Monday, May 04, 2009

More superstitions.....

In august last year I wrote a blog about some superstitions in Egypt....I had a similar discussion with my dresser last night. It seems like there are a few similarities in Egyptian and UK folklore...

I already mentioned the 'touch wood' thing in the last blog about superstitions.

In Egypt, if your palms are itching it means money- money coming in if it's your right hand (if it itches you should scratch it like crazy- preferably with a piece of gold!!!!) and money going out if its your left hand (in whch case DON'T scratch it as it'll make the money go faster!!!)

Also here, if you get a 'frog in your throat' (the constant feeling to clear your throat) then it means someone is talking about you.... If it is just a slight tickly feeling then its someone who loves you and is saying nice things.... but if it is really bad and wont go away then its someone who doesn't like you saying bad things!

Itchy feet means you are going to travel. (or you just have dry skin or athletes foot!!! :-) )

A couple I have only heard here- If the toffee mix crackles when you are getting your hair removed by 'helowa'- or 'sugaring' then your husband loves you. Likewise if the thread keeps snapping when you are getting your eyebrows shaped, he also loves you!

Black cats..... here, if you see a black cat (but only if you see it out of one eye!) then it means really bad things and you should just turn around and go straight home... nothing good is going to happen that day. In UK ( and I have just been told in Norway too) a black cat is only bad luck if it crosses the path in front of you- ie I guess that means you have to see it with both eyes!!!

Crows are the messenger of bad news (often that someone is going to die). Owls hooting means someone has died. Doves spread peace from God and Storks bring babies here too....

Its interesting enough to hear these things in your own culture and try to guess where they come from... its even more so in a different culture especially when there are similarities.... makes you wonder how much truth in it there is....................!

2 comments:

Maariku said...

Hehe, in Estonia we are even more selective about the misfortunes the black cats bring us. It will only happen if the cat crosses the road in front of you in the direction of "into your clothes". Meaning, if your buttons open towards the cat's destination you're safe this time :)

Nepenthe said...

Or how ancient the beliefs are.
Cats originated in the Middle East and spread out from there along with humanity. So it makes sense that our superstitions about black cats would trace back to that time.