Superstitions and Charms Are you superstitious? Many people say they are not and yet they get upset when a black cat crosses their path or they would have to walk under a ladder to get where they are going. When asked how they cannot be superstitious and yet act this way, they will say something like we shouldn’t tempt fate. I have to say the only reason I don’t like walking under ladders is the fact something might fall on my head. As far as black cats go, I had one and he used to walk in front of me all the time, but maybe people might say to me ownership of the animal negates the problem. What are superstitions anyway? Superstition is defined as an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear. It is true most of the superstitions today were carried over from the past and ancient past. If something happened to someone who say had a black cat walk in front of them, even if it happened weeks later, many of the people in older times would have blamed the fact on the cat. In Turkey if a black cat crosses your path it is believed you can reverse the bad luck. All you have to do is hold a part of your hair when it happens. Why do people think black cats are bad luck? Maybe one of the reasons is the fact King Charles of England had a black cat which he had loved and when that cat died, the king was arrested the next day. I would say that was bad luck for him. In the Dark Ages cats weren’t very popular with the peasants. They believed so many bad things about cats it is probably impossible to list them all. Here are some of the things they believed. A cat will suck the life out of you while you sleep. That is an unpleasant thought. Someone must have died with a cat on their chest to start this belief. It was believed cats drew lightning, the reason for this is they went out even during lightning storms when other animals wouldn’t. Just as it is said a black cat crossing your path is bad luck, it was also believed a black and white cat crossing your path was good luck. Besides the holding of hair in Turkey it was believed another way to avert the bad luck of a black cat crossing you path was to walk backwards to your destination without speaking. Today this might get you into the booby hatch. It seems to me this would really get you bad luck today. An easier way to avoid bad luck after a black cat crossed in front of you was to count to nine. People used to believe cats had souls and if you drowned one its ghost would haunt you. It wasn’t only black cats that were considered mostly bad luck. It was believed if bees swarmed a rotten tree, someone in your family will die if you lived on the property or owned it for one year. It was also believed if a swarm of bees swarmed your house someone was going to die. I remember how upset my grandmother got when a bird flew into the house. This was believed to mean someone was going to die soon. The worst thing which could happen was the bird fly into a room where there was a sick person and land on the bedpost. That was considered a sure sign the end was near. For some reason crows were considered bad luck. Perhaps because they were the same color as the black cat. It was said if someone saw six crows it meant someone was going to die. If a bat flew into your house you had to kill it to ward off the evil if it got away, because it was believed if it did get away someone would die. It was said either the life of the bat was forfeit or a human life was. The owl had a bad reputation and was associated with death. It was said if you walked under a tree and an owl was in the tree above your head and hooted it mean within a year a friend or relative would die. The same was true if an owl perched on your rooftop and hooted, it meant death was going to pay your home a visit. Damn owls! You never had to accept evil, because you could get objects to ward it off, that is what many used to believe. In some parts of the world it was believed hanging lemons and chilies on the front of you house would do the job. I think we all know about hanging up a horseshoe for good luck. There is a problem with this however. The problem is what is the proper way to hang a horseshoe to take advantage of the good luck? Some say the open part must point up. The reason for this is so the good luck doesn’t fall out of the horseshoe. Another group say the open part should point down so the good luck will fall on those passing under it. I say who cares there is no luck either good or bad in a horseshoe. The symbol of an elephant is also thought to bring good luck, but not all elephant symbols. The elephant’s trunk must be in an upward position and it is a good idea to have the elephant facing the entrance to the home, or so it is said. If the elephant has a trunk pointing down, the luck might run out. The Chinese believe a bamboo plant is good luck. It is said to bring a peaceful energy into one’s home. The plant can be kept inside or outside. A statue of a three-legged toad known as Jin Chan or the money frog is said to bring prosperity. The toad is to be placed in the southeast direction, facing the room. Never put it near an outside door. The Chinese even have a charm to succeed in business. It is the Dragon charm. If you place the dragon in the north direction of your home it is said it will strengthen your position with your company. One of the very oldest superstitions is the evil eye. It has been dated back to at least 5,000 years. I think most of us have heard of it today. It was believed some people could stare at others and cause them sickness and death. Some of the sicknesses it was said to cause were stomach pains, dizziness and nausea. It was also said to cause an acute fear or sense of dread. So, what did one do to prevent this curse? They got an arrowhead and wore it on a silver chain of course. Another thing they could do was get an Italian Horn also called the Unicorn’s Horn or Leprechaun’s Staff. This was a S-curved horn which the Druids had said would prevent the evil eye and it would also bring good fortune. Does any of this stuff truly make any sense in the modern scientific age? Not really, but it does make for some good horror movies. Where would these movies be with the things I discussed? |
