Are You Superstitious?
Everytime I sit in synagogue, memories of my very religious, and slightly eccentric grandmother surface. This year was no different, as I saw some children scramble and become restless at the idea of having to sit for so many hours in one place while participating in prayer. As I watched them, I had fond thoughts of my grandmother, and the images of us sitting upstairs separately during services loomed large in my head.
My grandmother was considered a superstitious woman. Surely most of you are acquainted with the ordinary types of superstitions such as not walking under a latter, seeing a black cat, breaking a mirror, or wearing a favorite color for good luck, or the number 13 signifying bad luck. My grandmother's beliefs ran to a different extreme including thoughts that one could not sew a garment on oneself without a piece of thread dangling from the mouth as to do so would sew up the brain. Others included not telling a bad dream before breakfast (for fear it would come true), not walking over someone as it would stunt his/her growth, and not walking in socks alone, since for Jews, the only time that type of act was engaged in was if someone was in mourning (shiva). Some of these ideas bring a smile to my face, while others make me tremble, as I think of what could happen if I engaged in any of these activities at any point in time.
EDITED:Here is the question of the day: Are you superstitious? What is a superstition? How does it differ from a religious belief? For Jews, if it is written in the Torah, it is considered halacha, or Jewish law. Can something be law and superstition at the same time? If so, tell me about some of your own superstitions and why you have them. Do you believe in them so that you will engage or refrain from the behavior so as not to bring about some misfortune?
Thank you for your minds.
My grandmother was considered a superstitious woman. Surely most of you are acquainted with the ordinary types of superstitions such as not walking under a latter, seeing a black cat, breaking a mirror, or wearing a favorite color for good luck, or the number 13 signifying bad luck. My grandmother's beliefs ran to a different extreme including thoughts that one could not sew a garment on oneself without a piece of thread dangling from the mouth as to do so would sew up the brain. Others included not telling a bad dream before breakfast (for fear it would come true), not walking over someone as it would stunt his/her growth, and not walking in socks alone, since for Jews, the only time that type of act was engaged in was if someone was in mourning (shiva). Some of these ideas bring a smile to my face, while others make me tremble, as I think of what could happen if I engaged in any of these activities at any point in time.
EDITED:Here is the question of the day: Are you superstitious? What is a superstition? How does it differ from a religious belief? For Jews, if it is written in the Torah, it is considered halacha, or Jewish law. Can something be law and superstition at the same time? If so, tell me about some of your own superstitions and why you have them. Do you believe in them so that you will engage or refrain from the behavior so as not to bring about some misfortune?
Thank you for your minds.
posted by BarbaraFromCalifornia at
9:11 PM
38 Comments:
Hi,
I'm afraid of some ostensibly ridiculous things.
I don't really believe in them, yet I try to avoid them because a certain fear that I'll have only myself to blame looms over my head.
no superstitions at all... belief in superstition is the same thing as belief in a guiding force, which I also don't believe in...
however...
it is bad luck to break mirrors because you'll probably get cut
stepping on cracks... depends on how big they are... will I twist my ankle?
walking under a ladder? If that nitwit above me drips paint on my head... yeah, there will be LOTS of bad luck that day...
lol
Yes, I am superstitious. I throw salt over my shoulder if I spill it, I will not walk under a ladder (or schafholding).
When Wolf and I got married, one of my co-workers gave us a horseshoe to put over our door. I handed to Wolf and he put it up. About two days later, I ran into the bedroom, woke him from a dead sleep and said "you put the horseshoe up wrong. You have to fix it *right now* or we'll have a bad marriage." He was a little pissed at me (he worked night shift and as sleeping during the day) but I was so inconsobile thinking our luck had all poured out that he got up and did it right away.
He had placed it with the points down (n) instead of up (u) so there was nothing to hold the luck in.
Some other things: if my nose is itchy, I'm gonna get in a fight with someone and if I'm about to say something and I forget it, it was a lie (all according to my grandmother).
I also believe, deep in my bones, that some Irish ancestor of mine disturbed a Fairy Mount and thus was cursed by the Fairies. I bear that curse, but I'm hoping it ends with me.
My irrational fears are about disasters that I could not ever control - someone losing control of their vehicle and hitting me, planes dropping out of the sky, etc. I suppose this may be from all the bad news we see in the news, paper and the movies made about them.
I met a woman whose car was pushed off a bridge into water in D.C. by a drunk driver. The hospital sent her home with an undetected broken neck. Things like this reinforce my fears.
I seem to like quoting superstitions - like bad things happen in threes and asking if it's a full moon because of the crazy customers we're getting on a particular day.
No, not at all.
The post reminds me of my eccentric grandma. I only had one growing up. From a young age she had tiny little strokes that no one caught. These have the exact same symptoms as Alzheimers. I never knew a grandma that wasn't nutty. She was sure people were coming into her house and stealing her yarn or her quilting fabrics.
When I was a child I heard my grandmother say..Don't go in one door and come out another or someone will die. Today I am 53 and 'still' aware of the doors I enter and exit??? :o) Once as a teenager the same grandmother was sweeping the floor and I raised my feet to get them out of the way and she said..Don't let anyone sweep under your feet or you'll never have children.
Well, that wasn't true as many years later I had 3 children under 3 :o)
When it gets down to it, anyone who is religious is superstitious. Religious people pray and expect things to happen, they look for signs from a higher power, they believe that spirits are talking to them. Now some are more superstitious than others to be sure.
With that being said, I'm superstitious in that point. No, I don't believe breaking a mirror will give you seven years of bad luck or that not forwarding a chain letter will curse you. But I do believe in many mystical things, supernatural elements beyond our control.
I am, but it very idiosyncratic ways, I guess. I have certain little rituals and ways of doing things and get annoyed if my husband doesn't take them seriously, even though I suppose they are sometimes silly. Of course, my way is "right". LOL.
Lots of little things in the kitchen when cooking, which I see as sort of an alchemical act. I try not to argue when cooking or eating, because I think the food will be spoiled and make people sick.
One thing I am superstitous about is the spoken word. I feel like it's bad luck to say negative things out loud, even if you don't mean them or you are just joking.
I never would "predict" something negative might happen in the future. For example, if we have an outdoor activity planned for the day and my husband says "It will probably rain" I get annoyed. I tell him all the time "Why don't you just say 'I hope the weather is good! Why do you have to say it that way?' He sees no difference, but to me, it's a big difference.
If I say "I wish such and such would happen" it seems like it often does happen. I feel like words have power.
I can relate to each one of you in one way or another.
As for words having power, my husband believes this with predictions, and tries to keep me steared away from them in terms of fears. Keeping them to myself is what I am trying to do these days.
Now, as for religion being superstitious, in that people pray for something to happen, I cannot see that connection. Prayer is a way individuals receive hope and maintain faith in some managable way, at least to me.
Even if we do not believe something will happen, as sunyata points out, we still are somewhat effected by these superstitions, even if at an unconscious level.
Superstition is based on fear and is generally not a good thing. Superstition was popular in early cultures because life was more frightening then and there was less understanding of what the world was.
People were getting burned at the stake not that long ago because of superstitions so I can't really see the merit.
Similarly, as we know, a lot of racism and its devastating consequences has also been based on fear and superstition.
My grandmother was also superstitious and I picked up a couple of minor ones when I was younger. But I resist it now. Superstitions should be avoided - although sometimes people feel drawn to believe in them...and I believe, in some cases, that can be the start of mental issues... But anyway must dash - Oh no I just dropped a mirror.... 7 years bad luck! Drat!!
If you leave the kitchen cabinets open, you're inviting trouble.
great post!
some of your grandmothers things you wrote actually are written in shulchan aruch and are halacha!
and some are minhag
i think almost all of them have sefer support so your grandmother havent made those up
A few questions for a comment:
What's a superstition, exactly? Something like: a belief unsubstantiated by reason or experience, but believed in anyway?
If so, how does it differ from a religious belief? (I do think there are differences, I'm not asking a rhetorical question - although I haven't really fully thought out the answer to this question myself...)
Paul: Excellent questions. I am going to edit my post to incorporate them, as YY brings up some valid issues on this topic as well.
superstition means an irrational belief
so if its written in the torah somewhere then the irrational part falls away for its certainly rational
Yes, I'm superstitious, and would never deliberately walk under a ladder, for example.
I'm superstitious to a point...My Mom is very superstitious....So it's hard not to be...growing up in the same house as this woman...But some of them I just roll my eyes.....My Mom used to say if you dropped a knife and it points at someone...that meant someone you knew was going to die...If a baby saw her reflection in the mirror before she was 7 months old...something bad would happen to her/him.....If your nose itches someone is going to come and see you....If my right eye itches I'm going to be pleased about something....and if my left one itches your going to cry about something....If my foot itches...I'm going to walk on strange ground....And to this day...if my foot itches I say to myself...I'm going to walk on strange ground!!!
Have a great day!!!
From my view, people today aren't as superstitious as in my grandmas day. I understood hers because she was raised when life was more intimate, uneducated and very much out of their control i.e. the depression, birth control etc.
It didn't seem as much about fear as grasping for a little 'control' in life and maybe a inner way of guidance/awareness.
Just my 2 cts.
Not at all.
Did you see this group ever? Do you know who the Holy Land Trust is?
http://cleave.blogs.com/
cc- I do not know that group.
Somehow, I believe what YY says to be true, because these beliefs have stayed with me for years, and they are not the common superstitions that one hears about.
Nice remembrance of your grandmother.
I might be a tad superstitious, usually related to sports. I don't know why, but sports always brings out the superstition in people! Good luck t-shirts, a certain order for doing things pre-game, etc.
I guess I don't think of it as religious because these superstitions have nothing to do with "God" to me, or the Meaning of Life.
a few other superstitious things:
Things always happen in threes: death, aciident, pregnancy, birth.
Never give a baby shower before the kid is born, nor should you buy a single item or set up its room, cuz if you do something bad will happen to it.
If it's spoken out loud, it'll happen. So if you don't want something bad to happen, don't talk about it. I have a hard time with this one because I always want to prepare for "bad stuff" and the best way to do so is to talk about it.
If you dream you are (or someone else) is pregnant, someone close to you will die. If you dream someone dies, then someone close to you will become pregnant.
I am sure many would say that I am 'superstitious', hell even irrational, but I think that I am not, but my belief in 'magick' makes good fodder for this argument. I think that superstition is based somewhere on a 'fact' of sorts,, not all, but I think everything is interrelated and effects everything else,, more on a quantum level,,, to me the Butterfly effect is very much a reality of Science,, but still I see 'meaning' in everything,, or as the Old Ones say, see Omens everywhere. Such as yesterday A hawk flew into my neighbors yard, then jumped into some small bushes and played, watching me as I watched her, not hunting, but playing!!
I took this as a fine Omen, as a Red Tail Hawk is one of my 'totem' animals. (Another superstition?)
I believe in Synchronicity, but do not believe in Coincidence, which some find funny, but there is a BIG difference. To me the world is connected on levels we are just beginning to understand, and as I believe,Issac Asimov said, a highly advanced technology would appear as magic to us,, because of that lack of understanding.
Still I think it best not to tempt the 'Fates' so don't go walking under ladders. But of course I own a black cat (balanced with a white one)
Very interesting post,, will have to do more thinking on my own about my Omen sighting proclivities.
For me the superstitions were mostly sports related. Everything had to be packed in my hockey bag a certain way and taken out the same way. If we won, I would repeat the order of events in the same way until we lost. (We did not lose a lot)
Now the one's I have are a little weird. When I brush my teeth,I have to rinse my mouth out with three handfuls of warm water. Not two and not four. The same with shaving, three handfuls of water splashed on my face before lathering up. Otherwise the day is a write off. Go figure!
Interesting! Sometimes I'm not sure if they are all superstitions or if I'm just getting weirder!
Barbara, your interpretation of prayers is my interpretation of prayer, and that's not superstition but more like meditation almost. I was referring mostly to people who do think "If I pray this will happen", the old vending machine mindset. I see that as superstition, or at least magical thinking.
I am not superstitious. Well, perhaps mildly... if I say 'knock on wood', I'll do it. But the truth is, I don't think it has any validity.
However, I know a woman who has no faith whatsoever (I think she was raised Catholic). She's not bright at all, so perhaps the lack of IQ has something to do with it (?) but she is highly superstitious. Now, don't get me wrong; there are people with high IQs who are superstitious (I'm sure) but I think it's harder to be that way if you're educated and informed in these modern times.
Anyway, she believes that if you hang anything on a doorknob you'll get bad luck. Of course, I've had good luck most of my life, and hang things on doorknobs willy nilly.
...from reading the posts I think there are some beliefs/actions that are obsessive/compulsive, not superstitious. There is a difference.
Also, I don't see anyone in here who seems to truly believe that misfortune will fall them if they violate a particular superstition. Most people view it cautiously, but don't really believe it (from the way it looks from here).
hey guys,
this is off topic... but i just did a bush post that some of you may enjoy.
http://www.badlivejournal.blogspot.com
maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't... hope you'll give it a read though, since this is mostly a political blog.
hope you get a chuckle.
B.a.D
I'm not very superstitious. I do up my thumbs up when passing a cemetary. I used to worry about Friday the 13th. but the older I get the less Superstitious I am.
Coming from my culture being superstitious were very religious, and we were forced to serve two masters; the biblical superstitions and the culture ones.
It is very interesting to see that you all had the thread and the dream superstitions, we did too. The thread one fell by the wayside, but the dream one is still true today.
Here are some of the very basis ones; outside of the universal ones we all were taught. In our culture if you don’t hop over a broom, doesn’t matter if you get a marriage license, you are not really married. You must cut your hair on a full moon or it will not grow back. If you step on someone feet you must hit them in the back three time or they will grow a hump on their back. You can’t cook when it’s that time of month, or it will bring ill will to the family. A little girl is chosen from each family in the village every fifteen years when they are five years old, and they must go through the rites of womanhood and be circumcised by the age of six. A family that did not participate was cursed … and on and on it goes.
Am I superstitious, to a degree we all are, but I didn’t let it stop me from making my own decisions, and I did not allow my inbreed superstitions to trickled down to my children.
This was a good post Barbara, as usual, it sure made me think!
Maybe there is a finer line than most of us know between religious belief, ritual and superstition.
At least that seems to be the case from reading these answers.
Well, it's like this: I have no trouble with black cats or walking on sidewalk cracks or under ladders...
But dating a Sagitarrian is completely out of the question.
Cheers,
Mr. H.K.
Postcards from Hell's
Kitchen
And I Quote Blog
How about this one for a superstition.
You can be the meanest, baby killingist, stingy, miserable, meanace to society for 80 years - then the hour before you die profess that some dude who dies 2,000 years ago is your saviour - and you get to go to heaven.
I'm not superstitious at all. That is to say that I don't believe that these random things like black cats, etc., actually cause anything else to happen.
But I do say things like "knock on wood."
Many old superstitions have found their way into our lives. Each time a big ship is launched, a bottle of wine is broken on it. It used to be the blood of a sacrifice. We throw rice at a just-married couple. That’s a fertility superstition.
Most of us literally do cross our fingers at times.
I'd want to mention to y.y. that most religious beliefs, at least the Catholic ones I grew up with, are not rational if by rational we mean founded on reason and experience - and thus verifiable.
One major difference between superstition and relgious belief is that the latter is systematized into an overarching view of how this world is, so to speak, owned and operated. Superstitions aren't organized into systems - unless, I guess, you're an atheist and believe religion is superstition.
But I don't think that equating superstition and belief works. Because another difference is that religious belief systems are orientations to life as a whole that seek to find it meaningful. They're not trivial things...
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I've never been superstitious, or religious, or even scared of the dark, but I do like some amusingly comfortable rituals, like saying "bless you" to anyone who sneezes.
I nevertheless fail completely to understand how a race of more than a billion people that I once thought were even more clever on average than Jewish people could believe there's anything special about the number 8 ...
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