Blog Dis
Oh, silly silly fears
2024-02-13
From an early age, I was indoctrinated into the world of superstitions because my mother had been indoctrinated as a child, and passed it on. When my siblings and I lived under one roof, there were known rules of conduct that had to be observed. The worst breach was in refusing to recognize one superstition when passing my mother on a flight of stairs. If she was coming down, you were ordered to return to the bottom step and let her descend first, before we could go up. I was mystified by this, nor could I at the time realize the impact it would have on me.
There are standard superstitions, such as breaking a mirror and getting seven years of bad luck, or when your right palm itches it means money is coming to you, and when your left palm itches it means money going out. There are omens about birds flying into your window, portending a death to come, maybe a family member, maybe a friend, maybe a colleague. And, if a strange cat enters your home, uninvited, more money is coming your way. Similarly, if you get kissed in a dream, it means money will be coming or if you receive a good news phone call, two more good news phone calls are on their way, and if it is a bad news phone call, two more on on the way. Good and bad luck appear to come in three's apparently. These aforementioned superstitions barely scratch the surface. But you get the point. Money and bad luck favour heavily in superstitions.
Now that much time has passed, I went out of my way to further enlighten myself on the nature of omens and superstitions. I found a compendium called The Dictionary of Omens and Superstitions by Philippa Waring. Fascinating and fun read, proving that the human imagination appears to be limitless. The book talks about the history of omens and superstitions forming as a result of man's basic need to ensure survival, initially beginning in a broad sense in the agrarian world of farming, and how through time superstitions evolved to bring about protection, to ward off evil, fear and bad luck. The book's prologue cites the power of instinct over intellect, in that man's instinct was compelled to pay attention to the surroundings, such as aberrant animal behaviour and weather, and if the two were related, because these signs were telling of what was to come; think of cows lying down in a field, portending oncoming rain. Whenever something went wrong, or occurred out of the ordinary, a note was made of the changes to prepare themselves for next time. A prime example in the world of fishing is sunset in morning, sailor's warning; sunset at night, sailor's delight.
Omens and superstitions are a hoot. Theatre actors, our wonderful practitioners of the imaginary world, are rife with superstition, observing precise behaviour to avoid bad luck on stage (whistling backstage is considered taboo), whereas wishing someone to 'break a leg' is in fact good luck. According to Ms. Waring's dictionary, the British, Japanese, Scottish and Germans are considered to be the most superstitious peoples in the world. This makes sense to me. I think about the early seafaring days of British ships that took years to reach their destinations, and how bringing a woman onboard was regarded as bad luck, not just for the crew but for the ship and voyage as a whole. Realistically, any female on a ship that is 100% male is an obvious recipe for disaster; her mere presence would cause competition amongst the men, never mind what might become of her safety.
The majority of superstitions can be traced back to origins from these countries. It should come as no surprise that my mother is German; hence her lovely grasp of the world through the prism of superstition. One that always put a smile on my face was, "If you laugh in the morning, you cry at night." I challenged these notions, wanting to know their logic, only to be advised that my opinion was pointless, and that I should just shut up and obey. The longevity of a superstition clearly then requires blind obedience. 🤣
Dare I admit, however, that I've witnessed some strange things happening in my small world. So the superstition goes that if you drop a knife on the floor, a man will soon visit your door. Drop a fork on the floor and it means a woman. Spoon on the floor, fool soon at your door. These cutlery incidents must be accidental, incidentally, and can't be fabricated. So, if you're desirous of male company, you can't go around throwing knives to the floor. I've seen the results myself and it dismays me to admit that every time I've accidentally dropped a knife, a man has unexpectedly come for a visit. To ward off the visits, you need only step on the cutlery, prior to picking it up (hopefully you'll wash it too, given that it fell to the floor).
If you hear ringing in your right ear, it means someone is praising you. Whereas, ringing in the left ear means someone in pinpointing your faults. With many superstitions, right and left are rooted in religious context because back in ancient times, the left was associated with the Devil and the Right with God. Yes, even religion isn't above behaving in a superstition manner. It's appropriate at this point in my post to be blunt and acknowledge that many believe Religion is a superstition, to which I agree, because I regard religion as a form brainwashing, which in effect is how omens and superstitions can affect people.
Have you ever wondered why commercial buildings are built without a 13th Floor in their elevators?
Not all beliefs and practices are logical and, to some outsiders, they seem downright irrational. But I would say let people have their fun! We can always use more imagination in the world. If you've children, you may be inclined to say special words each day to protect your kids, as much as doing so will calm your fears. Ah yes, fear... a great motivator. Fears, by their very nature, are irrational, more often than not, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the intense feelings you have as a result of your fears are not genuine. This fact I fully appreciate, despite believing that fears are silly indeed. We fear what has yet to happen.
Maybe it's as simple as acknowledging that paranoia has been disguised as superstition, which is useful to disguise your fear. But I say who really cares if it gives the individual peace of mind? Is that not after all what the purpose of our instinct is, to protect and serve our well being, and for those who've children too? And speaking of rug-rats, here's a lovely poem:
"Monday's child is fair in face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child that is born on the Sabbath Day
Is blithe and bonny, good and gay."
I shall end this post with one useful tip. If you break a mirror, which is regarded as one of the most well known superstitions of them all... collect all the pieces and bring a five dollar bill with you; then head out to the nearest fast-flowing river. Hold the $5 bill in your left hand, and say these words, while you throw the pieces into the river, "With this river, I wash away all bad luck." Then, tuck that fiver into your pocket and head home to have a good chuckle. Ain't nobody alive who wants seven years of bad luck. Might this too explain the seven-year itch?
There are standard superstitions, such as breaking a mirror and getting seven years of bad luck, or when your right palm itches it means money is coming to you, and when your left palm itches it means money going out. There are omens about birds flying into your window, portending a death to come, maybe a family member, maybe a friend, maybe a colleague. And, if a strange cat enters your home, uninvited, more money is coming your way. Similarly, if you get kissed in a dream, it means money will be coming or if you receive a good news phone call, two more good news phone calls are on their way, and if it is a bad news phone call, two more on on the way. Good and bad luck appear to come in three's apparently. These aforementioned superstitions barely scratch the surface. But you get the point. Money and bad luck favour heavily in superstitions.
Now that much time has passed, I went out of my way to further enlighten myself on the nature of omens and superstitions. I found a compendium called The Dictionary of Omens and Superstitions by Philippa Waring. Fascinating and fun read, proving that the human imagination appears to be limitless. The book talks about the history of omens and superstitions forming as a result of man's basic need to ensure survival, initially beginning in a broad sense in the agrarian world of farming, and how through time superstitions evolved to bring about protection, to ward off evil, fear and bad luck. The book's prologue cites the power of instinct over intellect, in that man's instinct was compelled to pay attention to the surroundings, such as aberrant animal behaviour and weather, and if the two were related, because these signs were telling of what was to come; think of cows lying down in a field, portending oncoming rain. Whenever something went wrong, or occurred out of the ordinary, a note was made of the changes to prepare themselves for next time. A prime example in the world of fishing is sunset in morning, sailor's warning; sunset at night, sailor's delight.
Omens and superstitions are a hoot. Theatre actors, our wonderful practitioners of the imaginary world, are rife with superstition, observing precise behaviour to avoid bad luck on stage (whistling backstage is considered taboo), whereas wishing someone to 'break a leg' is in fact good luck. According to Ms. Waring's dictionary, the British, Japanese, Scottish and Germans are considered to be the most superstitious peoples in the world. This makes sense to me. I think about the early seafaring days of British ships that took years to reach their destinations, and how bringing a woman onboard was regarded as bad luck, not just for the crew but for the ship and voyage as a whole. Realistically, any female on a ship that is 100% male is an obvious recipe for disaster; her mere presence would cause competition amongst the men, never mind what might become of her safety.
The majority of superstitions can be traced back to origins from these countries. It should come as no surprise that my mother is German; hence her lovely grasp of the world through the prism of superstition. One that always put a smile on my face was, "If you laugh in the morning, you cry at night." I challenged these notions, wanting to know their logic, only to be advised that my opinion was pointless, and that I should just shut up and obey. The longevity of a superstition clearly then requires blind obedience. 🤣
Dare I admit, however, that I've witnessed some strange things happening in my small world. So the superstition goes that if you drop a knife on the floor, a man will soon visit your door. Drop a fork on the floor and it means a woman. Spoon on the floor, fool soon at your door. These cutlery incidents must be accidental, incidentally, and can't be fabricated. So, if you're desirous of male company, you can't go around throwing knives to the floor. I've seen the results myself and it dismays me to admit that every time I've accidentally dropped a knife, a man has unexpectedly come for a visit. To ward off the visits, you need only step on the cutlery, prior to picking it up (hopefully you'll wash it too, given that it fell to the floor).
If you hear ringing in your right ear, it means someone is praising you. Whereas, ringing in the left ear means someone in pinpointing your faults. With many superstitions, right and left are rooted in religious context because back in ancient times, the left was associated with the Devil and the Right with God. Yes, even religion isn't above behaving in a superstition manner. It's appropriate at this point in my post to be blunt and acknowledge that many believe Religion is a superstition, to which I agree, because I regard religion as a form brainwashing, which in effect is how omens and superstitions can affect people.
Have you ever wondered why commercial buildings are built without a 13th Floor in their elevators?
Not all beliefs and practices are logical and, to some outsiders, they seem downright irrational. But I would say let people have their fun! We can always use more imagination in the world. If you've children, you may be inclined to say special words each day to protect your kids, as much as doing so will calm your fears. Ah yes, fear... a great motivator. Fears, by their very nature, are irrational, more often than not, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the intense feelings you have as a result of your fears are not genuine. This fact I fully appreciate, despite believing that fears are silly indeed. We fear what has yet to happen.
Maybe it's as simple as acknowledging that paranoia has been disguised as superstition, which is useful to disguise your fear. But I say who really cares if it gives the individual peace of mind? Is that not after all what the purpose of our instinct is, to protect and serve our well being, and for those who've children too? And speaking of rug-rats, here's a lovely poem:
"Monday's child is fair in face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child that is born on the Sabbath Day
Is blithe and bonny, good and gay."
I shall end this post with one useful tip. If you break a mirror, which is regarded as one of the most well known superstitions of them all... collect all the pieces and bring a five dollar bill with you; then head out to the nearest fast-flowing river. Hold the $5 bill in your left hand, and say these words, while you throw the pieces into the river, "With this river, I wash away all bad luck." Then, tuck that fiver into your pocket and head home to have a good chuckle. Ain't nobody alive who wants seven years of bad luck. Might this too explain the seven-year itch?
