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 Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:36 pm
Are you superstitious? Discuss your personal superstitions or superstitions from around the world that you find interesting.
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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 2:31 pm
I'm superstitious about some things, but it depends on what level you mean. Do you mean this in a historical context as this is posted in the Museum?
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Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:27 pm
I meant it in both historical and presently. Mostly historical since superstitions were far more common in the past when people were less educated and science was not as advanced. But people today still have some superstitions which I think they should feel free to discuss.
One lighthearted superstition I have tended to follow is "Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck." I am not sure if this superstition exists outside of the U.S. I have also hear that the penny has to be heads-up to give good luck. Picking up a tails-up penny will give bad luck. I tend to follow this rule, though I don't really believe in it. If it was any coin larger than a penny I'd pick it up regarless of heads-up or tails-up.
Also I am interested historically in superstitions involving cats - such as black cats bringing bad luck. I read once that the plage was compounded immensely in medieval Europe by the fact that superstitious people killed stray cats - the number one predator in cities of the rats that carried the disease. I found that to be more than just a little ironic.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:26 am
I read that as well - about killing the cats and making the plague worse than it was. Cats are/were also very important in Egypt.
"As a revered animal and one very important to Egyptian society and religion, the cat was afforded the same mummification after death as humans were."
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Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:40 pm
I'm not superstitious but I do like Stevie Wonder's song: Superstition, he-he.
I heard about the cats being important in Egypt. Too bad that animals are not treated the same everywhere... rolleyes
I don't know what else to add at this time... sweatdrop
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Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:18 pm
I don't talk about superstitions! It's bad luck!
J/k
Personally, I believe that most superstitions are self-fulfilling prophecies. Just a way of feeding paranoia or assigning blame for bad happenings on some one or something else.
That said, some superstitions probably do have a basis in something bad happening. Walking under a ladder, for example, is kinda dangerous so it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that there was a rash of people getting knocked in the head by falling ladders after tripping over them.
Berz.
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:14 am
There's a lot of them around here, including "it's bad luck to walk over drains".
Historically, there's the one about witches. So, if they believed someone to be a witch, they'd toss her in a river or burn her at the stake. If she drowned or if she died from the burns, she wasn't a witch, but if she survived she was a witch and they'd kill her anyway. Catch 22 situation.
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Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:07 pm
Walk over drains, huh? I don't believe I've heard that one here. neutral
I've also heard about the witches thing you mention Mel. As I hear, they used to do that to free thinking women back in the day. Maybe none of them were actually witches and they just burned them out of spite. Talk about getting away with murder, huh? rolleyes
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:24 am
What about the one about walking under ladders and/or scaffolding? Heard of that one Hypno?
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:40 am
Under ladders, yes! Under scaffoldings, no. I suppose it may be cuz over here, we don't hear that word often. I even forgotten the exact meaning of the word but I do know it has something to do with a building, yes?
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 9:27 am
 That's scaffolding on the side of a house - used for building, revamping and repairing buildings.
I also get suspicious when I feel like someone's following me and there's nobody there! It's a paranormal thing.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:24 pm
Of course! Did you know we call those things "Andamios" here in Guatemala? I think that to walk under one of those is just asking for trouble as most of our construction workers are very clumsy so, it's not about bad luck at all. mrgreen
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:28 pm
Oh gosh! Never walk over a drain, you're likely to drop something you really really like down it...
... anyways, personally I have a necklace I wear for good luck every time I take an exam. It's a four leaf clover with a fake pearl in the middle that I sort of "borrowed" from my mum...
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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:52 am
Yeah, although that's not the reason why it's a superstition here (I can't remember what is). I have a story about a drain though. You know our friend Dragoon_Arcadia on here? (Must remind her to get her backside back here sometimes). Well, she saw a small drain with no cover a couple of years back, and leisurely thought nothing of it until she decided to walk over it and get her leg trapped down the blasted thing. rofl
Most superstitions such as the drain one, and the ladders and scaffolding are associated with the suspicion that Friday 13th is a very unlucky day. So around here, if there's a Friday 13th you'll notice superstitious people avoiding walking over drains, or under ladders and scaffolding. There are loads more of them, but I just can't think of any more right now.
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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:08 am
Well, when I was younger, I used to be VERY superstitious. Every nite, I used to keep the light on as long as possible until my brother made me turn it off ( we shared a room back then). And then, when it was off, I used to peek out of my blanket, and count the knobs on the drawers for some reason...and I always thought there was an eye staring at me when it was dark. 0_o And of course, the weird sounds from outside the window (any sound at all really) scared me too. And I used to think that "things" could come at me from any side, so I was always shifting around in my bed looking at the wall and then at the other side until I fell asleep...and even when it was really hot, I'd make my mom let me keep my blanket so I could stay under it. ^^
Also, after I saw this scary movie...the bathroom window at might always creeped me out...because you never know whose staring at you from out there...
And then there's the closet in my parents' bedroom. That, I got scared of because there's a missing doorknob, and it always looked like someone could watch you from through that teensy hole. And also, my mom's favorite, yet creepy doll (its really old..and all of its limbs and its head are detachable T___T), which was in that closet, scared me after I saw this movie about this doll that was EVIL and was killing people and taking advantage of a little girl. ><
Of course, I'm not superstitious now anymore, really. ^^
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