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Personal Superstitions

Jepra Peld said:
I am not if this is a personal one or not, but have always had the superstition that it is bad luck to rip up/destroy photographs of living people. I mentioned to my mum when I last visited her and she had never heard of it.
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A photo is an image of a person that might be assumed to have a magical connection to them.
Remember the stories of tribesmen objecting to having their picture taken in case the camera abducted their soul?
(I saw a comedy sketch version of this on TV -
Tourist points camera at tribesman -
Tribesman: You can't take my photo!
Tourist: Why, will the camera steal your soul?
Tribesman: No, your lens cap is still on!)

This is a form of sympathetic magic. Like when people make an effigy of their ex to stick pins in. :nods:
 
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In the southern states we are coming upon New Year’s Day where one must eat black eyed peas with ham or a green leafy vegetable for good luck.

When I was a kid I used to carry a rabbit’s foot key chain for good luck except for the rabbit who lost the foot.
 
escargot said:
A photo is an image of a person that might be assumed to have a magical connection to them.
Remember the stories of tribesmen objecting to having their picture taken in case the camera abducted their soul?
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I don't know if it's still the same now, what with the ubiquitous mobile phone camera, but you don't have to go too far to still come across this belief, as the Bedouins in the middle east were/are the same.
 
Floyd1 said:
I don't know if it's still the same now, what with the ubiquitous mobile phone camera, but you don't have to go too far to still come across this belief, as the Bedouins in the middle east were/are the same.
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I first went to Bali, Indonesia in 1977 (very different place to what it is now) and there were plenty of locals then who refused to have their pictures taken for much the same reason, that a little piece of their soul would be taken with each image. I've also come across elderly folks in Hong Kong who refused to be in photos.
 
Lord Lucan said:
I first went to Bali, Indonesia in 1977 (very different place to what it is now) and there were plenty of locals then who refused to have their pictures taken for much the same reason, that a little piece of their soul would be taken with each image. I've also come across elderly folks in Hong Kong who refused to be in photos.
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I've just thought- I have pictures of me with Bedouins in Israel, so they perhaps have become more 'westernised' in their beliefs than the ones in Egypt for eg. ?
 
I still do the foot-tap after dropping a blade or scissors, especially sharp ones. This is an old tailoring superstition.
As I'm so clumsy it gets a regular airing. :chuckle:
 
There was a moment over Christmas lunch when my son in law passed me a pair of scissors and I had a brief thought along the lines of 'that means a relationship will be broken' and hoped it wouldn't be the one between him and my daughter. Then I couldn't remember where I'd ever heard that, or whether I'd just invented it myself.
 
catseye said:
There was a moment over Christmas lunch when my son in law passed me a pair of scissors and I had a brief thought along the lines of 'that means a relationship will be broken' and hoped it wouldn't be the one between him and my daughter. Then I couldn't remember where I'd ever heard that, or whether I'd just invented it myself.
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Yup, you're supposed to put a blade or scissors down and let the other person pick them up. :nods:
 
We gave Escet and her Mister some sharp blades for xmas and of course demanded a coin each in exchange. We received coppers they'd found on metal-detecting runs. Battered but still legal tender! :nods:
 
Floyd1 said:
As the Lord says, the reason I know of is that they believe it captures their soul. I'm not sure if that in itself is linked to other beliefs though.
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If this is the case, why doesn’t the devil send his minions out to take pictures of everybody… or more worrying, did the Devil come up with the Photo Me booth?
 
escargot said:
We gave Escet and her Mister some sharp blades for xmas and of course demanded a coin each in exchange. We received coppers they'd found on metal-detecting runs. Battered but still legal tender! :nods:
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I thought that if you gave someone a purse or wallet, you put a coin or a note in it to generate wealth. Knives as gifts, I’ve always been given to understand sever the friendship.
That said, years ago I gave a penknife to a friend as an Xmas present. He had a very bad time and decided to hang himself and then, before it was too late, realised he had a knife in his pocket.
Little things we do can have massive impact.
 
Analogue Boy said:
If this is the case, why doesn’t the devil send his minions out to take pictures of everybody… or more worrying, did the Devil come up with the Photo Me booth?
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Satan owns the Passport Office.
 
If I'm hoping for a favourable outcome - gaining a job, getting a new home - I apply ... then attempt not to think of it until a resolution.
It is, of course, damn difficult - these are important situations - but I really really try to forget it; I've done my best and that's all the input I can get.
I suppose it 'armours' me against disappointment.
Never does though.
 
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