Your Superstitions and Strange Beliefs - or how to ward off bad luck, wicked juju, and the evil eye

[PandaChai]

Share the eccentric things you believe or odd rituals you perform, whether to spite Satan, thwart vengeful ghosts, protect yourself from malaria, or whatever else it is you  think know will happen if you don't.

My own would be throwing a few grains over my left shoulder when salt is spilled (into the Devil's face), crossing myself when I see an ambulance (so I'm never in one), and saluting a single spied magpie three times (to avoid sorrow slipping in).

Of course writing them out I realise I sound like a mad old bastard.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

i wouldn't wear a dead man's ring or something like that. i don't even think its healthy keeping a lot of dead people's personal stuff . If i was dead , became a spirit and caught someone touching my sketchbooks and using my things i'd probably reeeee from the grave and curse them.

 

[Wyzzerd]

I only drive at night because of feds.

 

[retard strength II]

Must get into bed before the monsters grab my ankles from under the bed. Does not apply if
1) lights on
2) already half-asleep

 

[Agamemnon Busmalis]

No way am I going downstairs at night without the lights on. I got those little LED strips for the stairs to serve as a night-light. Ghosts can get fucked.

I also stay out of the woods during the early afternoon to avoid pissing off Pan or other nature spirits said to rest during that time of day. It's the weirdest feeling knowing you are not alone and something doesn't want you there. Not hostile or evil, more like "go away and don't bother me right now". It can also very peaceful and welcoming as long as you respect the forest and don't do shitty things like litter or unnecessarily harm plants or animals, but there's something there.

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

I'm not scared of black cats, broken mirrors, or walking under ladders, but DO NOT FUCK WITH OUIJA BOARDS.

This one falls under the principle of "be careful what you wish for". If you ask a spirit to show up, you might catch the attention of something that's more than you bargained for.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

I (only half jokingly) talk about protecting our house from vampires.

I have multiple sterling silver items and keep garlic around all the time.

 

[Super Saiyan Hitler]

I guess that the strangest thing that I believe in is hypnosis. That also influences my disbelief in the supernatural. If a person can be hypnotized to not see a person or to forget their children, then it's absolutely possible that they can imagine ghosts or other weird events. Especially when they have pre-existing beliefs that are similar to hypnotic suggestions.

 

[Peanut Butter in Peril]

I keep my distance from ouija boards. To me, there's way too much of a risk of getting something else.

I also avoid playing the Skyward Sword entry of Zelda. The two times I've played it, towards the middle or end the game, I had extremely distressing problems burst into my life and since then I absolutely do not play it.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Like a lot of posters here, Ouija boards. I genuinely believe they work, but you are instead contacting a literal demon who's impersonating a dead person.

I believe demons exist, and they're an actively malevolent force in the world. I think people make two grave mistakes with demons: the first is disbelieving in them. The second is believing in them and becoming fascinated with them.

 

[RACISM]

I believe the presence of niggers heralds an onslaught of bad luck and misfortune.

 

[NoReturn]

Off the top of my head:

• Never wish harm on another that you aren't willing to suffer yourself.
• Don't kill anything unless you're going to eat it, it's a mercy, or it was planning on eating or killing you.
  • This is the "mosquito clause"
• No eating land carnivores, omnivores are taken on a by-case basis.
  • Don't know why, this one just feels horribly wrong to me on some level I can't explain.
• Hair should be uncovered unless you're hiding from the sun or something.

I have multiple sterling silver items and keep garlic around all the time.

This is actually to your benefit regardless of whether vampires exist.
Silver is antimicrobial to the point where you can put a silver coin on a wound to prevent infection and accelerate healing. I can't speak to the efficacy of colloidal silver, though, I've only ever experimented with surface-level silver use and the times I did try it for illness it made no obvious difference other than making my breath stinky.
Garlic is also antimicrobial and antiparasitic.

 

[Caesare]

Garlic is also antimicrobial and antiparasitic.

And it tastes great.

 

[Otterly]

I keep my distance from ouija boards.

This one is odd because the most atheist, rational person in my life, who doesn’t believe in any of ‘that nonsense’ is also the most anti ouija board. They will never say what happened, but it cleared scared them.

Hair should be uncovered unless you're hiding from the sun or something.

Or it’s -20 and the wind is giving you a frozen brain headache.
Another salt over left shoulder magpie chanter here. It’s hard to escape the things you were brought up with. There’s a lot from my part of the world that i grew up around. Not saying I believe all these but they’re rife where I live.
Certain plants must never be brought indoors, including blossom, especially cherry and hawthorn.
Umbrellas should never open inside
Horseshoe over the door will stave off the devil, but it must be u shape (this is a very very old one that transcends cultures) not pointing down
Never walk under ladders
Breaking mirrors is seven years bad luck
Almost all old buildings have some kind of thing built into them to stave off witches. Either a witch bottle, or a cat holed up in the rafters or shoes or something.
First footing is still a thing where I live now.
A bird crapping on you is good luck (I feel this is cope.)
Never pass on the stairs
Never have two people pour from the same teapot.
Knocking on wood.
Never cut both ends off the loaf.
I can’t think of any more, but the elderly where I grew up are still really suspicious. Witches figure a lot. It must have been something people really worried about.

 

[NOT Sword Fighter Super]

Off the top of my head:

• Never wish harm on another that you aren't willing to suffer yourself.
• Don't kill anything unless you're going to eat it, it's a mercy, or it was planning on eating or killing you.
  • This is the "mosquito clause"
• No eating land carnivores, omnivores are taken on a by-case basis.
  • Don't know why, this one just feels horribly wrong to me on some level I can't explain.
• Hair should be uncovered unless you're hiding from the sun or something.

This is actually to your benefit regardless of whether vampires exist.
Silver is antimicrobial to the point where you can put a silver coin on a wound to prevent infection and accelerate healing. I can't speak to the efficacy of colloidal silver, though, I've only ever experimented with surface-level silver use and the times I did try it for illness it made no obvious difference other than making my breath stinky.
Garlic is also antimicrobial and antiparasitic.

I want a silver water pitcher for this exact reason.
The ancient Greeks used to do this because they realized that water put in them wouldn't spoil.
Too bad they're like $600.
I can justify buying actual pieces of silverware here and there and buying a $90 silver chalice (for real, I'll post pictures later), but I just can't bring myself to spend that much on something that's basically a goof.

At least it would hold its value, though.

 

[PandaChai]

Just realised others I do; covering mirrors when they're not being used, (like Otterly) knocking on wood, indoor umbrella-opening, and not passing on stairs, only greenery in the house (or church) during Advent, not crossing knives (it causes arguments at the dinner table), and believing the hour of 3AM to 4AM being unlucky. I don't like 13 or 666 either, I would add or remove something from my shopping if the total was one of those.

Two my family believe but I don't are about not putting shoes on a table or new shoes on a bed, no idea what those are about.

Edited to add I also genuflect to my home Crucifix when passing it, which I know is wrong, you genuflect to the Tabernacle, but I don't often have consecrated Hosts in the house.

 

[I'm Retarded?]

I'm not scared of black cats, broken mirrors, or walking under ladders, but DO NOT FUCK WITH OUIJA BOARDS.

This one falls under the principle of "be careful what you wish for". If you ask a spirit to show up, you might catch the attention of something that's more than you bargained for.

I'm personally skeptical about paranormal shit but also generally agnostic. I personally don't believe in demon possession or malicious ghost hauntings or whatever but you won't catch me fucking with spells or exploring abandoned torture asylums or whatever to prove a point. I'm not gonna be that retarded horror movie character who's totally sure that shit isn't real until they stupidly get themselves cursed by a devil hell murder ghost. fucking with angry dead people just seems super rude anyway

 

[NoReturn]

Or it’s -20 and the wind is giving you a frozen brain headache.

Oh good point, cold too. I guess I could amend it to "Head protection from danger of any kind is sane and good."

Certain plants must never be brought indoors, including blossom, especially cherry and hawthorn.

Bad luck?

Almost all old buildings have some kind of thing built into them to stave off witches. Either a witch bottle, or a cat holed up in the rafters or shoes or something.

Isn't the Abbey at Iona built on top of a guy named Odran? (Not St. Odran, just a man who had the same name)

First footing is still a thing where I live now.

What's that?

I can’t think of any more, but the elderly where I grew up are still really suspicious. Witches figure a lot. It must have been something people really worried about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEe_pRRVAsM

I want a silver water pitcher for this exact reason.
The ancient Greeks used to do this because they realized that water put in them wouldn't spoil.
Too bad they're like $600.
I can justify buying actual pieces of silverware here and there and buying a $90 silver chalice (for real, I'll post pictures later), but I just can't bring myself to spend that much on something that's basically a goof.

At least it would hold its value, though.

Would a silver-plated pitcher work?

Just realised others I do; covering mirrors when they're not being used, (like Otterly)

I do not like how many different places and cultures all agree that there are Things that live/exist on the other side of the mirror. Everyone can fuck right off with that.

believing the hour of 3AM to 4AM being unlucky.

It's because it sucks.

Two my family believe but I don't are about not putting shoes on a table or new shoes on a bed, no idea what those are about.

Dirty and gross.

 

[BeetleBug242]

Skin walkers are real and there is divine punishment.

 

[Shidoen]

Whenever I go camping or in the woods I believe you must first dig a hole to shit in and then bury it. If you don’t a wild animal may sniff it to catch your scent and chase after you. It’s weird but I always believed that.