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We have had a spate of 'losings' lately. My daughter has lost a pendant. It is silver with magical symbols and is the only one in Britain so shouldn't be confused with anything else! She also lost her entire pay packet some months back, only finding it last week inside a box containing a gift for her brother who's away. I have lost several brand new pairs of socks, unworn. Other stuff has gone too, all left in safe places such as drawers and work surfaces.
I will ask briskly for them back, wearing no shoes, in the hour after sunset on an odd-numbered day of the month.
 
Foor whatever reason a quick prayer to St Anthony and a polite request to have it returned usually works - so I've been told
 
St Antony is the patron saint of things lost and found, personly I find St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes to have more effect!!!
 
When I was a child I always wished I were Catholic instead of boring, staid old CofE. RC seemed to have more razzamataz about it - all those rosary beads, statues of saints, priests who wore long dresses and, of course the Corpus Christi procession where you got to walk along the street, looking smug and wearing a posh white frock and shoes.

Carole
 
I find what you say very interesting carole. Because, although I consider that I am an agnostic, I also consider that I am a C of E agnostic.

Which I suppose means, that I remain with an inclination towards Anglican doctrine & ritual.
 
Let me go, officer, it's Corpus Christi, I tell you and I'm a
practising Catholic!

Posh white frock? What this old thing? Come on and help me
burn these candles both ends. Let's procession all night! :madeyes:
 
James, you've been at the communion wine again!

Ooh, and I forgot the little veils and the white gloves!

Wonder if I was someone particularly religious in a previous life, cause I also love the smell of incense and the sound of Gregorian chants and plainsong . . . erm, I'll just get me cassock!

Carole
 
elves? gremlins?

What does everyone here know about elves/gremlins/pixies etc.? I read somehwere, probably on this message board, that they take peoples belongings and get great joy seeing our frustration. I know this sounds odd, but ever since we have moved into our house, things always go missing. Recently, a library book has gone, and is overdue, so i'm in trouble. it is probably just been put away somewhere, but honest to god, we have literally looked evrywhere. does anybody have any advice? excuse me if i sound like a nut.

xander.
 
Try standing in the middle of the room, and saying something like:
"We've both had a good laugh, but can I have the book back now please?" You never know, it might work, (or your partner might have you sectioned) ;)
 
The above is good advice and should work.

Also, you might consider that you have been looking at the library book all along but failed to recognise it.

For example, you may remember it as having a red cover when in fact it has a blue one, or you may see what you think is your old copy of 'Oliver Twist' on the shelf but in your panic fail to remember that your cousin borrowed that and the library book resembles it...

You ought to renew the library book over the phone while you search further. Most libraries will let you do this.

Can you tell that this has happened to me???
 
It unusual to have elves native to Essex. I think they prefer Scandinavia and Iceland.
 
Even elves need a holiday now and then Adam :)

This has happened to me many times and usually the object in question has turned up after I'd asked for it back - often, as Escargot said it was apparently hiding in plain view. I'd still like to know where my tattered old tiger (fluffy toy, not the real thing!) disappeared to though.

Jane.
 
I think it is Saint Anthony you're supposed to pray to, and the things will appear again.
 
annoying.

thanks for the advice breakfast. i shall try that later tonight. i doubt my parents will put me away, they already think im insane, and they havent done anything yet. also, escargot, trust me, our entire family have looked evrywhere for it. i know exactly what it looks like and alas, i am unable to renew it because i have had it too long; i got a 'stiff' letter from the library asking for it back. we have looked everywhere, it seems to defy all knowledge. and essex isnt that bad, actually, yeh it is.
thanks for your help.

xander.
 
Xanatic said:
I think it is Saint Anthony you're supposed to pray to, and the things will appear again.

Or, St Jude, who is the patron saint of lost causes!!!!!!!
 
Or pin the devil - stick a pin in a chair and say 'I pin the devil' and you will find it . My mother did this a couple of weeks ago and found what she had been looking for ( literally for two weeks ) in seconds . She didn't take the pin out and I caught myself on it !
 
escargot said:
The above is good advice and should work.

Also, you might consider that you have been looking at the library book all along but failed to recognise it.

I was once mucking about with my computer, connecting it to drum machines and samplers that kind of thing. Anyway whilst in the process I lost a connector, I knew I had put it down somewhere on my desk but could not for the life of me see it.

As frustration started to turn into anger, I took a deep breath and called my girlfriend into the room. I explained the situation, that this connector was somewhere near to the computer and that I was so wound up I was not going to find it in a million years. My gf looked down at the desk and pointed to the connector, 'there it is'.

'Thank you dear', and sweetness and light returned once more. Sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes.
 
I know this has been touched on elsewhere, but what is the best way of finding lost objects?

Does anyone have a good "trick" for it aside from manually searching every inch of the entire area?
 
Totally forget about the thing you've lost and look for something else
Failing that buy a new one and the original will turn up immediately! (Success ratio for this is directly proportional to the value)
Oh, and don't forget to lose the receipt for the replacement so you can't get your money back!
 
the last place you look is the first place you looked (hope thats sorted you out)
 
What I tend to do is go off and do something else but set myself a mental trigger. So I go off to do something else but I think to myself (knowing that I will make a cup of tea at some point), when I hear the kettle boil I will remember where I left it. Works most of the time. But you have to distact yourself enough first.
 
If it is a big thing (we have all had those moments - you know the TV is sitting in the middle of the room but you cannot see it...) then turn off the lights and walk blindly through the room. The effectiveness of this is directly proportional to the damage it will do to your shins. Solid metal objects have an almost 100% success rate while cushions and teddies are closer to 1% or less.

If however you suspect that it was 'taken' stand in the room and ask politely for the object to be returned.


Yes, this is most effective when no-one is there. For some reason, beings like ghosts and faeries seem to like taking things and putting them back where they found them after you have looked there and given up.
 
Or you could make an offering to Saint Anthony if you believe in that kind of thing... (I personally prefer the "ask politely" method)
 
Not utterly on-topic, but I'll quote this passage from *Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson* [Well-known author, *The Lottery* & *The Haunting of Hill House*, eg, also a woman who was seriously into witchcraft].

"The one trick Joanne remembered best had not to do with dark spells but with kitchenware. All the small kitchen tools---
the peelers, can openers, knives, and so on---were crammed into one drawer on top of each other. Whenever Shirley wanted one, she would slam the drawer hard, call out the name of the tool, and open the drawer. The desired implement would always be on top."
 
taras said:
Or you could make an offering to Saint Anthony if you believe in that kind of thing... (I personally prefer the "ask politely" method)

I've heard lots of versions of the "Prayer" to St. Anthony, but I've found it works if you just go "St. Anthony of Padua, can I have my stuff back please? Cheers". But don't call him "Ant" that really annoys him and he'll return your stuff covered in this strange sticky substance...humm
 
Laton said:
If it is a big thing (we have all had those moments - you know the TV is sitting in the middle of the room but you cannot see it...) then turn off the lights and walk blindly through the room. The effectiveness of this is directly proportional to the damage it will do to your shins. Solid metal objects have an almost 100% success rate while cushions and teddies are closer to 1% or less.
The same technique will work with small, delicate objects, only the chance of success is directly proportional to exactly how fragile and difficult to replace the object is. It's remarkaly effective with bone china, for example.

Originally posted by pinklefish
But don't call him "Ant" that really annoys him and he'll return your stuff covered in this strange sticky substance...humm

How about Tony? Is that OK? We need to document the correct terms of address for Saints.
 
Retracing my steps always helps me to find things. I usually left said object somewhere along my path!
 
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