SUPERSTITIONS
I was thinking about some of the superstitions that we were told about when I was growing up. To tell you the truth, I never did think too much about them being for real, but sometimes you just didn't want to take a chance!
My Mom was the one who mentioned these things mostly and reminded us of them. Here's a few that I can recall right off.
1. Playing with fire will make you wet the bed. We had an open fireplace and what fun to poke around in it sometimes with the poker. Maybe this was one way to encourage us to quit, as no one wanted to wet the bed.
2. If a snapping turtle bit you it wouldn't let go until it thundered. We certainly steered clear of them. Can you imagine carrying a turtle around hanging from your arm, hand, or leg until it thundered! Rather an annoying thing to have as extra weight. Stinky and muddy too.
3. If your nose itches then someone is coming to visit.
4. When you entered the house you had to be sure and leave by the same door you came in.
5. If your right hand itched you were going to get money. I forget what the left one itching meant, but I'm sure it meant something!
5. Never were we allowed to go outside with a wet head, for fear we would catch a cold.
6. If a woman was pregnant she was never to look at anything scary or it might mark the baby. If she were frightened badly by something, such as a snake, storm, or anything, this could potentially mark the baby.
7. If you were female and single and someone swept under your feet you would never get married.
8. If a pocket knife was opened it had to be closed by the same person who opened it or it would be bad luck.
9. No singing at the table or it was bad luck.
10. If someone gives you a live plant you are not supposed to thank them for it, or it will die.
Did you grow up with any superstitions in your family?
My Mom was the one who mentioned these things mostly and reminded us of them. Here's a few that I can recall right off.
1. Playing with fire will make you wet the bed. We had an open fireplace and what fun to poke around in it sometimes with the poker. Maybe this was one way to encourage us to quit, as no one wanted to wet the bed.
2. If a snapping turtle bit you it wouldn't let go until it thundered. We certainly steered clear of them. Can you imagine carrying a turtle around hanging from your arm, hand, or leg until it thundered! Rather an annoying thing to have as extra weight. Stinky and muddy too.
3. If your nose itches then someone is coming to visit.
4. When you entered the house you had to be sure and leave by the same door you came in.
5. If your right hand itched you were going to get money. I forget what the left one itching meant, but I'm sure it meant something!
5. Never were we allowed to go outside with a wet head, for fear we would catch a cold.
6. If a woman was pregnant she was never to look at anything scary or it might mark the baby. If she were frightened badly by something, such as a snake, storm, or anything, this could potentially mark the baby.
7. If you were female and single and someone swept under your feet you would never get married.
8. If a pocket knife was opened it had to be closed by the same person who opened it or it would be bad luck.
9. No singing at the table or it was bad luck.
10. If someone gives you a live plant you are not supposed to thank them for it, or it will die.
Did you grow up with any superstitions in your family?
posted by Rachel at 7:13 PM
14 Comments:
Marilyn must have written thank you notes for some of our houseplants. She has them hardened off, and weaned off of water.
You and I must be sisters because my mother told me every one of those you mentioned! 1.If a picture fell off the wall and broke someone was going to die in the family!
Superstitions? I thought those were well known FACTS!
If you leave something at someone's house, you must never return to get it. You'll have to wait until you go there again or bad things will happen to you. My grandpa wouldn't even return for his false teeth!
Don't open an umbrella inside. Don't walk under a ladder. Don't cross a black cat's path. Don't step on a crack. Don't make an ugly face or your face will freeze that way.
Most of your list are news to me but Granny Annie's additions rings a bell.
I must have been a real firebug. I wet the bed every day of my life until I was 12. It was a painful secret for a popular child.
Oh gosh, these bring back memories! We were definitely not allowed to leave the house with wet hair, and I also remember my mom getting very upset if she thought my feet were going to get wet. Opening an umbrella in the house was just asking for trouble, as was walking under a ladder. I also remember as a kid holding my breath when we drove past a graveyard, although my parents didn't promote this one. The biggest one though was being told I had to wait a half hour after eating to swim.
Fun post!
LOL, LOL...Yas, some of those...but there are more that I learned, too....Never let a black cat cross in front of. Never walk under a ladder....And there are a few Theatre Superstitions that EVERYONE I know in the Theatre--including me---Always Heed! NEVER Whistle in The dressing rom; Never put a hat on the bed...And the BIGGEST one of all...NEVER, NEVER, N-E-V-E-R refer to that play by Shakespeare by it's correct name...beginning with M and ending in H...M*****H...Always refer to it as that Scottish Play. And never wish anyone 'Good Luck' using those words. Instead you say, "Break A Leg" or "NERDE" These are all taken very seriously!
Oh, I SURE WISH my right hand was itching!!!!!!!
Don't cross your eyes or they will stick that way.
Don't swallow watermelon seeds, or you'll grow one inside your belly.
Famous people always die in threes - meaning that if one famous person dies, just wait and two more will die shortly thereafter.
You didn't understand "caps hitting the ground."
That means the shells from the guns hitting the ground. Rapper lingo, I guess. Ugh!
We decided to fly to Blogstock. We are still arriving on Thursday night, but it works out best for us to fly. Then we fly from Omaha to St. Louis to spend time with Keith's family.
Blogstock is nearly here!!!!!!!!!!!
We MUST give each other a BIG hug!!!!!!
I heard of #1 but my parents never pushed that one. #5, if it's your left hand it meant you would be giving the money to someone else.
I remember, no hats were to be placed on any bed. (I have no idea why)
Jamie Dawn's are very familiar too. As well as the black cat, walking under ladders, the umbrella, stepping on a crack, and also never cross the eyes, they will stay that way. Mine never did to this day.
I never heard of # 1. I also heard a bird in the house meant a death in the family. The rest we all heard growing up.
Take care Bev, and god bless. Donna
I have heard many of those and also these:
Break a mirror and it's seven years bad luck.
Spill salt and you must throw some over your shoulder.
Don't swallow gum or your toes will stick together.
If a picture falls from the wall something will happen to that person.
Deaths always happen in 3's.
If you see a white horse, make a wish..
I never felt really superstitious but I guess we must have been!!
I must have lived on another planet. The only one I have always heard is not to say thanks for a plant. I was taught to say "Thank you for your kindness" and that took care of manners and didn't kill anything.
Not only do deaths come in 3s, so do other tragedies. Watch the news... for example, have you ever noticed if there is one train accident, there will be 2 more before a month is up? plane wrecks...
Law of averages...
In baseball, it is bad luck to step on the foul line when going to or from the field. No, wait. Maybe if you step on the line it will bring you good luck.
Re Jamie Dawn's comment: We believed in the "three famous persons" hooey, too. Tim Russert and Jim McKay have recently passed away. Will there be a third well-known person leaving us soon?
8:45 a.m. Monday. I just heard that George Carlin passed away last night. Jamie Dawn and Susie musta had the right idea about death/three's.
Most of those you posted are ones we had too. I also remember the one about knocking on wood. I did that for years until I realized that the Lord alone calls the shots in my life. I have no superstitions at all now that I am a born again Christian and I can't begin to tell you what a relief it has been to be out from under all that superstitious oppression.
When I was a child we couldn't step on the cracks on the sidewalk or we'd break our mothers back. How stupid is that?
My paternal grandma was German and Native American and she definitely believed the superstitions she was taught. That's where most of those we knew came from. If a crow flew over the house someone would die. There were many more but I can't think of them.
Interesting post.
Thanks
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