ABOUT FACTS NET Strange

 

When we were children we believed in a lot of strange things. I am not just talking about the Easter Bunny or Santa or even the tooth fairy, but I am talking about zombies, ghosts under the bed and that strange creature that lived in the dark that made us keep the lights on because they somehow kept him away. Of course we all grow up and we realize that those beliefs just weren't true. But some adults have other beliefs that are just as scary and for most of us, just as unbelievable. While most of us don't accept many of these beliefs, there are a lot of people that do. You will see people that will walk around a ladder and say, I don't believe in superstition but I am not taking any chances. Exactly what is superstition? There are many different definitions, but this one that is as good as any. Superstition is a magical belief that something you do will effect your future by altering events. Just on the face of it, you have to admit, it does look silly doesn't it? Here are some superstitions from all over the world:

If a bird flies into your house it means that someone just died.

If a crow or blackbird flies over your house, it means that someone will die within the year.

If you walk under a stair case your will power will vanish.

If you walk under a ladder, something bad will happen to you.

Here is one of my favorites, don't bang lids or pots together because a tiger may bite you.

Taking children to dark places allows ghosts to possess their bodies.

Breaking a mirror will give you seven years bad luck.

If you play cards with a dog in the room, it will cause disagreements.

If you bury a person and they were evil, weeds will grow.

The person giving the third gift at a bridal shower will have a baby soon.

A person born on Halloween can see ghosts.

If you're combing you hair and the comb falls, you will have a disappointment in life.

Never put a hat on the bed, its bad luck.

If the first butterfly you see for the year is white, you will have good luck.

If you have a itchy right ear then someone said something nice about you.

If you pull out a gray hair, ten more will grow there.

If you place a red ribbon on a child who was sick, his illness won't return.

To keep your husband faithful, sew a swan's feather into his pillow.

The number of children you will have can be determined by the number of Xs on your right hand.

If you hear a dog howling at night then someone will die before daylight.

Dreaming of falling indicates fear of failure.

Wearing your clothes inside out brings good luck. (and not many friends who will be seen with you)

Eating fish makes you smart.

A person can't drown before going under three times.

Cold hands, warm heart.

Garlic protects you from evil spirits. (It also keeps everyone else away)

Superstitions have probably been with us since the first human. Not everyone believes this. There are those that say that most of our current Superstition came about from the 18 century and later. The debate rages on this point, because others state that superstition came about because of man's early attempts to explain nature. It goes on to say that man thought nature to be mystical and used mystical ways to explain it since he didn't know any better at the time. There are thousands and thousands of Superstitions. If you actually believed in superstitions then you would have a problem. There are so many that some might contradict others and you may not even know it.

Another interesting point is why have these Superstition been around so long? I saw an interesting answer to this question the other day. When someone was asked this question they replied that the story of William Tell is known by almost everyone, yet it seems that he may have never existed, so why is this story so famous? The answer he was giving was that no one can really tell why any story or superstition becomes famous and stays that way. I think it just catches the fancy of people. Let take Superstition for example. If you have a billion people believing that walking under a ladder is bad luck, some people that do it are sure to have bad luck just because statistically it will happen. Maybe if ten people walk under ladders two or three will interpret some events in their life as bad luck. Even if these ten people didn't walk under that ladder, the same two or three would have the same things happen to them.

I feel sorry for the original person that broke his mirror and then experienced seven years bad luck and said that it must have happened because the mirror broke. Look what he is responsible for today, thousands of paranoid people trembling with fear as they hold their mirrors, afraid that they might drop them. Then there was the guy who might have walked under the first ladder and someone on the top of the ladder dropped a stone on his head. There he lay, dead on the ground with every walking around him saying that it must be very bad luck to walk under ladders. I guess for him it was. What about the family, hundreds of years ago, that had a death and maybe left their doors and windows open as people went in and out to pay their respects, then a bird flew through the open door. They must have though it was some sort of spirit. If you have ever seen a panicky bird flying around and trying to get out you can understand why a less educated person might panic.

Who knows, maybe there will be some superstition in the future that will state that it is very unlucky to fly to Mars three times in a row, or use a sonic shower on a Tuesday. We humans are strange people indeed.