Old Wives' Tales And Superstitions

[Nuit_38]

Never count the stars, it causes bedwetting

Never pluck the grass, it causes bedwetting too

Same goes for looking in the mirror at night

If you never stab yourself with a needle during your life, you'll come back as a vampire

Never whistle in the house, you'll invite mice in

My grandma has too many superstitions, I can't remember them all. They're all equaly weird 😝

[kishke]

Here are some "fun" superstitions from my family! (Transylvania, Eastern Hungary and Transcarpathia regions)
 

• You should never thank medicine, or it won't work
• You should never leave the house with uncombed hair, or the witches will tear out all your hair
• If a black cat crosses the road in front of you - beware, an unknown danger is approaching you
• The one who first lights a candle in a new house will die the latest
• If you see a chimney sweeper, touch the button on your coat and wish for something - it will come true
• Never cross under a ladder - causes immense bad luck
• You shouldn't use scissors on New Year's Eve, or you will cut your "luck" for the rest of the year

Oh, and here is a 100000% sure way to know the name of your future partner. Make some dumplings on New Year's Eve, write the candidates' names on small pieces on paper. Put the papers into the dumplings. Cook the dumplings. Whichever dumpling gets cooked the fastest carries the name of your future partner. 100% works.

[fuzzipueo]

10 hours ago, Muledeer said:

I was going to start a thread on this topic but it already exists.  I have an open question:

 

If one is unaware of a superstition, and they commit the act, does it still bring about the consequence?

i.e.  If you walk underneath a ladder but didn't know it brought bad luck, would you suffer the bad luck anyway?

Or, if you dismissed the superstition as bullshit or didn't believe it, does it still matter?

I think a lot of superstition is somewhat self-fulfilling prophecy - if you believe you'll have bad luck after walking under a ladder, it's quite likely you will. If you don't believe in that sort of thing, it probably won't have any impact on you at all. James Randi - a stage magician who spent a life time looking for genuine psychics - explains it best in this episode of Nova:

 

[daveb]

There are also coincidences and the fact that people often remember the "hits" more than the "misses". For example, you have some bad luck and remember that you had walked under a ladder recently, but if you didn't have that bad luck you probably would forget about walking under the ladder (of course, most people eventually have some bad luck no matter what). And then there are the stories we tell ourselves - not necessarily consciously, it's just how we try to make sense of the world. So, yeah, if you don't believe a superstition or don't know it you won't be affected by it. That's my opinion anyway.  

[Tree snake]

* Do not whistle during Guovssahas, the northern lights. - Something about really bad luck, death, spirits, respect and pathway of the dead.

* Do not speak while walking through the woods. - Disrespectful to the spirits and bad luck

* Before you enter a forest knock on a tree three times. - So the spirits know you're coming otherwise bad luck will come your way.

* If you hear Näcken play someone's going to drown or someone is drowning.

[Karst]

When I did an internship with my home city's version of Shakespeare in the Park, one of the other interns said "Macbeth" in the dressing room (actually an old trailer) so we kicked him out.  He was required to turn around three times, spit, and beg us to let him back in.

[fuzzipueo]

1 hour ago, Ardoise said:

When I did an internship with my home city's version of Shakespeare in the Park, one of the other interns said "Macbeth" in the dressing room (actually an old trailer) so we kicked him out.  He was required to turn around three times, spit, and beg us to let him back in.

 

[ColeHW34]

Do not say good luck.

[Ret.]

Perhaps this isn't an old wive's tale per-say but it is something that confused me for a while. When I was around the age of 6, I asked what civil defense sirens were for. My mum sarcastically told me that they go off for some kind of major emergency, like ducks crossing the road during heavy traffic. I guess I didn't understand sarcasm because I didn't realise the ludicrousness of the idea until the age of 14.

[SorryNotSorry]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this one yet: putting shoes onto a chair or stool brings bad luck, and not just to the owner of the shoes. This one was one of my great-grandmother's faves. Later on, I read that shoes on a chair or stool symbolize a person about to be hanged.

[Muledeer]

On ‎1‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 5:03 PM, ColeHW said:

Do not say good luck.

I've never heard that one before, and I wish people good luck all the time.  Since reading this post a couple of weeks ago, I have wished fewer people good luck.

[Muledeer]

Sounds:

When I was a little kid and asked what makes thunder, I was told it was the clouds crashing together

When I asked what makes your stomach growl, I was told it was the little men in your gut moving the food around.