I see myself as a rational person but then I'm still superstitious. When I was younger I had more of the usual ones like fearing bad luck if a black cat crossed my path or never walking under ladders. I now only have two that I adhere to, one is that I have to have the William Eggleston picture of an airplane window up on the day the hubby has to catch a flight for his many work trips abroad and the other one is that I never put my keys on the table. I think some of the more common superstitions are there because of common sense; walk under a ladder and it might fall on you or someone might drop something on your head; break a mirror and you might cut yourself (I did break a mirror once but I didn't get seven years of bad luck). I know different countries have different superstitions; when the hubby insists on calling "Hail, hail" to a magpie I scoff, forgetting about my own versions of the same thing. Now, I thought it might be fun to find out what your superstitions are, do you have your own personal ones and which ones are typical of your country?
I hope I'm not alone on this one... I'm not crazy... I think.
Oh it's cute.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not crazy...
Here we don't put the bread upside down on the table. Antique superstition...
Your tate calender is way funky than mine. I better buy postcards !
It's also really nice to see you back posting !
I don't put new shoes on the table :) I don't know where that one comes from but it is pretty common I think?
ReplyDeleteoh phew! I'm not alone :0)
ReplyDeletemarion: thank you! I never knew about the bread one!
alice: I was going to say that it might be because of hygiene but then you wrote NEW shoes (surely you don't put dirty old ones there ;0) ) I've heard of not putting your shoes higher than floor level being one too...
in ireland its considered really unlucky to drive a green car, also to be discharged from hospital on a saturday is a really bad sign. and woe betide you if you cut down a holly tree
ReplyDeletenär jag var yngre och fick skor av någon så var man "tvungen" att ge den man fick skorna av en guldpeng. det skulle tydligen betyda att personen gick ifrån en om man inte gjorde det.
ReplyDeletejag tror inte på det, men det där med nycklarna gör jag också.
är det i ryssland det betyder otur att vissla inomhus tror jag?
ReplyDeletejag garderar mej med o kasta salt o spotta efter katter mest hela tiden. nycklarna på golvet hellre än på bordet osv. inte säga tack efter lycka till etc. *freak* Varför chansa? ;)
men tar man sönder en spegel så gör man ju det aldrig med flit..? så varför ska man straffas med 7 års olycka pga en ren olycka. kan ju räcka med att man kanske blir lessen o ev. skär sej? knäppt..
skrock kan ju inte va ett komersiellt påhitt heller..det är så onödigt skumt egentligen..isf borde det ju va "köper du inte FEM schampoflaskor åt gången så får du otur i 8 år".
på ön Blå Jungfrun utanför i havet här får man olycka om man tar med sej stenar hem till fastlandet från stranden. Folk gör det ändå o sen får de otur. Kommunen får massor av stenar tillskickade åt sej varje år av folk som inte törs ha dem kvar. haha
BLAAAAAABLA :)
for good luck, "rabbit!" is the first word my family makes sure to say on the 1st of each month. my husband now does this too.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE these pictures.
ReplyDeleteha! i have the exact same keyring and just yesterday i bought a William Eggleston book. x
ReplyDeleteWhen I see a lone magpie I always say, "Good morning Mr Magpie" If Im in a situation where I cant say it out loud then I say it in my head!
ReplyDeleteIf you are giving a wallet put some money in it for luck, this I didn't know and I gave one without.. oopss!!
ReplyDeleteI definitely do the not-keys on table thing, dont really know why... I think a friend told me about it ages ago and it just stuck with me.
I don't pic up money of the street if it has the face down, that's supposed to be bad luck.
And don't walk on an a brunn(dont know how to put that in english)... haha.. I did that one a lot when i was a kid and the v brunn was lucky..
xxF
I have a thousand things like that I have to admit. For example I have to place a glass of water next to my kitchen sink before I go to bed. It´s kind of a promise that I will be there in the morning to drink it ;-) And I have to kiss the boyfriend good night exactly three times. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very superstitious but Spain is: do not spill salt on a table, put your right foot on the floor first when you get out of bed, do not put pictures of people face down on a table...
ReplyDeleteoh i am superstitious...and am familiar with every superstition mentioned here save the saying "rabbit" each month. ;))
ReplyDeleteJag brukade inte heller lägga nycklarna på bordet, mormor har alltid sagt att det ger otur - men det är så svårt att hitta ett bättre ställe för dem ;-) Undra var DEN skrocken kommer ifrån?
ReplyDeleteEn spansk kompis sa till mig att man inte ska sätta / lägga sin handväska på golvet, det kan göra en fattig - jag antar att det är för stöldrisken men det är också oftast det bästa stället för väskan när man är på restaurang...
Jag har läst din blogg länge nu men aldrig kommenterat. Är ett stort fan av dina fina foton! Och vill också ha en sådan snygg vykortskalender från Tate - måste åka till London med andra ord!!
if you spill salt you have to throw a bit over your left shoulder...
ReplyDeleteor: good morning mr magpie how's your wife? (while saluting) (also magpies: one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for a kiss and six for a wish - then I forget but I hardly ever see more than six magpies together!)
not "crossing" arms when clinking wine glasses in a group, looking people in the eye when clinking otherwise you'll have a bad sex life - I hate this one, I especially hate it when my dad does a really OTT boggle eyed version of it since I don't really want to think about him having a sex life!
an old lady in my building wouldn't let us paint the front door green because of the "evil eye"?!
I feel lucky when my keys are on the table, on the newel post, on my desk, in a bowl, hung up.... I am just so happy to see them wherever they are, and not have to search for them as is often my habit :)
ReplyDeleteI also have to throw salt over my left shoulder - not only if I spill it, but if someone else does, or if some one is playing with the salt shaker and knocks it over.
ReplyDeleteIt's a compulsion! I get agitated when people play with the salt shaker now, it's so silly.
thank you all for your comments, it's been fun to find out yours!
ReplyDeletejaboopee: ha! we had a green car when I was little, no crashes though! the discharged from hospital on a saturday is an odd one (but then aren't they all?), I wonder where that came from?
hanna åberg: ja, nycklarna på bordet verkar va en svensk grej... jag visste inte om skorna men jag vet att om nån ger en en kniv måste man ge dem en silver peng.
lisen: inte vissla inomhus, det är ju omöjligt! annars har jag hört att man inte ska öppna paraplyn inomhus, men måste ju torka dem på nåt sätt! måste ha kommit ifrån att man kanske kunde göra sig själv eller nån annan illa om man var under tak.
visste inte heller om att inte säga tack till "lycka till". tänk att ingen i reklam branchen kommit på att köra med skrock för att sälja produkter!
peachey: I never knew about "rabbit". do you get extra good luck if you're the first one to say it? do you set the alarm early so you can beat your hubby to it? ;0)
lahmode: thank you :0)
melanie: what a coincidence! hope you're enjoying the eggleston book. which one did you get?
lisa kjellerød: how funny that my hubby says "hail hail" instead of what you say. I must ask him if he changed it himself...
fanny: if I give someone a wallet I'll remember that... I think the whole "don't put your keys on the table" thing comes from the fact that you might lock yourself out if you keep them there. that's my theory anyway :0) as for money I'd just pick it up hehe! I did the same thing with the "brunn" (drain covers) in sthlm. the A ones were bad luck but you could rectify it by tapping the back of your heel three times and the K ones where for kärlek (love). I seem to remember I'd hop on those... it worked ;0)
lillian: I like personalised ones! a friend of mine used to have to finish a certain rhyme in time whenever she was driving and waiting at a red light. I can't remember if she'd stay there until the lights changed the following time if she didn't say it in time!
esti: sometimes when I spill salt I think that maybe I should throw some over my shoulder, but then I don't want to start a new superstition so I ignore it :0)
petra h: tack och vad kul att du säger hej!
vad säger din kompis att man ska göra med väskan istället? hänger man den över stolsryggen är stöldrisken lika stor och inte kan man väl sitta med den i knät om man sitter på restaurang? :0)
lola is beauty: I didn't know about the crossing of arms when clinking. maybe that came from the "fear" of spilling the contents of the glasses on your mates? some people I know insist with eye contact when clinking but I don't think they know about the sex life link! your dad makes me laugh! green seems to be a bad colour, they say you shouldn't wear green when you get married but in islam green is a holy colour and therefore v. good!
sopchan: :D
jess: all superstitions are silly, but I find them fascinating. I bought a book years ago called "man and his superstitions" but I've never read it. maybe I should!
Stumbled upon your blog, and was at the time very stressed, your pictures have a calming effect. Love your photos
ReplyDeletei'm not sure what is typical in canada, but for me i always ALWAYS knock on wood if i joke about someting happening that i don't want to happen. and i don't just knock, i have to SAY "knock on wood". and more often than not, i make whoever is with me do it too.
ReplyDeletei'm not strongly superstitious, but that one gets me every time!
famapa! I have never heard of the keys never touching the table one! I ALWAYS put it on my table! So you always have yours on a hook if it is out of your purse?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you have heard of this one yet, but my mother is a little superstitious. These are Chinese superstitions. Never paint your door blue, and don't wear white on your head. These are all related to death and funerals. And, you never give someone a clock as a gift.
never 13 people at the same table ! never never, put the bread on his back!
ReplyDeletethe other night i heard an owl hoot and it reminded me, strangely enough, that back home in Malawi, that it signifies a death. someone you know will die! It's a horrible superstition but many believe it!
ReplyDeleteThis is not a superstition but I believe in "signs of the destiny".
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for an apartment for Paris for about 2 weeks. I've "outbid" once. and finally when I thought that I had found something the lady tells me that she was wrong and that the apartment is not free. I feel like the destiny doesn't want me going to Paris yet so I gave up and I'm not going.