What are you superstitious about?
 

The new years thread and the tech support thread brought this thought to my mind: New Years day is one of the only things I'm superstitious about. The year we got married I had a terrible New Years day. I lost a few long time friends and betrayal and stress abounded. If it weren't for getting married, I'd call it my worst year ever.

Last New Years day we woke up to find the heater broken. We had horrible landlords and went the rest of winter using space heaters. A nice word for this year is eventful. A better word is harrowing. Baby Jade was born though, making it a good year.

I find myself nervous about this coming New Years day. I'm fearful that if something bad happens then I will have another bad year. Logically I know that isn't true, but the superstition remains.

Am I alone in my irrational superstitions?

I'm more skeptical the superstitious about things, but I find that this time of year - or rather that space around New Years and my birthday which happens later in January are times I like to reflect about where I am and where I'm headed in the future. This sometimes involves breaking out the Tarot cards and doing a reading for myself.

But I usually don't see this as a "fortune telling" exercise, but rather a tool to get at what might be happening in my subconscious mind, as the symbols and archetypes of the cards tend to be universals, so for me it's a sort of a spiritual rorschach test.

I don't really get Tarot. Can you explain the premise if it isn't fortune telling?

I do the knock on wood thing, the salt over shoulder thing and when my ears ring I always say 'someone's talking about me'.
But I don't know if I really believe it. It's more like a game to me.

My mom and grandparents were/are very superstitious.
Here are some they believe/d:

1. If you drop a fork, someone's going to visit you at your door later.
2. When you're not using a broom, never store it bristles down. Bad luck.
3. A mirror on a bed is bad luck.
4. If your left palm itches, you're going to get money soon. If the right itches, you're going to lose money.
5. If you're talking to someone and you call them by someone else's name accidentally, it means that the person you mentioned is thinking about you.
6. Cats are bad luck.
7. You should never whistle at night. Bad luck.
8. Under a ladder... bad luck.
9. They always do the sign of the cross when an ambulance passes by with it's siren on.
10. Never step on someone's grave... bad luck.
11. If you raise your hand to someone older like you're going to strike them, your hand will stick out of your own grave when they bury you after you die.

That's just a few...

Each card has symbology associated with it corresponding to numerology, astrology, and other iconographies, so when laying out the cards - you interpret those symbols, their position on the reading, and their relationship with each other (I compare this with what one does to analyze a work of art or piece of literature). When I do this for myself (or a firend) I'll start free interpreting and seeing what resonates, if I find something I'll explore it further. It's that act of interpretation that I find most revaltory in the way I read.

Of course I suspect a fortune teller does the same thing, using different terms ;)

I occasionally knock on wood.

I'm too much of a rule breaker to have too many superstitions. Plus, I have cats (including a black one) and I lose money all the time and my right palm never itches. ;)

I never place a bed with the foot end toward a door. I also do the salt thing- I've no idea why, but there you have it.

I do the salt thing... knock on wood and I don't walk under ladders. Although for most ladders I come in contact with, it would require going out of my way to walk under one. I don't open umbrella's in the house either.

None of these things I really "believe" in - that is - that something bad will happen if I dont (or do) do them - but I do them anyway.

I'm the same way with a few things. I always hold my breath and make a wish in a tunnel. Growing up, such superstitions were a "sin," so some of it I do just to rebel against my strict upbringing.

When I sold cars, the other sales people were very superstitious. I caught hell for opening an umbrella in the building. Then I went to the parking lot and my car was the only one in a huge puddle of water, so maybe they were right. :p

hmm...dont know that one. nearly every bed I can think of Ive had did that moreso because of the layout of the room more than anything else.

whats supposed to fall off if I sleep this way? :eek: