** Old Superstitions **

[Asalbanoo]

Subcategory: Swans


A swan's feather, sewed into the husband's pillow, will ensure fidelity.


Subcategory: Toad


If you eat a live toad first thing in the morning nothing worse will happen to you all day.


Crossing the path of a bride on the way to the church - prosperous and happy union


Seeing a toad - end of drought or good fortune


Thought to be the familiars of witches


Killing a toad - rainstorms


Carrying a dried toad - protection against plague


Handling toads - causes warts


Subcategory: Tortoise


Killing a tortoise - bad luck


Wearing a tortoiseshell bracelet - protection against evil


Subcategory: Wasp


Killing the first wasp of the season - good luck


Subcategory: Vulture


Seeing a vulture - omen of death


Subcategory: Weasel


Seeing a weasel - bad luck


Keeping money in a weasel skin purse - financial security

[Asalbanoo]

Subcategory: Wolf


During the middle ages, wolves were ascribed magical powers and wolf parts became an important part of many early pharmacies. Powered wolf liver was used to ease birth pains. A wolf's right paw, tied around ones throat, was believed to ease the swelling


It was widely believed that a horse that stepped in a wolf print would be crippled


The gaze of a wolf was once thought to cause blindness


The breath of the wolf could cook meat.


It was believed that Wolves sharpened their teeth before hunting


Dead wolves were buried at a village entrance to keep out other wolves (some farmers continue to shoot predators and hang them on fence posts to repel other predators.)


Travelers were warned about perils of walking through lonely stretches of woods, and stone shelters were built to protect them from attacks. Our modern word "loophole" is derived from the European term "loup hole," or wolf hole, a spy hole in shelters


Seeing a wolf - dumbness


Subcategory: Wren


Harming a wren - broken bone

[Asalbanoo]

Empty pockets or empty cupboards on New Years Eve portend a year of poverty


If the first person to cross the threshold of a house after midnight on New Years is a dark-haird man and he carries a shovel full of coal, then a year of good luck will follow.


Its bad luck to let a fire go out on New Year's Eve.


You could ensure yourself good fortune by draining the last dregs from a bottle of drink on New Years!


The Weather: If the wind blows from the south, there will be fine weather and prosperous times in the year ahead. If it comes from the north, it will be a year of bad weather. The wind blowing from the east brings famine and calamities. If the wind blows from the west, the year will witness plentiful supplies of milk and fish but will also see the death of a very important person. If there's no wind at all, a joyful and prosperous year may be expected by all.


Loud Noise: Make as much noise as possible at midnight to scare away evil spirits.


Letting the Old Year Out: At midnight, all the doors of a house must be opened to let the old year escape unimpeded. He must leave before the New Year can come in, says popular wisdom, so doors are flung open to assist him in finding his way out.


To dance in the open air, especially round a tree, on New Year's Day is declared to ensure luck in love and prosperity and freedom from ill health during the coming twelve months.


Children born on New Year's Day bring great fortune and prosperity to all the household.


On New Year's Day if, on rising, a girl should look out of her bedroom window and see a man passing by, she may reckon to be married before the year is finished.


Clocks should be wound up immediately the New Year begins in order to endow the house with good fortune, while all daily cleaning and dusting should be completed early in the day of December 31 in order to avoid the danger of sweeping good luck from the house.


Breakage: Avoid breaking things on that first day lest wreckage be part of your year. Also, avoid crying on the first day of the year lest that activity set the tone for the next twelve months


Money: Do not pay back loans or lend money or other precious items on New Year's Day. To do so is to guarantee you'll be paying out all year.


New Clothes: Wear something new on January 1 to increase the likelihood of your receiving more new garments during the year to follow.


Work: Make sure to do -- and be successful at -- something related to your work on the first day of the year, even if you don't go near your place of employment that day. Limit your activity to a token amount, though, because to engage in a serious work project on that day is very unlucky.


Black-Eyes Peas: A tradition common to the Southern part of the United States says that the eating of black-eyed peas on New Year's Day will attract both general good luck and money in particular to the one doing the dining


A person who lives alone might place a lucky item or two in a basket that has a string tied to it, and then place the basket just outside the front door before midnight. After midnight, the lone celebrant hauls in his catch, being careful to bring the item across the doorjamb by pulling the string rather than by reaching out to retrieve it and thus breaking the plane of the threshold.


Nothing Goes Out: Nothing -- absolutely nothing, not even garbage -- is to leave the house on the first day of the year. If you have presents to deliver on New Year's Day, leave them in the car overnight. Don't so much as shake out a rug or take the empties to the recycle bin. Some people soften this rule by saying it's okay to remove things from the home on New Year's Day, provided that something else has been brought in first.


Just as the clock strikes twelve the head of the house should open the door in order to allow the Old Year to pass out and the New Year to come in.


Kissing at midnight: To ensure that those affections and ties will continue throughout the next twelve months. To not do this would be to set the stage for a year of coldness.


Stocking Up: The New Year must not be seen in with bare cupboards, lest that be the way of things for the year. Larders must be topped up and plenty of money must be placed in every wallet in the place to guarantee a prosperous year.


Paying Off Bills: The new year should not be begun with the household in debt, so checks should be written and mailed off prior to January 1st. Likewise, personal debts should be settled before the New Year arrives.


First Footing: The first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will influence the year you're about to have. Ideally, he should be dark-haired, tall, and good-looking, and it would be even better if he came bearing certain small gifts such as a lump of coal, a silver coin, a bit of bread, a sprig of evergreen, and some salt. Blonde and redhead first footers bring bad luck, and female first footers should be shooed away before they bring disaster down on the household.


First Footing: The first footer should knock and be let in rather than just using a key. After greeting those in the house and dropping off whatever small tokens of luck he has brought with him, he should make his way through the house and leave by a different door than the one through which he entered. No one should leave the premises before the first footer arrives -- the first traffic across the threshold must be headed in rather than striking out.


First footers must not be cross-eyed or have flat feet or eyebrows that meet in the middle


Squint-eyed, flat-footed, or red-haired men bring bad luck If they are first-footers, and so does a woman. But a man with a high instep, or one who comes on a horse, is considered particularly lucky

[Asalbanoo]

All locks in a house are unlocked at birthing to ensure an easy delivery.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: Scatter Solomon's seal on the floor to banish serpents and venomous creatures from the room.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: To protect your house from lightning, gather hazel tree branches on Palm Sunday and keep them in water.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: Add caraway seeds to chicken feed to keep poultry from wandering. Feed the seeds to homing pigeons to help them find their way back.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: Stuff fennel in your keyhole or hang it over your door to protect against witches.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: Never carry a hoe into the house. If you do so by mistake, carry it out again, walking backward to avoid bad luck.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: Never walk under a ladder, which is Satan's territory. If you must do it, cross your fingers or make the sign of the fig (closed fist, with thumb between index and middle fingers).
Moving into a new home Superstitions: If you give a steel blade to a friend, make the recipient pay you a penny to avoid cutting the friendship.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: Never give a knife as a housewarming present, or your new neighbor will become an enemy.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: Never pound a nail after sundown, or you will wake the tree gods.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: Nail an evergreen branch to new rafters to bring good luck. An empty hornets' nest, hung high, also will bring good luck to any age house.
Moving into a new home Superstitions: When you move to a new house, always enter first with a loaf of bread and a new broom. Never bring an old broom into the house.
Halloween Superstitions: You should walk around your home three times backwards and counterclockwise before sunset on Halloween to ward off evil spirits
Animal Superstitions: Cat: In the early 16th century, a visitor to an English home would always kiss the family cat.
Animal Superstitions: Muskrat: Building it's home clear of the water - heavy rains
Animal Superstitions: Muskrat: Constructing the home with thin walls - mild winter
Christmas Superstitions: The doors of a home used to be flung open at midnight on Christmas Eve to let out any trapped evil spirits.
Christmas Superstitions: Stockings are hung by the chimney at Christmas, in remembrance of the largesse of St. Nicholas. Out of compassion he was said to have tossed three coins down the chimney of the home of three poor sisters. Each coin fell neatly into stockings left drying by the hearth. We therefore leave our stocking out in hopes that a similar bit of good fortune will befall us.
Greek Superstitions: Cactus - No Greek home would be complete with out at least one cactus positioned somewhere near the front entrance. In a big ‘Feta’ can or garden pot, a cactus with its thorny spikes, takes it place proudly warding off the evil eye from the property.
Greek Superstitions: Greeks believe that in order for a cutting to root, it has to be stolen. You have to nonchalantly cut off a piece of the desired plant and take it home without telling the owner. According to superstition, it will root easily.
Greek Superstitions: It is customary to sprinkle salt in a new home before you occupy it, as the salt will drive any evil out and away from you and your family.
Greek Superstitions: Salt is be used to get rid of an unwanted human presence. If you have an unwanted guest in your home and you want them to leave. All you have to do is sprinkle salt behind them. The powers of the salt will chase him out.
New Years Superstitions: Nothing Goes Out: Nothing -- absolutely nothing, not even garbage -- is to leave the house on the first day of the year. If you have presents to deliver on New Year's Day, leave them in the car overnight. Don't so much as shake out a rug or take the empties to the recycle bin. Some people soften this rule by saying it's okay to remove things from the home on New Year's Day, provided that something else has been brought in first.
New Years Superstitions: First Footing: The first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will influence the year you're about to have. Ideally, he should be dark-haired, tall, and good-looking, and it would be even better if he came bearing certain small gifts such as a lump of coal, a silver coin, a bit of bread, a sprig of evergreen, and some salt. Blonde and redhead first footers bring bad luck, and female first footers should be shooed away before they bring disaster down on the household.
Wedding Superstitions: The new bride must enter her home by the main door, and must not trip or fall. This is origin of the custom of carrying the bride over the threshold.


All Categories:

[Asalbanoo]

If you don't cover your bald head it will start raining


If you shave your head on a Saturday, you will be in perpetual debt


You shouldn't wash your hair the day before an exam.


Hair at no age must be cut at the waning of the moon, which would prevent it growing luxuriantly.


Hair cut off should always be burned; it unlucky to throw shorn hair away; otherwise, birds might make a nest of your hair, weaving tightly, so that you would have difficulty rising on your last day.


Choosing to cut your hair (or nails) on a particular day means the following: Cut them on Monday, you cut them for health; cut them on Tuesday, you cut them for wealth; cut them on Wednesday, you cut them for news; cut them on Thursday, a new pair of shoes; cut them on Friday, you cut them for sorrow; cut them on Saturday, see your true love tomorrow; cut them on Sunday, the devil will be with you all the week

[Asalbanoo]

A bird in the house is a sign of a death.


If a robin flies into a room through a window, death will shortly follow.


Light candles on the night after November 1. One for each deceased relative should be placed in the window in the room where death occurred.


You must hold your breath while going past a cemetery or you will breathe in the spirit of someone who has recently died.


If a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family.


You will have bad luck if you do not stop the clock in the room where someone dies.


If a woman is buried in black, she will return to haunt the family.


If a dead person's eyes are left open, he'll find someone to take with him.


Mirrors in a house with a corpse should be covered or the person who sees himself will die next.


Dogs howling in the dark of night, Howl for death before daylight.


If you dream of death it's a sign of a birth, if you dream of birth, it's a sign of death.


If you touch a loved one who has died, you won't have dreams about them


A person who dies on Good Friday will go right to heaven.


A person who dies at midnight on Christmas Eve will go straight to heaven because the gates of heaven are open at that time.


All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.


The soul of a dying person can't escape the body and go to heaven if any locks are locked in the house.


If the left eye twitches there will soon be a death in the family.


If a dead person's eyes are left open, he'll find someone to take with him.


Funerals on Friday portend another death in the family during the year.


It's bad luck to count the cars in a funeral cortege.


It's bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on.


Thunder following a funeral means that the dead person's soul has reached heaven.


Nothing new should be worn to a funeral, especially new shoes.


Pointing at a funeral procession will cause you to die within the month.


Pregnant women should not attend funerals.


If the person buried lived a good life, flowers will grow on the grave.


If the person was evil, weeds will grow.


If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.


A white moth inside the house or trying to enter the house means death.


If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first.


If 13 people sit down at a table to eat, one of them will die before the year is over.


Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.

[Asalbanoo]

Bridal Shower - The first gift the bride opens should be the first gift she uses. Everything the bride says as she opens her gifts will be repeated on her wedding night. Somone should be assigned to write down these comments during the shower.

The person who gives the third gift to be opened at a bridal shower will soon have a baby.

Save the ribbons from the bridal shower gifts to make a mock bouquet to be used at the wedding rehearsal.

Certain days of the week are better than others for a wedding: Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday best of all, Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, Saturday for no luck at all.

Certain months are better than others for a wedding: Married when the year is new, he'll be loving, kind & true, When February birds do mate, You wed nor dread your fate. If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you'll know. Marry in April when you can, Joy for Maiden & for Man. Marry in the month of May, and you'll surely rue the day. Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you'll go. Those who in July do wed, must labor for their daily bred. Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see. Marry in September's shrine, your living will be rich and fine. If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry. If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember. When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.

A Lucky Bride: Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue, And a lucky sixpence In her shoe.

Married in White, you have chosen right. Married in Grey, you will go far away, Married in Black, you will wish yourself back, Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead, Married in Green, ashamed to be seen, Married in Blue, you will always be true, Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl, Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow, Married in Brown, you will live in the town, Married in Pink, you spirit will sink.

Good omens on your wedding day: Seeing a rainbow , having the sunshine, meeting a black cat, meeting a chimney sweep,

Bad omens on your wedding day: a pig, hare, or lizard running across the road, seeing an open grave, meeting a nun or a monk foretell barrenness.

If the groom drops the wedding band during the ceremony, the marriage is doomed.

The new bride must enter her home by the main door, and must not trip or fall. This is origin of the custom of carrying the bride over the threshold.

The spouse who goes to sleep first on the wedding day will be the first to die.

If a single woman sleeps with a piece of wedding cake under her pillow, she will dream of her future husband.

Take a pea-pod which has 9 peas and suspend it over the doorway using a white thread. If the next person who enters by the same door is not a member of the family and is a bachelor or spinster, then your wedding will take place in not more than a year's time.

The Cuckoo.-When you hear a cuckoo for the first time in the year, quote aloud: Cuckoo, Cuckoo, answer me true This question that I'm asking you; I beg that truly you'll tell me In how many years I'll married be. The number of times which the cuckoo replies is declared to represent the number of years that will elapse before you marry.

Take a photograph of the one you love and hold before it a ring on the end of a thread. Be careful to keep your hand still. If the ring moves in a circle, you win marry the person in the picture soon and will lead a life of bliss; if the ring moves to and fro, it is unlikely you will marry him. Should the ring not move at all, you are likely to remain single.

On the Eve of St. Agnes (on the night before January 21) take a row of pins and pull them out, one after the other. Then stick a pin in your sleeve and you will dream of the one you will marry.

If you find a four-leaf clover, put it in your right shoe and the next bachelor you meet will become your husband.

The New Moon.-This ceremony must be practiced on the first night of the new moon. Open wide the windows of your bedroom and sit down on the windowsill, gazing with unblinking eyes at the moon, and at the same time repeating softly and slowly the following incantation: “All hail, Selene, all hail to thee! I prithee, good moon, reveal to me this night to whom I'll wedded be.” During the night you will dream of your future husband.

Wedding-cake.-Take a small piece of wedding-cake, pass it three times through a wedding-ring and then lay the cake under your pillow. In your dreams that night your future husband will appear to you. Place a small piece of wedding-cake under your pillow and put a borrowed wedding ring on the third finger of your left hand. Before you retire to bed arrange the shoes, which you have worn that day in the shape of a T. Then, it is said, your future husband will appear to you in your dreams.

If a woman should eat a salted herring just before she goes to bed, her future husband will appear to her in a dream, carrying a cup of water with which to quench her thirst.

June is the best month to get married. Romans believed that Juno, their goddess of woman, blessed marriages that took place in her month.

In the olden days, when a wife was considered a possession, a wedding ring was a sign that the woman had been purchased by the groom.

Marry on the upswing of the clock, basically on the half-hour, like 2:30 instead of 2, or 3, because that way the hands of the clock are on their way up, not down

[Asalbanoo]

According to an oldwives' tale only the wicked can grow it.


It is very unlucky to give parsley.


Parsley plants must not be given.


Parsley should not be transplanted; it means a death in the family or bad luck.


If a stranger plants parsley in a garden, great trouble will befall the owner.


Where parsley grows in the garden, the missus is the master.


Where the mistress is the master, the parsley grows the faster.


Parsley flourishes best either when sown by the housewife rather than by her husband, or in gardens of homes where she is master.


If a young woman sows parsley-seed she will have a child.


Parsley is believed to prevent a pregnancy, and is sometimes eaten as a salad by young married women who do not desire to have a family.


If you want to bring on your period put a sprig of parsley inside your vagina for 12 hours - your period should start 24 hours later.


In the 1600's and 1700's in England, children were told that little girls came from the parsley bed.

[Asalbanoo]

If you hear foot steps behind you on this night, don't look back. It may be the dead following you. Turning back could mean that you will soon join the dead.

Girls who carry a lamp to a spring of water on this night can see their future husband in the reflection.

Girls who carry a broken egg in a glass to a spring of water (during the day) can not only see their future husband by mixing some of the spring water into the glass, but she can also see a glimpse of her future children.

An old tradition was that girls should go into a field and there scatter the seed of hemp. While they did so they chanted “Hempseed I sow thee Come after me and show me”. Upon suddenly turning round, it was declared that each girl would see a vision of the man who would be her husband.

Bobbing for Apples - Each member of the party is given an apple, from which a small piece has been cut, and into which a fortune written on a slip of paper has been inserted. The apples are thrown into a large tub of water and the company invited to duck their heads and retrieve an apple with their mouths. Upon doing so they draw out the slip of paper and read their fortune.

To find out of your lover is true. select one of the letters which you have received from your sweetheart, especially one which contains a particularly passionate and important declaration; lay it wide open upon a table and then fold it nine times. Pin the folds together, place the letter in your left-hand glove, and slip it under your pillow. If on that night you dream of silver, gems, glass, castles or clear water, your lover is true and his declarations are genuine; if you dream of linen, storms, fire, wood, flowers, or he is saluting you, he is false and has been deceiving you.

Mashed potatoes offer a method of divining who will be the first to wed. Into the heap of mashed potatoes a ring, a three penny-bit, a button, a heart-shaped charm, a shell and a key are inserted. Then all the lights in the room are turned out, and each guest, armed with a spoon or fork, endeavors to find the hidden charms. The one who finds the ring win marry first; the three penny-bit signifies wealth; the button, bachelorhood or spinsterhood; the heart, passionate love; the shell, long journeys; the key, great success and power.

The old Celtic custom was to light great bonfires on Halloween, and after these had burned out to make a circle of the ashes of each fire. Within this circle, and near the circumference, each member of the various families that had helped to make a fire would place a pebble. If, on the next day, any stone was out of its place, or had been damaged, it was held to be an indication that the one to whom the stone belonged would die within twelve months.

Halloween derives its name from the fact that in the Christian calendar it occurs the day before 'All Saints' or All Hallows' Day. It was the last night of the old year according to the ancient calendar of the Celts. On that night it was said that the witches, hobgoblins, warlocks, and other evil spirits walked abroad and devoted themselves to wicked revels. But the good fairies, too, according to some folklore, made their appearance at this time, but only from the hour of dusk until midnight.

If a bat flies into a house it is a sign that ghosts are about and maybe the ghost let the bat in

If bats come out early and fly around playfully, then it is a sign of good weather to come.

If a bat flies around a house 3 times, it is a death omen.

Peel an apple from top to bottom. The person with the longest unbroken peel would be assured the longest life. If you threw the apple peel over your shoulder, the initial it forms upon landing is the initial of your future mate.

When bobbing for apples, it is believed that the first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry.

If you go to a crossroads at Halloween and listen to the wind, you will learn all the most important things that will befall you during the next twelve months.

A person born on Halloween can see and talk to spirits

To prevent ghosts coming into the house at Halloween, bury animal bones or a picture of an animal near the doorway.

If a girl puts a sprig of rosemary herb and a silver sixpence under her pillow on Halloween night, she will see her future husband in a dream.

In Britain, people believed that the Devil was a nut-gatherer. At Halloween, nuts were used as magic charms.

Many people used to believe that owls swooped down to to eat the souls of the dying. If they heard an owl hooting, they would become frightened. A common remedy was thought to be, turning your pockets inside out and you would be safe

Some believe if you catch a snail on Halloween night and lock it into a flat dish, in the morning you will see the first letter of your sweetheart written in the snail's slime

You should walk around your home three times backwards and counterclockwise before sunset on Halloween to ward off evil spirits

Knocking on wood keeps bad luck away

If you see a spider on Halloween, it could be the spirit of a dead loved one who is watching you

If you ring a bell on Halloween, it will scare evil spirits away

In North America, it's bad luck if a black cat crosses your path and good luck if a white cat crosses your path. In Britain and Ireland, it's the opposite.

If a candle flame suddenly turns blue, there's a ghost nearby