Very Superstitious
Published by J. M. Adkison under on 5:11 PM
Alright, so I know I haven't blogged in, like, forever. But in case you didn't know, I've been a little busy with college life lately. Getting back into the groove a social life is hard work. Also, I wasn't really sure what to blog about. So, I got to thinking and pondered that age-old question "What interests me?"
And thus I came upon superstitions.
I find superstitions to be fascinating-I'm not superstitious my-self, but the fact that they exist fascinate me. What fascinates me is how strange corny they can be. For example, I once read in a legitimate history book on the medieval ages that mourners at a funeral made sure to keep black cats away from the coffin of their lost loved one. They feared if the cat ran across the coffin, then the corpse inside would spring back to life-but as a vampire! Put that in your oven, Stephanie Meyer!
But many of us have those little superstitions that we keep in our back pocket. For example: wearing a certain pair of dirty socks will win you the game, listening to a certain song will improve your writing, or the position of the stars and planets will control your love life. We all have those common superstitions-and even if we don't believe in them we at least acknowledge them-such as Friday the 13th, not walking under ladders and, oddly enough, the usefulness of bridesmaids. But you might often wonder-how on earth did we develop these superstitions? Well here is a list of how.
Friday the 13th-this day is almost considered something of a holiday or something, and even is look forward to. Hollywood and its horror films definitely help in notarizing this day. The origin of Friday the 13th actually lies within the Gospels. At the last supper, Judas was the 13th person attending the Passover meal. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Folklore presumes that Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, the Floods came on a Friday, and unruly students praise Friday as the last day of the week.
Walking under ladders-Other than heavy objects falling on your head from a high-up ladder step, it is odd to think that walking under a simple tool for work can cause bad luck. Ladders, in case you didn't notice, create a triangle with the ground and the wall. The triangle symbolizes the Trinity, and walking through that triangle violates or agitates God or the spirits that "live" within the triangle. I did read that a simple way of repelling God's or the spirit's wrath is by crossing your fingers and making a sign of the cross as you walk under it-but since ladders aren't all that big in width, you might not have enough time.
Bridesmaids-Never thought weddings were superstitious? Think again, superstition practically invented these blissfully romantic events. In the olden days, when everyone from old Granny to little Jimmy feared the wrath of cantankerous, evil spirits that don't like it when the living are happy. The spirits have a sort of "It's my birthday and I can cry if I want to.." complex and enjoy making the living miserable. So, weddings, generally being festivities of happy occasion, are like magnets to these sort of ill-tempered ghosts. To stop the ungrateful dead from ruining the rather grateful living from having a good time, the Middle Age contemporaries invented the bridesmaid, which believe it or not, is not there to look pretty in front of everybody (but nowhere near as pretty as the bride). The bridesmaid is actually a decoy to distract the evil spirits from getting to the bride. Similarly, the groomsmen do the same thing. The veil is also suppose to hide the bride from the evil spirits. Hint to the evil spirits: Go for the one in the veil.
Breaking a mirror-We've all heard that breaking a mirror can cause seven years of bad luck. Well, here's why it would be seven years. During the olden days of witch hunts and Pope-control, people thought that looking in a mirror was looking at a reflection of your soul. By breaking the mirror, you for some reason harmed your soul. And it would take seven years for your soul to pull it-self back together. And with an injured soul, you would be easy for those nasty spirits mentioned back in the bridesmaid section.
Knock on wood-For some reason, this superstition has always annoyed me. It is so corny-with somebody going "Oh, knock on wood ha-ha." And I would always ask "what does that even mean?" Well, I found out. Back in the days before witch-hunts and Pope-control, a few tribes and nations believed gods lived in the trees. By knocking once on a tree-trunk, you asked for a favor. By knocking twice you said thank you. I still don't understand why people still say it.
Saying "Bless You"-This piece of superstition has actually earned its way into our culture's etiquette and good manners' file. Back in the good ol' Dark Ages, simple minded simpletons believed that when you sneezed, you were expelling demons from your soul. After you sneezed, you were congratulated with a "Bless you" and everybody thought you were really cool when you sneezed a lot. So, basically when allergy season came rolling around, the dorky kids with asthma were considered saints. However, when the Black Plague came skipping through town, the Pope mandated that people say "Bless you" because excessive sneezing was a sure sign you had the plague and you were about to die. So the dorky asthma kids go from sainthood to hospice care.
Hold your breath-So there is this one superstition that I followed for years when I was a kid. "Hold your breath when you go by a cemetery." It was more of a stupid kid's game than a superstition. It was actually rather bothersome cause I have several graves in my hometown area. And when your driving and you get stuck at a red light that is right next to a cemetery, you begin to ponder if this superstition is more trouble than its worth. Well, the origin of this one lies in the belief that the spirits of the dead wandering through the cemetery might hear you breathing, become jealous that you're still alive-and attack you. Sort of like the wedding scene-but unfortunately you can't keep a line of bridesmaids as decoys in the back of your car.
Even though we look back on the Medieval Ages as a time of stupidity, bloody wars and a bunch of dirty people living too close together-but you have to give them credit-without them we wouldn't have our very cool superstitions.
And thus I came upon superstitions.
I find superstitions to be fascinating-I'm not superstitious my-self, but the fact that they exist fascinate me. What fascinates me is how strange corny they can be. For example, I once read in a legitimate history book on the medieval ages that mourners at a funeral made sure to keep black cats away from the coffin of their lost loved one. They feared if the cat ran across the coffin, then the corpse inside would spring back to life-but as a vampire! Put that in your oven, Stephanie Meyer!
But many of us have those little superstitions that we keep in our back pocket. For example: wearing a certain pair of dirty socks will win you the game, listening to a certain song will improve your writing, or the position of the stars and planets will control your love life. We all have those common superstitions-and even if we don't believe in them we at least acknowledge them-such as Friday the 13th, not walking under ladders and, oddly enough, the usefulness of bridesmaids. But you might often wonder-how on earth did we develop these superstitions? Well here is a list of how.
Friday the 13th-this day is almost considered something of a holiday or something, and even is look forward to. Hollywood and its horror films definitely help in notarizing this day. The origin of Friday the 13th actually lies within the Gospels. At the last supper, Judas was the 13th person attending the Passover meal. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Folklore presumes that Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, the Floods came on a Friday, and unruly students praise Friday as the last day of the week.
Walking under ladders-Other than heavy objects falling on your head from a high-up ladder step, it is odd to think that walking under a simple tool for work can cause bad luck. Ladders, in case you didn't notice, create a triangle with the ground and the wall. The triangle symbolizes the Trinity, and walking through that triangle violates or agitates God or the spirits that "live" within the triangle. I did read that a simple way of repelling God's or the spirit's wrath is by crossing your fingers and making a sign of the cross as you walk under it-but since ladders aren't all that big in width, you might not have enough time.
Bridesmaids-Never thought weddings were superstitious? Think again, superstition practically invented these blissfully romantic events. In the olden days, when everyone from old Granny to little Jimmy feared the wrath of cantankerous, evil spirits that don't like it when the living are happy. The spirits have a sort of "It's my birthday and I can cry if I want to.." complex and enjoy making the living miserable. So, weddings, generally being festivities of happy occasion, are like magnets to these sort of ill-tempered ghosts. To stop the ungrateful dead from ruining the rather grateful living from having a good time, the Middle Age contemporaries invented the bridesmaid, which believe it or not, is not there to look pretty in front of everybody (but nowhere near as pretty as the bride). The bridesmaid is actually a decoy to distract the evil spirits from getting to the bride. Similarly, the groomsmen do the same thing. The veil is also suppose to hide the bride from the evil spirits. Hint to the evil spirits: Go for the one in the veil.
Breaking a mirror-We've all heard that breaking a mirror can cause seven years of bad luck. Well, here's why it would be seven years. During the olden days of witch hunts and Pope-control, people thought that looking in a mirror was looking at a reflection of your soul. By breaking the mirror, you for some reason harmed your soul. And it would take seven years for your soul to pull it-self back together. And with an injured soul, you would be easy for those nasty spirits mentioned back in the bridesmaid section.
Knock on wood-For some reason, this superstition has always annoyed me. It is so corny-with somebody going "Oh, knock on wood ha-ha." And I would always ask "what does that even mean?" Well, I found out. Back in the days before witch-hunts and Pope-control, a few tribes and nations believed gods lived in the trees. By knocking once on a tree-trunk, you asked for a favor. By knocking twice you said thank you. I still don't understand why people still say it.
Saying "Bless You"-This piece of superstition has actually earned its way into our culture's etiquette and good manners' file. Back in the good ol' Dark Ages, simple minded simpletons believed that when you sneezed, you were expelling demons from your soul. After you sneezed, you were congratulated with a "Bless you" and everybody thought you were really cool when you sneezed a lot. So, basically when allergy season came rolling around, the dorky kids with asthma were considered saints. However, when the Black Plague came skipping through town, the Pope mandated that people say "Bless you" because excessive sneezing was a sure sign you had the plague and you were about to die. So the dorky asthma kids go from sainthood to hospice care.
Hold your breath-So there is this one superstition that I followed for years when I was a kid. "Hold your breath when you go by a cemetery." It was more of a stupid kid's game than a superstition. It was actually rather bothersome cause I have several graves in my hometown area. And when your driving and you get stuck at a red light that is right next to a cemetery, you begin to ponder if this superstition is more trouble than its worth. Well, the origin of this one lies in the belief that the spirits of the dead wandering through the cemetery might hear you breathing, become jealous that you're still alive-and attack you. Sort of like the wedding scene-but unfortunately you can't keep a line of bridesmaids as decoys in the back of your car.
Even though we look back on the Medieval Ages as a time of stupidity, bloody wars and a bunch of dirty people living too close together-but you have to give them credit-without them we wouldn't have our very cool superstitions.
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