Good-Luck Charms, Superstitions, and Traditions

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I have silver acorns and hamsas in my bedroom and as jewelry. Supposed to be very protective in warding off evil and negativity.

[Undead Medic]

I have silver acorns and hamsas in my bedroom and as jewelry. Supposed to be very protective in warding off evil and negativity.

 

We have a Dream Catcher in our bedroom.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Those are good too.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I have silver acorns and hamsas in my bedroom and as jewelry. Supposed to be very protective in warding off evil and negativity.

I can't help thinking of Bilbo's brass acorn buttons. He no sooner loses them by squeezing through the door (in the book) / crevice (in the movie) than he's attacked by orcs and wargs, giant spiders, hostile elves, dragons....

 

I had never heard the word hamsa before, though they looked familiar as soon as I saw the pictures.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

They are a Middle Eastern thing, "hamsa" as in "Hand of God" usually in a feminine context. I do tend to mix up the Celtic/Middle Eastern imagery.

[Shangas]

Chinese history, myth, legend and culture is chock-full of good luck, bad luck and superstition. Here are a few...

 

BAD LUCK

 

- NEVER hand something to someone behind you, sight unseen. In case it's the devil.

 

- Going out at night? Walk straight. Never look back. Never turn your head when you breathe or sneeze. The gods place a pair of candles on your shoulders to ward off evil spirits and guide you home safely. Turning your head and sneezing will blow them out and bring bad luck.

 

- NEVER EVER EVER...stick your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice. EVER. It is extremely rude, and offensive. And very bad luck. This is because it mirrors the practice of inserting sticks of incense into an altar at a cemetery to give prayers for the dead.

 

- NEVER place a bed in a room such that the foot of the bed directly faces the door. A bed is only ever oriented this way to carry out a corpse. Ever heard of the expression "to be carried out feet first"? That's where it comes from.

 

- NEVER buy sets of four ANYTHING. 4 in Chinese is an extremely unlucky number, just like 13 in Western society.

 

- NEVER clean the house for two weeks after Chinese New Year. This will remove any good luck for the following year.

 

- NEVER give someone a clock as a present. It suggests that their time is running out.

 

- This is a big one...NEVER buy anything second-hand, or inherited. Along with the item, will come all the bad luck of the previous owner. Or even worse, the previous owner's ghost, wondering what the hell you're doing with his stuff!

 

GOOD LUCK

 

- At big Chinese celebrations (weddings, birthday-parties, CNY, etc), wear red, and make lots of noise. Red and loud noises drives away demons and evil spirits. It is the same reason why Chinese people light red firecrackers.

 

- If a coconut falls on your head, consider it good luck. As recompense for any injury, you will be granted ten years' extra life ----- My late, beloved grandmother was a particular adherent to this superstition.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I had heard about the number 4 being what is considered a "dead" number. Negative and unlucky. Which I find interesting in that in Native American mythology and belief system the number 4 is very positive and sacred. Being hit on the head by a coconut is good luck? Alright, not that 10 years isn't a bad thing. Gonna hurt like the dickens for awhile though.

[Shangas]

I think granny believed in it because she died at 97. I don't recall her having any coconut-related accidents in the neighbourhood of 87, but who knows?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Suppose someone could have chucked one in a local grocery store? Did she ever visit Hawaii?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Interesting. Several of those Chinese superstitions are similar to what I've heard from Japanese people.

 

The number 4 being bad luck was explained to me as being because one of the Japanese words for 4 is "shi" which also means death. I believe that this particular Japanese word for 4 was borrowed from the Chinese -- but was the word for "death" also borrowed?

 

The sticking-chopsticks-into-rice thing is also considered bad luck in Japan. In fact, I think I posted it in this thread a while back, although I had a different explanation (which may be due to my misunderstanding).

 

Another Chinese one: Don't leave any rice on your plate, or your future spouse will have as many pockmarks on his/her face as the number of grains that you left. (Mothers tell this one to their kids. Sounds like it might be more effective than the American equivalent, "There are children starving in China.")

 

The bed-facing-the-door superstition is similar to a Japanese belief that it's bad luck to have the head of your bed to the north -- again, this has to do with how corpses are positioned. If the bedrooms were on the north side of the house (which makes sense, so as to have the sunnier areas for daytime activities), this could amount to the same thing.

[Shangas]

The Chinese for "death" is "Si" (pronounced 'sir'). Which is also how 'four' is pronounced. It's similar in a lot of Asian dialects and cultures.

 

No, B.I., gran never visited Hawaii. But she did grow up in a country where coconuts are plentiful.

 

CHINESE TRADITIONS

 

*ALWAYS* remove your shoes before entering a private home (unless excused by the host). Shoes are used to protect your feet outside, and not to track mud into the house.

 

ANOTHER SUPERSTITION: Always hold your chopsticks midway between top and bottom. Too far to the bottom suggests incest and familial marriage. Too far to the top suggests marrying a total stranger that your family will not approve of.

 

My father told me that one. I thought it was rather funny. But it is a genuine Chinese superstition.

 

It is tradition to wear red on special occasions, as mentioned further up. Red is the Chinese color for celebration, as it is believed to scare away evil spirits and monsters.

 

**I'm going to Chinese New Year dinner tonight. I'll be wearing a red necktie. Keep those nasty ghoulies away from my dinner! BEGONE!**

 

When being served a cup of tea, make a fist, and knock the tabletop twice with your knuckles.

 

This dates back to ancient China. When the emperor moved incognito through the kingdom with his servants, he wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible. So as not to draw attention to himself, he would serve his own courtiers tea during mealtimes at public restaurants and inns during their journeys. To be served tea by the emperor was a great honour. But so as not to blow his cover, the servant would mimic the act of kowtowing, by tapping his knuckles on the table, to show respect.

 

Along with where you hold your chopsticks, is HOW you hold your chopsticks. Always make sure that they are of equal length. The only things which are not of equal length are the planks of wood used to build your coffin!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Besides which, if you hold your chopsticks so the ends aren't even, you won't get much dinner!

[chironsgirl]

Besides which, if you hold your chopsticks so the ends aren't even, you won't get much dinner!

 

Actually, I will have to forgo chopsticks and use a fork!

 

As for this good and bad luck stuff...I have some theatre background. A B.A. in Theatre. So some of those superstions about whistling, not using the M word, the peacock feathers, the hat on the bed thing......I don't really "believe", but out of respect I tend to follow. It's about traditions. Being connected to something bigger than yourself. Honouring what went before.

 

I wear a steel link bracelet a lot. It has TORCHWOOD I LOVE JACK written on it. It's not worth anything, but it is profoundly important to me. It symbolises hope and a better future. It is a "touchstone" for me. As is my username. Both could be considered good luck charms. They wont make anything magically better, they just make me feel connected to something bigger and more positive.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

They wont make anything magically better, they just make me feel connected to something bigger and more positive.

And I think that is what is so important about these belief systems. They do make us feel connected to that something that is larger then us and to maybe to those ancestors that believed them as well. Like Halloween to the Celts, it's not all about witches, and black cats, and the walking dead.

 

Far from it. It's about the honoring of our dead and letting go of all those we lost in the past year. Yes, some might believe the veil between the other world thins, and that negative forces can pass through to this world. But those places already exist, Iona, Stone Henge and all the stone circles in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland as well as those places that are revered in the Americas and around the world.

[chironsgirl]

And on that spacial Samhain night, everyone gathered at the cheiftain's home, even people who were sworn enemies. It was a very holy time. You feasted with the dead one more time and sent them off with The Lord, to the summercountry. And you had to be careful, because those dark forces wanted to take those souls away to a bad place. You did all you could to confuse the dark forces and frighten them off. And the cheiftain had to protect you, even to giving up his own life, to keep you from harm. The least you could do was keep a civil tongue in your head and be pleasant to eveyone at the table. So fueds were patched up, and sins forgiven. This is what "The Church" declared to be a pagan ritual.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Sad, isn't it? And the Hollly Oak. Mistletoe does not take readily to the oak tree. It is fonder of the apple and yew. But the druids grafted it to the oak to make sanctuaries. Places where sworn enemies had to lay down their arms, kiss and pledge that no blood would be shed under that tree. They could go their separate ways but it would be another 24 hours before they could take up their arms against another. This is where the ritual of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas comes from.

[Carol the Dabbler]

And on that spacial Samhain night, everyone gathered at the cheiftain's home, even people who were sworn enemies. It was a very holy time. You feasted with the dead one more time and sent them off with The Lord, to the summercountry. And you had to be careful, because those dark forces wanted to take those souls away to a bad place. You did all you could to confuse the dark forces and frighten them off. And the cheiftain had to protect you, even to giving up his own life, to keep you from harm. The least you could do was keep a civil tongue in your head and be pleasant to eveyone at the table. So fueds were patched up, and sins forgiven. This is what "The Church" declared to be a pagan ritual.

 

 

Hmm, well, it was a pagan ritual. Literally. But that doesn't automatically make it a bad thing.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

But that doesn't automatically make it a bad thing.

So very true as many of these aspects have been adopted by some churches.