Fun With Superstitions

[livius drusus]

Inspired by beyelzu's fondness for the tarot, I thought I'd solicit some superstition love. C'mon, fess up. Do you scour every copy of the Sun looking for fresh Yeti sightings? Who here reads palms at parties to pick up chicks?

Some of my favorites include ghost stories (particularly those involving haunted castles), wearing red underwear on New Year's eve, the whole throwing some salt over your shoulder after spilling it on the table thing, making the horns to ward off bad luck, and for the gents, clutching your nads whenever you see a priest in traditional garb.

I'm also a big fan of fairies (shut up, pz), prehistoric animals that devour foolish tourists who wouldn't listen to the wisdom of the local noble savages, and showstopping mediums, especially in conjuction with Houdini's investigations thereof.

[beyelzu]

Inspired by beyelzu's fondness for the tarot,
:shakefist:

I thought I'd solicit some superstition love. C'mon, fess up. Do you scour every copy of the Sun looking for fresh Yeti sightings? Who here reads palms at parties to pick up chicks?

Some of my favorites include ghost stories (particularly those involving haunted castles), wearing red underwear on New Year's eve, the whole throwing some salt over your shoulder after spilling it on the table thing, making the horns to ward off bad luck, and for the gents, clutching your nads whenever you see a priest in traditional garb.

I'm also a big fan of fairies (shut up, pz), prehistoric animals that devour foolish tourists who wouldn't listen to the wisdom of the local noble savages, and showstopping mediums, especially in conjuction with Houdini's investigations thereof.

well, obviously I am outed. I find tarot fun and interesting. The tarot deck I own, I dont remember the name, is simply beautiful with surreal pictures on all of the cards. I think its fun and although I dont believe in anything supernatural I find tarot has been in the past a fun thing to do with friends probably because the cards are a useful method to discuss shit without bringing it up directly at first.

I like yetis of all shapes and sizes because I am fascinated by the idea of a fellow hominid sharing the earth with us.

I absolutely love how many people see signs and evidence of the supernatural in innocuous natural phenomenon, actually it makes me kind of sad, but it is fascinating.

[Petra]

I own two tarot decks - the Rider-Waite deck and the Vision Quest deck. I used to have the Book of Thoth, too, but that was stolen when my backpack was stolen by some little bastards in Tel Aviv. Hope it freaked them out real good when they found it. :demon2:

I'm not superstitious about them at all, but I do love them and think they are full of knowledge (as opposed to fortune telling an' stuff). The symbolism in them is so rich and takes in so many mythologies and wisdoms, insights into human nature, and their history intrigues me, an' everything.

I love 'em.

I wanna be a witchy-poo gypsy, all mysterious and all-knowing and magick and that. That'd be cool.

[Petra]

:shakefist:

LOL.

[wildernesse]

I try to eat greens and peas on New Years Day--for money in the New Year. And you're not supposed to wash on that day (I think this only applies to clothes) because you'll wash your family away!

Yeah, I like fairies and goblins and all such random storybook creatures, too. And folk medicine--as long as I don't think too hard about how dead most people used to wind up from it. Charms and rituals and all that--fantastic.

[Dingfod]

I make all my decisions based on a Magic 8 Ball. OK, not really. My daughter was going to see one in a garage sale, I plucked it out of the pile of stuff from her room and took it to work. We've had a lot of fun letting the 8 Ball decide things.

[wildernesse]

I make all my decisions based on a Magic 8 Ball. OK, not really. My daughter was going to see one in a garage sale, I plucked it out of the pile of stuff from her room and took it to work. We've had a lot of fun letting the 8 Ball decide things.

My dad has often said his company's motto is "Do something, even if it's wrong." I bet an 8 ball would help him too. It probably wouldn't hurt.

[Petra]

I make all my decisions based on a Magic 8 Ball. OK, not really. My daughter was going to see one in a garage sale, I plucked it out of the pile of stuff from her room and took it to work. We've had a lot of fun letting the 8 Ball decide things.


Ooooh. You haven't read The Dice Man, have you?



Hmmm. Actually neither have I. Dammit. Now I'm going to have to walk backwards to the kitchen and make sure I stir my coffee seven times clockwise and eleven times anti-clockwise just for bringing something as bad luck as the Dice Man into it. God i'm a fool! :doh:


Shit! Lord's name in vain. And I don't think I have any myrrh in the garden. Oh, well, fuck it - there's herb in the tin - that'll do. :innocent:

[Dingfod]

I make all my decisions based on a Magic 8 Ball. OK, not really. My daughter was going to see one in a garage sale, I plucked it out of the pile of stuff from her room and took it to work. We've had a lot of fun letting the 8 Ball decide things.

My dad has often said his company's motto is "Do something, even if it's wrong." I bet an 8 ball would help him too. It probably wouldn't hurt.Probably not. There are decisions where neither choice would have a favorable outcome, kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't type thing.

[beyelzu]

I make all my decisions based on a Magic 8 Ball. OK, not really. My daughter was going to see one in a garage sale, I plucked it out of the pile of stuff from her room and took it to work. We've had a lot of fun letting the 8 Ball decide things.


Ooooh. You haven't read The Dice Man, have you?



Hmmm. Actually neither have I. Dammit. Now I'm going to have to walk backwards to the kitchen and make sure I stir my coffee seven times clockwise and eleven times anti-clockwise just for bringing something as bad luck as the Dice Man into it. God i'm a fool! :doh:


Shit! Lord's name in vain. And I don't think I have any myrrh in the garden. Oh, well, fuck it - there's herb in the tin - that'll do. :innocent:


why do I suspect that the herb in the can has been used prior to making this post?

[Dingfod]

Or maybe herb in the baggie. :D

[Petra]

why do I suspect that the herb in the can has been used prior to making this post?

Actually, no!

There is never ending bloody herb around here these days and I get sick of it. What I'm charged on is sleep deprivation. After one of those weekends where both days erupt in spontaneous barbeque gatherings and stuff, and then having to work between 11pm and 7am Sunday night, which screwed up my already pooor sleeping patterns, I don't need no steenking weed.

Although, I am now thinking about it....


Hmmm. Will I or won't I? Lemme just check if the cat is sleeping in a coil or stretched out. If she's in a coil that's best for the hydroponic. If she's stretched out that's best for the organic earth matured. I know which one I prefer, because as a Taurean with Leo rising and a Sagittarian moon I'm all earth and fire, baby, and that watery hydroponic rubbish just doesn't bring out the faeries, y'know. Bloody goblins.


But, no, believe it or not, I'm straight. :goodwitch

[Petra]

Or maybe herb in the baggie. :D

Nah, it's in a tin. :cool:

[pescifish]

My mother was uncanny with the Tarot when she was on a roll. I like them because 1) the Rider-Waite images are so compelling and 2) like consulting a psychic or psychologist, they can suggest possibilities and viewpoints regarding a situation that you might not otherwise have thought of. I can't think of any superstitions to which I comply, "just in case". Some are pretty funny, though. I've never heard of liv's crotch grabbing one. I think I'd like that one, but only if I were in the mood to watch men fondle their bits just for the hell of it.

I absolutely love how many people see signs and evidence of the supernatural in innocuous natural phenomenon, actually it makes me kind of sad, but it is fascinating.I think there is quite a bit of phenomena that occur but can't be explained with our current science. I have had precognitive and/or clairvoyant experiences. I don't think I was crazy/delusional nor do I think they were supernatural. Preternatural would be more like it. :twisted:

[Nil Desperandum]

Pesci, I've had precognition too. All I had to do was completely destroy any semblance of self before-hand. It's amazing what you can do when you do not even recognize your own name, let alone what the concept of a name is. Talk about dropping your defenses. ;)

chris

[pescifish]

Pesci, I've had precognition too. All I had to do was completely destroy any semblance of self before-hand. It's amazing what you can do when you do not even recognize your own name, let alone what the concept of a name is. Talk about dropping your defenses. That's really interesting, Chris. The period when most of those inexplicable moments of knowledge outside of experience/time came at a time when I was the most grounded and centered in my life. I would describe those times as when I was so certain of myself and who I was in this universe that even the most difficult of tasks became effortless because they were the right thing to do. This was a period in my life I knew exactly who I was, so much so that perhaps I didn't even have to know my name -- it was irrelevant.

It's interesting that both of our experiences came at times in our lives when we found something about our own sense of self that was remarkable: you to be void of it, me to feel perfectly tuned to it. Maybe we had similar experiences but simply perceive them differently? :think:

[Petra]

The period when most of those inexplicable moments of knowledge outside of experience/time came at a time when I was the most grounded and centered in my life. I would describe those times as when I was so certain of myself and who I was in this universe that even the most difficult of tasks became effortless because they were the right thing to do. This was a period in my life I knew exactly who I was, so much so that perhaps I didn't even have to know my name -- it was irrelevant.



Ditto. I relate to that so much.

[pescifish]

Unfortunately, those days are long gone. I sometimes wish I hadn't had that period of 3-5 years when that was true because now (when I feel so out of it), it is almost painful to know the difference.

[Petra]

Unfortunately, those days are long gone. I sometimes wish I hadn't had that period of 3-5 years when that was true because now (when I feel so out of it), it is almost painful to know the difference.

I know how you feel, pesci. I had about 7-8 years, between the ages of 21 and about 29. Before that, life was shit and I was lost, and since then the same. Oh, well. Perhaps it'll return again sometime. Gotta be an optimist, eh. :)

[pescifish]

How cool is this?! I wanna hear wade's reading. Can we have an astrology and/or tarot card reading thread?

And more fun with superstitions, too! I want to hear more of the crotch grabbing ones...

[Petra]

And more fun with superstitions, too! I want to hear more of the crotch grabbing ones...

Yeah. I don't know many superstitions at all. Salt over the shoulder is about it, really. The crotch grabbing one is very strange. I wanna see that one in action.

[Dingfod]

I got yer crotch grab right here, baby. [/Diceman]

[Petra]

Oi! You're not supposed to grab my crotch, you're supposed to grab your own! :hit:

[Corona688]

I'm not aware of any superstition in my life, aside from that bigass pentagram that I -- what? Nothing. No pentagram.

Seriously, I dumped all(intentional) superstition in my life when I dumped religion... Though it's interesting to see this other pov on it -- a game, not a way of life. Don't think it's for me though.

[livius drusus]

I've heard the crotch grabbing is meant to ward off the bad luck of the symbolic neutered man, in this case represented by a priest in a dress, but I can't say I've really looked into it. So to speak.

[Petra]

Aaah. A true bloke thing.


Hmmm. I wanna see Ronin do it. :naughty:

[beyelzu]

I have heard that some men grab their crotches when they see pictures of naked women in an effort to ward off succubi.

:D

[Petra]

...in an effort to ward off succubi.

:D

But I thought they liked that sort of thing? :chin:

[Nil Desperandum]

That's really interesting, Chris. The period when most of those inexplicable moments of knowledge outside of experience/time came at a time when I was the most grounded and centered in my life. I would describe those times as when I was so certain of myself and who I was in this universe that even the most difficult of tasks became effortless because they were the right thing to do. This was a period in my life I knew exactly who I was, so much so that perhaps I didn't even have to know my name -- it was irrelevant.
Well, my experience was a drug-induced ego-death, in which it literally was impossible for me to make heads or tails of anything. I was aware, for several hours, of what was about to happen seconds before it happened. That was my stint with precognition, in literal terms. It was difficult to become in-tune with what was going on, because I didn't have any constructs to destroy that which was happening. It was irrelevant that it didn't make sense, or that it was impossible I was breathing steam when the shower was not even on, or that I saw things not possible. I didn't even know my name, what a shower was, why I was there, who my wonderful love was, sleep, sunrises. ANYTHING. All gone. That includes logic, that includes god, that includes the military, and it included myself. I was literally being destroyed and reborn in matters of minutes, over and over again, in my shower, and thinking I was everything and nothing. I know exactly who I am sober, however, so our parallels run true to the same. I think that one can only experience such a mind-blowing event after they develop an very, very deep inner-strength,because in order to reach that plateau, you literally must drop all concept of self. It takes a LOT to forego your own existence to experience another.

It's interesting that both of our experiences came at times in our lives when we found something about our own sense of self that was remarkable: you to be void of it, me to feel perfectly tuned to it. Maybe we had similar experiences but simply perceive them differently? :think:
We had very similar experience, actually. My perception was obviously going to be hindered (helped??) by my inability to perceive things rationally or with sober mind.

I will tell you this, though -- out of all that, what I found most remarkable is that I COULD completely lose myself, and have the strength to come back to my normal bearings and relate the experience to others.

I am perfectly in-tune with myself -- I just destroyed that knowledge to see what would happen, and I must say, I do not regret it one bit.

Chris

[Petra]

Well, my experience was a drug-induced ego-death

Cojana? Is that you?


:giggle: ...sorry, couldn't help myself.... :naughty:

[Nil Desperandum]

No, silly.

4-hydroxy-N-methyl-N-isopropyltryptamine, otherwise known as 4-Ho-MiPT.

3 times as potent as Psilocin.

It took 12-16 MILLIGRAMS of this shit to induce what it did.

Of course, the months of preparation in my soul account for most of it, because that is what I wanted, and bad.

;)

[Petra]

Never heard of it. Man, I used to think I really knew my recreational drugs, too.

I'm too old for that kinda stuff now. I'm all grown up an' shit. :innocent:

[Nil Desperandum]

All grown up. LOL.

Tryptamines have always been a favorite for moi. ;)

[livius drusus]

Yes, so anyhoo... I know a dude who punches his passenger on the shoulder whenever he sees a Volkswagen Beetle on the road. How about holding your breath when driving past a cemetery? Anybody got any good luck charms? How about a ritual or two? Neuroses and superstitions have much in common, you know.

C'mon, Corona... Are you saying you don't have so much as a lucky jock that you refuse to wash until the season is over?

[Ymir's blood]

I like monsters of the fantastic kind, demons, goblins and the undead. Ghost stories and folklore draw me in like a carrion to a vulture. Actually anything morbid tends to do that.

/me requires silver or magic weapons to hit. :undead:

[Petra]

Yes, so anyhoo... I know a dude who punches his passenger on the shoulder whenever he sees a Volkswagen Beetle on the road. How about holding your breath when driving past a cemetery? Anybody got any good luck charms? How about a ritual or two? Neuroses and superstitions have much in common, you know.

C'mon, Corona... Are you saying you don't have so much as a lucky jock that you refuse to wash until the season is over?

LOL! Sorry, liv. We're screwing your thread aren't we?

Oopsy daisy.


Gotta say the thread screwing chant, or it'll have a thread killing sumbitch in no time! Okay, repeat after me...

*Σε μια συνέντευξη με το συνολικό περιοδικό ταινιών, είπε ότι αποφάσισε να κάνει τον κινηματογράφο kung-fu αντί "Inglorious bastards, " ο τίτλος εργασίας του μακρύς-αναμενόμενου κινηματογράφου του βασισμένου στον παγκόσμιο πόλεμο ΙΙ. "I απόλαυσε όλη την ιαπωνική ουσία ` στη θανάτωση Bill' τόσο μεγάλο μέρος ότι αυτή η ολόκληρη ταινία θα είναι εξ ολοκλήρου στην κινεζική γλώσσα, " αναφέρθηκε όπως λέγοντας.
*

Phew! That was close.

[livius drusus]

Sorry, babe. The rite of split (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=915) always trumps a thread screw chant.

Now, who here walks under ladders?

[Sonnet]

I'm an actor, so I observe the theatre superstitions, like not naming or quoting The Scottish Play or whistling onstage. I also tend to knock on wood when I speak the name of disaster, and (I know, I know) cross myself when I hear of death. I just can't help it, somehow. Catholicism fucks your ass up, years after the fact. :innocent:

I've had a few moments of what seemed for all the world like precognition over the years, but my internal jury is still out about that. :chin:

Is this now the wrong thread to state that I'm a Virgo with Scorpio rising and moon in Aquarius? :doh:

[Nil Desperandum]

Yes, Sonnet. But, holy shit, what a combo. NO wonder I like you. :) :)

[SharonDee]

Now, who here walks under ladders?
:afraid:
Are you kidding? That superstition has a basis in reality.

The one I learned from a classmate long ago was... when you see a dog taking a dump on the side of the road, make a wish and it will come true. Now that's a superstition!

[Dingfod]

Fun with superstitions? I don't say anything when someone sneezes and if they ask me why, I say "I think saying Gesundheit is a silly superstition, your soul did not leave your body and need my blessing to return." One of my coworkers with an allergy problem and loads of various superstitions, says "Thank you." after he sneezes when he works with me.

Walk under ladders? Me. I step on cracks. I don't care about spilt salt. I don't give a crap about black cats crossing my path. I don't think its a jinx to say something at the same time as someone else.

But, 7 years of bad luck after you break a mirror is the gospel truth.





I was joost keeding! *rimshot*

[Ymir's blood]

Sorry, babe. The rite of split (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=915) always trumps a thread screw chant.

Now, who here walks under ladders?

Me me me! :wave:

I also like Fridays which fall on the thirteenth and stepping on cracks.

Edit to add (After reading Warrenly's post) that I like all cats, especially black ones and they can walk wherever they want. (Except the bed of course)

[pescifish]

Edit to add (After reading Warrenly's post) that I like all cats, especially black ones and they can walk wherever they want. (Except the bed of course) :catwalk: Why can't cats walk on the bed? :blackcat:

[seebs]

I don't like to think of myself as superstitious, although I do have a variety of odd habits. I knock on the roof of the car when I go through a yellow light.

I had a D&D game once where a mage was accused of being superstitious, and he said "I believe that reciting a series of words and making a few guestures makes me immune to physical weaponry. You bet I'm superstitious!"

I am currently wrestling with the conflict between my basic diistrust of the notion of intervention in response to prayer, and a track record of plainly ludicrous outcomes I can't easily explain away. Since I don't believe in such things, I don't ask for much... But last few things I've asked for have all turned up, even when they were improbable or inexplicable. Not sure how to deal with that.

[ApostateAbe]

I can't say I have any fun with superstitions. I would do the nads-grabbing thing except that I don't see enough priests out and about. However, I could visit my local catholic church on Sunday morning and do it.

[Ymir's blood]

Edit to add (After reading Warrenly's post) that I like all cats, especially black ones and they can walk wherever they want. (Except the bed of course) :catwalk: Why can't cats walk on the bed? :blackcat:

Because the spray bottle says, "no." :no2:

[godfry n. glad]

Shit! Lord's name in vain. And I don't think I have any myrrh in the garden. Oh, well, fuck it - there's herb in the tin - that'll do. :innocent:

That's what it takes? Herb in the tin?

Well... That explains a lot.

godfry

[livius drusus]

I'm an actor, so I observe the theatre superstitions, like not naming or quoting The Scottish Play or whistling onstage.

How about not wearing purple? We used to do that in HS theater, but I'm not sure if it's an Italian custom or a wider actorial thing.

I knock on the roof of the car when I go through a yellow light.

That's a new one for me. How did you pick it up?

[Clutch Munny]

I think there is quite a bit of phenomena that occur but can't be explained with our current science. I have had precognitive and/or clairvoyant experiences. I don't think I was crazy/delusional nor do I think they were supernatural. Preternatural would be more like it. :twisted:

I believe you about your experiences, but will -- in a non-debating sorta way! :wink: -- point out that the alternative options you list are far from exhaustive. Indeed, they aren't even the more plausible options.

"Current science" actually has a great deal of data about how experiences of can be "spun" by our own perceptions, over-interpreted in various respects, and/or misremembered.

I don't say that's what's happened in your case, because of course I don't know. Just noting that such experiences are indeed well within the explanatory capacities of current science. Whether those explanations are correct in any given case is another matter.

[Godless Dave]

I sometimes knock on wood after I say something that I don't want to come true. But as I said to some superstitious friends of mine, "If I could make things happen just by saying them, do you really think I'd be wasting time talking to you guys? I'd be flying the Millenium Falcon across the galaxy with Jodi Foster in the copilot seat!"

[Dingfod]

I sometimes knock on wood after I say something that I don't want to come true. But as I said to some superstitious friends of mine, "If I could make things happen just by saying them, do you really think I'd be wasting time talking to you guys? I'd be flying the Millenium Falcon across the galaxy with Jodi Foster in the copilot seat!"In the copilot seat? She'd be on my lap.

[pescifish]

I think there is quite a bit of phenomena that occur but can't be explained with our current science. I have had precognitive and/or clairvoyant experiences. I don't think I was crazy/delusional nor do I think they were supernatural. Preternatural would be more like it. :twisted:

I believe you about your experiences, but will -- in a non-debating sorta way! :wink: -- point out that the alternative options you list are far from exhaustive. Indeed, they aren't even the more plausible options.

"Current science" actually has a great deal of data about how experiences of can be "spun" by our own perceptions, over-interpreted in various respects, and/or misremembered.

I don't say that's what's happened in your case, because of course I don't know. Just noting that such experiences are indeed well within the explanatory capacities of current science. Whether those explanations are correct in any given case is another matter.Ok. Thanks and I agree with your points here mainly because at the heart of what I was thinking is that there is no supernatural and if we knew enough, everything could be explained by science.

I gave no definition of the words precognitive, nor clairvoyant, crazy, delusional, supernatural nor preternatural. I really shouldn't be posting anything, conversational or not, on this board because I do not have the time or interest to research and back up anything I'm saying. And that's really not a good way to go about conversing with skeptics, now, is it? :blush:

[seebs]

I knock on the roof of the car when I go through a yellow light.

That's a new one for me. How did you pick it up?

Picked it up from my wife. My mom's got it too now. You do it so Traffic Karma knows you're aware you ran a yellow light, and you don't need to be pulled over about it.

It helps, of course, that running a yellow light is legal.

[Clutch Munny]

I gave no definition of the words precognitive, nor clairvoyant, crazy, delusional, supernatural nor preternatural. I really shouldn't be posting anything, conversational or not, on this board because I do not have the time or interest to research and back up anything I'm saying. And that's really not a good way to go about conversing with skeptics, now, is it?


Honest, I wasn't challenging you to back it up. Just my own thing about seeing "crazy/delusional" contrasted with something like accurately perceiving, interpreting, and remembering things. I have a great interest, personal and professional, in the very rich middle ground between these poles. (I constantly wrestle with the urge to bore people with the stuff.) So I couldn't resist mentioning it.

[Clutch Munny]

I sometimes knock on wood after I say something that I don't want to come true. But as I said to some superstitious friends of mine, "If I could make things happen just by saying them, do you really think I'd be wasting time talking to you guys? I'd be flying the Millenium Falcon across the galaxy with Jodi Foster in the copilot seat!"

In the copilot seat? She'd be on my lap.

Then she'd be the one touching wood.

[Dingfod]

You got that right. Love that Jody Foster.



I wonder what it would take to impress her?[/John Hinkley]

[Blake]

When I used some of the toll-road quarters to pay for lunch today, I didn't throw away any of the state quarters that I thought were inappropriate to toss--like Massachusetts, Iowa, and Florida.

[Lauri D]

Sometimes I fancy myself somewhat able to read minds, and many of my close friends (and my ex-husband) got freaked out by it a lot. :chin: Of course my rational side realizes that it's probably just being very very perceptive to visual (body language etc.) and nonverbal cues (as well as verbal ones). But it's fun to freak people out now and again nevertheless...

Oh and my boss, I'm constantly answering questions before he asks them. It really is quite odd. :shrug:

[noblesavage]

Sometimes I fancy myself somewhat able to read minds, and many of my close friends (and my ex-husband) got freaked out by it a lot. :chin: Of course my rational side realizes that it's probably just being very very perceptive to visual (body language etc.) and nonverbal cues (as well as verbal ones). But it's fun to freak people out now and again nevertheless...

Oh and my boss, I'm constantly answering questions before he asks them. It really is quite odd. :shrug:


Oh yeah, what am I thinking now?

[Lauri D]

Sometimes I fancy myself somewhat able to read minds, and many of my close friends (and my ex-husband) got freaked out by it a lot. :chin: Of course my rational side realizes that it's probably just being very very perceptive to visual (body language etc.) and nonverbal cues (as well as verbal ones). But it's fun to freak people out now and again nevertheless...

Oh and my boss, I'm constantly answering questions before he asks them. It really is quite odd. :shrug:


Oh yeah, what am I thinking now?
Sprawling New Yorker shit. Probably about computers. :P

[Petra]

Just a heads up, folks! ...


Unsightly warts? No problem! Simply rubbing your wart (secretly, of course) against the body of a man who has had an illegitimate child will cure the wart. Easy peasy! :yup:

Alternatively, you can rub warts with the blood of a chicken which has nothing but black feathers; or a hand of a corpse; or beans; or the head of a rooster that has just been killed; or the rind of bacon, which then hang on a tree so the birds may eat it.

Or, you can simply scratch a wart with a nail taken from a coffin, until the wart bleeds; it will then disappear.


Now, if you happen to have a child with whooping cough, the best thing to do is to
put a live trout into the child's mouth; then, while still alive, put it back into the stream. But, remember to let the trout breathe three times into the mouth of the child for the best results.


If you don't believe me, just you try it and you'll soon see! :witch:

[xyza]

I read Russian Tarrot cards, my choice due to my roots.

As for superstions, I have loads, far too many to list.

[Petra]

I read Russian Tarrot cards, my choice due to my roots.

Oooh, what do they look like? Please link us to some images. I laaaahhhhve Tarot cards!

As for superstions, I have loads, far too many to list.

Well, list just a few then. :yup:

[xyza]

I read Russian Tarrot cards, my choice due to my roots.

Ooh, what do they look like? Please link us to some images. I laaaahhhhve Tarot cards! Okay, the ones I have are Russian gypsy fortune telling cards (http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/russian-gypsy-fortunetelling/), the reason being I am of Romanian Gypsy decent on my mothers side and Russian (but not gypsy) on my fathers side :chin: . I like reading these cards more than Tarot, they suit me :yup:
Here's the Russian Tarot of St Petersburg (http://www.tarot.com/about-tarot/decks/browsedecks.php?newdeck=25) though.

Oh and a few superstitions ...
It's unlucky to kill spiders
*The salt one but I forget which shoulder so end up doing both
*Saluting and saying good morning to a single magpie seen before midday
*If your ear is burning, then someone is talking about you. To determine whether what they are saying is good or bad, remember this rhyme, - Left for love, Right for spite!
*If the palm of your right hand is itchy, then it foretells that money is coming to you, but don’t scratch it as that stops the money from coming! If it’s your left palm that is itchy, then scratch away, as that means that you'll soon be paying out money
*Never place shoes on a table as it means bad luck for the remainder of the day.
*Don’t break a mirror, or you’ll have seven years bad luck. (You can reverse this bad luck by putting all the pieces in a stream, but I forget which way it has to be flowing and that is important).
*If you are given a charm by a gypsy and it seems to be bringing you bad luck you can cleanse it by throwing the charm in the sea or salt water.

[Petra]

Wow, they're gorgeous! This one is me at the moment, I think:

http://www.tarot.com/images/decks/russian/full_size/18.jpg


Oh, and I hate to kill spiders, too. It'll always rain if you kill a spider, so only kill one if you're in the middle of a really bad drought or something - but don't kill too many of the dear wee critters or it'll flood. :yup:

[Petra]

Oooh, oooh, a boyfriend I had shoplifted a tiger's eye ring he liked for me once, many many moons ago (he was sweet, but stoopid). That bloody ring was bad luck, I tell ya! Never steal a tiger's eye ring for it is an evil eye. :buzzkill:

[beyelzu]

I sometimes knock on wood after I say something that I don't want to come true. But as I said to some superstitious friends of mine, "If I could make things happen just by saying them, do you really think I'd be wasting time talking to you guys? I'd be flying the Millenium Falcon across the galaxy with Jodi Foster in the copilot seat!"In the copilot seat? She'd be on my lap.
or at least her head would be, dog willing.

:tmgrin:

[Godless Dave]

I have to admit I indulged in a superstition recently. As related elsewhere, I got a new kitten last month and had to come up with a name for her. One day while napping on my bed I heard a rustling sound beneath me. "Sounds like trouble!" I said, and sure enough my new kitten was messing around with a paper bag full of books. So I thought about naming her Trouble, but then I remembered something a friend of mine had said, that cats will often live up to their names. So I didn't name her that.

I don't kill spiders because they eat other bugs and the way they move doesn't creep me out.

[xyza]

I called my cat Petra because as a kitten she jumped into the snow and was petrified, it was the one and only time she lived up to her name, she was a proper terror, always bold as brass.
My dog however is Bouncer, because when I got him he didn't walk he bounced, he still bounces now, think he can manage 6ft or more when he wants to give you a kiss, of course you end up on your :butt:

[Petra]

I called my cat Petra because as a kitten she jumped into the snow and was petrified, it was the one and only time she lived up to her name, she was a proper terror, always bold as brass.

:giggle:

My name is Petra. :D

[Carlos]

Oh and a few superstitions ...

*The salt one but I forget which shoulder so end up doing both


Hi xyza:

You should pick some ammount of the salt you dropped and throw it over your left shoulder.

Most of the supertitions have a rational/religion origin.

If I recall correctly , at the ancient Rome, the salt was used as a form of money.
The word salary (salario in spanish) has latin roots from salt.

Then , it must be a "bad luck" to drop or lost your salary.

Leonardo da Vinci , at the Last Supper fresco, painted Judas dropping with his arm (was the left one? )the salt recipe that was at the table. Curious note , I don't remmeber where I read it , but it is there , at the painting.

About the left or right shoulder :

Hummanity tends to associate left with the evil and right with the good.
It is suposed that in your left side is your "devil" , then you are throwing the salt to the devil ( mainly in his face).

Supertitions tend to be universal, although some cultures have some specials supertitions , they all tend to have the same origins.

I don't have any supertition myself ( I am not sure now<---this is a new one), but I respect it all of them.



Thanks,
Carlos

[Sugar Plum]

The Rabbit Test (goes something like this)

If your wondering if your pregnant, inject some of your urin into a live rabbit. If you are, the rabbit dies.

(This just happen to come up at work the other day, don't ask me why :))

[RevDahlia]

I knock on the roof of the car when I go through a yellow light.

That's a new one for me. How did you pick it up?

Picked it up from my wife. My mom's got it too now. You do it so Traffic Karma knows you're aware you ran a yellow light, and you don't need to be pulled over about it.

It helps, of course, that running a yellow light is legal.
I do this too, although I had no idea it's intended to acknowledge one's sin before the Traffic Gods. I picked it up from my carpool driver in high school. I've known people who kiss their fingers and touch the roof instead of knocking on it.

Lemme see. I throw spilled salt over my left shoulder, I get nervous when anyone lights more than two cigarettes on a single match (lighters don't bother me, for some reason) and I've been known to act on the "advice" of prophetic-seeming dreams. I also have a bit of a fetish for Vodou, love creepy stories, and own and read Tarot cards. I've been told I'm pretty good. I have the Rider-Waite, which I don't like and rarely use, a spacy hippie deck with cats on the cards, and the Thoth deck (my favorite.) Oh yeah -- if I give a friend anything sharp for a gift, I ask for a penny in exchange.

Jeez. I'm kinda neurotic, aren't I?

[Godless Dave]

I get nervous when anyone lights more than two cigarettes on a single match

According to one of my high school history teachers, this superstition came about in World War I. If you're sitting in a trench at night and light a match, a sniper will be able to see where you are. You're supposed to blow it out after lighting no more than two cigarettes so snipers don't have time to aim.

The rabbit one also has roots in reality. Doctors used to test for pregnancy using ovaries removed from a rabbit. If they reacted to the woman's fluids (not sure if they used urine) it indicated pregnancy. But the rabbit died whether you were pregnant or not.

[livius drusus]

Oh yeah -- if I give a friend anything sharp for a gift, I ask for a penny in exchange.

Intriguing. I've never heard of this one. What kinds of reactions have you gotten after demanding your penny?

[wei yau]

I don't take pictures of sleeping people. First, it's kinda like an invasion of privacy. But, superstituously, sleeping people resemble dead people in photos. This can bring bad luck.

Also, after attending a funeral or wake, I don't go directly home or to anyone else's home. I stop and have coffee or a meal in a public place. This is to confuse any ghosts who might try to follow me home.

It's something my folks always warned me about and I follow along.

[RevDahlia]

Oh yeah -- if I give a friend anything sharp for a gift, I ask for a penny in exchange.

Intriguing. I've never heard of this one. What kinds of reactions have you gotten after demanding your penny?
"Jeez, you're weird." But I hear that a lot anyway.

It's an old, old superstition; I learned about it from my great-grandmother. The idea is that knives and suchlike are bad luck to receive as gifts, but they're not bad luck to buy for some reason, so if your friend "buys" the knife from you with a penny the bad luck dissipates.

Thinking back it's odd how many pointy things I've given as gifts over the years, but I know lots of people who are into weaponry.

[Miisa]

I used to have a rather crippling phobia of police cars, and that further developed a superstition of that seeing an even number of them in a day would be unlucky. If it was starting to look that way, I would drive miles out of my way to drive near a police station in hopes of seeing one and thus neutralise the jinx.

After years of fighting impulses to pursue the silliest superstitions I consider myself cured. I actually bought two black cats last week.

:caught:

[livius drusus]

:qwow:
:blackcat:

[Ensign Steve]

I don't think I have anything original. I throw spilled salt over my left shoulder. I knock wood whenever I think I've tempted fate. I kiss the roof if I run a yellow light (admitedly, I don't always maked the physical motion, but I always at least do it in my head). And I just plain don't give sharp gifts. My mom says giving a sharp gift is equivalent to saying, "Happy birthday. Now go ahead and stab yourself," or something to that effect.

[Dingfod]

I'm not superstitious in the least bit, I don't even bless people when they sneeze, much to their irritation.


Oops, I think I've already said that in this thread. My bad.

[xyza]

I don't take pictures of sleeping people. First, it's kinda like an invasion of privacy. But, superstituously, sleeping people resemble dead people in photos. This can bring bad luck.I wish I knew about this sooner or hadn't read this post :doh:

See in the picture I took the other day of my sleeping boyfriend, even the sunlight is spooky :eek:

Oh, he doesn't really have a ball as a head, it's the privacy thing :giggle:

[wei yau]

See in the picture I took the other day of my sleeping boyfriend, even the sunlight is spooky :eek:

I wouldn't worry. It's a Chinese superstition and since your boyfriends does not appear to be a member of my tribe, I'm pretty sure he's safe.

And he has such a smooth, uniform complexion.

[xyza]

And he has such a smooth, uniform complexion.Oh I know, I'm so envious of it :D

[Miisa]

There are so many superstitions in this thread I had never heard of. I just might regress if I am not careful...