to you. I ignored this, bought one on a bike rally, hung it on my bike and returned home without mishap. However, after leaving my bike outside for about an hour, when I returned to her, she was dead as a dodo and wouldn't start again - dead battery - extremely unlikely after a decent run to keep it charged up! So maybe there can be something valid about some superstitions!

My MIL insisted on giving money (silver coins) when she gave us some knives as a present apparently to ward off bad luck. I do touch wood

Maggiemaybe

pascal30
harrigran
“Not at all superstitious, load of rubbish.”
Quite.. but also quite amusing

Yes. And quite heartening that some old beliefs and traditions continue. One of our police family told me that when they’re sent to a death at home, they open a window to let the soul out. I find that very…human.

I have just asked my relative who is a police officer and she said it’s the same where she is stationed and throughout the Police.
I presume it applies to all people in that position, eg paramedics, nurses etc.

I feel anxious about wearing pearls or opals too. I had an opal ring but gave it to my daughter as she has an October birthday. Opals are supposed to be lucky for October birthdays.

Apparently throwing salt over the shoulder dates from Judas Iscariot spilling the salt at the last Supper. Throwing it over the shoulder is said to ward off the devil. I didn’t actually know that even though I still do it if I spill it.

Maggiemaybe

pascal30
harrigran
“Not at all superstitious, load of rubbish.”
Quite.. but also quite amusing

Yes. And quite heartening that some old beliefs and traditions continue. One of our police family told me that when they’re sent to a death at home, they open a window to let the soul out. I find that very…human.

I know that one - about opening a window to let the soul out after death. My mother asked me some time back if I would make sure to do that when she died - cue for my father laughing at the superstition and atheist him saying to her jokingly "You'll just go out up through the ceiling anyway". But I thought "Superstitious nonsense" privately and agreed she'd just go out through the ceiling, but promised I'd do that. Cue for when she did die some years subsequently and me living in another part of the country by then and Lockdown on anyway I asked the firm that sent carers in for her to ensure they opened every window in the house, because I'd promised her I'd "open a window" and would have travelled over from Wales to Devon regardless if I had a car...but was unable to do so because of public transport etc restrictions. Hopefully they did so - especially as she was the sort to hang around to make sure it was done.....

I found out about the "not giving a purse without a coin in it" one when a local Welsh friend gave me a couple of little presents and one was a little purse with a coin in it. She told me she'd put that coin in as a way of saying she hoped I'd always have enough money. Well - I appreciated the positive thought for me and it's a nice little purse that goes in the tiniest of my handbags nicely.

So I have no superstitions myself - but respect other peoples ones basically.

The only thing I've done of myself is that a good friend of mine is an evangelical Christian and he asked me one time (a few years back now - ie when I was still living in my own area) if I'd noticed any unwound cassette or video tapes lying around on the ground, with the tape pulled out, at road junctions. I said that I had and wondered why people kept doing that. His reply was that it was down to people practicing black magic and their reasoning was it was a magnetic tape and they deliberately put it at potential road accident spots hoping to cause peoples death!!!!!! and then the magnetic tape would (they thought) magnetically attract those peoples "life Energy" to them to (mis)use!!!

So - when I subsequently saw even more of these unwound tapes, I'd pick them up every time and mentally blast them one with "positive healing white light" and then carefully leave them in a bin some distance from a potential accident spot, mentally blast myself with protective white light and wash my hands of it. Now that one felt a bit nerve-racking.....and I'm glad it doesn't happen where I am now or has stopped...

Me too. Never knew about bananas

I would still hesitate to put new shoes on a table. What I can't stand and not a superstition is people who place a hat on a table. See it often on tv a man especially taking off a hat and placing it brim down on a table. So unhygienic. The no hat or upturned only was a rule in my parents' house.

Yesterday my DGD said to her dad that she needed a purse now she has a bank card and my son told her that she had money in her account so she could buy one herself, I quickly told them no it’s unlucky to buy yourself a purse

Theatre environments have a few superstitions attached to them but I can think of any examples. Anyone here know of any?

I always touch wood and salute single magpies. My mum was very superstitious, as was my granny who would stay in bed all day on Friday 13th.

Nannan2

My lovely cat tom is black, and we've mostly kept black cats in our family over the years for generations.So not considered bad luck to us.🙂

Why do the English give black cats for weddings, I thought it was good luck here. It is definitely bad luck to see a black cat cross the road on the continent.

Whiff

I do say fingers crossed or fingers and toes crossed to wish people well. I don't walk under ladder but that's because knowing my luck something will drop on my head 😁 also I have a strange walking gait due to disability and would walk into it 🤦.

I like routine it's how my life works. I do a set of exercises every morning and have to do them in the same order if I don't I start again .
I do throw salt over my shoulder if I spill it just because my parents did.

I do believe in karma and fate.

I dropped a carton of milk yesterday and the top came off and said spilt milk sign of a birth. What I should have said was xxxxxxx hell another mess to clean up 🤣.

Love nursery rhymes but they all have hidden meanings which are sort of pagan . But I refuse to pander to PC versions of them . As there are black sheep and Jacob sheep are black and white .
I find myself sounding more like my mom as I get older saying all the sayings she said. Plus I had an English teacher at high school who for hand writing practice used proverbs.

If I give a purse or money box as a present always put £1 in it.

Can't anyone remember the hand and foot saying . I know if you have an itchy hand one hand is meant you have money coming and the other money going out . Itchy foot means you are going on a journey but can't remember which foot. 🤔

You give with your right and receive in your left.

On New Year’s Eve my old dad who had black hair would have to go outside just before the bongs then come back in just after midnight, apparently is good luck for someone with black hair to come in the house dead on or just after midnight.
My OH who is from the ME says that if sneeze once it tells you to wait a few mins, but if you sneeze twice go straight ahead.
Also if you catch the back of someone’s foot whilst out walking with them you could both have an argument unless you shake hands immediately. And never use a knife after sundown.
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