Old Wives Tales. Do They Work?

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niro

niro

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Apr 5, 2013
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I once had a friend from cuba and she told me that it brings bad luck to put your purse on the ground. She always refused to do that.

If it rings in your left ear something good will happen if it rings in your right ear something bad will happen.
 
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doowopgirl

doowopgirl

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My Grandmother had a million of them. If your nose itches, you're going to kiss a fool. She would kiss the back of her hand. Fight hand itch means monet coming, left hand means money going. Close hand to either keep or not lose too much. Never leave a razor on the windowsill during a full moon or it will slit the next persons throat. Never take a photo of someone asleep or thats what they'll look like dead. Never burn a picture or anyone in it will die in a fire. There were more, but thats enough.
 
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Sigmund

Sigmund

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Jan 3, 2010
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All of these were fascinating! Thank you, all.

A pregnant woman should always have a key or large safety pin pinned on her underclothing and NEVER look at a lunar eclipse.

I was born with a patch of gray hair because my mother dyed her hair while she was pregnant with me. Ha!

If you jump out a window you will kill your mother. (I asked some elders about this...it was used to discourage eloping. *giggle*)

no bounce no play posted There's an old wives tale I don't believe in but I'm afraid to challenge it lol.

I hear you:
It's believed if you throw a handful of hot chili peppers into the yard at midnight lechuzas will gather and curse you while they eat the hot peppers. Do any of us believe it? No. Have any one of ever tried it? HELLS NO!!! :eek: :laugh:

Peace.
 
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AnnaMarie

AnnaMarie

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Feb 16, 2012
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HollyGolightly said:
If you put someone's shoes on a table, they will be the next one in the family to die. I have discovered this isn't true, thank the Lord!
Click to expand...

According to my mom, shoes on the table mean you will get smacked upside the head. She was right....happens every time.

Spideyman said:
Never sit 13 at the table- brings bad luck.

If you spill salt you have to throw some over your shoulder to bring the good back. My nana threw enough salt in her lifetime!
Click to expand...

13 at the table freaked my friends grandmother. She said it brings death....just like Jesus last supper. So, I was always invited for Christmas Dinner so there would be 14. (My dad worked the 25th and we ate dinner the 24th.)

Salt...have to throw it over the left shoulder.


Sigmund said:
I was born with a patch of gray hair because my mother dyed her hair while she was pregnant with me. Ha!

Peace.
Click to expand...

Seriously? Lol. I was born with a white streak of hair on the left. My sister thought it was so cool, she was eleven, and her baby sister was born with an in-style hair style.
 
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AnnaMarie

AnnaMarie

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Forgot to add my own.

Always heard "a bird in the house means a death in the family". The woman who introduced me to my husband was bit by a bird that flew into her house. She got sick, and was diagnosed with cancer. She died within months.

Years later, my mom was terminally ill with cancer. A bird flew into my apartment. My mom died within days. (She was terminal and this was not at all an unexpected death.). When I read the coroners report it stated that right before getting sick, my mom was bit by a bird that flew into her house.

I'm sure it's unrelated (thought the other woman's report also mentioned the bird bite). But still, birds freak me out now. Except Blue Jays. When I see or hear a blue jay I think of my mom. I tend to see them when I'm upset, and it feels like my mom watching over me. Weird. But....well, I am weird. :D
 
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Sigmund

Sigmund

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In your mirror.
"Ojo" or "Mal de ojo" . (Wikipedia states it's Evil Eye. That is NOT how we know it.)

If you see something that is beautiful or precious, you HAVE to touch it (however casually) or you jinx it.

So, when we a see a baby...we play it off and touch the baby (a quick touch to the baby's ear, finger...) and say, What a beautiful baby!

My son has/had some medical issues but when he had a headache that just would not quit (despite taking his meds) he would come to me with an egg.

"Momma, my head is gonna explode. Do the egg thing."

The *egg thing*. Someone has admired something about you and failed to touch that thing they admired...so you feel sick. You have to do the *egg thing* to remove the jinx.

Take the egg, and while saying the Lords Prayer and the Hail Mary, hover and move it all about the afflicted area. (In my sons case, his head.)

Within 5-10 minutes of doing the *egg thing* my son felt better. Yay! (This my son who is into the hard sciences and looks at the soft sciences with a jaundice view.)

Maybe it was the *ojo* thing or perhaps it was because he has his head in Momma's lap and I am caressing his head, face and hair while performing the ritual.

Does it matter?

Peace.
 
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Grandpa

Grandpa

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I kinda made up an old wives tale, so maybe it could be classified as a young (then) fathers tale.

We were on a family vacation. Eldest son was getting into puberty, and he was a handful, and part of it was an explosive temper.

We were at a tourist shop with polished rocks for sale, and one of them was hematite, You'd think that "hematite" would be red, but it's more of a gunmetal color. Anyway, he asked me where the name came from, and I made up a story on the spot.

I said "hema" was the root word for "blood," and that much was true, but the rest was all prairie patty. I continued, saying that back in the old days, this special rock was thought to remove bad tempers, or evil blood, from the person rubbing it, so it got the name hematite, meaning blood rock. Here, son, let me buy it for you and see if it works.

Doggone if he didn't carry that thing around and start rubbing it when he started to get angry or upset, and it would actually help. When he started getting upset, the other kids would say, "Where's your blood rock," and he'd pull it out, rub at it, and start calming down.

From such parental desperation noises are stories begun.
 
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no bounce no play

no bounce no play

.
Mar 12, 2010
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Texas
Sigmund said:
All of these were fascinating! Thank you, all.

A pregnant woman should always have a key or large safety pin pinned on her underclothing and NEVER look at a lunar eclipse.

I was born with a patch of gray hair because my mother dyed her hair while she was pregnant with me. Ha!

If you jump out a window you will kill your mother. (I asked some elders about this...it was used to discourage eloping. *giggle*)

no bounce no play posted There's an old wives tale I don't believe in but I'm afraid to challenge it lol.

I hear you:
It's believed if you throw a handful of hot chili peppers into the yard at midnight lechuzas will gather and curse you while they eat the hot peppers. Do any of us believe it? No. Have any one of ever tried it? HELLS NO!!! :eek: :laugh:

Peace.
Click to expand...

Your tag didn't appear in my alerts :( I ain't messing with any lechuzas, that's for sure lol
 
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AnnaMarie

AnnaMarie

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Feb 16, 2012
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Grandpa said:
I kinda made up an old wives tale, so maybe it could be classified as a young (then) fathers tale.

We were on a family vacation. Eldest son was getting into puberty, and he was a handful, and part of it was an explosive temper.

We were at a tourist shop with polished rocks for sale, and one of them was hematite, You'd think that "hematite" would be red, but it's more of a gunmetal color. Anyway, he asked me where the name came from, and I made up a story on the spot.

I said "hema" was the root word for "blood," and that much was true, but the rest was all prairie patty. I continued, saying that back in the old days, this special rock was thought to remove bad tempers, or evil blood, from the person rubbing it, so it got the name hematite, meaning blood rock. Here, son, let me buy it for you and see if it works.

Doggone if he didn't carry that thing around and start rubbing it when he started to get angry or upset, and it would actually help. When he started getting upset, the other kids would say, "Where's your blood rock," and he'd pull it out, rub at it, and start calming down.

From such parental desperation noises are stories begun.
Click to expand...

Years ago, my oldest son went to a summer camp for kids with socialization skills problems due to learning disabilities. One of the councellors (who was training to be a child psychologist) started taking him on a jog every morning, just the two of them. At the end of camp, every kid received a small gift that had meaning to them and the councellor that gave it, but nobody else knew the meaning. That councellor gave my son a little tennis shoe key chain. Jogging had helped calm my son, and he was told to rub the sneaker when he was upset. He carried it for years, then it went into his dresser drawer. When we were packing to move (10 years later) I found it. He took it, rubbed it, smiled, and told me the story. I wonder if he still has it.
 
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Sigmund

Sigmund

Waiting in Uber.
Jan 3, 2010
13,979
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In your mirror.
Grandpa said:
I kinda made up an old wives tale, so maybe it could be classified as a young (then) fathers tale.

We were on a family vacation. Eldest son was getting into puberty, and he was a handful, and part of it was an explosive temper.

We were at a tourist shop with polished rocks for sale, and one of them was hematite, You'd think that "hematite" would be red, but it's more of a gunmetal color. Anyway, he asked me where the name came from, and I made up a story on the spot.

I said "hema" was the root word for "blood," and that much was true, but the rest was all prairie patty. I continued, saying that back in the old days, this special rock was thought to remove bad tempers, or evil blood, from the person rubbing it, so it got the name hematite, meaning blood rock. Here, son, let me buy it for you and see if it works.

Doggone if he didn't carry that thing around and start rubbing it when he started to get angry or upset, and it would actually help. When he started getting upset, the other kids would say, "Where's your blood rock," and he'd pull it out, rub at it, and start calming down.

From such parental desperation noises are stories begun.
Click to expand...

Hi, Sir.

That was awesome!

From such parental desperation noises are stories begun.

Yes!

Peace.

(Would you be so kind and make up a *story* for me when I am dealing with a gazillion teenagers who take one look at me, a Sub, and automatically think I'm stupit? Ha!)
 
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Grandpa

Grandpa

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Sigmund said:
(Would you be so kind and make up a *story* for me when I am dealing with a gazillion teenagers who take one look at me, a Sub, and automatically think I'm stupit? Ha!)
Click to expand...

The only thing I'm coming up with involves flaxseed, seaweed, the Apostle's Creed, and the sacrifice of a body part.

But never mind. Everyone knows that one.

Lemme think.
 
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