Need Your Help

absent quite right but in case that's not an option jump in the car and drive! My DH step grandfather was killed by lightning on Wandsworth Common!

Grandma's rules - Mirrors should be covered, knives and other cutlery hidden safely away and all electrical appliances unplugged. We were also banned from standing under trees or using umbrellas. These were the tip of an iceberg of superstition.

nanaej A one who is quite terrified by lightning, I suggest that a safe place to be to avoid a lightning strike is where there isn't a thunderstorm happening.

gaia-helloworld.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/legends-behind-thunder-and-lighting.html

Will this link be any help?

I think that it is correct to say that a safe place to be to avoid lightning strike is a moving car!

I've just thought of another popular belief about lightning: you will be protected from harm if struck by it when you are wearing wellingtons or shoes with rubber soles. Not true – the voltage is too great for this to have any effect at all.

Blessing someone who has sneezed is common in many cultures. Ancient Romans said "Absit omen" and Aristotle mentions the custom. St Gregory is traditionally said to have invented the custom of saying "God bless you" after a sneeze in times of pestilence. In some cultures, including Native Americans, sneezing was thought to indicate the presence of evil spirits.

Has anybody got any idea where the expression greased lightning (meaning very fast) comes from?

No one has mentioned the common belief that lightning won't strike the same place twice when, in fact, a place that has been struck once – say a solitary tree in the middle of a field – is more likely to be struck again. The Empire State Building is struck by lightning about ten times every year.

Last time we had a big thunderstorm here is blew out the computer router, was done to a crisp!

gillybob I believe that sneezing was one of the signs of the Plague as in the nursery rhyme

Ring a ring a roses,

A pocket full of poseys,

Attishoo atishoo,

We all fall down.

If the house gets struck by lightening then your unplugged TV is safe. OK? Whether that is a consolation is another matter. The main thing for me is that I am FRIGHTENED of lightning and close all curtains etc. I hate to see and spend my time counting the seconds before thunder afterwards to see how far away it is.
Perhaps these African superstitions help these unprotected people in a thunder storm. Then it has had a psychological benefit and it would be better not to tamper with things like that.

I think it was because a sneeze came out of nowhere and made you momentarily vulnerable and not in control, so the ever-present demons could nip in and take over your soul (or some such explanation, maybe someone else has a definitive answer)

I suppose a sneeze was often the first sign of illness, and when no-one knew what had caused it, it was safest to invoke heavenly protection as soon as possible. These days we should be saying "999" or "NHS24/7" instead of "bless you"

I thought it was because the devil might take the opportunity of gaining entry while you sneezed!

Elegran I never quite understood (still don't really) why we say bless you when somebody sneezes.

Is it because the sneeze in itself could be the start of something more sinister?

Last year our Neuf box was blown (for computer and telephone) during a storm, and that was with a surge breaker in place! Our washing machine was fried, too.
So now, if a storm threatens, we unplug the computer, and washing machine!
The French electrical system in houses is different - known as a daisy chain (not a circuit) - I wonder if that has anything to do with how lightening impacts upon our supply?

I agree disconnecting equipment to its aerial would prevent them earthing lightening. But not unplugging it from the grid. 2 different wires.
I don't think it would matter if it was turned on or off.
Is there a separate issue perhaps with the grid being affected during a storm.
Not a lightening strike on the house via aerial, but surge in power supply.
That could blow equipment if switched on. But it would not be dangerous - the lightening would not be doing it, just fluctuating current.
There are a lot of safety devices installed in the grid to keep things from fluctuation. I wonder if, in France, with its larger land mass, the system is less protected.
This is an interesting topic. Will quiz DH again.

Thank you for all your input...I've emailed my friend and am awaiting his reply, may take a while as they are in quite a remote area.

The computer probably has a surge breaker that stops the lightning strike getting through to it.

In Oxford years ago my ansaphone was destroyed by lightning - and my computer was turned ON...(!). Weird.

Can't remember what else it did to the computer, but a nice IT man from the Guardian told me how to sort it - the effect was not unknown....

I do now turn things off here if I hear near thunder.

You may well scoff about taking out phone lines and TV plugs during thunderstorms in France BUT let me tell you it is true in some areas. We have had two televisions (one brand new) which have 'blown' and we have been replaced by the insurance company. We had taken the TVs to be fixed and when we went back the man gave us the paperwork for the insurance claim and told us parts had blown because of the storm. The insurance company paid in full with no further questions. We had a telephone cease working too and my French friend never uses the phone in a storm.

A guardian angel was sitting on your right shoulder keeping you safe, and the devil on your left (sinister) side watching for an opportunity to cause trouble. Salt was one of the essentials, so spilling it was a serious disaster and gave the devil a chance to interfere. Throwing salt in his eyes confused him. Same principle as saying "bless you" when anyone sneezed, to counteract demonic mischief.

And yes, it was thought that spirits could appear in the mirror (not just the newly departed one) in the interval before the funeral. I suppose it was also a bit like wearing sackcloth and ashes and tearing your hair and garments - it showed a disregard for personal appearances.

Obviously not! She's still here!

And of course once you had removed the hair grips you were not struck by lightening were you.

When I was a young teenager, I was scared of lightning and used to take my hair grips out when there was a storm! Then, when driving through the Pennines during a spectacular storm, I suddenly saw the beauty of it and was never afraid again. I loved a good tropical storm too.

definitely for the Devil then alie

It had to be the LEFT shoulder! I still do it....