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Superstition is a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge. The word is often used pejoratively to refer to folk beliefs deemed irrational. This leads to some superstitions being called "old wives' tales". It is also commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.
I don't think I am superstitious. Yet, my key holder has a bunch of little blue pearls hanging. I heard it keeps the evil eye away. Oh, no I am not superstitious but I believe in my dreams and I believe in other small signs that indicate things.
My great-grandmother put a bible under her daughter’s pillow for her to have a baby. My grandmother used to say that if your right hand itches you will greet a visitor. If your left hand itches, you will receive money. If your left eye tingles, someone is gossiping about you. If your right eye tingles, you may hear bad news. If you see the green color in your dreams, relax that's great. If you see black, brace yourself for a drama.
Yes, I believe what my grandmother said, but I insist I am not superstitious. Even if I hang a blue eye, a horseshoe and a Fatma's hand in my kitchen to protect me from evil eyes. Well, better be safe than sorry. 
I heard that French freak when a black cat crosses their path. Middle eastern sell hundreds of blue articles for protection and Arabs never talk about plans without adding Inch Allah, God willing.
Here are some Occidental superstitions:
Amber beads, worn as a necklace, can protect against illness or cure colds.
An apple a day Keeps the doctor away. If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.
You must get out of bed on the same side that you get in or you will have bad luck. If you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake with the first puff you will get your wish.
If you say good-bye to a friend on a bridge, you will never see each other again.
Do not lean a broom against a bed. The evil spirits in the broom will cast a spell on the bed. If you sweep trash out the door after dark, it will bring
a stranger to visit. If someone is sweeping the floor and sweeps over your feet, you'll never get married. Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one. To prevent an unwelcome guest from returning, sweep out the room they stayed in immediately after they leave.
a stranger to visit. If someone is sweeping the floor and sweeps over your feet, you'll never get married. Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one. To prevent an unwelcome guest from returning, sweep out the room they stayed in immediately after they leave. It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same match.
Evil spirits can't harm you when you stand inside a circle.
It's good luck to find a four-leaf clover.
It's bad luck to pick up a coin if it's tails side up. Good luck comes if it's heads up.
Cows lifting their tails is a sure sign that rain is coming.
If your right ear itches, someone is speaking well of you. If your left ear itches, someone is speaking ill of you.
For good luck throughout the year, wear new clothes on Easter.
If an eyelash falls out, put it on the back of the hand, make a wish and throw it over your shoulder. If it flies off the hand the wish will be granted. If the bottom of your right foot itches, you are going to take a trip.
Superstitions about Weddings: The first gift the bride opens should be the first gift she uses.
Everything the bride says as she opens her gifts will be repeated on her wedding night. Somone should be assigned to write down these comments during the shower. The person who gives the third gift to be opened will soon have a baby. Save the ribbons from the shower gifts to make a mock bouquet to be used at the wedding rehearsal.
FOR A LUCKY BRIDE Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue, And a lucky sixpence In her shoe.
WEDDING DAY Good Omens: seeing a rainbow having the sun shine If the groom drops the wedding band during the ceremony, the marriage is doomed.
The new bride must enter her home by the main door, and must
The spouse who goes to sleep first on the wedding day will be the first to die.
Can you share some of your superstitions?
PRESCRIPTION IN RUSSIAN Short Synopsis:
Dr. Fyodor Vassilov is a thirty-eight year old widower and devoted family man with four little boys who need a caring mother. Still emotionally crippled by the loss of his wife, Fyodor can’t allow himself to get close to a woman again. Having a fling is okay but love? Forget about it! He has to protect his kids, and his heart, from any further harm.
Jillian Burton is an American pediatrician on an official mission to improve health care conditions in Belarus. A few years ago, she lost her son and her illusions about men, marriage and family, and she won’t risk being hurt again. Feeling guilty about her son’s death, she travels to third-world countries to cure and save children but she never allows herself to get emotionally attached to a child.
Fyodor’s mother presses him to marry a healthy woman who wants a big family and loves children. The last woman who fits the bill is Jillian, a woman who considers herself incapable of mothering a child, a doctor who can’t stop roaming the world.
When Fyodor and Jillian work together in Belarus, their cultures clash and their painful memories still hurt, but their attraction defies all odds. Can love overcome duty and guilt? If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. 
I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.
Rx FOR TRUST, winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON.
Rx IN RUSSIAN just released at TWRP http://www.monarisk.com/
17 comments:
MONA--oh, no, I'm not superstitious, either. Some of those you listed were new to me. Those your grandmother said--it would be easy to get mixed up...then what?
I love blue--my favorite color--so maybe that's why I'm so lucky?
My mother had several she'd say, but I can't remember all of them. Something about removing stitches you've made in a hem or somethiing. Dream about eggs and you will have a baby.
Mother called me often during my younger adult years to tell me what she dreamed--"Are you pregnant? I dreamed about eggs."
I suppose those could be called superstitions.
I was always told not to walk under a ladder--it was bad luck. Then I realized it was because of a slight danger. On a trip to Europe once, we were walking along a narrow sidewalk in Warsaw, and a tall stepladder blocked the sidewalk. It had a pop-out shelf which held a can of yellow paint. We were with a tour group, and she told us to follow her around it in the street. Everyone did except one elderly man who didn't follow directions. He attempted to duck under the ladder and of course knocked the can of paint down. It splashed on the side of the building, all over the sidewalk, and on his pants and shoes.
See? Bad luck.
I don't have any good luck charms...but now I think I'll find some in blue...Celia
I wish I'd known more of these, I coulda saved myself a lot of trouble.
There's the one about walking under a ladder Celia mentioned. Having owned a black cat, I guess I'm doomed!
How about the salt over your shoulder?
Three time's the charm!
Friday the 13th!
Ever hear of a Buckeye? It looks like a chestnut, and the people in NC told me it was good luck to carry one on you at all times.
Or a cat sucking the breath from a baby?
Did that mirror I broke really give me bad luck??
And the one about the four leave clover, never show it to anyone or else!
My family has superstitions galore!
Fun blog Mona!!! Thanks!!
Great blog, Mona. Very interesting. We have many that are the same or similar in my family, i.e. if yours ears burn someone is talking about you. Warding off the evil eye isn't such a big deal, but omens of impending death and doom are. Let's see, they include a bird flying into the house, eerie shrieks in the dark, getting a visit from someone who's already passed, and a ton involving cats.
I'm not superstitious . Superstitions are for the uneducated . I never worry about saying the wrong thing .
And I was kidding - I was throwing salt over my shoulder, watching out for the black cat and knocking on wood. Yes, I am superstitious about some things - not all - but some.
Did you know the three on a match superstion came from WWI? Using a wooden match to light three cigarettes gave a sniper time to find a target and do a kill shot.
one of my favorites.
www.barbaraedwards.net
I'm superstitious when it comes to sports:) For instance, during March Madness, I started eating pistachio nuts. Every time I eat them during a game, the team I'm rooting for has won. Last night, Butler won, and I ran out of nuts. Hubby went to get some, and told me to order pizza. I ate pizza during the first half of the Kentucky game, and they lost by one point. See? Hahahahahaha....
Now if it only works Monday, when Butler takes on U Conn...;)
Celia-- I avoided walking under a ladder since I heard a similar story to yours but quite horrific: a guy standing on a ladder and working on electrical wires. An old man went under the ladder and knocked it down. The young technician held on the wires to avoid falling, got electrocuted and died instantly. So I avoid ladder to be safe.
Hi Mary-- breaking my mother's expensive mirror brought me a spank long ago, so I guess it was bad luck. Your other superstitions are new to me.
Keena-- warding the evil eye is a big thing in my family. We all wore some blue pearls hanging on a bracelet or on a chain around the neck. Mine is in a keyholder. Your omens of impending death are scary. I wonder if blue pearls can prevent them?!
PL-- I was just thinking what a great rational mind she has when you backtracked and confessed your are superstitious too. How could I forget about touching wood? I touch wood ten times a day only to realize it's plastic.
Wow I didn't know the origin of lighting three cigarettes with one match. Thanks Barbara.
Molly--can you eat pistachio for me to sell a lot of books please?
Mona, I loved this blog! Now I can add some superstitions to my own list. I never step on cracks and do knot on wood. But of course I don't really believe. By the way, were your ears burning today? I was talking about you.
Mona, I'm not overly superstitious. Thanks for sharing these. I've heard a few of them. If anything, I TOTALLy believe "What goes around, comes around."
Smiles
Steph
Hi Mona,
My grandma had many... always leave a home from the same door you entered it or you'll bring unwelcome guests to the house.
And I'm not sure why, but she never let us come back in the house once we'd said our goodbyes. If we left something we needed, we stood at the doorway and she'd look for it.
Maybe someone else has heard of that last one and knows the reason behind it. ; )
Thanks for an awesome post.
Mona, I'm not superstitious, but I try not to tempt fate. LOL I'm curious about the superstition you listed about cows lifting their tails meaning rain. I live in ranch country, so will try to remember to ask the guys about it at our irrigation meeting Saturday. Also, my husband is a meteorologist. I'll ask him. Often, animals react in specific way to atmosphere pressure changes, which precede weather events.
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