Do you believe in Superstitions?

[shelbylovesmelby]

As it is Friday the 13th & all....

I don't really believe in them.

Do U?

[PRICEPLUS]

Not really...knock on wood!

[tinapbeana]

friends of my parents specifically waited until they could get married on Friday, October 13th several years ago. happy anniversary jodi!

[jodi]

No, I don't...even still, I can't spill salt without tossing a few grains over my left shoulder. Seems wrong if I don't do it! But in general, I avoid most superstitions.

[pearlieq]

I'm not very superstitious. I do the salt thing too, but it's more about honoring tradition than anything. I don't even know what it's supposed to protect me from!

I'm fully prepared to believe that we don't know exactly how the universe works and I'm willing to keep a sense of wonder about me, but I also don't think today is really different than any other day.

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by PRICEPLUS

Not really...knock on wood!

Now that's funny right there!

[JanH]

Being OCD is bad enough. Trying to get through the day without any "rituals" popping up. Fortunately, my case is mild, but I don't want to add anything else to the mix so I don't allow myself to contemplate any superstitions.

[boefixepa]

Nope! Owned a black cat for years and never worried about us crossing paths!

[getforfree]

Did somebody just made up all those superstitios, to make people scared? As long as you don't believe in it and not afraid of it, it won't do anything bad to you.

Those things that will happened if the black cat will cross your path and other stuff, happen only to people who believe it it. So if you do believe in it, it might happen to you.

[Ima saver]

Nope, I got married on purpose on Friday the 13th and I am the happiest, luckest person on the forum. Thirty great years!!!

[tinapbeana]

own 2 black cats & 13 is also one of my lucky numbers. maybe we're lucky b/c we've decided to make bad superstitions good...

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by getforfree

Did somebody just made up all those superstitios, to make people scared?

No, every superstition was started for a reason. Some examples:

Friday the 13th: Specific reason is that there were 13 people at the Last Supper (which was on a Friday Night) and 13 is generally considered an unlucky number anyway because Babylonian numerology considered 12 the number of 'completion' (Hence our 24 hour day divided into two 12 hour halves) so 13 was the beginning of a new and perhaps unpredictable cycle.

Unlucky to walk under a ladder: Because someone working above might drop something on your head or you might bump the ladder and cause them to fall.

Breaking a mirror brings seven years bad luck: Clear glass in general and mirrors in particular used to be very expensive, so breaking one might easily cost a poor person seven years of scrimping and saving to replace it.

Lighting three cigerettes (or anything else) with a single match is unlucky: May be partially due to the danger of burning your fingers or starting a fire by dropping the match, but it's primary origin was World War One. By that time long range riffles had become fairly accurate and sharpshooter snipers were a normal part of any army. When someone in a trench lit a cigerette at night, the match could be seen by the enemy snipers. If two people lit a cigerette off the same match, that gave the sniper time to start taking aim at the face illuminated by the match. By the time a third person stepped up to use the same match, the sniper would be zeroing in and smoker number three would get his head blown off.

Ringing a bell to ward off bad luck: Predators recognize a ringing bell as a sign humans are nearby, and most predators have traditionally avoided humans in favor of easier prey that doesn't have arrows and spears. Thus, ringing a bell is thought to chase away evil spirits. Also, when the Christian church services were performed in latin and the common people didn't understand a word of it, a bell was rung just before the bread and wine were blessed and lifted up. The bell was to alert people lost in their individual prayers that something important was about to happen. If you attend a formal Anglican or Episcopal communion service, you will hear a small bell rung at the traditional moment, just as it has been for centuries.

A grimmer variation on the bell superstition gave us, "Everytime a bell rings, an angel gets it's wings." (ala It's a Wonderful Life) The original saying was, "When a coin in the collection box rings, a soul from purgatory springs." That phrase was used by church officials to pressure people into buying official forgiveness for their deceased friends and relatives. (Not at all the happy little superstition you thought it was!)

Black cats: Witches have always been thought to have a 'familiar', which is an animal that goes out spying for them and performs other tasks. Some folktales say the animal is actually a demon. Others say that the witch transforms into an animal or takes posession of the familiar's body to travel around unnoticed. The key element in all of this is that the most common 'familiars' were thought to be ravens, crows, and black cats. So when a black cat crosses your path and looks at you (looking at you is important!) you may have offended a witch or a witch's servant.

My personal favorite superstition: When you make a mistake or do something that may be unlucky, put the tips of your index fingers together in midair with your other fingers curled back into your palms. A friend will then say "Bad Luck, be broken!" and deliver a soft karate chop to the place where your fingertips are touching each other, thus 'breaking' them apart. (You can see this ritual performed in the animie movie "Sprited Away".)

Pick any superstition and there was once a reason for it.

[Jacklad]

Originally Posted by Mathew Green

No, every superstition was started for a reason. Some examples:

Friday the 13th: Specific reason is that there were 13 people at the Last Supper (which was on a Friday Night) and 13 is generally considered an unlucky number anyway because Babylonian numerology considered 12 the number of 'completion' (Hence our 24 hour day divided into two 12 hour halves) so 13 was the beginning of a new and perhaps unpredictable cycle.

Well... the last supper wasn't on Friday (that was the day of the crucifixion), and there's a lot of questions involving the source of the superstition. The most telling thing is that it didn't arise as a popular superstition until the 17th/18th century. I've always liked the Templar connection (where members of the order were arrested on a Friday 13th).

Here's a good page about it: http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Triskaidekaphobia.html

The interesting kicker is the last line - "While there does not appear to be hard evidence to support the claim, it has been suggested that $800 to $900 million are lost each Friday the 13th (Roach 2004) as a result of people avoiding travel, wedding plans, moving, and so on."

Jackie

[LuxLiving]

No I don't.

[Broken Arrow]

Originally Posted by Jacklad

The interesting kicker is the last line - "While there does not appear to be hard evidence to support the claim, it has been suggested that $800 to $900 million are lost each Friday the 13th (Roach 2004) as a result of people avoiding travel, wedding plans, moving, and so on."

Interesting! I believe it!

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Jacklad

Well... the last supper wasn't on Friday (that was the day of the crucifixion)

It dpends on how you define days. It is my understanding that at that time the Hebrews considered sunset the end of one day and the beginning of the next. Thus, the Last Supper could have been on Friday (just after sunset Thursday). Jesus was arrested during the night, tried first thing in the morning by Pilot, then executed.

And quoting from the article which you referenced:

"While 13 is associated with the number of people at the Last Supper, the Crucifixion took place on a Friday, thus leading to an association of bad luck with the combination of this number and day."

So the origin I cited is just as valid as any other and is the one I've heard it attributed to most often.

[lrjohnson]

I somehow ended up believing that killing spiders in the house is bad luck.

I have a big plump guy in the bathroom that's my buddy now-he's a mighty fly catcher. I try to take them outside when I can. We have 12 foot ceilings and cobwebs are definitely an issue.

[Snoopy2645]

well not really but I did have a strang strange thing happen but it was Thursday I guess but geez awful close to friday the 13th!!! I had a strange strange man show up at my door said his car was broke down & thier was no car to be found!!! I double locked the door well it was locked already but I deadbolted it, the guy wanted to speak to my mommy VERY ODD I am 30yrs old havent lived with my mom in 12 year!!! Then I went & got my dh who was in bed one look at dh & the guy ran off LOL!!! Not really funny though I have been really spoked with the kids & letting dogs out at night now ya know!!! Just really been creeped about it this weekend trying to figure out what the deal was he was looking in my door directly at me also very strange so not quite the 13th but super close to it!!

[sarah]

Snoolpy that's terrifying. Did you call the police?

[sarah]

Snoopy that is terrifyiing. Did you call the police?