| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
28 Jan 2008 11:08:42 PM |
| Object: |
Superstitious? Not Me, Touch Wood |
My mother was incredibly superstitious. She was forever flinging spilt
salt over her shoulder, crossing her fingers or chanting incantations
for luck. Particularly sharp in my mind are two rhymes that she would
say out loud whenever the occasion demanded. The first, on seeing a
dropped pin was: "See a pin and pick it up and all day long you'll
have good luck".. This was to be said quickly because apparently you
weren't supposed to breath while stooping to pick up the pin and
chanting the rhyme. As far as I was able to determine, the days on
which my mother was lucky enough to find a pin were not noticably
fortunate. Save for the finding of the pin that is. To my mind, the
verse would have been more accurate if it went thus: "See a pin and
pick it up and all day long you'll have a pin". That would have made a
lot more sense.
The second verse I remember was chanted whenever my mother saw a white
horse. The verse was usually again chanted out loud, whoever was
present, while wetting a finger and dragging it in the form of a cross
on a shoe. The verse went like this: "White horse, white horse, bring
me good luck; today or tomorrow I'll pick something up." The
"something" in the verse was non-specific, presumably it referred to a
pin. Either that or a virus from licking unwashed fingers.
I'm not superstitious myself, but I do habitually count magpies, when
they gather in the field outside my window; mentally running through
the song from the 1970's children's program as I count. I tell myself
that the number of magpies can't possibly have a bearing on how my
life will turn out but I can't help it. It is a compulsion that I have
obviously picked up from my mother.
The problem here is that I am a little confused over the rules for
counting magpies. Does one count the magpies spotted in a single
sitting, as it were? Or is the method accumulative? Do you tot up all
the magpies you spot in one day? I can't find anywhere on the internet
that explains this. And how is the rhyme to be interpreted? One and
Two are fairly explanatory, as are
http://www.dontplayplay.com/html/Humor/20060929/25449.html
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| User: "Robibnikoff" |
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| Title: Re: Superstitious? Not Me, Touch Wood |
29 Jan 2008 09:30:49 AM |
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<xikom01@163.com> wrote in message
news:30d79969-72a5-4b4b-956d-be6da772a4e0@m34g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
My mother was incredibly superstitious. She was forever flinging spilt
salt over her shoulder, crossing her fingers or chanting incantations
for luck. Particularly sharp in my mind are two rhymes that she would
say out loud whenever the occasion demanded. The first, on seeing a
dropped pin was: "See a pin and pick it up and all day long you'll
have good luck".. This was to be said quickly because apparently you
weren't supposed to breath while stooping to pick up the pin and
chanting the rhyme. As far as I was able to determine, the days on
which my mother was lucky enough to find a pin were not noticably
fortunate. Save for the finding of the pin that is. To my mind, the
verse would have been more accurate if it went thus: "See a pin and
pick it up and all day long you'll have a pin". That would have made a
lot more sense.
The second verse I remember was chanted whenever my mother saw a white
horse. The verse was usually again chanted out loud, whoever was
present, while wetting a finger and dragging it in the form of a cross
on a shoe. The verse went like this: "White horse, white horse, bring
me good luck; today or tomorrow I'll pick something up." The
"something" in the verse was non-specific, presumably it referred to a
pin. Either that or a virus from licking unwashed fingers.
I'm not superstitious myself, but I do habitually count magpies, when
they gather in the field outside my window; mentally running through
the song from the 1970's children's program as I count. I tell myself
that the number of magpies can't possibly have a bearing on how my
life will turn out but I can't help it. It is a compulsion that I have
obviously picked up from my mother.
The problem here is that I am a little confused over the rules for
counting magpies. Does one count the magpies spotted in a single
sitting, as it were? Or is the method accumulative?
Sorry, but I've never seen a magpie in northern NJ.
--
Robyn
Resident Witchypoo
BAAWA Knight!
#1557
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| User: "Michael Gray" |
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| Title: Re: Superstitious? Not Me, Touch Wood |
29 Jan 2008 09:48:31 PM |
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On Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:30:49 -0500, "Robibnikoff"
<witchypoo@broomstick.com> wrote:
<xikom01@163.com> wrote in message
news:30d79969-72a5-4b4b-956d-be6da772a4e0@m34g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
My mother was incredibly superstitious. She was forever flinging spilt
salt over her shoulder, crossing her fingers or chanting incantations
for luck. Particularly sharp in my mind are two rhymes that she would
say out loud whenever the occasion demanded. The first, on seeing a
dropped pin was: "See a pin and pick it up and all day long you'll
have good luck".. This was to be said quickly because apparently you
weren't supposed to breath while stooping to pick up the pin and
chanting the rhyme. As far as I was able to determine, the days on
which my mother was lucky enough to find a pin were not noticably
fortunate. Save for the finding of the pin that is. To my mind, the
verse would have been more accurate if it went thus: "See a pin and
pick it up and all day long you'll have a pin". That would have made a
lot more sense.
The second verse I remember was chanted whenever my mother saw a white
horse. The verse was usually again chanted out loud, whoever was
present, while wetting a finger and dragging it in the form of a cross
on a shoe. The verse went like this: "White horse, white horse, bring
me good luck; today or tomorrow I'll pick something up." The
"something" in the verse was non-specific, presumably it referred to a
pin. Either that or a virus from licking unwashed fingers.
I'm not superstitious myself, but I do habitually count magpies, when
they gather in the field outside my window; mentally running through
the song from the 1970's children's program as I count. I tell myself
that the number of magpies can't possibly have a bearing on how my
life will turn out but I can't help it. It is a compulsion that I have
obviously picked up from my mother.
The problem here is that I am a little confused over the rules for
counting magpies. Does one count the magpies spotted in a single
sitting, as it were? Or is the method accumulative?
Sorry, but I've never seen a magpie in northern NJ.
Come to South Australia.
They are all over the place, even on our flag.
(As a picture, not crapping on the flag-pole!)
http://www.ausflag.com.au/flags/sa.html
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| User: "Lord Calvert" |
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| Title: Re: Superstitious? Not Me, Touch Wood |
29 Jan 2008 09:45:41 AM |
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On Jan 29, 12:08 am, wrote:
I'm not superstitious myself, but I do habitually count magpies, when
they gather in the field outside my window; mentally running through
the song from the 1970's children's program as I count. I tell myself
that the number of magpies can't possibly have a bearing on how my
life will turn out but I can't help it. It is a compulsion that I have
obviously picked up from my mother.
The priest he says we're wicked
For to worship the devil's bird
But we respect the old ways
And we disregard his word
They know they rest uneasy
As they stumble through the night
And we always leave a little bit of meat
For the bird that's black and white
One for sorrow, Two for joy
Three for a girl and four for a boy
Five for silver, six for gold
Seven for a secret never told
Rich Goranson
Amherst, NY, USA
aa#MCMXCIX, a-vet#1
EAC Department of Cruel and Unusual Choreography
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| User: "Michael Gray" |
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| Title: Re: Superstitious? Not Me, Touch Wood |
29 Jan 2008 01:19:37 AM |
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On Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:08:42 -0800 (PST), wrote:
My mother was incredibly superstitious.
:
Do you actually have anything intelligent to offer?
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