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SIGNS, OMENS
AND
SUPERSTITIONS
SIGNS, OMENS
AND
SUPERSTITIONS
BY
ASTRA CIELO
Author of “Fortunes and Dreams”
“_Signs, omens and predictions,
Are not all fictions,
And many facts does history cite
To prove that I am right._”
--+The Mascot.+
NEW YORK
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
+Copyright, 1918, by+
GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
_All rights reserved_
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Popular Superstitions 1
II. Wedding Superstitions 7
Lucky Periods for Marriages 11
Bridal Cake--Bridesmaids 12
Shoes and Weddings 14
III. Rings 17
Engagement and Wedding Rings 20
IV. Lucky and Unlucky Days and Seasons 23
New Year’s Superstitions 29
April Fool’s Day 31
Ascension Day 32
Easter Superstitions 33
St. John’s Eve 35
Candlemas Day 36
St. Valentine’s Day 36
Hallowe’en Customs 38
Harvest Superstitions 39
Christmas 40
V. Signs of Good or Bad Luck 43
The Sign of the Cross 46
Knocking on Wood 48
VI. Lucky and Unlucky Omens 50
Christening Customs 51
Beliefs Concerning Children 52
Beliefs Concerning Eggs 54
Charms and Amulets 59
Mascots 64
Horseshoe Lore 65
Pin Superstitions 67
VII. The Influences of Mythical Beings 68
Witches 73
VIII. Signs Connected with the Body 76
Sneezing 76
Spitting 78
Moles, Teeth, Warts, etc. 80
Yawning 82
Tingling and Itching 83
Stumbling and Falling 84
Cutting Nails and Hair 86
Personal Appearance 87
Clothes Superstitions 88
On Arising 90
Squinting, Crippled, and Hunchback Persons 91
Death and Corpses 92
The Evil Eye 93
IX. Household Beliefs 95
Looking-glass Omens 96
Spilling of Salt 97
Knife Superstitions 99
Candle Superstitions 100
Concerning Ladders 101
X. Divination 102
The Mystery of Numbers 102
Lottery Numbers and Usages 104
Predictions of Wealth 106
Divination by Letters 107
Divination by Books 108
Precious Stones 110
Color Superstitions 112
XI. Plant Superstitions 115
XII. Bird (and Insect) Superstitions 116
Insect Omens 118
Bees 118
XIII. Animal Portents 120
Howling of Dogs 122
Black Cats 123
XIV. Meteorological Beliefs 124
Weather Signs and Portents 125
Comets and Meteors 128
XV. Vocational Superstitions 131
Superstitions of Kings 131
Card-players’ Superstitions 133
Actors’ Superstitions 135
Theatre Superstitions 138
Commercial Travellers’ Superstitions 139
Dressmakers’ and Seamstresses’ Superstitions 140
Sailors’ Superstitions 141
Fishermen’s Superstitions 144
Turfmen’s Superstitions 145
Baseball Superstitions 147
Waiters’ Superstitions 148
XVI. (Miscellaneous) Portents of Evil 150
Breaking Friendship 150
Drinking Toasts 151
Pious Ejaculations 152
XVII. Superstitions of the Orthodox Jew 155
CHAPTER I
POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS
It is an interesting question as to how the many superstitious beliefs
and practices had their beginning. The origin of most of them is no
doubt to be found in man’s efforts to explain the phenomena of nature,
and in an attempt to propitiate an angry deity and to invite a better
fortune. From these sources come many of the absurd notions still in
vogue among primitive people, which have been handed down in modified
form to us.
Man has ever found it difficult to understand the mysteries surrounding
him on all sides, and groping in the dark he has tried by prayer,
incantation or peculiar practices to force nature to do his bidding.
Superstition, therefore, arises primarily from ignorance. Early man
believed that every phenomenon of nature was the work of a spirit or
devil. His intelligence could not suggest any other explanation. To
this belief was added fear. The thunder, the lightning, the earthquake,
darkness--all filled him with fearful dread. To him they were the
workings of spiteful powers to be propitiated. Where ignorance and
fear are surrounded by danger they will always grope for a way of
escape. Thus superstition is born. A belief in the existence of spirits
antagonistic to man gave rise to most of the old superstitions.
There is no nation, however ignorant or advanced, which does not
recognize customs, rites, usages and beliefs which have their origin
in superstition. The Bible speaks of such practices as had found their
way from pagan sources into the monotheistic beliefs of the Israelites,
calls them “abominations,” and warns the Jews against them. The penalty
of death was attached to sorcery, yet many of the superstitious
practices continued to be observed, as is proved by the invocation by
Saul of Samuel’s spirit. All the prophets spoke strenuously against
the existing immoral and superstitious rites, and Judaism was probably
the first religion that attempted to free itself from their shackles.
In Egypt, Greece and Rome, superstition gave birth to mythology with
its pagan rites and ceremonies. During the Dark and Middle Ages when
people were for the most part illiterate, superstition flourished with
unprecedented vigor. Every religious sect gave rise to new beliefs. The
Crusades had the effect of bringing to Europe many oriental practices
and ideas that in the course of time became grafted on the religious
habits of the people, and not a few of them have been handed down to
our own times.
It is, in fact, a difficult matter at times to draw the line between
superstition and religion, for what appears as a sacred rite to one
creed may appear as rank folly to the adherent of another. The Fiji
Islander, for example, believes that thunder is a sign of God’s anger,
and he falls flat on his face and mutters an invocation to appease the
deity. To an enlightened European this becomes a superstition, yet this
same European may wear an amulet or charm to ward off sickness or bad
luck, and the Fiji Islander might be moved to laughter at the idea.
In fact, certain superstitions had their origin in one sect trying
to oppose the tenets of another sect. Again many superstitions were
created by a literal or often a false interpretation of the Bible. For
instance, among the Jews it was considered lucky to begin a journey on
Tuesday, because in describing the third day of Creation, it is said:
“God saw that it was good.” On the other hand, it was thought unlucky
to commence anything on Monday, when God omitted to say it was good.
Similarly Christians have a superstition that Friday is a bad day to
begin an important work, because Christ was crucified on that day. The
fear of sitting down with thirteen at table had its origin in the Last
Supper and its sad ending.
Many a superstition had its beginning in a command that was laid down
to teach a lesson or avoid trouble. For instance, it is considered bad
to step over a child. This may have had its beginning when a careful
father feared that in stepping over a child one might accidentally step
on it and cripple it. To drive the lesson home more effectively, it was
stated that stepping over a child would stunt its growth, and in that
form it is still held in respect by many at the present time. So also
the belief that it is unlucky to sing before breakfast may have been
taught by an indolent father who hated to have his morning slumbers
disturbed by his daughter’s singing, and so frightened her off by an
admonition appealing to her fear. Every superstition can probably be
traced to a similar cause.
There are few persons, no matter how rational or level-headed, who
are not given to superstition in some form. With some there is a
deep-seated belief that evil will result from an infraction of a rule.
With others an amused idea that if a ceremony does no good it can do no
harm, and so to be on the safe side they carry out some mummery. The
lady who will not go to a card party, unless she wears some particular
amulet or jewel, the man who will not speculate or play cards without
first touching his lucky coin or pocket-piece, the fisherman who spits
on his bait for good luck, are all descendants of the primitive savage
who tried by some secret method to force nature to be good to him.
One reason why superstition has not yet died out among intelligent
people is because it is contagious. In colonial days in Salem even the
learned professors and lawyers believed in witchcraft. It was in the
very air. Children brought up in an atmosphere of credulity rarely
rise above it. It is the hardest thing to shake off superstitious
prejudices. They are sucked, as it were, with our mother’s milk, and
become so interwoven with our thoughts that a very strong mind is
required to shake them off. They become a sort of religion, semisacred
in their appeal. No wonder that the lower classes cannot abandon them
and that even men of intellect cling to them.
It is the object of this book to review the subject of superstition
without prejudice or condemnation, but to present the data and explain
their origin wherever possible, leaving it to the reader to reject such
beliefs as seem absurd and irreconcilable with modern culture.