Superstitions

[Mapraputa Is]

As it turned out, Russians and Filipinos share one particular superstition: if a spoon falls down, it means you will be visited by a woman. If a fork followed the same route, it means you will be visited by a man. I was perplexed how two nations so far away from each other, both in geographical and cultural senses, can share the same superstition? I noticed before, that many sayings I believed to belong to the debris of the Russian culture, have biblical origin and thus can be happily found in the American households. But what about flying tableware, are their habits revealed in the Bible too?

Here is another Filipino superstition. When some guest(s) leave a party, all remaining guests have to turn their plates 180 degrees -- to ensure their safe trip. I like it, it's kinda brings the whole dining community together, making remaining guests care about absent comrades.

Any other superstitions you would like to share?

[Arjun Shastry]

yes,I think India could be a mother of all superstitions:
1)Good luck if you are going to exam after eating curd.
2)bad luck if black cat cosses your path.
3)Bad luck if somebody sneezes just befort you are about to go somewhere.
4)Bad luck if dog cries.

[Mapraputa Is]

yeah, this poor black cat crossing your path seems to be a universal bad luck sign...

[Arjun Shastry]

Finding the horse shoe was considered to be very good sign.If horse shoe is hung on door then good luck.
(I actually found horse shoe years back and kept like that but no luck )
[ October 18, 2007: Message edited by: Arjun Shastry ]

[Ashok Mash]

Wikipedia defines superstition like this:

Superstition is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

For the sake of political correctness, respecting others faiths etc etc I am not going to say what is the single most common and practically most dangerous superstition thats crippling many parts of the world is, but you already know what I am refering to anyway!

There are a number of other interesting superstitions that I can think of are:

In India:

* A broken mirror is sign of bad things to come.
* Another popular one in Kerala is that if a single crow makes a particular type of sound near the house, you can expect guests for lunch!
* Another very disturbing one is that 'Kaalan Kozhi' (translates to 'bird of death'), which is in fact a 'mottled wood owl' can sense the presence of Yama (the God of death) and if you hear it howl in a distinct (and very disturbing, I have to say) manner, look out for danger (death in your house) or a near by house!

In Ireland I was told that red heads brings bad luck to the ship - Back in the days, fishermen wouldn't go out to sea if they see a red head on their way to the port).

PS: I have to add, the darn owl is very rare and its very rare to hear it make that noise, and it is a really strange noise. Its very creepy!
[ October 18, 2007: Message edited by: Ashok Mash ]

[harsh shah]

here's another one --

"if you wish something on a shooting star , it comes true"
This one has been used in a lot of hindi movies

[Satish Chilukuri]

Here areHere are some more from India:

If a lizard falls on your head, you will die shortly. (Actually there there a whole bunch of superstitions associated with lizards. Different things can happen depending where a lizard falls on your body).

It is bad luck if a widow crosses your path (it is fine to come across a widower).

If you sneeze while leaving your house to some place, you'll be delayed. Drink some water to nullify the sneeze effect

Pregnant women shouldn't see eclipses. It is bad for them.

If you leave your house dark without any lights during dusk time, the goddess of wealth will shun you.

[Christophe Verré]

In France, walking on a dog's poo with your left foot is a lucky sign.
But getting up on the left foot in the morning is bad luck.

[Mark Spritzler]

Noooo, why did you post this? Now I have to jump and spin 10 times while shouting "Walla Walla"

Mark

[Mark Spritzler]

"Finding the horse shoe was considered to be very good sign."

But, what do you do with the Horse that it is still attached to?

Mark

[Bob Reardon]

Originally posted by Arjun Shastry:
Finding the horse shoe was considered to be very good sign.If horse shoe is hung on door then good luck.
(I actually found horse shoe years back and kept like that but no luck )

[ October 18, 2007: Message edited by: Arjun Shastry ]

I heard that you are supposed to hang the horse shoe on the wall with the ends pointing up, like a U. If you hang it on a wall with the ends pointing down, all of the luck will run out of the horse shoe.

[Arjun Shastry]

Yes.I think so .shoe is still there.but not hung outside the door.

[Aj Mathia]

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
As it turned out, Russians and Filipinos share one particular superstition: if a spoon falls down, it means you will be visited by a woman. If a fork followed the same route, it means you will be visited by a man.

Now a lot of single people are going to toss around their forks and spoons.

[Srikanth Basa]

Though all the above mentioned supersitions are inexpensive, there is one supersition in Vaasthu (similar to Feng shui) which is quite expensive to deal with.

Some people called Vaasthu consultants call themselves as experts in this subject. Unfortunately, no two experts agree on a construction, one says its the best the other says its the worst. Besides that, they say Vaasthu dictates to the health of the family staying in that house. If one believes in this, then one has to keep on shelling out huge money on house constrution, re-construction , re-construction, re-construction and re-construction

[Jim Yingst]

[Srikanth]: Though all the above mentioned supersitions are inexpensive

I think that really depends on the number of new spoons that you buy, and their quality. (Or forks, if you prefer.)

[ahmed yehia]

It turns out in Egypt:
"If a bird in sky peed on you, you ll get new clothes"

[Arvind Mahendra]

I have this superstitious belief that the closer the toilet is to the T.V. the more relaxed and happy the atmosphere will be in your house.

[Rambo Prasad]

I have this superstitious belief that the closer the toilet is to the T.V. the more relaxed and happy the atmosphere will be in your house.

Funny ..

[Rambo Prasad]

Some superstitious beliefs in India

--If you run your car over a pig and it gets killed..Accident will soon strike you if you use the vehicle...

Sometimes you can get a very good bargain when people are desperate to sell such cars

--When people give donations they usually give it in odd numbers say 101,501 ,1001 etc..

--It is the tradition to return home drink a cup of water, rest for a while and resume the trip, if
one is crossed by a cat
there is a slip of the leg or accidental fall
the head is hit by the top of the door-frame or by some other obstruction

--When you get hiccups people say someone is thinking about you...
--Large number of people do not make any payments on Fridays, except giving small coins to beggars
---Dreams in the early morning are expected to come true.