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Personal Superstitions

I don't consider myself to be superstitious, but I do the saluting magpies thing (not terribly easy on a motorbike - have to do it left handed, which would make any CPO scream bloody murder ;)), and I touch wood (the unpainted underside, if possible), and I always try and put all my clothes on right side first i.e. right foot, right leg, right arm etc. These are now so ingrained, I'd class them as habits rather than superstitions - I don't have a massive panic if I don't or can't do any of them, I just go "oh, well," and carry on.

The only area I am superstitious, and I would think a lot of people are the same, is when it applies to sports. I always used to have to have a pastie in the football ground before a match, because I'd had one once, and we'd won against the odds. It sort of worked for a bit, too, but it had to be a hot cornish pasty from in the ground - a Ginster's bought from elsewhere wouldn't do (as I found out on an awayday trip to Goodison Park :().

Also, I can't take any form of celebratory post-match goods when I'm playing, because I did that for the first match of my managerial career at university, and we got whopped 4-0. Never took lager again, and in the return fixture we stuffed them back 7-0. Ended the season 3rd, and with a cup semi-final as well!

And I never used to be able to watch footie on TV, because the team I wanted to win ALWAYS lost. As a result, I ended up listening to the '87 FA Cup Final on the radio. Which turned out all right - IN YOUR FACE YOU LILLYWHITES!

When I said I wasn't superstitious, it seems I was lying.

(can you say Garry Mabbut's knee? I thought you could!) :D
 
I have one of those very tiny radio Walkmans and two things about it drive me mad. One is that I have to untangle ALL knots and twists in the earphone wires, and the other is that the earpieces HAVE to go into the correct left/right ears. :confused:

Dunno what'd happen if I didn't do these things- never dared risk it. :eek:
 
i do that, too, escargot. i never thought of it being a compulsion or anything, i just thought it made good sense.

when presented with a meal containing several "elements", eg a roast dinner, i have a habit of eating each one in turn. so i eat, like, all the peas, then all the carrots, then all the potatoes. i only realised this was weird when i was presented with peas and sweetcorn mixed together and found myself separating them out into one pile of peas and one pile of sweetcorn.
 
I don't have any superstitions. If I had to salute every magpie I see I'd be flapping my arms around all day every day because there are loads of them where I live. ;)
 
i always applaud in groups of 3. no reason, but i've been doing it as long as i can remember
:confused:
 
The Virgin Queen said:
I'm going to sound weird here but...

I have to tap out rythems.

For instance: Second fingure...well you tap that once, middle fingure twice, third fingure three times and then you reverce it.

Actuyaly I havn't done that for over a year...perhaps I'm not so mentaly ill these days? :confused:
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o yea, that reminds me of this. i dont do it anymore. but i used to tap my fingers as i sung songs in my head, and i had rules. if i was tapping out a passage, i was only allowed to skip one finger. ( eg. pointer to ring) and i would make sure i started and ended on either the pointer of pinky finger, using rolls and/or embellishments to make it work out right if necessary lol
:eek!!!!:
 
This is a really strange superstition that my friend has. She has the "feeling" that there are rubberbands attached to her heels since she was born and wherever she goes, she imagines them following, winding around things etc. Sometimes she tries to imagine how long they must be and where they have been as even if she flies they keep stretching and stretching and going places.
I asked her if they "behaved" logically, i.e if she walks around the room will they behave like lines and follow all her movements or will they like rubberbands shorten unless she moves around an obstacle?
Well, she said considering they are rubberbands, they behave like them.
Obviously...
 
I'm not much of a superstitous person at all, really. Yet, just now, doing pre-trip checks, I wanted to make sure the little fold-up umbrella wasn't torn, the ribs not bent, etc. As I was about to open it, I suddenly thought "shouldn't do that". So I stepped out onto the back porch before doing so. Weird...

:confused:
 
coming in after midnight

I've always been told to enter the house walking backwards if I come in after midnight. This supposedly keeps the spirits that abound at that time from following you into the house.

I was also taught it is bad to lie down "head and tails." For example if two kids are reading or something on a bed and one lies down facing the bed's head while the other lies alongside facing the beds foot, it is supposed to be bad luck. Don't know why.

People here also do not tell people the real due date of their baby, nor do they name the baby before it's born. People are supposed to be able to harm the unborn child if they have such information. I think that's one superstition I will adhere to if I have kids...just in case.
 
I click my fingers when I see Magpies ( I swear the little buggers follow me around the park).I used to have this thing that if I touched something, I had to touch it with every finger of both hands, though I broke myself of that when I realised that was getting disturbingly close to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. When I'm not sure whether to do something or not, I toss a coin..that way, it's destiny's choice. Is that a superstition?

I also have superstition that the England football team will not lose if I see them play. And they never have, except for that France game...and that loss was disputed heavily...we would have won if Campbell's goal had been allowed...
 
Re: Superstitions

Andylkl said:
Leaving a door ajar while you sleep. Either you close it fully or open it fully. I never really know why I do it.
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I always close my door. if you leave it open, goodness knows what'll get in! Of course, I also have a neurosis that if I close the door, some unearthly being will start knocking on the other side, but if i put some music or tv or noise on straight away, the fear goes away (the goon show is good for scaring away demons). Although if that doesn't work, the door can be left open if the bathroom light is on...

I sound really screwed up, don't I?
 
Orbyn said:
Oh yeah -- EVERY time I blurt out my intentions for a project or idea, or voice my optimism about anything while it's in its formative stages -- without fail -- it comes to nothing. However, if I resist and keep it to myself, it normally works out all right.

I doubt anything mystical is going on, rather it's something to do with focus and confidence, but the fact that it's a self-defeating prophecy makes the case for upholding it even stronger.

With you there, Synthwerk.
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if i really really look forward to something, whether i voice my optimism or not, it's bound to not happen. as i result, i never mention anything that i'm looking forward to, or get excited about it until it actually happens
 
For as long as I can remember, when going upstairs I have leaned over and gone up the last two steps and the landing on all fours. For some reason I always feel that it is luckier doing it that way. I do try to restrain myself from doing it in public though ;)

Oddly enough, I recently found out that when my Mum was pregnant with me she used to do exactly the same thing, I think it was more to do with me being a heavy little sod than anything luck related. Still...weird coincidence.
 
I was told when young that it was bad luck to sing Christmas carols too far in advance of Christmas although this was probably my brother's way of getting his little sister to shut up. This has stayed with me, though, and I panic if I hear carols "too early" (usually before December 1st). I also feel uneasy about turning over the pages of a calendar in advance. I think this latter one relates to a fear of souring my luck by looking too far ahead, even if I just want to see if my birthday is going to be on a weekend or whatever.

As well, though it isn't a superstition...my mom told me never to wear a necklace and brooch at the same time, and it bothers me when I see other women doing it.
 
Yithian said:
Not sure if this one's cropped up before, but when in the Baltic States I was told by several people (in response to my friend, a smoker) that lighting cigarettes from a burning candle endangers sailors' lives. Not sure of the rationale or mechanism, but there you have it.

By the way, everyone should visit Tallinn in Estonia. It's beautiful.

EDIT: Perhaps Rynner can shed some light on this?
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Lighting Your Cigarette With a Candle Causes a Sailor to Die​
​
Since smoking is now prohibited in many public spaces it gets increasingly difficult to witness this strange superstition in practice. Nevertheless, don’t be surprised if people call you a “sailor killer” when using a candle to light your cigarette.​
​
What is the connection between candles and dead sailors? Well, it’s actually quite simply. In former times, when sailors were stuck on land during the hard winter months, they used to win their bread by making matches.​
​
Therefore, by failing to use a match to light your cigarette, you are inadvertently stealing the livelihood of a poor sailor somewhere, ultimately causing him to die from starvation. Strangely enough though, using electronic lighters seems to leave seamen unscathed.​
​

Germanic, apparently.
 
Let's see...

I always smash the eggshells after eating a boiled egg (much to Mr Zebra's continued amusement) because witches will sail in them and sink ships, apparently (so my Mum told me when I was younger, anyway, and I'd hate to take the risk).

Similarly (and also thanks to my Mum) I look like this :eek: if I see knives crossed and have to uncross them immediately - any other cutlery is fine, just knives.

I always have to open a crisp packet the right side up. No idea why, always have done, and Mr Zebra (who cares not one jot about such things) will quite happily sit eating out of an upside-down bag of crisps while I look on in abject horror.

I never like to tell anyone of our plans (e.g. buying house, going on holiday, going to concert) before it happens because I think that will cause bad luck and it won't happen.

If there is something special or important that I am putting away (in a drawer, or envelope, etc) I must look at the object as I close the drawer or slide it into the envelope to make sure it hasn't fallen out somewhere in between me placing it there and closing it. Sometimes this also involves me opening the drawer / removing the item from the envelope several times to be exactly sure that it really is in there and is safe.

There's other things but they're more OCD than superstition.:boh:
 
I have a few. Some are fairly common, saluting magpies and white horses, not turning over the calendar until the correct month, saying "white rabbits" on the first of the month. I've also picked up the Manx superstition of not saying "rat".

A couple of others are probably unique to me. I won't wear blue underwear, I'm convinced it's unlucky. I try to avoid blue clothes as much as I can but have now started to wear blue with a pattern but never plain blue. I also won't wear new clothes if I suspect I'm going t have a difficult day at work. I like to break them in first.

I pinch myself when I see a green car, you're supposed to pinch someone else but I'm always on my own. This last one was told to be a friend who grew up in what was East Germany but I'm not sure if it was an East German superstition or just one of hers.

Also, if I see a dead bird on the way to somewhere I know I'm going to have a really bad day.
 
I have most of the common ones, saluting/greeting magpies, the ladder thing, etc. I also wont pass someone on the stairs, thanks mum, also the new shoes on the table thing too...that one winds my missus up ( probably why I still insist on it...)
 
But look at Rafael Nadal yesterday: he has OCD which makes him get up to all sorts of superstitious behaviour (touching various parts of his body before serving or receiving, not stepping on the lines going on and off the court, his water bottles turned the same way, etc) - but he still lost! Suggesting personal superstitions aren't all they're cracked up to be.
 
Always greeting magpies - that's one that's just ingrained in me, I've never even really thought of it as a superstition, it's just something I've done since before I could remember, and that my Mam always does and just passed down to me. Saying that, I'll usually greet any cat that I see with a "good morning/evening", and I have no idea how that got started!

I also tend to apologise when stepping on snails, but that's just me being a big softy.

The only thing I can think of that would class as a personal superstition is that I hate going back on myself if I'm walking anywhere - I can't just turn around and go back the way I came, I have to walk round the block, or walk into a shop and potter around for the sole purpose of not having to turn around in the street and walk back the other way. If I can walk back from somewhere on a completely different route from the one I took to get there, within reason, I will.

I suspect it comes from a stubborn sense of not wanting to feel like I'm doing anything other than moving forward in life, and never going back on myself - though in reality, I'm just going round in circles, and that's probably more accurate! I have a similar superstition around New Year's Eve - if I can help it, I won't spend New Year in the same place two years in a row, as it feels like admitting that nothing's changed in the intervening year.
 
Isn't it more to do with the fact you look like a maniac if you turn 180 degrees while walking in the street?
 
One of my own small superstitions is the varying of routes when I travel to the same place each time. For instance, if I take the most direct route from home to town/work etc, I will always come home a different way. I've always done this, even when I was young. I've no idea why I do it.
 
heisenbear said:
One of my own small superstitions is the varying of routes when I travel to the same place each time. For instance, if I take the most direct route from home to town/work etc, I will always come home a different way. I've always done this, even when I was young. I've no idea why I do it.
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Sensible if you think you're being followed.

Anybody planing an attack or abduction will watch one leg of the journey and plan either to strike when next you make that same journey (the following day, perhaps) or on the return leg.
 
Anonymous said:
Today on the BBC Radio London Breakfast Show, Danny Baker polled callers for their personal superstitions, and I was wondering if anyone here had any interesting ones.

For example, one man had to reach the bottom of the stairs before the upstairs toilet finished flushing; Danny Baker himself admitted to not being able to watch a light go out. I'm sure I have a few -- just can't think of any off the top of my head.

Any takers?
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Never ever wash your laundry on New Years Day. This past New Year's my daughter made a point to finish her laundry before midnight and asked if it was alright to put away her clothes on New Years Day. To which I replied of course, this
Anonymous said:
Today on the BBC Radio London Breakfast Show, Danny Baker polled callers for their personal superstitions, and I was wondering if anyone here had any interesting ones.

For example, one man had to reach the bottom of the stairs before the upstairs toilet finished flushing; Danny Baker himself admitted to not being able to watch a light go out. I'm sure I have a few -- just can't think of any off the top of my head.

Any takers?
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I may be superstitious but I'm not crazy!
Anonymous said:
Today on the BBC Radio London Breakfast Show, Danny Baker polled callers for their personal superstitions, and I was wondering if anyone here had any interesting ones.

For example, one man had to reach the bottom of the stairs before the upstairs toilet finished flushing; Danny Baker himself admitted to not being able to watch a light go out. I'm sure I have a few -- just can't think of any off the top of my head.

Any takers?
Click to expand...
Never ever wash your laundry on New Years Day. It is said to bring sorrow, pain, and death.This past New Year's my daughter made it a point to finish her laundry before midnight and asked if it was alright to put away her clothes on New Years Day. To which I replied, of course I may be superstitious but I'm not crazy.
 
I sometimes pop to the Tesco garage on way home from work to pick up a cheapo sarnie or two or ready meal. If I collect a basket on way in, there's never anything reduced. If I don't there're loads. Every. Single. Time.
 
escargot said:
Just noticed that on a photo I took of one of my dogs, my jacket is clearly visible on the bed.

I can almost hear my long-dead Gran sucking in her breath in horror- you NEVER put a coat on a bed! Brings Death to the house! :eek:
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Dunno about death, but if you visit lots of hotels, it might bring home some unwelcome guests - namely bedbugs. I NEVER put my bag or coat on a hotel bed, I use that fold out stand thingy with the chromed legs that you find in hotel wardrobes. That's what it's for, they can't get up into your luggage and a free ride back to your house. I used to think that was all over-reaction until I stayed at a very posh hotel where several guests in our party were badly bitten and had to have their homes treated afterwards.
I have since found out how a severe infestation involves the creatures filling up edges of beds and furniture, waiting the opportunity to feed, or set sail for shores anew on a casually chucked coat. Experts can SMELL an infestation in otherwise ordinary-looking rooms. Not the kind of lodgers you want invading your home (erm, the bedbugs, not the experts)
 
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