Superstitions

I remember the funeral superstition. Slightly off point, I also remember the bereaved household hanging a black wreath on the door.

I was rather taken aback when 'trendy' black wreaths appeared at Christmas.

x

I remember that too bohemian

Living in London as a child in the 1950's, if a funeral procession passed by, everyone would stop and touch their collar - I think this was to ward off bad luck - if you didn't do it, you could be the next to go...

Quite a few here that I've never heard including no hats on beds...

I have heard the lot, crossed knives, throwing salt over you r shoulder etc. When you see a magpie you should say, three times, good morning mr magpie (two) add good morning mrs magpie the you are supposed to spit on the cat. If you see a magpie in the afternoon its bad luck.

Crows are supposed to bring death. We have lots of crows and they line up on the chimney pots sqwawking but a solitary one sitting on the chimney pot is supposed to be bad.

As for gulls dropping their load, that is supposed to be good luck, s...t for luck they say.

Also breaking a mirror is supposed to be 7 years bad luck but if you bury the bits in your garden then your lover will be faithful for 7 years, assuming your lover has looked in it. Tried this and my lover was very vain so when I broke the mirror I buried it but he was unfaithful anyway do I dumped him.

Until I read your post granny activist, all the other superstitions mentioned had been drummed into me by my mother. From your list, she also believed mirrors must remain unbroken and if an accident occurred, the broken mirror was to be buried at midnight, under moonlight. Gifts of purses had to have cash inside them, or the recipient would always be short of money. Never putting hats on beds and leaving inside out clothing that way all day - new ones to me. As my mother didn't tell me to do these things, or something dreadful would befall us - I intend to ignore them.

Trying to ignore the other superstitions isn't quite so easy. the power of mothers eh!

My mother would support every one of the previously mentioned superstitions and add plenty more as well; mirrors must remain unbroken, clothing put on inside-out must stay that way all day, hats should never be put on beds, an empty purse must never be given as a gift....and don't get me started on black cats.
I choose to flout every single superstition I remember - it was not a happy experience growing up with a mother who was so ruled by them.

Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven is a secret never to be told
Eights a wish
Nines a kiss
Ten is a bird you must not miss.

DH always says "morning major" when he sees a magpie

My mother saluted magpies, and there is the old magpie rhyme:

One for sorrow, two for joy;
Three four a girl, four for a boy.

DW and I saw five magpies together once, and I said "five for twins". Less than nine months later, twins it was.

My mother tried to get us to be superstitious, it was strange, looking back at it. She taught us lots of things. we listened, but the next time there was a chance to do something about it we would laugh and say what rubbish it was. I think she partly believed in it, but seemed to relax as she got older and saw that we survived, even though no salt was ever tossed over our shoulders and shoes stayed on the table on newspaper to be cleaned. I remember her trying to get me out in the morning dew to enact some rite involving flowers under my pillow picked with the dew still on them to see who I would marry. I was appalled. I informed her quite forcefully that I wasn't interested in marrying anybody! Then she was appalled. I think it was part of a ploy to get me to leave home...

I salute single magpies.
In French.
" Bonjour Pi et comment ca va avec votre enfants?"
Seems to work.
No real bad luck so far.
( Touch wood)

Oh I'd forgotten about green- it's the faeries' colour and they don't like you wearing it!
And the crossed knives-means a quarrrel
There's also not looking at a new moon through glass and curtseying when you see a new moon.

My mother believed most of the above, plus wearing green was unlucky - although I am not superstitious I don't have anything green in my wardrobe! She wouldn't do washing on Good Friday (washing clothes in Christ's blood).

She probably meant 'Lucky it wasn't me!

Seagulls are infinitely worse!
My mum says it's lucky
She wasn't the one being poo'd on! Yuck.........

Off the subject a bit, but on the pigeon subject, my other half and his friend were at the coast with a bag of chips between them, and a seagull supplied the sauce.

DW swears it was DD1. They're identical twins, so it's easy to misremember.

If a pigeon shits on you it's a mess requiring an immediate trip to the hairdressers. Happened to me in Oxford in 1965 and to DD2 in Richmond many years later. Whipped her into the nearest hairdresser, explained the situation, and the receptionist said "I'm sure we can help; have you got an appointment?"

Lucky???

My mother in law swore blind that if a pigeon shat on you it was lucky.

It's always our Mums, isn't it? Mine had most of the usual superstitions, and there was one about not crossing knives on the table, another about not correcting a garment that you have put on inside-out...

Oh dear I know so many of them. My dad's mum had Irish roots and seemed to have dire warnings about most things.
No shoes on the table
Throw salt over your shoulder if you spill any,
Don't come in the front door and go straight out the back (you take the luck with you!)
If you forget something and come back in the house always sit down.
Never give a friend a knife you will cut the friendship.
If you drop a glove let someone else pick it up and they will get a surprise.
No open umbrellas in the house
Never cross someone coming the other way to you on the stairs you will have a quarrel
There are loads more but I think that's enough for now!

My mum's very superstitious and I too hedge my bets in the ^ just in case^ category!

Well, there is no point in taking any chances is there? Having said that my mum was very superstitious, and I do not go along with any of her sayings, being a bit contrary like! I can always remember my gran being terrified of the gypsies who would come round to the door selling lucky white heather, and if you did not buy it they would leave a curse on your doorstep.

I fall into the Just in Case category and throw salt over my left shoulder, make a hole in the empty shell after I've eaten my boiled egg, don't walk under ladders, no brolly open indoors

I always throw spilt salt over my left shoulder.
DH prevents me from whistling, he goes on about whistling women and crowing hens?
Otherwise I take no notice of superstitions.