Superstitious, quirks, beliefs?

[Tommi]

Originally Posted by adorable

Oh I was raised with several and even though I know it's nuts - I do or don't do the following...

-Never walk under a ladder
-Never open an umbrella in the house
-always am careful with mirrors (7 years bad luck if it breaks)
-don't put hats on the bed
-don't hand someone sicssors by the blade
-if I (or anyone) spills salt, I have to throw it over my shoulder
-Never laugh when I see a funeral procession, hearse or funeral happening
"Never laugh as a hearse goes by or you will be the next to die"
-if your palms itch you will come into money soon
-never kill ladybugs - it's bad luck
-never kill daddy long legs either - and if they crawl on you it means you are getting a sweater.....


LOL My grandmother raised me on all this and she takes it SO seriously. I don't take it as seriously, but am to scared to NOT take action. ha ha ha. So the spilled salt always goes over the shoulder - just in case there is truth to it. There are a couple I never agreed with her on though.
One is that she believed that cat's killed babies by sucking the breath out of them. So a newborn couldn't be left anywhere there were cats.
And the other is that if you don't keep a babies face covered all the time they will "catch the colic." lmao. My oldest daughter was born in AUGUST. omg and my grandmother was constantly putting a blanket over her face, freaking out that the wind was going to go into her mouth and give her "the colic."

We must be related. . I had that same Gramma.

I still can't throw my cap on the bed***

Don't look into a mirror with anyone else. It will bring bad luck.

Wild bird in the house means a death.( Hmmm , now I wonder if she meant the bird?)

Dropping silverware meant different things too..

Knife , a man is coming to visit, Fork, a woman, Spoon a child

Itchy palm means money. Can't recall which one, because noone ever greased my palm..OH YEa

Put salt on your parakeets tail and it won't fly away. I lost my parakeet cuz I didn't do it when I was a wee one and she flew away. Maybe there was a truth in that one?

[Pixie]

Must be invited into a house, room, seat.
The salt must go over the shoulder if spilled or even used.
....these have become habits now.

[Soft*Silver]

L Left palm Lose money

R Right paln Receive money

[The_Lady_Snow]

Never set your purse on the floor

EVER

or one's mom will FREAK OUT

[katsarecool]

Instead of don't put hats on the bed I would add don't put scizzors on the bed as I have personal experience (as a kid) sitting on the scizzors mom accidentally left on the bed and had 11 stitches on my bum.

[ravfem]

my house mate is a firm believer in the no hats on the bed thing, which i had never heard before her. So of course i'll put one of her baseball caps in the center of her bed and watch her dive for it....it's funny to watch.

When i was pregnant with my son, his paternal aunt absolutely hated that i had a kitten. She was convinced Tony was gonna look like the kitten because i held it too much.

When she saw the pictures taken during & right after the C-Section, she was convinced Tony was covered in "corn starch" because i didn't get enough during my pregnancy

Pixie, i am also a firm believer in the must be invited before entering a house, taking a seat etc...

[Scorp]

Never put shoes on the table.

Never put money on the table when food is present and placed.

In my Italian upbringing (In my case anyway) we never believed in having a baby shower before the baby is born.

I don't believe in having any "bird" memorabilia in the house, as birds are bad luck.

I ask St. Anthony (The Patron of Lost Items) to help me find something I misplaced.

Then there's the Italian Malocchio which means (The Evil Eye). The definition is: Superstition holding that a glance can cause injury or death to those on whom it falls. The belief was found in ancient Greece and Rome as well as in folk cultures around the world, and it has persisted into modern times. Children and animals are believed to be particularly vulnerable. The evil eye is often thought to stem from envy and malice toward prosperity and beauty, and thus in many cultures unguarded praise of one's possessions or children is thought to invite misfortune. Safeguards include amulets, charms, and sacred texts.

The charms that we would wear are:

[morningstar55]

when i was like 17 .. think it was........
a Native American guy ...... i dated a lil.... got a older kitten once.... and took some sissors and trimed the hair off the tip of its tail...
he said ..... if you do that they wont run away.....
Okk.... i know if you feed any cat they will never leave...... LOL

[aldebaran]

Originally Posted by The_Lady_Snow

Never set your purse on the floor

EVER

or one's mom will FREAK OUT

Oh absolutely, dated a latina some lives ago and that was a big one, some more she taught me from the latin culture.

don't pass a knife to someone,,,it will start a fight

no sea shells in the house,,,she never said what would happen, just that it would be catastrophic.

[Miss Scarlett]

Great thread...

I wear a red string with a Hamsa on my left wrist, short explanation: to ward off negativity/evil.

Does anyone else have a lucky bra (or other garment) or is it just me?

[tiggs]

What a neat thread, I'm not superstitious myself but have always found the lore behind superstitions really interesting. I love to hear where the different ones have come from and the relevance behind them, they usually have some practical application or some really neat origins. Thanks for sharing everyone!

[justpjhere]

Originally Posted by Miss Scarlett

Great thread...

I wear a red string with a Hamsa on my left wrist, short explanation: to ward off negativity/evil.

Does anyone else have a lucky bra (or other garment) or is it just me?

i have lucky socks...used to wear them for everyplayoff game