Superstitions

[Young Val]

Perhaps it's my theatre background, perhaps it's my Irish and Italian ancestry, perhaps it's just yet another insane quirk that I have, but my name is Kelly, and I am superstitious.

Not only am I superstitious, but I am obsessed with superstitions in general and their mundane origins.

Here's a few (a VERY few, trust me there are so many more) of the superstitions I currently embrace:

-place four quarters, heads up, under the floor mat on the passenger side of a new car, and keep them there, and you will never have a serious accident in that car.

-if you split a pole with someone while walking ("pole" means anything, mailbox, trash can, another person, anything that comes between the two of you while walking) you will argue with that person unless you say "bread and butter" before once again taking your place at the person's side. (normally i just try to avoid splitting the pole altogether, as it's odd to have to say "bread and butter" in the middlle of a conversation and then explain yourself.

-no white lighters.

-if you spill salt, throw some over your left shoulder.

-never give a sharp object, such as a knife, for a gift without receiving something in return, most often a penny.



are you superstitious? if so, what are you superstitious about?

[pooka]

Hold your breath under bridges and tunnels or the flying vampire monkeys will get you. My sister held her breath for a minute and 35 seconds once. Not for fear of the monkeys, but because she was toughest. Or cheating.

You can speed by 9 or 11 miles over the limit and not get caught. Everyone says they know someone who knows a cop who told them this, but it's just an odd belief in the end.

There's that one about saying the same thing as someone else, and the first one to count backward from 10 and say jinx is owed a soda by the other person.

I used to break wishbones, but they kind of clutter up the kitchen. Dead animal bones are probably bad for the Feng Shui.

I guess the whole kit and kaboodle of Feng Shui probably puts me in the superstitious category. Sorry, but I really think plastic bags, junk mail, exposed electrical cords, and dust are bad for my mental health. Not that I've gotten rid of them...

[mr_thebrain]

You can speed by 9 or 11 miles over the limit and not get caught. Everyone says they know someone who knows a cop who told them this, but it's just an odd belief in the end.

actually this is true (unless the cop is in a bad mood) my best friend's dad is a cop. anyway this rule is due to the fact that speedometer accuracy varies from vehical to vehical. anyway it's actually 9 miles over is fine, but 10 and you risk a warning or a ticket.

i don't really have any superstitions, i find them silly and illogical.

[Jayelle]

I don't think of myself as superstitious, but I like doing them anyway.

- I always toss the salt over my left shoulder if I spill it

-I call the bubbles in the center of tea (when you first pour the tea into a cup) "money" and occasionally scoop them up with a spoon so I will get that money (that one is from my Grandma)

-I "touch wood" so something bad won't happen

-I scratch the roof of the car while passing under a yellow light for good luck.

-I try to catch leaves as they fall off the trees for good luck

-I wish on: falling stars, wishbones, the first Robin of spring...etc.

[mr_thebrain]

anyone ever notice that a lot of superstitions are rather messy? wishbones salt throwing...

[Rei]

- I tend to stick to prime numbers, squares, or biblical numbers for things. (1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, et cetera.)

- I mutter "Open sesame" when I enter an automatic door and mutter "Close sesame" when I've passed through it.

- Life happens in order to tell a good story and therefore events I expect things to happen in a way that will tell a good story, whether it be a happy or a sad ending.

- I avoid going beneath ladders.

In the way of actual superstitions, I tend to have anti-superstitions

- I'm apt to kill spiders indoors to bring rain. (Although in the case of wolf spiders, it's because no spider should be big enough to be hit with a ranged weapon).

- I like Black Fridays

- I have a fondness for cats, especially black ones.

I was pretty sure there were a few other superstitions that I have, but they are escaping my memory at the moment.

[wizzard]

I'm not actually superstitious normally, but there are certain rules we follow in my house when we watch sports games.

If someone's playing amazingly well, you don't talk about it.

You never say "well at least... didn't happen"

It doesn't matter how far ahead you are, and how little time is left, you don't say it's over until it's actually over.

And the most important rule: my mom stays out of the room. I don't know why, but when she watches, we lose. (It's okay though, cause she doesn't really like sports)

[powerfulcheese04]

-Deaths come in threes. (We've lost 3 students at Rice this year.. so, I guess we're good...?)

-Thinking good things for people who are going through a rough spot makes a difference, even if they don't know you're thinking about them.

Uhmm.. I know I have some others but I guess they're so deeply ingrained at this point they don't just roll off the top of my head.

[Virlomi]

I know this is absolutely ridiculous... but to this day I hold my breath when I go in the Holland Tunnel. And I touch a screw when we go over a bridge. And I kiss the ceiling when I go through a yellow light. And I hold my breath while passing cemeteries, because I got it into my head when I was a little girl that it was rude to breath in front of those who can't.

So I guess there's just something about cars.

[Young Val]

i also do most of the above, including wishing on various things, holding my breath when passing a cemetary, knocking on wood, and touching the roof of my car when passing under a yellow light.

i try (though often forget) to always enter buildings and rooms "right foot first" for good luck. never bring an old broom to a new house. if you drop a fork company's coming, ect.

there are some that i'm rigid about, and some that i just like. a lot of the origins for WHY your supposed to do or not do these things are really fascinating.

[Bevis]

I tend to look for the number 4 in everything. It started when I was thirteen. My friend Jason, his girl Amber and I were talking on her porch. Amber's mom poked her head out the door and told her to run a message to the neighbor. Amber said to us she'd be "back in a minute." Jason began counting, "One....two....three." She stared at him, dumbfounded, until he said "four" with so much annoyed aggitation that Amber & I lost ourselves laughing. Thanks to my & Amber's persistance,Four turned into a catchall word in our neighborhood. I still like it. If I remember right, 4 & 9 are the only single digit numbers that can be multiplied by the power of themselves, then the seperate digits of that answer can be added together to eventually equal the original number. Like all good superstitions, nine can be explained away by saying either A) 4+9=13, 1+3=4 so 9 is relative to 4 or B) 9 turns so many tricks anyway that nobody cares.


Edit: My sig has 3+1 sets of dots. 3fours & 1one(factor of four). 13 dots in all.

[anonshadow]

I have a lot of superstitions when it comes to luck-related things. I have a pair of earrings and two pairs of socks that I regard as lucky, and when I'm scared about something, I often steal a shirt of my mother's or a sweatshirt of my boyfriend's or father's because I think that it will help get me through it.

I also never sleep with the blankets below my neck, because I'm afraid the vampires will come in and bite me, and I can't imagine them either pulling back the blankets violently or doing it gently.

[Jayelle]

I also never sleep with the blankets below my neck, because I'm afraid the vampires will come in and bite me, and I can't imagine them either pulling back the blankets violently or doing it gently.

Ooh! oh! I used to always sleep with the blankets covering my ears because I thought ear-eating monsters lived under my bed!
I don't have the habit anymore, but I did for a long time.

[zeroguy]

I nearly always try to avoid cracks in the sidewalk. Not really a superstition, I suppose, since I don't think anything will happen if I do, but I just don't for some reason.

("Nearly" always, because the other times I deliberately step on them to try and shake my habit.)

[Dr. Mobius]

I tend to do the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do when I'm in a superstitious situation, especially if I'm with someone who is superstitious, simply because I know it's all BS. Plus it can be amusing watching them squirm.

[Virlomi]

Now who's talking about sadism? I'm adding hypocritical to your long list of faults. :p

[Nova]

when you pass the salt to some one you have to put i down on the table and let them pick it up. if you pass it from hand to hand you both get bad luck. (i don't really do this but it is fun...my mom's friend always does it so now i sometimes do it too.)

[Dr. Mobius]

Now who's talking about sadism? I'm adding hypocritical to your long list of faults. :p

What? I never said she couldn't be sadist, just that her reasons for doing so were a bit... odd.

[bean head]

haha if i could get my girlfriend on this, she'd go on and on about superstitions (and i'll probably actually tell her about some of the ones i read), but:
i knock on wood (or my head if no wood is handy) to negate the effect of somebody saying something i don't want to happen.
i won't close a knife that somebody else opened, or hand somebody an open knife.
i generally avoid cracks on sidewalks and such, though by now it's almost an extra sense and i can avoid without even really looking.
i used to be confused if it was "take a pinch of salt with your right hand and throw it over your left shoulder" or "take a pinch of salt and throw the salt shaker over your right shoulder" so i did both until i broke the salt shaker in the school cafeteria on the wall behind me...it was fun

[Jayelle]

i won't close a knife that somebody else opened, or hand somebody an open knife.

How do you open/close a knife??

[Young Val]

a swiss army knife, or a pocket knife.

henry's got the same superstition.

[neo-dragon]

I assume he means a pocket knife. You know, the kind that flip open/closed. Like a Swiss Army knife, but not necessarily with all the gizmos.

Or he could mean something like a box-cutter, or anything else with a retractable blade.

*snort*
Don't post while I'm posting. That's just rude!

[Petra456]

The only two I can really think of are picking pennies up (if they're heads up) and wishing of shooting stars. I don't expect much out of them, i've just kinda always done them.

[Rei]

I tend to avoid saying "MacBeth" when I'm in a theatre.

[Bevis]

I tend to avoid saying "MacBeth" when I'm in a theatre.

Why?

[Jayelle]

It's a theatre superstition, it's bad luck to say Macbeth, you call it "The Scottish Play" instead.

I originates because odd and tragic things have happened during productions of Macbeth. It's said to be a cursed play.


A Link to some Info

[AnthonyByakko]

Daily Horoscope for Cancer
Today's Date: October 31, 2006

You sparkle with charm and wisdom. Anyone who doesn't instantly love you just doesn't get it. Miracles are everyday occurrences around here.


Right. I just sparkle with charm and wisdom...

[Young Val]

well i do sparkle. with charm. AND wisdom.


...however, apparently i need brushing up on the everyone loving me thing.

i too am a cancer.

what? emotional and moody and nurturing and slightly insane? no way. i don't fit my sign at ALL.


...sooo crabby.

[AnthonyByakko]

You can be more of some of the things, and less of others - like I lean heavily on the slightly insane, and less on the nurturing (me? nurturing?) so it all balances out.