Monday, April 11, 2011

Superstitions


So you think the Chinese are superstitious? 
Let me tell you, having been brought up in North England, they have nothing on me. 
I am always asked whether I believe in superstitions and my Point of Prue is, once you have thought about it, it will happen. 
It is like you are asking fate to deal it, once you have summoned the thought. 
So yes, I am very superstitious.

Here are a few of my superstitions that raise a smile from my friends. I hope you enjoy them too.

1)      Salt spilt on the table will bring bad luck.
Immediately pick some up with your right hand and throw it over your left shoulder. Spilt salt attracts the devil. He always approaches over the left shoulder. So throwing it there, basically throws it in his eye and sends him away, thus neutralising the bad luck of spilling it in the first place.

2)      Passing the salt.
By the same token, bad luck is carried in the salt cellar. So never take the salt directly from someone, as this passes the bad luck to you. Always ask for it to be put down on the table and pick it up from there. This works in reverse too. Insist on putting down the salt, should you be the one passing it.

3)      Turning over a fish will capsize a boat.
When eating a whole fish, make sure you fillet the head, backbone and tail off the fish to reach the flesh on the other side. Never turn the fish over. The fish represents a boat out at sea. By turning it over, you are causing a boat to turn over, that is capsizing, out at sea.

4)      Never cross on the stairs.
If there are other people on the stairs, never cross beside them. This brings bad luck to you both. Wait for him or her to pass you first, before continuing up or down.

5)      Bad things happen in threes.
No matter what you feel is bad, if you think 2 bad things have just happened to you, make sure you break a matchstick, wooden toothpick, twig or pencil quickly. Breaking wood acts as the third bad thing, thus eliminating its eventuality.

(And of course, you all know that touching wood will bring you good luck, right?)

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