Superstition

Every society has superstitions, or belief that go against logical or scientific reasoning. Touching wood is a superstition which reflects the ancient belief that everything creatd by nature is inhabited by a god or spirit, and is therefore lucky.

Another natural substance which is also surrounded by superstition, but for more practical reasons, is salt. Spilling salt was thought to be unlucky in the past as salt was the only method of preserving food, and dropping it may have resulted in having no food during the winter.

Housewarming parties developed from the conviction that spirits lived in the fireplace of every home. When people moved, they took old embers with them to burn in the fireplace of their new home. Many people believed that fireplace spirits helped humans by doing housework at night, so it was important to ensure that these friendly spirits were happy and willing to help the house's new occupants!

Superstitions also had an effect on some people's behavior in the kitchen in previous times. For example, no one ever threw eggshells in the fire as they thought their chickens would be offended and would refuse to lay more eggs as a result.

Some ancient superstitions are still around today of course. For instance, many people will not open an umbrella inside the house because they believe it will bring bad luck. This practice, however, is reasonable, as opening an umbrella inside can have no useful purpose and could result in a serious eye injury.

Walking under a ladder is also considered to be unlucky. This superstition has its origins in the belief that the triangular shape formed by the ladder leaning against the wall (which is in fact an ancient religious symbol) must not be disturbed in any way. But, like the superstition about umbrellas, this does have a practical angle. You would be well advised to avoid walking under ladders unless you are prepared to risk having a tool or a paint tin hit you on the head!

Well, it's ery amazing, isn't it? What about you? What is yours?

... listen to the rhythm of the falling rain...

My friend opened the umbrella and hurt me in the eyes once, but then again, it was outside, not inside the house. So stupid people get hurt everywhere, in everything they do.
But i'm not that stupid to be walking under a ladder. Hell no.

Em là ai?
Nàng tiên hay quỷ cái?
Fanh

People sent me lots of Chain Letters and asked me to forward them. It is said in the letters that I would get bad luck if i hadn't sent them.
I did forward some I think they are cool to read and delete the rest.
Anyway I always think I was born lucky

Dolphin

BEES
When the head of a household dies, someone must go and inform the bees, otherwise they will leave or die. This widely-held European belief stipulates that the bees were the messengers to the gods, and must be sent to inform them of the recent death. (Puckett, 82.)
BIRDS
Never kill a robin, bad luck will follow."
Do not kill a swallow; it will make you unlucky.*
The killing of a wren is unlucky.*
Bad luck comes to those who kill a woodpecker.*
SALT
The spilling of salt on the table say some, on the floor say others, is unlucky.*
To avert bad luck when you spill salt, throw some of it over your left shoulder.*
To avert bad luck when you spill salt, throw some of it over your right shoulder using the left hand.*
To avert bad luck when you spill salt, drop some of it into the fire or on the stove. Some say you must not speak between the spilling and the burning.*
To avert bad luck when you spill salt, burn some of it while wishing the bad luck on an enemy.*
If at the table you upset the saltcellar and the salt falls in your direction, you will have bad; if it falls towards someone else, good luck.*
The person who spills salt will be disappointed. This disappointment can be counteracted by throwing some of the salt over the left and then the right shoulder.*
If you spill salt, you will soon cry --- before bedtime say some, before the day is over say others.*
Children spilling salt will be whipped before night.*
Whoever spills salt will soon be angry without reason.*
After you spill salt, you will have a quarrel.*
If you spill salt, you have an unknown enemy.*
If you spill salt, an enemy wants to become your friend.*
The person who spills salt will soon lose a friend.*
It is unlucky to borrow salt.*
The person borrowing salt will always be poor.*
If you burn salt, you will be forced to pick every grain of it out of hell when you die.*
Sprinkling salt under the pillow, about the bed, in doorways and windows, and on one's back will safeguard that person from being ridden by witches.
SNAKES
If a snake is killed during the mating season, its mate will come to the body; before sunset say some, before noon next day say others.*
Never pick up a skin cast by a snake in early spring; you would be picking up a lot of trouble.*
The snake-doctor (dragon fly) warns a snake when danger is near.
Cures for snake bite:
Split open a black hen and bind it warm to the bitten place. If the flesh of the fowl darkens the poison has been drained from the bite; if not, the victim has absorbed the poison.
Apply soda and lye soap to the bite.
Suck the poison from the bite. This must be done by a person with red gums who has chewed a piece of tobacco before starting.
Kill the snake and tie it around the victim's foot.
Dig a hole and bury the bitten foot.
SPIDERS
A spider found crawling on a person is good luck
"If you wish to thrive, Leave the spider alive."*
Only a spider killed in the house or one found on your person causes bad luck say some.*
The killing of a black spider or a baby spider is particularly unlucky.*
A spider found crawling on a person is good luck.
BIRDS
The hooting of an owl is an omen of death.
In Europe and Africa, an owl hooting near a house signifies the death of one of the inmates.
The wailing of a whippoorwill portends death.
The person who hears a whippoorwill calling at midnight will soon hear of a death.*
A storm is approaching when chickens run about flapping their wings.
DOGS
If a dog howls at night in your yard, someone is dying or has just died.*
A dog howling at midnight warns you of a death.*
If a dog howls at night beneath a window, there will be a death.*
A dog howling all night is foretelling a death.*
HAIR
Persons with hairy bodies will always have money.*
To have hairy arms is a mark of wealth.*
Hairy legs are a token of wealth.*
DROWNING
You will always find the body of a drowned woman floating face up; the body of a drowned man, face down.*
To locate a drowned person, lay some quicksilver on the middle of a slice of bread and let the bread rest on the water where the person went down. The bread and quicksilver will float and stop above the submerged body.*
As a last resort in recovering the body of a person who has drowned, set off a charge of dynamite in the water where the person sank. It is thought the explosion will cause the bladder to burst and thus raise the cadaver.*
GHOSTS
It was believed that when a person died, if his or her soul was somehow troubled - if it had been wronged in life or in its death, for example, or if the body were left unburied - it would roam a middle ground between the states of existence.
WITCHES
The witch can be a man but is more frequently a woman. She is normally an old hag but can change form, becoming any living creature - a frog, an insect, a black cat. Her purpose is not so much murder as torment; she brings about poor health, misfortune, and mischief. One means to this end is riding. When she wishes to ride someone, a witch enters the house of her sleeping victim, slips a bit into his mouth and the nightmare begins. You know you've been ridden when you wake up fatigued and depressed, often with bit marks at the corner of the mouth and lashes on the back from her whip.
Because the witch plaits the victim's hair into stirrups, one way to prevent a riding is to tie your hair with thread. As she must shed her skin before riding, sharp objects left in her path will thwart her by catching on her empty skin, preventing her from re-entering it. There is a close connection between witches and horses; therefore hanging horseshoes over windows and doors and throughout the house keeps away the unwelcome visitor. Some believe that the witch is forced to travel all the roads that the horseshoe had traveled before she could enter the house. Daylight and safety will arrive before she's finished the route.
Witches also have a counting instinct which forces them to count all that they see. So a witch-riding can be avoided by leaving items in her path - a sieve, she will be forced to count all the holes; a broom, she will count all the straws. Some people scatter mustard seeds or sand throughout the house. The witch is caught before she has time to count each grain.
CONJURE-BALLS
According to Puckett, conjure-balls are generally used as charms to cast spells. Left in the room, hand, or path of someone, it will produce the desired effect. "In some of the states a spell may be put upon a man by burying a "hair-ball" (one of the compact balls of hair often found by butchers in the stomachs of cows or oxen) under his doorstep. This object (powerful, because peculiar) may also be carried about as an amulet to protect one from spells.

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