Superstitions

I remember the magpie, broken mirror, shoes etc. ones my Mother also refused to do washing on Good Friday as she said it would be washing in Christ's blood!

My mum usually had a horseshoe tacked above the back door, but yes, upside down to keep the luck from running out😀

biglouis

Im not superstitious and all this nonsense about black cats, shoes on the table or umbrellas indoors is like a form of OCD.

I think that if people believe them it makes them expect the worst, rather like a placebo in reverse.

I was raised in America and don't remember any particular superstitions from my childhood, in fact I heard about the 7 years bad luck from a broken mirror on telly and my mum laughed about it. However I moved here (England) in the late 90's. I was engaged to be married to a local man in 2005 and I was teaching at a further education college. On a lunch break, I went to the High Street and bought what I thought, was the perfect pair of shoes for the wedding. When I returned to the college and got in my classroom, I put the shoes on the table to show the students (all girls). They went crazy!! NO SHOES ON THE TABLE! I had never heard this. They explained it to me, and I removed them back to the bag on the floor. Three months later, the groom cancelled the wedding, ON THE DAY.

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.🙂

My father said to never twiddle the hook of a coathanger.
He worked for many years in the "rag trade" and said it meant bad luck in the business.

I suppose if you have time to twist a coathanger you aren't doing any work!

I inherited a whole raft of superstitions from my mother. Never cut your nails on a Friday; if someone drops a glove never hand it directly back to them (put it somewhere else first); Never pick snowdrops to bring into the house; never put a pair of new shoes on the table; if you put on an item of clothing inside out don't change it for the rest of the day. She claimed to have well-founded reasons for many of them. She would cite the case of a neighbour whose son died in a motor cycle accident on the morning that she had been picking snowdrops.

JackyB- I think if your mother observed all those, then yes she most definitely WAS superstitious😁

Have never heard of the banana one or the crushing of eggshells but pretty much tie in to all of the others.

Goodness GrammarGrandma, thats quite a mouthful for a superstition!😆😁

My mother was quite superstitious, and my gran i thìnk, i observe a few but not as many as them- no shoes on table, the salt,the umbrellas open inside but never spoken to magpies, as i read that if more people than you see it that cancels the 1 for sorrow out!- Never heard one about bananas & travelling though, and believe me my mum knew (& observed) them all!

I think some of you must be my sisters as my mum had all the superstitions: pearls mean tears, no lilac in the house etc. But green is my favourite colour! Our youngesr daughter updated the magpie greeting for the 21st century and we now say "I salute you, Citizen Magpie, you and your Significant Other if applicable."

I "touch wood" occasionally but only out of a sort of lifelong habit (my mum used to do it) and not because I believe in any superstition. I have two very beautiful black cats so I certainly don't believe in any "bad luck" attached to them!

I am not superstitious and hope that those who are, do not allow it to create anxiety. We do tend to find what we expect or look for, and the risk is that you break a superstitious 'rule' and then are looking for the bad luck you believe will follow. When that happens you will probably find something. I am tempted to say (joke!) 'fingers crossed that this way of looking at it helps someone!"

nanna8

Salt over the shoulder- yes. It has to be the left shoulder! The magpies eat out of my hand here, they are very tame. I believe once you have fed them they will never swoop you in any part of the country ( they are known for swooping in Australia).
This is a good thread Babs03 very interesting.

That's interesting nanna. Magpies in the UK are different to their Australian cousins. They are, surprisingly, more colourful here with a sort of bluey/green tail plumage. Your magpies sing whereas here they make a piercing squawk. They are known as "thieves" in the UK because they steel shiny objects such as jewellery but they don't swoop. My Australian friend and I were talking about magpies just the other day.

NotSpaghetti

I think some of us connect very deeply on a visceral level with things that could fall into the category of superstition.

I sometimes feel the need to touch something, a tree, a doorframe maybe, a headstone - or hold a pebble, a leaf or a button.
I am not superstitious but some things just seem to "connect" and "feel right" at a moment in time.

I love to be at archaeological sites when they are quiet, in tumble-down houses (such as you used to find up overgrown Irish boreens) where there is evidence of a life long gone.
It is the deep connection with the soil and those who have gone before that moves me.

Ladders hold no fear!

Definitely agree with you on all points. I never walk, I always waft around places like that.

NotSpaghetti

I like graveyards on the whole, Tuaim.
They speak to me of love and connection.
Sorrow yes, but also peace.

What a beautiful thought. [flowers}

I used to know a curate whose mother was German. One Sunday, as he was delivering his sermon, the curate, to illustrate a point, opened an umbrella. An audible sharp intake of breath ran through the church.
Later on the curate asked me what had caused the sharp intake of breath. I explained about the superstition attached to opening umbrellas indoors. He was astonished. No such superstition in Germany. So yes, nonsense isn't it. I'm not superstitious by the way, but my mother was. She even managed to die on Friday 13th!!!! That caused a smile within the family.

We really have to think back to when each superstition began. Then it's not really a superstition but a lesson learned from someone very long ago when logic and academic education was sparse.

My mother wasn't at all superstitious but she did mention a few things that people might think were to be avoided, such as walking under ladders, opening umbrellas indoors, white and fed flowers together in a bride's bouquet. If you gave a present of a purse you should put a coin in it, she did follow that one, but I don't think of that as a superstition.

And I can't imagine a situation where I would need of want to put shoes on the gable, new or otherwise.

Here in Germany they have different superstitions, which just goes to show that it must be bunkum.

I only heard about greeting magpies recently. That's something it would never occur to me to do. If I did, I'd be at it all the time because they are a nuisance and forever in our garden.

Yes, the magpie thing. I just whisper or say, in my mind, good morning Mr Magpie - how are you this morning - give my love to your family- absolutely silly I know - that’s why I don’t say it loud 😂

I look carefully before I walk under ladders to ensure nothing drops on me. Common sense, not superstition 😀

I think some of us connect very deeply on a visceral level with things that could fall into the category of superstition.

I sometimes feel the need to touch something, a tree, a doorframe maybe, a headstone - or hold a pebble, a leaf or a button.
I am not superstitious but some things just seem to "connect" and "feel right" at a moment in time.

I love to be at archaeological sites when they are quiet, in tumble-down houses (such as you used to find up overgrown Irish boreens) where there is evidence of a life long gone.
It is the deep connection with the soil and those who have gone before that moves me.

Ladders hold no fear!

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.

That is very interesting, Maggie. My husband died at home, after a long illness, and one of my first thoughts was that the window should be opened to let him go on his way. I knew of the superstition, but I had never subscribed to it. I just felt that he wanted the window open, so I opened the hopper window a little and felt that he was free.

I don’t believe in the supernatural, but understand that some positive superstitions may give some comfort. Not sure about negative ones tho!
I love graveyards too NotSpaghetti for similar reasons.
I’m not religious but also love old churches and cathedrals, there is the sense of past lives, the awe of the architecture, craftsmanship and beauty.