Monday, December 02, 2013

Olde Wives Tails - Take One

















My blogger buddy, OldNFO, published this a few days ago and I thought it was pretty cool.  However, there are 120 (give or take) of these sayings, so I am going to split it up between two post.

So, without further ado here tis for your enjoyment.  And as he sated, “One can only ‘wonder’ where some of these came from…”

-You must get out of bed on the same side that you get in or you will have bad luck.
-Many people believe that washing dishes and doing laundry on New Year day will lead to a death in the family. And most of them even do not wash their hair thinking it unlucky.
-Hold your breath while going past a cemetery otherwise you will breathe in the spirit of someone who has recently died.
-It’s bad luck to let someone rest their foot on your chair while gambling. If anyone tries, it’s customary to challenge them to a gunfight
-It’s good luck to wear an article of dirty clothing when sitting down to gamble.
-Seeing an ambulance is very unlucky unless you pinch your nose or hold your breath until you see a black or a brown dog.
-It is said that if you are out fishing and stop to count the number of fish you have caught at any time you will not catch anymore that day.
-The ancient Greeks used to believe that if you had sex while a North wind was blowing you would produce a male child. A Southern wind would produce a female child.
-It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same match.
-After the famous Battle of Waterloo many people were afraid to wear or grow violets because they had been Napoleon’s favorite flower.
-If you bite your tongue while eating it is said to mean that you recently told a lie.
-If your right nostril is itching a female visitor is coming to see you or if it is left nostril a male visitor.
-It’s bad luck to walk under a ladder. This superstition came from an early Christian belief that a leaning ladder formed a triangle with the wall and the ground. By walking through a triangle it is said that you violate the Holy Trinity.
-A knife placed under the bed during the childbirth will ease the labor pains.
-In some parts of Britain it is said that eating the tongue of a dog will cure your ulcers.
-The settling down of swarm of bees on the roof indicates that the house will burn soon.
-It is believed that kissing at midnight on New Year’s Day increases the affections and attachments that will continue throughout the year.
-If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.
-To wear new clothes on the Easter Sunday brings good luck.
-If a dead person’s eyes are left open he or she will find someone to take along with him.
-Evil spirits can’t harm you when you stand inside a circle.
-If a pregnant woman steps over a grave this ensures an early death for her child.
-In sports there is something called the playoff beard which means that players on a team will not shave until there team is either eliminated or they win.
-Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.
-If you keep a spider in a walnut shell and place it around your neck it will act as a repellent against a plague.
-A horseshoe hung in the bedroom will keep nightmares away.
-In baseball you should never talk about a no hitter game that is currently going on because it could jinx it.
-It is said that if you don’t cover your mouth when you yawn then you may be letting evil spirits into your body.
-If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.
-In England it was once a custom to pass a newly born baby through the rind of a cheese.
-Cutting of fingernails on Friday or Sunday brings bad luck.
-It is believed that the direction of wind during the sunrise on New Year’s Day decides the luck for the coming year. Wind from east predicts natural calamities and wind from west predicts wealth but death of a person of great national importance. Wind from south predicts prosperity and wind from north predicts bad weather. No wind means prosperity and joy throughout the year.
-There is an old tradition in England that bread which is baked on Christmas Eve will never go moldy.
-Many Native American tribes considered owls to be symbols of good luck, prosperity, and long life.
-A British superstition says that if you carry an acorn somewhere on yourself it will prevent you from growing old.
-To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have a secret enemy.
-It is said that if another woman is having problems conceiving then all she had to do to ensure success was to hug a pregnant woman.
-Finding a Cricket in your house brings good luck.
-Twitching of left eye signifies a death in the family.
-A wedding ring should absolutely never be dropped during the ceremony because this will bring bad luck, and whichever of the couple dropped the ring will be the first to die.it is equally important that neither of the couple picks up a dropped ring. The person preforming the ceremony should do it.
-Hold your breath when you pass by a graveyard or you may breathe in the spirit of someone recently buried.
-If a broken clock suddenly chimes in the house there will be a death in the family.
-Don’t bury a woman in black or she will return to haunt the household.
-If you dream of a birth, someone in the family will die.
-It is still common belief that the wedding ring shouldn’t be removed once it is put on.
-A bird in the house is a sign of a death.
-At slot machines, touch the seat to see if it’s still warm, and only play if it is.
-Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.
-Pictures of an elephant bring luck, but only if they face a door.
-If you spill salt throw some over your left shoulder to hit evil spirits in the eye.
-If a ferret, stoat or weasel jumps over the tummy of a pregnant woman then the child will be born with a birthmark.
-Breaking a mirror brings bad luck for seven years. To prevent it, you should run the pieces in a stream.
-If a robin flies into room through a window, death will shortly follow.
-A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen.
-If cows lift their tails it is an indication of the coming rain.
-If the buried person was good, flowers will grow on his/her grave. If the person was bad or evil, weeds will grow.
-Wear a blue bead to protect yourself against witches.
-If you pull out a white hair, ten more will grow in its place.

More to follow…


3 comments:

Momma Fargo said...

They are all true! True, I say! Especially the grey hair thingy. LOL. Actually, I don't have any grey hair yet, knock on wood. I think we should bury all those old wives. :)

Coffeypot said...

"It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same match." Called three on a math, it comes from WWI where soldiers were told to never lite three cigarets on one math at night as that gave a sniper time to take an good aim.

Janie Junebug said...

The knife is under the bed during childbirth to cut the pain. I wish I had tried that one.

Love,
Janie