Supertitious - adjective

Spiritual Humour

Superstitious - adjective:

I�m not a superstitious person. I frequently walk under ladders and make a fuss of black cats. Sometimes, to be different, I walk under black cats and make a fuss of ladders.
     I went on a fishing trip recently and was informed by the boat owner that it was considered bad-form to whistle on a boat, it�s fine to be seasick over the deck, but don�t whistle at the same time. Never put new shoes on a table, there�s another oddity. Avoid placing muddy wellies on a table, well now, that makes perfect sense, and not wearing stilettos in a paddling pool, yes, I�m with you all the way, but new shoes on a table? No, I don�t get it.
      Who invents superstitions anyway? How do they come into common use? I suppose most are handed down from generation to generation. My granny was terribly superstitious; I frequently asked her to lend me �13 and she always refused. In fact she seemed superstitious of all the numbers between one and infinity, the tight old miser!
      Sometimes there is historical evidence for a superstition. Friday 13th � for example, is considered unlucky and although there are a number of theories, it almost certainly stems from when the French King - Philip IV ordered the arrest and torture of the powerful and wealthy Knights Templars on Friday 13th October 1307.
     Incidentally, fear of Friday 13th is known as �paraskavedekatriaphobia.� However, if you were born on Friday 13th this then becomes your lucky day.

Other superstitions can be �imported variations� from another country. Confetti is the Italian word for sweets, which they thrown at weddings. So how come, over here, we throw litter instead of toffees at the happy couple? Giving shoes to the newly-weds was considered good luck and this customs dates from Tudor times. This would have changed to bad luck of course, if they had placed them on a table! Isn�t it confusing?
Black cats are generally considered lucky in this country and regularly appear on good luck cards, although they have long had an association with witches.

I think I�d better not start believing in superstitions, I know it would soon get out of hand; I�d have to knock on wood before cleaning my teeth, say white rabbits on the first of every month and I�d be forever picking up pennies. So I shall not be searching the lawn for four-leaf clovers to bring me luck. I�m content to make my own luck and believe that everything will turn out precisely as it should... Fingers crossed.

Believing in the supernatural and in the power of particular things to bring good or bad luck. Spiritual Writer Nick Richardson takes a look...