Superstitions are beliefs in ideas or practices based on the supernatural as opposed to the laws of science.
My mother was very superstitious and was always telling us not to walk under ladders because it was bad luck or that a black cat crossing the road in front of you was bad luck. She had a whole bag full of this stuff and she passed some of them on to me.
I have to admit I don't like it when I see a black cat crossing the road and can remember once a long time ago turning the car around and going in the other direction. 
If I am walking down the street, I won't go under a ladder either!
Remember when we were kids and played hopscotch or walked down the sidewalk and we would say, "step on a crack, break your mother's back".
I can remember spending hours looking for four-leafed clovers because we thought they would bring us good luck and do toads really cause warts?
I still repeat the saying, "find a penny and pick it up and all day long you'll have good luck."
Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? Is is really unlucky to rock an empty rocking chair?
The cardinal is Kentucky's state bird and there are a lot of them around. I can remember a saying mother always had when she saw one of these birds. It went like this: " Red bird, red bird, one, two, three. Going to see someone you are not expecting to see!" To this day whenever I see a red bird, I think of this saying. I think I may have passed this one on to my girls because they say it, too.
Isn't is amazing how these things stay with us over the years? Do you have superstitions or remember some of your own?
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19 comments:
This sure brings back memories, I can remember people saying it was bad luck to open an umbrella in the house. Thank you for coming by.
I won't open an umbrella inside the house. They used to say don't throw a hat on the bed but I never got into that since I never wore a hat. I also go along with the ones you had listed.
My mother in law was , but I was not nor my husband, however one evening whilst she was visiting us a picture fell off the wall for no apparent reason, mother in law said "Oh dear, that means a death" we just laughed but months later my mum and husband both passed away.
I have an open mind, but still shiver at that prediction.
Yvonne.
You come up with the best, most interesting posts! Of course, I am absolutely not superstitious. Not me!
Well, I have to admit that I toss a pinch of spilled salt over my left shoulder, but only if no one is looking. ;)
Oops, and one other thing. We have our house up for sale, so naturally we buried a statue of St. Joseph upside down in the yard so the house will sell quickly. Utter nonsense and ridiculously superstitious, but it has worked for us three times before!
Just so you don't think we're awful, we wrapped him in plastic and promised to dig him back up when he had done his job. After all, we need him for the nativity scene come Christmas--hopefully, in our new house.
A broken mirror or an open umbrella in the house always make me nervous.
And boy did you bring back memories of hours searching for four leaf clovers! We did that for kids all summer long.
Thanks for your kind words today on my blog. I really appreciate it.
My Mom used to tell me lots of the same ones you mentioned. If your nose itched you were getting company. If the palm of one hand itched (I forget which one) you were going to get money. Don't sweep around someone's feet or they'll never get married. So many of them!
I'm not superstitious, but I do think of them when things happen!! When you grow up with them they stick with you!!
The world is such a small place ! We have the stuff with cats too. When we were children, and a cat crossed our path, we would immediately go 7 steps backward (kind of difficult on a crowded sidewalk, but everyone understood). We also have a thing that if a crow sits somewhere on your windowsill/balcony and caw-caws, then you will get a visitor. If your sole area scartches, you are going on a trip. If your left eye twitches, you are in for bad luck. etc etc
But today's generation probably has no time to notice the crows and cats, and they will probably take antihistamines for the scratching....
All those you said and not putting new shoes on a table, bowing and asking about the health of a Magpie, loads of the things, Don't believe them though
I wouldn't say that I am Superstitious but I always love reading what other people believe. Thanks for posting that was an interesting read. =)
Spill salt, throw some over the shoulder. And my Mother's favorite, if you are out the door and have to return you must sit down for a minute before you leave again. Not sure what would happen if you didn't sit.
My kids had a whole score of superstitions about baseball. Uniform went on the same way every time and don't step on the chalk.
Yes, you passed the red bird saying on to us!! I dont' really follow superstitions. Although some rodeo superstitions are never put your cowboy hat on the bed and don't compete in yellow at a rodeo. hehehe
Love you!
Leigh
Great post, Judy, as always. And I've really enjoyed reading the comments---so interesting. I'm not really very superstitious, but years ago, I did have a dress that every time I wore it to a job interview, I got the job. Until the day I wore it to an interview which seemed to be going very, very well. I was so comfortable and relaxed, in fact, with the interviewer that I jokingly mentioned my "lucky dress." Well, her eyebrows went up and she gave me a quizzical look, and I realized that maybe I'd made a mistake, which was confirmed when I didn't get the job, even though it seemed to be the best interview I'd ever had. So much for the "lucky" dress. :-)
Hi Judy! I didn't think I was a superstitious person until I read your post. I tell Mike whenever I find a penny, I'll have good luck the rest of the day. And I do throw a bit of spilled salt over my shoulder. Actually, both shoulders because I'm not quite sure which one!
P.S. I used to spend hours too looking for four-leafed clovers. Those were some fun times. :D
I tried to post to this the other day, but my server went down. Maybe, I didn't throw the spilled salt over my left shoulder, because that is where the devil is that caused it.
I'm fairly superstitious and my husband's family...Lord have mercy they have a million of them to cover every eventuality, I think.
Sorry it took me so long to get back over here.
My grandmother told me if you had a hole in your britches, someone was coming to visit.....
Happy to be back blogging, I loved this post...
Hi Judy, I've heard all of these superstitions all of my life--and in some ways, I'm superstitious and in some ways not. I have NEVER found a four-leaf-clover though although I have looked for them in past.
I've heard the apple one--and I do think there's some truth to it. I've never heard the rocking chair one. What would be spooky is if that chair were to rock with no one near it.... Wooooo!!!
Great post.
Hugs,
Betsy
Oh I know all the ones you mentioned. I used to avoid cracks on sidewalks all the time. They are all hilarious when you think of it. I never walk under ladders either. Some of these superstitions are great. I would like to have my grandmother in front of me no telling me ll her old wives tales. I wasnt interested when I was young but now I am because I think most of them would be true.
We really do pass on our ideas, traditions, sayings, and superstitions. My mother is not superstitious, and so neither am I, but she did pass on quite a few choice sayings that I've heard my daughter using too.
I just love that! Most of them are Oakey sayings that she learned from her mom and dad and older siblings.
I use them without even thinking.
Probably the only superstition that ever really crosses my mind in the number 13 and how it is unlucky.
Have a LUCKY weekend, Judy!
:-)
I have never been superstitious at all. But some of the old ones have a solid foundation. After all, if you walk under a ladder you might have paint or some object dropped on you. Of course breaking a mirror is bad luck - you might cut yourself - but don't tell me about "7 years". I'm sure there are others which are logical. But there is no such thing as good or bad "luck". You make your own luck.
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