Strange Superstitions and The Superstitious Among Us

[nice hat dude!]

Well when cyanide is a by product of almonds I think I would be allergic also...just a thought

 

[Flicka]

Flicka, regards to that psychoanalyst of yours

Well, traditions aren't always rational. I mean, how rational is it to wear a tie? Or to celebrate Thanksgiving? How rational is religion? Art? Music? We all do a great many things that aren't rational as part of our culture and thank God for that. Otherwise we'd all probably live in plain concrete slabs and wear unisex one-pieces and behave like robots.

 

[Aerojoe]

how rational is it to wear a tie?

You have a point there. I hate ties. I always thought the same thing. Why in earth do I have to put this rag around my neck. It is irrational!

 

[richie1958]

As a seafarer, I tend to get dragged along with various superstitions. The important thing about living on a ship is to not annoy ones' shipmates. When you're living almost in each others' pockets, it makes sense to try and get along with everyone. So I NEVER whistle at sea, because some old sailors reckon that's how to whistle up a storm. I never mention rabbits... if the fluffy critters have to be referred to, we call them Wilfreds, or Wilfies. There's enough nautical superstitions to fill a book and although I don't believe in them, I have gone along with them for so long, I feel uncomfortable ignoring them.
Richie

 

[Metatron]

Merchant navy? I was always fascinated with the idea of doing that as a career.

My main superstition is that If something good happens, it is immediately followed by at least two bad things. That's seems to be how the dynamics of my luck pan out. [huh]

 

[-Max-]

I was thinking about this the other day. A friend of mine's brother's wife is extremely pregnant. In fact, if she didn't go into labor last Wednesday they're going to induce the pregnancy later on today. I was visiting their new apartment and I asked about the random lack of furniture. He's a Euro-American but she's Taiwanese, and the explanation involved not being able to move furniture out of a home where someone is pregnant, so everything they had at their new apartment came from a different place than their old apartment. He was dealing with it stoically.

My own superstition kicked in later when I was making my departure. I try not to give baby gifts until the child is at least a year old (except for the gift of a first book, which in my mind can never come too early), and I don't say congratulations until the child is born. I told her "good luck" instead, which may sound grim in plain writing like that, but I do try to inflect it to be a little more cheery. Wishing someone luck is also something I don't do lightly, as I need all the luck I can get and don't usually feel like I have enough to share.

When I was in the Army I knew a fellow who had a superstition about "splitting poles". To him, when a group of people is walking together, everyone has to walk on the same side of the pole. I didn't know this and threaded around a different direction as we passed one by while we were walking somewhere together. This caused him to get upset and go back and come around on my side again. I thought he was just messing with me, so I did it at the next pole we walked by just to make him go back and run around the pole again. He didn't think this was at all funny, and once I figured out he was serious I let it be.

 

[Espee]

Didn't look to see if anyone's mentioned the 1933 radio series "The Origin of Superstition."
Fifteen-minute shows. I've only heard one-- about bad luck if anyone whistles in a theater dressing room.

 

[GHT]

I seem to be making a habit of reviving old threads, but it's pointless starting another when there's one already.
Friday will be the 13th of September, Friday the 13th, and just to up the anti, we are on page 13.

Many think that the reason for the number 13's bad luck comes from the Bible. Judas, who betrayed Jesus, is thought to have been the 13th guest to sit down to the Last Supper.

Others argue that unlucky 13 comes from Norse mythology, where, a dinner party of the gods was ruined by the 13th guest called Loki, who caused the world to be plunged into darkness.

Even today, it's considered unlucky to have 13 people sitting at a dinner table, and the seriously superstitious will place a teddy bear in a seat to make the number of guests up to 14!

So, do you: Knock on wood, avoid walking under ladders, put new shoes on the table, break a mirror, and cross your fingers if you do? What about umbrellas? Do you refrain from opening one indoors? Do black cats bring good or bad luck? Do you see a penny and pick it up? Of all the trivial superstitions I will admit that I do make a wish when pulling the wishbone.

What do you avoid, stepping on the cracked paving slab, maybe?

 

[panigale]

I only put the volume on the radio in the car or the tv on even numbers.

 

[tonyb]

People often turn to magical thinking in the absence of more reasonble approaches to difficult realities. And that’s fine by me. If you can’t do anything about, say, whether the kids will be safe on their camping trip or your lab results will come back negative for HIV, you may as well indulge your superstitions. It becomes a problem when superstition trumps reasonable precautions. Better to take measures against hazards (make sure the kids bring a first-aid kit and know how to use it; better to put that little raincoat on your little Man from Hope) than to knock on wood.

 

[Turnip]

I avoid all places of confessional gatherings, courts and registry offices best possible.

 

[GHT]

Apparently, according to someone going on this morning on the radio, today, Friday the 13th, is:
"National Blame Someone Else Day."

In a world that’s increasingly moving towards the ultimate Blame Culture, what better way to 'celebrate' than by shifting the blame and saying, “I think the current world situation is all your fault!”? Today is the day when we can stop taking responsibility for our own actions. Although to be honest, it seems like some individuals do this every day.

 

[Zombie_61]

...So, do you: Knock on wood, avoid walking under ladders, put new shoes on the table, break a mirror, and cross your fingers if you do? What about umbrellas? Do you refrain from opening one indoors? Do black cats bring good or bad luck? Do you see a penny and pick it up? Of all the trivial superstitions I will admit that I do make a wish when pulling the wishbone.

What do you avoid, stepping on the cracked paving slab, maybe?

Quite honestly, I don't think I'm superstitious in any way; if I am, I'm not aware of it. Occasionally I've done things, and someone would say to me, "You know, when you do that you're supposed to [fill in the blank] so that [whatever] won't happen," but I don't have time to try to remember all of this nonsense. Some might say, "You give it no power, because you don't believe." Fine by me; I don't have time for it anyway.

 

[scottyrocks]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. no, and no.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

On structural steel construction sites when the last structural steel beam is set in place (which is usually the highest) signaling the end of the structural process and no man has been seriously hurt, a ‘Topping Out” party is held with the placing of a Christmas tree. Since the terrorist attack of 9-11 it has become more common to include an American flag as well.

 

[Turnip]

Similar here for any building larger than a phone box since ~14th century and of course there’s some booze involved.