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

[PandaChai]

It's all well and good for grown adults, but children need to eat dirt, drink from the garden hose and roll around in general muck & filth to build their immune systems. Disinfecting everything in sight and swaddling them in plastic-wrap on the rare occasion they do leave the house only leads to weak, disease-prone, allergy-ridden wretches.

 

[NoReturn]

It's all well and good for grown adults, but children need to eat dirt, drink from the garden hose and roll around in general muck & filth to build their immune systems. Disinfecting everything in sight and swaddling them in plastic-wrap on the rare occasion they do leave the house only leads to weak, disease-prone, allergy-ridden wretches.

Also, hey, pro-tip: If your baby is very averse to "germs" and "dirty" things without ever being taught what germs are yet, maybe get that kid screened for OCD.
It's not "Oh my kid is just fastidious" or a little quirk, it gets worse if you don't treat it.

 

[Sonalee Rashitwar]

Weird rituals: I have been around sailing a LOT, including in very bad and cold weather. It’s an interesting and niche subculture that’s kind of an isolate, as it was in a specific area I won’t name for doxxing. Known for unpredictable weather.

You don’t fucking whistle on a boat. Don’t leave port on a Friday. And don’t leave someone behind.

The whistling is because of a superstition that doing so “causes” wind. So, generally, don’t do it in case you bring on a storm. Only the trip leader is usually allowed to whistle on board, and only during calm weather.

I don’t know why we never left for a trip on a Friday, or why it’s bad, but it literally never happened. Sometimes we would wait until midnight or 5 am Saturday instead.

And there was this interesting cultural thing I think the world needs more of now. If someone needed help, you helped. If friends or community found out, for instance, that you left someone with a damaged craft or one that couldn’t stand the weather, somewhere, or didn’t answer a general distress call near you, you were a piece of shit. And as it was also difficult to always take along and preserve food, if someone visits you, or even if a stranger is nosing around your campfire or grill, you damn well better at least offer food or ask if they need something.

 

[Unsane]

No personal superstitions or weird beliefs to speak of.

But, my wife is from SE Asia and between my wife and her mum, they really bring super-freaking-superstition to a whole new level. I'm very tolerant, which is a bonus.

 

[Waifu Days]

No personal superstitions or weird beliefs to speak of.

But, my wife is from SE Asia and between my wife and her mum, they really bring super-freaking-superstition to a whole new level. I'm very tolerant, which is a bonus.

Deets?

(As the kids would say)

 

[Unsane]

Deets?

Too many to recall because it's a constant stream of nonsense, but amusing.

Deets?

One of the neighbours died during the night and that was deemed lucky. Something to do with the passing of luck and money to the remaining family, but is so bonkers that I can't keep up.

Fallacy does take up a lot of their time, but it does make me chuckle.

 

[Sonalee Rashitwar]

No personal superstitions or weird beliefs to speak of.

But, my wife is from SE Asia and between my wife and her mum, they really bring super-freaking-superstition to a whole new level. I'm very tolerant, which is a bonus.

Any weird health concoctions or beliefs? I had a best friend as a kid who was Indian-American. She kind of took me in; avoiding PL but there was neglect at my own home/people not home a lot, to the point where I got sick and her family would notice first. Let’s just say we both got a lot of Ayurvedic so-called cures. It ranged from “okay, this actually has some efficacy” to stuff that was really fucking out there.

I still sometimes do honey and turmeric “shots” for colds and sore throats, but no, I really don’t think yoga is a cure-all.

 

[Waifu Days]

Show me a theatre (the stage more than film) and there is at least one ghost. I don't know if I believe on ghost but I am certain something supernatural was going on at every venue I've performed at. Odd noises, things going missing, etc.

 

[Mourning_Cloak]

This is my belief on why other people believe X theory over Y theory relating to spirits.

Two theories put forth to explain why what we believe are ghosts/spirits and "hauntings" aren't actually that are ONE: because time is a human construct, time itself will "glitch out" and people that existed in your location 100 years in the past will sometimes appear to people there in the present (think seeing a Victorian child run through your backyard in present day London)** and TWO: there are indefinite different universes/planes of existence that occur at the same time, and occasionally these overlap, which results in apparitions (the apparitions of what you think are your deceased relative is just your deceased relative who is still living in another universe clipping through into our current universe).

People believe the latter two over the more simple one (dead people souls) because they sound more scientific. We are taught to Believe the Science™ and that science means control and stability, at least in a basic sense. Ghosts being the souls of people (and animals) that have died means that there is a "life" after death and that we may actually have to answer for what we did while alive in some way. Specific religions aside, there would have to be some kind of higher power. Ghosts being tied to a specific location, seemingly stuck in a "loop" due to unfinished business or not realizing they are deceased is particularly scary because that means we could be stuck in a weird purgatory rather than heaven or hell, and our passage into somewhere else is likely reliant on the assistance of the living. You can't really "control" the apparitions that stop by from other universes but ghosts often present themselves as having sentience, emotions, motives, etc. just like living people. When I was telling an acquaintance about my experiences with what I believe to be ghosts, #2 was his response, one he was extremely adamant about. It was almost like he was using it as cope.

** Time is a human construct sure, but it is a construct in that we assign values to the passage of time. For example, we decided that a year is 365 days, and that a single day is one day and night cycle. What if we decided a year was actually 400 days? An single hour is 85 minutes instead of 60? One minute is 30 seconds instead of 60? Therefore all our "time math" would be different. This is why I don't really put stock into #1 because while our values are a construct, time itself is not. The past is still the past.

 

[Sonalee Rashitwar]

Also, odd funeral superstitions. You absolutely have to be buried with money or two pieces of silver based jewelry. Has to be at least two of whatever it is. Sometimes also bury people with silverware, blankets, or a favorite piece of warm clothing. It’s almost Norse/pagan, but family and I will do it as part of a normal service. It seems we do believe there is a journey there, and it may not be easy.

I worry that a relative or pet will get stuck on the way to the afterlife, because you have to pay the ferry. Irrational, I know. I put down a cat at home and felt the need to do the super weird little rituals, because he just looked so helpless.

He was only about 11 pounds, so I put him in a homemade basket with a blanket, toy, and two coins. I didn’t want him to get stuck or be cold.

My in-laws don’t believe this, so if I get the chance, I drop money discreetly in the coffin or gravesite.

 

[Gruel Ghoul]

My grandmother ingrained this fear into me when I was a kid over whistling at night. She always told me that the witches/devil/fairies would come. It was a different monster every time. To this day I sperg out if I'm out late at night and one of my friends starts whistling a song.

Come to find out later in life, it's a commonly held belief that whistling at night = bad omen is a thing in Japan and the Navajo nation. Not just something grandma made up. Spooky.

 

[cipheranarchist]

Two things, actually. Whenever I return to my apartment I always jiggle the door handle to ensure it's not been tampered with. And I always leave one particular object in a specific place which I know would be moved if the CIA raided my home. Note: The CIA have not yet found me.

 

[NoReturn]

My grandmother ingrained this fear into me when I was a kid over whistling at night. She always told me that the witches/devil/fairies would come. It was a different monster every time. To this day I sperg out if I'm out late at night and one of my friends starts whistling a song.

Come to find out later in life, it's a commonly held belief that whistling at night = bad omen is a thing in Japan and the Navajo nation. Not just something grandma made up. Spooky.

I'm telling you man.
If you go to a new place and someone says there's a monster in the park, maybe he's crazy.
If multiple people tell you there's a monster in the park, there's probably something dangerous in there.
If EVERYONE says it, then you stay out of the park.

 

[PandaChai]

I'm telling you man.
If you go to a new place and someone says there's a monster in the park, maybe he's crazy.
If multiple people tell you there's a monster in the park, there's probably something dangerous in there.
If EVERYONE says it, then you stay out of the park.

Outta my way gay boy, I'm getting me some monster pussy

edit: I have been torn limb from limb and my soul is stuck forever silently screaming in a terrible fae forest of unknowable torture.

 

[No Batty Boys in Jamaica]

Come to find out later in life, it's a commonly held belief that whistling at night = bad omen is a thing in Japan and the Navajo nation. Not just something grandma made up. Spooky.

Didn’t know that. I think I might know a reason.

I can see how it’d attract trouble at night. Many people whistle when they’re nervous, which could tip off some bad actor that the person is vulnerable to get robbed or killed. And back when dangerous beasts were still around, whistling could attract one unintentionally. The cougar/tiger/leopard comes thinking “I’m gonna kill this bird for a quick snack” and then sees a human that might not be a terrible target. When it comes to humans, most predators see us as a toss-up. Cougars and bears can easily kill a lone human, but they expend a lot of energy doing it. But bringing one over by whistling will have it sizing the person up.

Here’s a video showing how creepy a mountain lion call sounds. The guys in the video fortunately have guns.

I’ve heard singing is good. Especially in groups. Indicates to bad actors that there’s a group of people and they’re all in good spirits. Also lets neutral parties know you come in peace. That’s where campfire songs come from.

Anyone follow David Paulides? All of his work has mundane explanations but I still think it’s spooky as hell. He thinks that Bigfoot is what kills the hikers. But really half the kids who go missing are autistic, and even verbal autists have a tendency to wander off and not understand danger. The ones who inexplicably show up miles away were just lucky, and have difficulty describing where they went. Abductions still happen too, and were fairly common until the 2000s.

The missing adult hikers were probably just in the wrong part of the Dunning-Kruger curve and didn’t recognize they were in a survival situation until it was too late.

He also has some thing about random stairways to nowhere in the middle of the woods.

 

[Flaming_Barghast]

This is very common with both sailors and cat owners- trust the fucking cat. Over licking? Thunder storm. Zoomies? Extreme change in pressure, so if it's warm, expect a cold front. If cold, expect a sudden warm front, which usually means it being stupid windy. More lazy? Calm day.
Kitty super itchy but doesn't have an underlying health condition? Possible drout conditions. Cat yeowling but insisting on hiding but isn't sick or injured, is acting scared, but nothing off is in the house? Go to the basement. Go to the fucking basement you are going to have a fucking tornado. I've had it happen 3 times, and every time the cats did that.
That or a ghost. I tend to lean on severe weather storms though.
They're so sensitive to the weather and I will swear on my life with this.

I always have to knock on wood if I say something jinx worthy, without fail.
(This one's more silly) my husband is Irish, I didn't used to have any superstitions regarding fae but fuck do I now. If something I originally lost suddenly just appears some place I know for a fact wasn't there before, I leave a bowl of cream out. (Something you do for brownies, house fae) I also learned my lesson about making fun of faeries out loud. Do it, I dare you. You'll lose your phone for like... the next 3 days even while apologizing, if you're lucky.

I live in an area with "the little people of the praries", or basically goblins but demonoid and more related to native american beliefs. We also have a huge superstition about going through a certain subset of mountains, both natives and farmers do it, as well as anyone else that passes through that specific area and knows about it. You offer beer, tobacco, or beads. No food, ever. If I remember right it disturbs the grounds by attracting animals, which in turn attracts certain mythological creatures that you reaaaally don't want around.

 

[std::string]

Anyone follow David Paulides? All of his work has mundane explanations but I still think it’s spooky as hell. He thinks that Bigfoot is what kills the hikers. But really half the kids who go missing are autistic, and even verbal autists have a tendency to wander off and not understand danger. The ones who inexplicably show up miles away were just lucky, and have difficulty describing where they went. Abductions still happen too, and were fairly common until the 2000s.

Paulides is funny because he tries so hard to give off this air of objectivity when it's obvious he thinks everyone is being abducted by Bigfoot who can turn invisible and teleport to granite outcroppings.

Yeah I'm not really sure that's the most plausible explanation for why that one hunter with Alzheimer's went missing in the middle of the woods.

 

[PandaChai]

Paulides is funny because he tries so hard to give off this air of objectivity when it's obvious he thinks everyone is being abducted by Bigfoot who can turn invisible and teleport to granite outcroppings.

Yeah I'm not really sure that's the most plausible explanation for why that one hunter with Alzheimer's went missing in the middle of the woods.

Seconded, watching Missing Enigma and Lore Lodge really made me start taking anything Paulides says with a great big boulder of granite salt.

 

[Shidoen]

Two things, actually. Whenever I return to my apartment I always jiggle the door handle to ensure it's not been tampered with. And I always leave one particular object in a specific place which I know would be moved if the CIA raided my home. Note: The CIA have not yet found me.

I just plant explosives like a courteous neighbor.

 

[NoReturn]

He also has some thing about random stairways to nowhere in the middle of the woods.

The stairs are 100% real, but I've heard the explanation that it's because stairs are surprisingly sturdy, so if someone builds a house in the woods and then abandons the place for 100 years, the stairs are going to be one of the last things to fall. Because of how they're built they also don't show rot as easily, so they're very dangerous to climb.