Emiemipoemi wrote:

Whistling is not allowed either.

I know why! When theatre wasn't modern, many props were lifted by people, not machines. Particular type of whistling informed which bags of sand have to fall down etc. No wonder why something bad could happen.

Stormcrow wrote:

And I thought of a few thigs I still do.  I still make wishes on shed eyelashes.  I still get the urge to knock on wood to prevent a jinx when I describe something good that has happened.  And I still keep a photo of my grandfather on my desk and sometimes address him in my thoughts.

In Poland we do something opposite - we knock on wood when we are said that something bad can happen, to scary that thing away.

Last edited by dlaire (02-18-2009 10:31:20 PM)

hollow_rose wrote:

Also my grandmother always told me if you walk with someone on either side of an object that divides you (like a pillar) you have to say "bread and butter" or you'll have a fight.

We do this in my family, too.

Green lizards, skinks, and ladybugs are all good luck (ladybugs because they eat aphids, I think). And if you find a lizard as you move garden stuff after cold weather, you must put him somewhere sunny and high, but close to you so he's safe from birds or snakes as he warms up.

Apologize immediately if you break a spider's web.

I don't have any well defined ideas about spiritual protection, but I wear my grandmother's locket when I know I'm going to have to face something difficult.

Moroschino and hollow_rose that's crazy, my dad told me the same thing sort of.
My dad has passed this onto me, and I'm assuming his dad told him, if you're walking down a street and you're walking with another person and you come across a pole...do not split the pole. Meaning do not let the other person walk one way and you walk the other, you both have to walk the same way. It's crazy, but I do it all the time.

that's so weird...my mom always told me it was some midwestern type of thing (my dad is from Missouri) is your grandma from the midwest?

None of what could be called genuine superstitions on my part, but I always pay attention to synchronity, even though I know it's produced by my own brain. I've been haunted by the number 23 for years (long before the movie, which I've never watched, came out). Currently it's the number of my room in the local student housing, and I swear I didn't pick it for myself.

Not exactly a superstition, but I always wear four bracelets/bangles on my left wrist (except when I have to take them off to wash dishes or something). I think it's partly because I once wrote about a character who always did that to ward off supernatural things that meant him harm, the logic being that the jangling scares them away.

In summer I sleep so my head is on the end of the bed nearest to the windows, while in winter I switch. Partly because in winter our windows are super drafty, and partly because I just do.

I laugh at you people who are scared of mirrors! (I used to be, too, I think.) I always want one large or large-ish mirror in my room. (I'm really kind of vain. ) But the real reason I like mirrors is that the mirror I currently have is situated in such a way that if I lean over a bit while in bed I can see anyone coming down the hallway, so I have forewarning if anything weird happens up here.

And I always keep my closet door closed, because it's dark and scary and kind of cold at this time of year in there.