As far as I can remember, when I was a child the sidewalks in my hometown were made of precast pavers. Adults did not notice such details but children, living closer to the ground, were keenly aware of the cracks between the pavers. Infantile mythology had it that there were gremlins of one kind or other lurking under the pavers and the only way to get safely from one’s house to the street corner was to avoid stepping on any cracks. Occasionally one would lose one’s balance and hit the crack right on, to the amusement of the other children. As superstitions go, this was a mild form and a far as I can think back nobody was ever harmed.
You know, of course, that a black cat crossing the street ahead of you will bring you bad luck. As if you needed a cat to remind you. However, you cannot do anything about it. You are now in the world of grownups’ superstitions. I know it is silly, but I would like to find out if there is a way to mitigate the misfortune, short of stepping on the cat.
Bad luck will also befall you if you break glass. If it is a mirror you just carelessly smashed you are headed for Dante’s Inferno: leave all hope behind! But In some parts of the world there is a remedy. You make the sign of the cross. A clever move because it gently steers you from superstition to religion, a safer place. Less serious but still bad are the consequences for a woman who is invited to dinner in a fine restaurant and places her handbag on the floor. That invites bad luck, in case you did not know. Not finding any other place to put it she would be well advised to cross her fingers, just in case. Of course I do not know who invited her but I would cross my fingers anyway.
Actually, being German, I would not cross my fingers. I would hold my thumb, a gesture that is also useful if you are forced to say something you do not believe yourself. Holding the thumb of one hand behind your back while you talk invalidates the perjury. It re-boots your conscience, so to speak.
An additional pitfall for the superstitious is a flight of stairs. The unwritten law of occult caution dictates that you must not cross another person on the stairs. If two reach the same stairway at both ends simultaneously one must stop and wait for the other. This holds true for wide as for narrow stairs. If you ignore this law the other person will probably not speak to you again, ever.
In latitudes where thunderstorms are common, such as my native Germany, lightning strikes are feared. In addition to fire insurance folks often “buy” additional protection from Saint Florian, the saint in charge of fire and flood victims. The proper formula for addressing him is a ditty like this: “Dear Florian, forgive the bother. Please save my house, burn down another”.
One must not forget that superstitions work both ways. To find a four-lobed clover leaf, for example, brings you good fortune. When you are going on a trip and the taxi is waiting outside to take you to the airport, briefly sit down with your packed suitcase at your side. Then get up again and go. This guarantees a pleasant accident free voyage. At least in Russia where my father came from.
When I lived in Canada I noticed that men going for a beer after work never ordered “a” beer. They always ordered two bottles. Must have been some superstition about being caught with the last of something, the end of life, the last supper, the last beer. Just a guess. I also noticed that pubs had two doors, one for men, the other for ladies. Funny though that both doors lead into the same pub, smell of stale beer, tobacco smoke and all. A subtle reminder, I assume, that we will all end up in the same heaven.
Knock on wood.
(c)2017 by Herbert H. Hoffman
Picture credit: Pinterest Clipart