CONTRIBUTED BY STACI HAWLEY
It’s Saturday morning. Were your ears burning- because I was thinking of you, reader. Hopefully you didn’t drop your mirror, and run to your computer in anticipation of a new post. *Sneeze* (God bless myself). I hope you took the time to toss some salt over your shoulder while enjoying your eggs. While some superstitions seem silly, many of us actually suffer from “tridecaphobia” (fear of the number thirteen).
Most buildings in the states avoid the 13th floor- as well as airlines eliminate the aisle,13. The word superstition (derived from Latin) quite literally means “standing over” and is defined as an unreasonable belief or fear in magic or foreign and fantastical ideas. Every culture has their own particular superstitions. Who really knows where they originate. However, the last time I taught my ESL classes, my students shared with me some common Japanese superstitions.
Here are a few:
The funeral mobile– Apparently, if that big golden funeral car passes you, you should hide your thumb.
Black cat– They are all around bad luck, especially if they cross in front of you in the road.
Eating- if you take a nap after eating, you will become a cow.
Swimming- Don’t swim during Obon season. The dead will take you with them into the sea.
Snakes– If you whistle at night, a snake will come to you.
Nails- If you trim your nails in the evening, you will not be with your parents when they die.
Worms- If you urinate on a worm, your privates will become swollen.
Sleep– Don’t sleep in the direction of the north- bodies are laid in that direction.
Ceiling fans– A fan at night can kill you.
Chopsticks- Don’t share food to food with chopsticks- this is only done with the bones of cremated bodies.
So dear reader, do you have a superstition or “old wives tale” that is implanted in your mind? Anyone out there live on the 13th floor?