cms@gatech.edu (12/24/90)
I found a list of superstitions about Faith I thought you might find interesting. Here they are: A woman who dreams she is in church listening to a preacher will marry one. The same is true if she dreams of white linen. If you dream of a church, it means your enemies are about, or your habits need changing. If a knife or a dishrag falls to the floor, the preacher is coming. If you open the Bible after you have made a wish and you find the words "And it came to pass" under your finger, your wish will come true. It's bad luck to place something on top of the Bible, or to lose one. If you see a rainbow, say the Lord's Prayer and you'll have good fortune. A star shooting in the sky means someone has died. If it shoots to the right, that person has gone to heaven; if it shoots to the left, he's gone to hell. Don't do anything important on August 1. That is the day the devil was kicked out of heaven, and he always messes up people's plans on that day. If someone burns food while cooking, he is feeding the devil. A sudden silence in a room of talking people means an angel is passing through. If a baby smiles while asleep, angels are talking to it. Hold your breath while traveling past a cemetary. Don't ever fish on Sunday. The seventh son is always a healer. The tenth son is always a preacher. A child born on Christmas Day can understand animals, see spirits, and will be generally very lucky. To make husbands stay home: Take sugar and cinnamon and mix together. Write name of husband and wife nine times. Roll paper with names and put in a bottle of holy water with sugar and honey. Lay it under the back step. To hold a man: Take a piece out of the seat of his drawers, tie a ring to it (any ring) and put a fig leaf in the ring. Roll all this together, and carry it on you. To make sick or punish an enemy: Take a soiled undergarment of theirs, hang on a bare rafter, and get some hackberry switches and whip the garment. They will be so sore they can't get out of bed. When two people of the same name live in a house, ghosts stay away. Say, "What in God's name do you want?" when you first see a ghost, and you will know no fear. A baby born near midnight will have the ability to see ghosts. A ghost will come and knock on your wall when someone in the house is going to die. Christmas Eve is the favored time for ghosts to walk on earth. Never carry an ax into the house; it means death. Only carry a hoe through the same door of your house that you brought it in, or someone in the house will die. If you miss a row while planting, or hear a crowing hen or rooster after dark, or see the wind blow out a candle, these things mean death. If an owl comes into your room and sits at the foot of your bed, it's as if an angel is sitting at your bedside, and it means that whoever lies in that bed shall die. If three people look into a mirror at the same time, the youngest of the three will die. Never let a swing stop on its own. Stop it yourself or someone close to you will die. If a bird flies into your house, it's an omen of death. After someone dies, their picture will begin to fade. Beware the queen of spades, the death card. If a dog howls while looking at the ground, it's because he senses that death is very near. If a rooster crows at the back door, death is on the way; if it crows at the front door, you'll have visitors. Whenever you see a white horse, look over your shoulder and you'll see old Mr. Devil. I remember my Grandma used to call rubbing the blue dress of a statue of Mary "superstitious." Grandma would tell me to touch the feet, kiss, and make the sign of the cross; that's respectful. Rubbing for luck is superstitious and not very pious anyway. Everybody has superstitions, I suppose. Oh, yes, here's one I remember my other grandmother telling me: No one in the world is exactly six feet tall because six feet is the perfect height of a man and Christ was six feet tall because he was perfect but no one else in the world was perfect except Christ therefore no one else in the world is exactly six feet tall. Another supersititous practice I remember is picking a particular verse in the Bible, say 5:3, for example, and reading every book in the Bible where that verse occurs from Genesis to Revelation. The story told by this method will either tell you something very important about yourself or explain some mystery. Another superstition is that if you pronounce the name of Yahweh outloud, it will give enemies power over you. A fairly common one that everyone knows is that making the sign of the Cross is a ward against evil or drives away the devil. (It's also something Catholics do when we're startled, but that's cultural, not superstitious). In a book I have discussing folklore in the Talmud, I found this: "In several of the instances the intention behind the act determines whether it may be done or not. If a superstitious motive prompts it, then it is forbidden. We see this principle being applied in the earlier Rabbinic period. For example, 'People may go out (on the Sabbath) with a grasshopper's egg (as a cure for earache), a fox's tooth (the tooth of a live fox was a cure for oversleeping and of a dead fox for insomnia), or the nail from a cross on which a person has been hanged (this was supposed to be a cure for inflammation and fever), as a remedy. These are the words of R. Meir; but the Rabbis forbid them even on a weekday because they belong to the ways of the Amorite (i.e., heathenish practices the Jews should not adopt) (Shab. vi. 10). Here's another: "If one wants to know whether he will live out the year or not, let him light a lamp during the ten days between the New Year and the Day of Atonement in a room where there is no draught. Should the light continue to burn (as long as there is oil in the lamp), he will live through the year. If one is about to undertake a business transaction and wishes to know whether it will succeed or not, let him rear a cock. Should it grow fat and well-favoured, his enterprise will prosper. If one wishes to undertake a journey and wants to know whether he will safely return to his home or not, let him stand in a dark room. Should he see the shadow of a shadow, he may know that he will return home. But this is not an infallible sign! Perhaps (through not seeing his shadow) his mind will be upset and affect his luck for the worse! (Therefore he should avoid using this test) (Hor. 12a)." Does anyone else know any other superstitions? -- Sincerely, Cindy Smith _///_ // SPAWN OF A JEWISH _///_ // _///_ // <`)= _<< CARPENTER _///_ //<`)= _<< <`)= _<< _///_ // \\\ \\ \\ _\\\_ <`)= _<< \\\ \\ \\\ \\ <`)= _<< >IXOYE=('> \\\ \\ \\\ \\_///_ // // /// _///_ // _///_ // emory!dragon!cms <`)= _<< _///_ // <`)= _<< <`)= _<< \\\ \\<`)= _<< \\\ \\ \\\ \\ GO AGAINST THE FLOW! \\\ \\ A Real Live Catholic in Georgia Although not a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court, I am: A Real Live Southern Catholic in the Anglican Communion.