Are you superstitious?

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

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.'

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

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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'!

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

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.

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!

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

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!

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.

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.

I avoid the new shoes on table and throw salt over my shoulder if spilt. (Should it be the left or right shoulder?.) But it's ok to open an umbrella indoors as long as you don't put it over your head.

I think I am superstitious, no shoes on the table, no May blossom or peacocks feathers in the house, touch wood, strangely enough I love green clothes but one of my old grannies would never wear pink, she said every time she did someone died!

Oh I had all of these-courtesy of an Irish grandmother
As well- Never come in the front door and go straight out the back without doing something-you take the luck out of the house.
If you put on socks or stockings inside out leave them or your luck will change for the worst
Green she said was the fairies' colour and they didn't like you wearing it.
Crossed knives meant a quarrel, the youngest person in the room must uncross them.
Every now and then one of her superstions comes back to me.
I don't believe them of course! But if I have to carry somethng through my house I will stop to turn the kettle on or do some other little. thing!

This thread has brought back memories but the only one I stick to is new shoes on the table. My DM used to say that if you put your cardi on inside out you had to wear it like that for the rest of the day!

I think the most logical explanation for not wearing green is that arsenic was used to create different shades of green for clothing, wallpaper etc. When the clothes got wet they gave off toxic fumes and people became ill. It has been suggested that the green colouring in the wallpaper in Napoleons room caused him to die of arsenical poisoning.

I salute magpies, spit and cross myself; difficult when you are driving a car.
I have to stop reading this thread; so many things I have been doing unwittingly; no wonder I have bad luck! I didn't know about hydrangeas, cow parsley or dropping gloves, or was it picking them up?