Strange Superstitions and The Superstitious Among Us

[Elaina]

LOL! White cats are also easier: who sees white cats really?

I'm bad about that if I see a white cat. I've been known to come home after having one cross my path and say "forget you, that cat's telling me something."

 

[Twitch]

Huh? This thread made me realize I don't have any. While I may note an old adage about a broken mirror or walking under a ladder at at time when that actually takes place I just shrug, go on with it and forget about it.

 

[Harp]

That's three of us evil conniving women here then! I throw salt over my left shoulder too. Apparently it is supposed to hit the devil in the eye....I don't of course believe in the devil, so why do I do this?

Like your thinking, Elaina! lol

Toss salt over the shoulder so a leprechaun can be heard at your back.
And carry a pat of butter in your left pocket so a leprechaun cannot slip
your soul out and hock it to Lucifer

 

[Miss Dottie]

My biggest superstion is never putting my purse on the ground--all of your money/fortune will "leak out". Completely adopted from my mother, so it's more of an homage to her.

 

[atomicfabulous]

I throw salt. I also have a feeling if I say something terrible (like a plane crash) out loud I will jinx or curse my plane...You're not alone Daisy!
I also picked up on something the other day...I always take two pieces of bread off a loaf together and then open them like a book so that when the sandwich is complete, the pieces match up.

 

[Willi_Goat]

I guess mainly the salt thing and something I read in Classic Style, no hats on the bed. That one came by way of my maternal grandmother.

 

[fortworthgal]

I'm Irish, so needless to say, I have quite a few of these little "quirks." I never step on cracks. I carry a lucky cross from my grandmother with me everywhere I go, and am convinced if I don't, something bad will happen. In high school I had a green shirt that I decided was evil, because every time I wore it, something went horribly awry. I eventually gave it away. The whole cat issue is a moot point, though, as we have 2 black ones and 1 white one.

My other strange quirk isn't really a superstition. I have this "thing" about cake. Whenever I have a slice of cake, I must have an equal ratio of cake to frosting. If there's 1/2" of frosting - I'll need 1/2" of cake and only 1/2" of cake. If the cake doesn't meet these requirements, I cut through it lengthwise and usually just discard the excess. lol I also refuse to eat excess bread that has no filling, either in a wrap, burger, or sandwich. If there's bun on the edge with no burger inside - I cut or tear it off and throw it away. My husband makes fun of me mercilessly for this one.

 

[SaraBell]

This is kind of silly and very superstitious, but if I don't want something to happen/come true, I won't say it out loud. Example, if I'm gonna fly somewhere I will not talk about plane accidents, for some reason I feel like if I say it out loud it's more likely to come true. Silly I know!

I'm the same way...One time when I was younger I was talking about how sad I would be if my dog died (I don't know why, it's not something I would usually talk about), then when I got home she had drowned. It happened again a few years later when I was out of town and said something about how I hoped the dog didn't get out of the yard (which it usually never did) and when we got home it had gotten out and been run over by a car...so now I don't talk about things like that while I'm gone.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Hi Folks,

Well, I do a lot of the things mentioned in this thread. I cross the windshield when a black cat crosses my path, I throw a pinch of spilled salt over my left shoulder, I don't walk under ladders...the list goes on and on. But there's also a couple of things that I have invented for myself.

I won't get into or out of my bed if my nightstand digital clock is on the thirteenth minute of any hour. I stand there beside the bed, like a groggy idiot, until the clock changes.

I won't let anyone wish me luck before I begin a jury trial. I make them take it back if they do.

I have a very rusted, long empty, lucky can of Lysol that has ridden under the seats of all the vehicles that I have ever owned since I was sixteen years old---and I'm now fifty-one. Its in my jeep right now as I write this. I won't say why I bought it all those years ago, but trust me, I'll never throw it away.

Atticus

 

[lindylady]

I knock on wood. I think that's about it.

 

[CanadaDoll]

I do just about everything, salt if it spills, particular herbs around my living space, knocking on wood, I even fold my paper money a particular way before I hand it over to anyone.
A lot of people think I'm nuts, but I've experienced things that can not be explained and hey why tempt fate.

 

[katiepickle]

I am not superstitious, but I do believe in parking karma. If you drive like a jerk, you will always get crappy parking spots and if you are a nice driver you will always have rockstar parking.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Doot Doot

More in the vein of 'Whenever I feel afraid I whistle a happy tune' than a superstition, but whenever I am upset, embarrassed, afraid, or anxious I think of or hum the theme music from The Great Escape.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

My last superstitious habit was refusing to listen to 'Credence Clearwater Revival's', Bad Moon Risin' whenever it came on the radio. I felt that the lyrics (and singing along with them!) were a negative vibe and bad ju-ju.

I've since relaxed a little, as I didn't write the lyric and don't believe in it's sentiment, I don't have any further belief in it's power to manifest in my experience. Superstitions ended. Weirdness over.

I'm superstition free.... free at last!

-dixon cannon

 

[Lee Lynch]

I'm not very superstitious for the most part, but I do belive in jinxes. I've just seen enough to know not to discuss a possible good thing coming up untill it's a sure fire thing. For instance, with my recent new job, I withheld any details untill I knew I'd been hired. I do think that if I brag in advance about something good that looks like it's coming my way, it doen't happen.

 

[CanadaDoll]

My last superstitious habit was refusing to listen to 'Credence Clearwater Revival's', Bad Moon Risin' whenever it came on the radio. I felt that the lyrics (and singing along with them!) were a negative vibe and bad ju-ju.

I've since relaxed a little, as I didn't write the lyric and don't believe in it's sentiment, I don't have any further belief in it's power to manifest in my experience. Superstitions ended. Weirdness over.

I'm superstition free.... free at last!

-dixon cannon

I love that song for some reason, don't know why just do!lol

 

[imoldfashioned]

Pinch of spilled salt over the left shoulder, no walking under ladders and trying not to break mirrors.

I don't subscribe to the "step on a crack" one for some reason.

 

[Twitch]

Well about the only thing I can think of is blowing on the dice while playing Monopoly in hopes of getting a double six so I can bypass the expensive rent areas

 

[Diamondback]

Like I've mentioned, I keep a full set of 5-star General of the Army rank insignia in an old eyeglass case in my inside jacket pocket a lot of the time, not far from my heart. (It's a reminder of the standards I have set for myself.)

Along with, since I got my CCW and when I'm not traveling, a .45-caliber hollowpoint bullet, which I'm looking for someone to engrave my name into.

Reason one, it's a reminder that lives are on the line and if I screw up, being put down quickly's the best I can hope for. Reason two's derived from the fighter pilots' Golden BB theory: "Somewhere out there, each of us has a bullet (or whatever) with our name on it. If that bullet is fired, it's your time and it will come all the way around the world if necessary to get you--but if that bullet's never fired, you are unstoppable." If I have control over the bullet with my name on it...

 

[Chanfan]

I don't really have any. I kind of do mild superstitions to be social - that is, avoid walking under ladders, and such. But, if it's inconvenient to go around, I'll walk right under. I do have a friend who does the "bread and butter" thing.

I was just reading an article on MMOLRPGs (Massively Multi-player On Line Role Playing Games, like Worlds of Warcraft) that talked about how folks project superstitious habits into the games.

I thought this tidbit from the article was interesting:

B.F. Skinner is well-known for his theory of behavioral conditioning, but one of his quirkiest studies involved inducing superstition in pigeons (1948). 8 pigeons were placed in a reinforcement contraption (i.e., Skinner Box) and were given a food pellet every 15 seconds no matter what they did. After several days, each pigeon had fixated on a particular superstitious behavior. One pigeon danced counter-clockwise, another two developed a left-to-right head-swinging motion, another attacked an invisible object in the top right corner of the cage, and so forth. This phenomenon has also been replicated among high-school students (Bruner & Revuski, 1961).

I do wonder if they gave the high-school students something other than pellets. lol

(Googles for the paper) Ahh, they gave them nickels.