"Superstitions"

[goalienan]

Superstitions are not considered "Urban Legends", but they have been around forever. They are known as "folk beliefs" and range from good luck to bad luck. Most of us have heard about superstions from childhood and carry them to adulthood. I thought it would be interesting to see what UM members consider superstitous..

Here are some that have stuck with me and I still do.

"Step on a crack and you'll break your mothers back"...When I was a kid I would avoid the sidewalk cracks.

"Never walk under a ladder, it will result in 13 years bad luck"....I still do this.

"Pick up a coin, heads up is good luck and tails is bad luck"..Another one I still do.

To the mods...If I have posted this in the wrong forum, please feel free to move it...

[RedFFWolf]

"Step on a crack and you'll break your mothers back"...When I was a kid I would avoid the sidewalk cracks.

When I was a bit younger I'd do the same but I never knew the part about breaking your mother's back. I just did it out of a habit. I think I used to do it after I was told it was bad luck but even though I didn't believe that (It's just a crack in the ground after all), I got into the habit of not stepping on them, without even realising it most of the time

[Lotus Flower]

I don't walk under ladders, but that is not because I consider it unlucky, but because I don't want a bucket falling on my head from above

[A1_Athlete]

"Break a mirror, get 7 years of bad luck"-Oh boy, how many times have I broken mirrors, I must have atleast 50+ years of bad luck LOL

"If 3 people take a picture together, the one in the middle will die first(or would fall victim to an illness)"- Well, i'm not completely sure about this certain belief, it's just one's faith towards the subject

Interesting superstitions, I would post more though, but I just can't seem to think at the moment.

[AngelsPhoenix]

I never knew about the 3 people taking a picture before.But it is a myth'cause I'm still alive and not ill.

The mirror thing,I try not to break any.

[EmpressStarXVII]

I wont have my bed facing the door because that is how the dead are carried out, feet first.

[girty1600]

I won't use a red lighter, bad luck! I used to buy big packs of lighters and keep a few on me at all times. When someone would use a red lighter I would offer to trade them a brand new bic for their red lighter. I would later destroy the red lighter. I hate red lighters and I don't even know why.

I won't pick up a penny if it's "tales".

I kiss my thumb and touch it to the roof of my car whenever I pass through a yellow traffic light.

I snap my fingers (both hands) when I'm nervous to hear good or bad news.

I bless myself when I sneeze. I bless random passers-by when they sneeze earning some odd and creepy looks.

I have many sporting event rituals that adhere to closely, too many to go into in fact.

I very rarely go to sleep without saying "I'm sorry" even if it wasn't my fault.

I like to blow certain objects up and set random items on fire. Those are not superstitions there're just activities I enjoy greatly. I have a fire extinuisher.

[Rosenrot]

Hmm I adhere to the "Pick up a head-up penny for good luck."

Another one of my favorites is to say, "Sneezy sneezy Achoo! Someone special's thinking about you" when someone sneezes, even myself.

I also tend to predict the weather by looking at the leaves. If the lighter colored underside is turned up, it means storms are coming.

[Tejina: Ex Arctic Elfie]

I also tend to predict the weather by looking at the leaves. If the lighter colored underside is turned up, it means storms are coming.

You do that too? I learned the trick from a friend who grew up in a Native village. He told me if I was starting out on a hike, check the trees, if the leaves were lighter, make it short.

Hm... I should add some of my own.

Black cats are bad luck- rubbish, I own two and I've never had horrible horrible luck.

I never kill spiders, even though I'm scared of them, Because I don't want the bad luck killing one brings. Not to mention they eat things I hate more than them. So... Better a Spider than other buggies.

[Shalott]

I still "knock on wood" though I actually knock on my head. When I was younger I'd do it as a joke, but now it's become a superstition all on it's own in my life. I'll knock on my head for good luck, or to stop something unwanted from coming.

I also tend to predict the weather by looking at the leaves. If the lighter colored underside is turned up, it means storms are coming

That's interesting, is it known to be true?

[Cadetak]

The "Madden Curse". If you appear on the cover of one Electronic Art's Madden football games you will suffer an injury or poor performance during that season.

Linky

[lottie2002]

I either only step on the cracks between stones, or not at all. Different every time. I also usually follow a line of stones (sort of hard to explain). Not really for any reason though, besides my symmetry addiction .

I am superstitious in that I don't say the names of certain demons, whether they excist or not.

Besides that, I'm hardly superstitious. There are a few things, but I don't even remember them at the moment.

Although I have no problems with black cats (I actually love them), or walking underneath ladders. Or breaking mirrors.

that thing with the leaves is very interesting, though I usually stick to watching the clouds (although that didn't work yesterday. I left home to pick up a friend, the sun was shining, it was hot, I actually put on sunglasses. I arrived at the place where I picked her up, and all of the sudden, rain started pouring down. There I was, with no jacket, no raincoat, nothing, only sunglasses, which wasn't quite helpful).

[goalienan]

These are really interesting...alot I've never heard of...Heres a few more..

Putting a hat on a bed is bad luck.

Seeing three butterflies at the same time is bad luck...

A picture falling is bad luck....I must have 30 years then, my pictures are always falliing....

[Lotus Flower]

I like to blow certain objects up and set random items on fire. Those are not superstitions there're just activities I enjoy greatly. I have a fire extinuisher.

Makes notes that girty is a pyromaniac and has OCD

[swtp]

So thats why my life sucks so much, I never knock on wood (unless you count my head ) that gets knocked on a lot, i never toss salt over my left shoulder, i walk under ladders , my black cats are always crossing in front of me and i face my bed any way that it will keep the morning light out of my face even if that means faceing the door! And i,m quite certain i do a lot of other things i,m not supposed to and i don,t do the ones i am supposed to do, so i guess i,m S.O.L.!!!

[Rosenrot]

That's interesting, is it known to be true?

There is some truth to it. The leaves are turned upsidedown by updrafts, and updrafts can be part of a storm forming. It works sometimes. I use it in combination with barometers, watching cloud formation, and wind direction.

[Celumnaz]

I touch the roof of the car when going through yellow lights, twice for red lights. It's for good luck that a cop didn't just see me. No I don't think it works, but I've never been pulled over for running a red light either. I think of it like Lisa Simpson's shark repellant or whatever that was but still do it anyway. Guess it's more of thinking about the people I used to hang out with a long time ago.

Knock on wood, use my head now and then.

Have been known to say "Bless me Thank me" after sneezing, and have let out a few "Damn You"'s when someone else sneezes...

Ring around the moon means good chance of rain soon.

Probably a few more I do and don't think about.

[Rocket88]

"superstitions: do you have any ? No.

[kourui]

-seeing the reflection of somebody in the mirror without its head.

(you should immediately tell that person what you see coz it's a bad omen...)

-if a car or any type of vehicle keeps turning its engine off while in a ride.

(there's a dead new born baby in there...)

well i just heard it from the old folks...

[Lotus Flower]

So thats why my life sucks so much, I never knock on wood (unless you count my head ) that gets knocked on a lot, i never toss salt over my left shoulder, i walk under ladders , my black cats are always crossing in front of me and i face my bed any way that it will keep the morning light out of my face even if that means faceing the door! And i,m quite certain i do a lot of other things i,m not supposed to and i don,t do the ones i am supposed to do, so i guess i,m S.O.L.!!!

lol. You saying about black cats reminded me, in some places it is considered LUCKY to have one cross your path. Lucky for me too, my cat is black and is always trying to trip me up first thing in the morning to get outside and do his business

[archer95446]

Way back in 1997, I was on my way home and a black cat ran across the road right in front of my car, I put the brakes on, not because I would've hit it, but because that old superstition poped into my head about having bad luck if you cross a black cat's path. Well, there was no other was to go, it was a one lane dirt road, and I had to get home so I denounced that old superstition, telling myself that nothing will happen, everything will be ok.

Wrong Wrong Wrong I should've listened to my intuition. About a block from my house a black and white pulled me over for not switching my brights off fast enough (he was driving the other way, I was on the highway by then), and I was arrested for a DWI.

I don't drink anymore and I haven't crossed a black cats path anymore either, and I never will.

[Primeval]

I don't like letting my appendages hang over the side of the bed while I sleep.

[Gatofeo]

Target shooters have an old superstition: kissing each rifle cartridge's bullet before firing it.

This stems from the days when the only propellant was black powder, a mixture of saltpetre, sulfur and charcoal. Black powder leaves a lot of fouling behind, that chokes the rifling in the bore and may affect accuracy.

However, black powder fouling is almost entirely dissolved by water. So, the old target shooters would lick or spit on the lead bullet before inserting the cartridge in the chamber. This moisture kept the fouling soft, so each bullet would push it out easier.

Accuracy was maintained, or so it was believed.

Anyway, along comes smokeless powder in the late 19th and early 20th century. Smokeless powder is made from chemicals and doesn't leave behind nearly as much fouling as the older black powder. Or, as its name implies, does it create nearly as much smoke.

But shooters continued to kiss their bullets, though by that time their bullets were largely copper-jacketed and not bare lead. Some shooters still do it today on the target line; many of them no longer know its origin.

Shooting ammunition reloaded (assembled) by someone else is considered bad luck by shooters. Or perhaps it's just common sense considering that an incorrectly assembled cartridge could cause the gun to blow up in your face. Reloaders, those who assemble ammo, shoot their own reloads but not those of others. I'm guilty of this. I check my reloads very carefully during the entire process but I hate to trust my eyes and face to someone else.

Lighting the cigarette of three people with one match is still considered unlucky. Supposedly it comes from the days of World War I and trench warfare. There was much sniping by both sides, from the trenches. It was believed that a lit match could light one cigarette, and perhaps two, but lighting three cigarettes gave an enemy sniper enough time to align his sights and shoot at the match glowing in the distance.

Frankly, a good rifleman could get a shot off seconds after a match was lit.

Here in the remote Utah desert, there's a strange superstition.

There's a common beetle, little black devil, that when disturbed will lower its head and point its rear end at you to release a stink. This is its natural defense against predators.

Some desert residents believe that if you see a number of these beetles walking on the surface during the day, a storm is approaching. Normally, these beetles stay hidden during the day and come out in the evening, when it's cooler. I've heard this superstition, and seen beetles in the heat of the day a couple of times, but never noticed a storm to verify this belief.

Out here, where the night skies are dark and stars and planets can be seen in all their glory, people still wish on shooting stars. I guess that's done pretty much everywhere, though.

Setting a plate with the knife turned inward, to ward the plate, is said to be bad luck to whovever sits at that plate.

I had a girlfriend who caught me doing this as I set the table. Little did I know! She wouldn't rest until I threw salt over my left shoulder, to avert the bad luck. I guess having the knife blade facing the person means they will come to harm. I dunno.

[goalienan]

I've heard about the salt and the knife blade, but reading about the beetles was interesting...I hate bugs....

[Rosenrot]

Ohh, I still wish on falling stars.

And I also say this little rhyme if I'm out at twilight and happen to see the first twinkle of starlight: "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish, I wish tonight."