Strange customs and superstitions part 2

 

Strange customs and superstitions

Part 2

Some superstitions transcend national boundaries others are peculiar to 1 country or race.

Scotland: three swans

flying together mean a national disaster. Red and green should not be worn together it is unlucky to stand with your back to the edge of the door or to throw vegetables onto the fire. Love letters should not be posted on Christmas Day. Carry a Spade through the house means a grave will soon be dug.

Ireland: it is unlucky to use broken tombstones for the wall of a cottage; 

but twice to take care of the ‘fairy Fort ‘-a tree in the center of a field. And it is lucky to spill a drink on the ground - a relic of the ancient custom of pouring a libation to the gods.

Malta: it was the custom up churches to have two Clock faces. One showing the correct time and the other a false one. To confuse the devil about the time of the service.

Ibiza: priests are not allowed to board fishing boats, probably because of a vestigial respect for the pre-Christian see gods.

Iceland: it is unlucky to shoot a sea bird that follows a boat. An unmarried person who sits at the corner of a table will not marry for seven years. A pregnant woman who drinks from a cracked Cup is risking her baby having a harelip.

Holland: when touching wood, it is necessary to touch the unpainted underside of it, Say, at table. People with red hair bring misfortune (a belief come into lands once invaded by the Danes)

China: any death by accident or foul play is to be feared, as the ghost may seek revenge on the 7th night. Sweeping out a house expels all good fortune- especially done on the Chinese New Year.

Nigeria: sweeping the house at night brings bad luck - but a good sweeping first thing in the morning gets rid of evil spirits. If a male is hit with a broom, he becomes impotent unless he retaliates 7 times with the same broom. Sweeping after a person leaves the house gets rid of all bad spirits.

Japan: A comb picked up with the teeth facing the body is unlucky. Killing a spider in the morning is destroying a human soul. Most cats bring bad luck.

 

But as well as national superstitions there are also racial superstitions. For instance, a Jewish child must not be watched while it sleeps (because of the similarity to the death vigil). nor must it be shown its reflection until it has grown its first tooth.

Gypsies belief that it is dangerous to eat food that has been stepped over, or drink from a stream that a woman has walked over. And all caravans must be burned after their owners die.

It is easy to dismiss superstition as absurd, but only those who can break a mirror without a second thought are fully entitled to do so.

 

The man who bought the Black Sea

Prince Urussoff, a Russian nobleman , had a family superstition initially very expensive but ultimately very profitable as well . Well he and his beautiful young bride were honeymooning on the Black Sea , the wedding ring slipped off her finger and disappeared beneath the waves. The Prince, remembering the family belief that the loss of a wedding ring caused the loss of the bride herself, that's the only thing he could. He bought both shores of the Black Sea from hundreds of owners for more than $40,000,000. He recent that if he owned both shores he owned the sea itself and everything that lay at its bottom .

When the Prince died his heirs no longer needed to own the ring . So they sold the Black Sea for $80,000,000.