Are you superstitious?

Ooh yes, I've heard the one about cow parsley being called 'mother die' and it's also called Queen Anne's lace which is much nicer. Did you know you should never look at the new moon through glass? When you do see a new moon (but not through glass obv!) you must turn over the money in your pocket.

Chicken, my mother said the salt should be thrown over your left shoulder.

I know (touch wood) that all these superstitions are rubbish but wouldn't it be sad if they were all forgotten.

Have heard of most of these superstitions and still react to some of them even now, but not all. New shoes put on the table even if still in the box they came in is a no no. My husband does this and I have to grab them off the table to prevent bad luck.! Still salute magpies and acknowledge them and we have loads of them around where we live....goes back to our RN days all the saluting! The picking up of a glove ....someone did this the other day for me and then felt I had to explain the not thanking them! Salt thrown over the shoulder ...depends how much has been spilt. Others tend not to do now, think conditioned by parents and grandparents into these rituals. The younger generation don,t seem to do any of this so think a lot of these superstitions will probably did out eventually.

If you accidentally tread on the half of a wishbone that “contained” the wish, does it mean the wish won’t come true ???
Like rockgran I love to whistle; still waiting for it to bring the Devil out of his den!

I always thought it was hawthorne blossom that was termed ‘mother die’.

You have to find a crowing hen first Greyduster!
The rhyme is
A whistling woman and a crowing hen brings the devil out of his den
Alhough I watched a TV programme recently that said chickens can change sex-so be careful!

I was allowed an umbrella up in the house as long as it was nt over your head! Hadn't heard the one about whistling woman or crowing hen!

Trod her, sometimes, when there isn’t a cock, one of the hens may start to crow. Still stays a hen though. Another one was the lash egg, or devils egg, if I remember correctly. No she’ll or yolk. I love all these old superstitions. Deep down most people probably don’t believe them, they’re just things we “do”. If you ask me to pass you the salt, I’ll put in down I’m fromt of you, not in your hand. I won’t ever borrow or give anyone salt, even if they ask for it. That was my
Mums contribution and it’s still stuck with me. Step on a crack, break your mother’s back!Amazing that superstitions are found world wide.

Hahaha because of my mum I am sooo superstitious..magpies,shoes on table,knives crossed,ladders BUT the worst one which I shall never do,mum used to spit if she saw a white horse(for luck?) but as she developed Parkinson's related pyschosis,if I were driving her about,she would spit on seeing a white horse and the car window being shut...well you can imagine..yuk! ...poor mum, but it's now a fond memory andakes me laugh

Never do laundry on New Year's Day, my husband won't let me. I think his Mum used to say ' wash on New Year's Day you wash a life away'!

Yes my mother said most of those superstitions. I once had to wrote a essay on the subject and managed to write 'stuperstition' right through. The English teacher took great delight in pointing out my mistake to the whole class. Here in Portugal they say that if you place your handbag on the floor all your money will drain away.

As far as wearing Green is concerned:
If it is good enough for Mother Nature, then it is good enough for me. I don't think that she would be offended for wearing something that compliments her.

Mum had the superstition about shoes on the table with the solution being to put them on the floor and jump over them backwards - and we did and sadly I still do. These days though it's more of a step than a jump.

charliebb said "Never do laundry on New Year's Day, my husband won't let me. I think his Mum used to say ' wash on New Year's Day you wash a life away'!"

My Mum would never do washing on Good Friday - said you would be washing your clothes in Christ's blood!

My mother was very superstitious - if you put something on inside out or back to front and you changed it round you had to go outside to the front doorstep and turn round 3 times to undo the bad luck.
My DH is quite superstitious and cutting, even filing, finger nails on a Sunday is a no no with him. I’m actually too scared of the bad luck it may bring if I attempt any type of Sunday manicure! Although I had been filing my nails on a Sunday without mishap for years before I met him.
I always say “morning/ afternoon Mr Magpie sir whenever I see one (even if it’s a Mrs Magpie, I have no way of telling)
As a child I remember holding my collar whenever I saw an ambulance- but I can’t remember why I did it.

My mother (despite being Irish !) always maintained it was unlucky to wear green and although I think of myself as not superstitious, if ever I put on something green I do remember what she used to say.

I remember doing that as well mrswoo I think there might have been something you were supposed to say as you did it. Completely forgotten about it until now!

ToNottoOld - “a whistling woman and a crowing hen, is neither good to God or men” - I think!

I always do things clockwise, stir things, clean rooms, go round art galleries and museums, and so on. I heard a programme about it recently, and we are sort of programmed to do it. It goes way back in time and denotes 'following the sun.'

From such a superstitious family that I was born left handed and forced to be right handed, which has proved tricky over the years.