Please explain superstition and RW/UW

[Makkin]

Hello,

  Gator mentioned superstition about RW/UW and I'm very interested to learn more. Is there a list or can a list be made to help me understand more?

  I would like to know as many superstitions as possible as to learn much on the subject. I feel these superstitions can help people understand many things. Please list any you have encountered or know of ...PLEASE..lol

  I know many superstitions here in America and one is to whistle in a cemetary as to ward off the spirits who attempt to hook up with you on your visit..I know many more but sometimes I dont know why they are in existance or where they came from?

Makkin

[catzenmouse]

As far as explaining it all I can say is:

 

Might want to do some searches as we've talked about it quite a few times over the years.

Ken

[jb]

The real question is:  Do you believe any of those superstitions you've heard of?  Double whammy if you do.

[Kuna]

When deciding when to have our wedding My Girl sent me a MS Word document that went into great detail about the best and worst months to get married.  Geeez... there really are some horror months out there.

Of course it's not true but to her it is - therefore it's as good as true or me.  I'll try to find the document and transate it for here...  Promise me you'll read it and stick to it though!

 

Kuna

Oh, other than that I don't know of too many other superstitions though...

Whistling inside (didn't even know I was doing it);
Empty bottles on table (I know I always do that);
Moving air (breeze) in the house (but thankfully she doesn't believe in that);
There must be many more I can't think of at the moment...

[Makkin]

Hello,

  Thanks Kuna and hope you have some more as it's very interesting to me.

  I know walking under a ladder as most of us do and also the black cat thing and the seven years of bad luck stuff. I probably know a lot more but it seems you must be an obsessive compulsive person of sorts if you know too many..lol

  When I was in Ukraine last March my friend passed out in the club and he was carried to the apartment where myself and another man and a Ukrainian woman put him into his bed. I took his shoes off and looked at her as I remembered some superstition about shoes so I placed his shoes on the desk rather than the floor. I noticed she looked at me with interest and somewhat of an approval as she smiled in acknowlegement of sorts. I dont believe I have ever taken someones shoes off them and then placed them on a desk or anything similar..lol. (Maybe she was smiling because we were done with the task of getting him in his bed but who really knows..lol)

Makkin

[Shadow]

It is bad luck to talk about RW and superstition.

[Serebro]

There are many different superstitions but the only 2 things that made me fell uncomfortable about americans is their whistling inside and pointing at their (or especially my) body parts when they were telling  about someone else's disease, surgeon operation or any kind of damage including scars.Try to explain this using words, not showing.

I would like to pay attention to the conversation with your gf/wife when she gets pregnant and has a child about informing your friends and even close relatives about that.In Russia many women don't tell about their pregnancy.I remember that even my cousin (which was a very close friend of mine, too)didn't tell me about that untill it became visible.Many people don't show their new born babies untill they are 40 days old to other people, too.Many pregnant women avoid talks about their future children, like "what you are going to do when he is born" and even buying baby's stuff untill they are at least 8-9 months pregnant.

Don't be surprised or offended if your RW "forgets" to congratulate you on your 40-th Birthday, to buy a present and invite guests, as in russia some people don't celebrate and congratulate men on their 40-th Birthday.
Most people don't normally celebrate and congratulate you before your birthday, for example if your birthday is September, 15 you can't celebrate it September, 14 even if it's more convenient.

[Makkin]

Hello Serebro,

  Thanks for the information...

  Did you mean that when a person such as a western person attempts to explain a part of his or her body that they should not point at that part of the body but rather talk about the location?

  Do you find it causes problems if superstitions are made public at times or should superstitions be held close to a person and not mention them much?

  Thanks,

 Makkin

[wxman]

One Ukrainian  superstition that still baffles me, is re-entering your flat to get something you forgot after you close and lock the door. Apparently that is bad luck. So for fun, I occasionally say I forgot something. I know I'm bad but the look on my fiancee is priceless. Yes, hell awaits me.

[jb]

Wxman,

You are a terrible person.   

When my wife gets ready to leave for her school day, she has almost everything packed in a smallish trunk on wheels.  Occasionally she will walk out the door, get in the car, and realize she has forgotten something.  Rather than come back inside to retrieve the item, she will call me or our son from her cell phone to fetch the thing out to her.  If we are not available she will invariable be late for work because she has to go back and primp again so it will look like she never left in the 1st place. 

To attract her attention sometimes is difficult if she's fully engrossed in whatever she's doing, but a small low whistle will be enough to bounce her out of the chair.  A goodbye kiss cannot be given at the threshold of the door.

And she would be the first one to say she doesn't believe in superstitions.

[Ste]

And she would be the first one to say she doesn't believe in superstitions.

Same here yet the kids are constantly warned about sitting on cold steps cos it will freeze their ovaries.

And her bro is getting married, but it can't be next year cos it's unlucky to marry in a leap year, so it's a rush job and more flights. We must have flown 20 times this year so far between us...

[Phil dAmore]

This subject pops up from time to time.  Perhaps a compiled list could be added to the FAQ.

A few items I'm aware of that will bring various forms of misfortune:

Never pick up money you see lying in the street.  Doing so will cause you to lose more than you found.

No hand-shaking or handing anything across a door threshold. 

Before leaving for a trip, sit quietly with your  packed bags for a few minutes.

A spider crawling UP the wall is good luck, but a spider crawling DOWN the wall brings bad luck.

Dropping a spoon or fork on the floor will cause a woman to come visit you.  Dropping a knife means a man will come and visit you.

When stepping outside on the street, if the first person you see is a man, you will have a good day.  If it's a woman, you will not have a good day.

No one outside the family is permitted to see a baby for the first few months of it's life.  A child will not get his or her first haircut until it is one year old. (I have no idea why)

When raising a toast to the dead, one does not clink glasses. (I'm not sure if this is superstition or just tradition, sometimes the lines get a little blurry!)

There are many more....

[Makkin]

Hi,

  I have started out the football season by never having change in my pockets when my team plays and have gone so far as to pull out the pockets and show them empty because last year I bought a beer and pulled into my change again and sure enough Tony Romo bobbled the snap at the same moment and my team lost ...lol So now I wont touch change during any part of a game...This is not the first time it's happened to me so I will just keep with my routine as the Cowboys are 2-0 now..lol

  Anyone know any superstitions about shoes?

  Anyone know any about change(coin money)?

Thanks,

Makkin

[Misha]

Hi,

  Anyone know any superstitions about shoes?

  Anyone know any about change(coin money)?

Thanks,

Makkin

Shoes: my wife keeps telling me to put my shoes side-by-side, otherwise it will be a bad omen. I.e. if I take off my shoes and leave them pointing in opposite directions, it will bring me bad luck in the future.

My wife had us do a ritual whereby we spoke to a coin and put it away for one month. At the end of the month, we had to spend it. The belief is that the coin being spent will bring us even more money in the future.

[wxman]

With all these sayings and superstitions, I would venture to say Ben Franklin would enjoy them and marry a RW! One of my favorite quotes of his has a great deal to do with this forum and it's mission  "Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards." Good ol Ben. 

[deccie]

Never pick up money you see lying in the street.  Doing so will cause you to lose more than you found.

Somehow, I have a feeling if someone saw a 1000 ruble note lying on a footpath it would not be there for long.

[Serebro]

Somehow, I have a feeling if someone saw a 1000 ruble note lying on a footpath it would not be there for long.

I wouldn't take it.
I wouldn't take a big bag full of money, too.


By the way, when I was a student I had a groupmate who found a gold chain on the pavement and the new model mobile phone within 1 week's time.She wasn't the type of the person to try to give those things back and she didn't. In about 3 months' time she brought both things to the church as she complained that she didn't feel well and she had a nightmare concerning the chain. But she had known about that superstition before so maybe she thought about that a lot.. who knows.

Another story... when I was about 12 my classmate and I visited her relative's family. When I saw her I asked my friend what was wrong with that woman's hand as it was shivering and my friend replied that that woman had had it for about 5 months' time time since the day when she found one-rouble note in the street. (there's also a superstition that some ill people put their disease(with the help of some fortuneteller) into some costy thing or a note and leave it in the street and if you take it you will get the disease)A few years later when I asked my friend about that woman she told me that soon after our visit that woman's husband was killed in a local wood and she died soon after that(they both were about 60 I think)

[ScottinCrimea]

At the first sign of a new moon you have to take money out of your pocket and hold it up to the moon.  this signifies that as the moon grows your monwy will grow also.

They are great believers in bad energy and ways that someone gives this to you.

I've learned never to question their superstitutions or express doubt as it will give you much more bad luck than just going along.  And if that involves sprinkling blessed water around the house to remove the evil energy or flushing a blessed egg down the toilet with your next BM, just say, "yes dear." and do it.

Also, don't try to associate superstitions with religion.  See them as two distinct ( often contradictory) things.

[Makkin]

Hi,

  I know many in North America as far as superstitions go but some confuse me because they go back so many years and such.

 (1) Don't look a gift horse in the mouth? Must be obvious but maybe not? Seems generally to mean don't complain about good luck but literally seems to mean don't look a horse(racing horse in the mouth)..?

 (2) Counting your chickens is very obvious.

 (3) My mother always has many for me to abide by and she makes sense most of the time.

 (4) Never see the bride in her wedding dress until the actual wedding is in progress.

 (5) I am told or was told by my Australian mother in law that I must have a new broom for a new home and she bought us one as she carried on the tradition from many years back.

Makkin

[Simoni]

At the first sign of a new moon you have to take money out of your pocket and hold it up to the moon.  this signifies that as the moon grows your monwy will grow also.

Last night we had a new moon. In a similar meaning, Marina told me I should "cut my hair and nails" because they would grow faster."

[Simoni]

One Ukrainian  superstition that still baffles me, is re-entering your flat to get something you forgot after you close and lock the door. Apparently that is bad luck. So for fun, I occasionally say I forgot something. I know I'm bad but the look on my fiancee is priceless. Yes, hell awaits me.

There is a remedy....if you must go back, look at yourself in the mirror.  And then it's ok :-)

[SANDRO43]

(1) Don't look a gift horse in the mouth? Must be obvious but maybe not? Seems generally to mean don't complain about good luck but literally seems to mean don't look a horse (racing horse in the mouth)..?

Makkin, IIRC the age and health of horses can be gauged by looking at the condition of their teeth. Therefore, if you're given a horse as a gift, looking there might be hugely disappointing .

[Makkin]

Sandro,

  Thanks...Thats a good explanation indeed. It makes sense to me now..lol


   Many believe as my mother that the number "8" is very lucky and I carry a number "8" in my wallet. Troy Aikman of my football team was "8" as well as Steve Young of the Forty-Niners. In the 1990's they combined for four super-bowl championships as quaterbacks.

Makkin

[jb]

Sandro,

Quite right, a horses teeth continue to grow longer throughout it's life, if a horse is "long in the tooth", he's old, not a good horse.  A gift horse is likely to be an old horse nobody else wants to feed any longer.  He's still good for petting and affection, old horses tend to be very gentle and is a good afternoon ride for the kids, but he's not for a work-a-day animal any more.

Same thing with white elephants, they are rare and highly prized by high ranking people in India, so much so that they are not trained to be working elephants.   If you want to impoverish an enemy, give him a white elephant, he has to feed the beast, but cannot work him.  The man will grow poor buying feed for a non-productive liability.

[catzenmouse]

If you want to impoverish an enemy, give him a white elephant, he has to feed the beast, but cannot work him.  The man will grow poor buying feed for a non-productive liability.

Here they're called teenagers...

Here are some links if anyone is interested:

 http://www.passportmagazine.ru/article/369/

 http://ezinearticles.com/?Russian-Superstitions&id=331435

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_traditions_and_superstitions

 http://www.worldtrip.ca/russiansuperstitions.html

Enjoy,
 Ken