Superstitions

Scars512

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Out of curiosity, are there any superstitions that you actually believe in? If so, why do you believe in them?

For me, I have a few:

1. Bad things happen in 3's. Have always heard that my entire life and it seems to be true most of the time, although -- to be honest -- sometimes it is a stretch since the bad things might not all be equally as bad.

2. If a bird tries to get into your home, there will be a death in the family. Every time this has happened, someone in my family has died (not just immediate -- extended family, too). I freak out if a bird even gets near my window or door now.

3. A cardinal that gets close to you is the soul of a lost loved one coming back to visit you. I have no idea why I believe this. I probably heard it from someone as a kid. But ever since my great-grandmother died when I was a child, I've thought that lost loved ones come back to visit me as a cardinal (male or female). Not every cardinal I see, but the ones that get closer to me than they normally would. I probably just believe it because I want to.

4. I have a sprig of dried sage that I hang up in my kitchen. If I remove it, our family has a streak of bad luck. I initially bought it to "cleanse" my daughter's dream catcher. I don't really think dream catchers work, but we tried it when she was a little girl to protect against nightmares and it seemed to help. When she started having them again, I told her that her dream catcher needed to be cleansed and online it said that you use sage to do that. I hung up the sage to dry it so I could cleanse the dream catcher, but I never used it. My daughter thought I cleansed the dream catcher, so it "worked" again without me doing it. I threw away the sage and we had a streak of bad luck. I joked that the sage had been protecting us. My daughter made me buy some more. I did. Once again, I threw it out, and we had another streak of bad luck (things breaking, etc.). So, I bought some more and it has been in my kitchen for about a year now. I'm afraid to throw it out now.
 
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I don’t believe in it but I won’t split a post if I’m walking with someone out of habit, and if I do I go back around the other way.
 

Aero

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I have a lot of superstitions related to birds. When I don't think about birds, they are barely around. But as soon as I'm like, "where are my birds at?" like 10 will show up to say Hi.

I like Crows, but I've been meeting a lot of other types of birds lately. My city had a Turkey Vulture invasion a couple of months ago. They are amazing from the sky, but as soon as you see their ugly heads up close you're like no. Get this abomination away from me.
 

Allegra

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2. If a bird tries to get into your home, there will be a death in the family.
i've heard about this, but the bird must be a raven or crow I think.

there are a lot of birds here in my place, and it is common for birds like cockatoos (just way too manyy), rainbow lorikeets, etc to come to our balcony asking for foods, some cockatoos even tried to get into my house many times........ for the foods!!

3. A cardinal that gets close to you is the soul of a lost loved one coming back to visit you.
pretty sure they're coming for the foods! Those birds!

I threw away the sage and we had a streak of bad luck.
About the dream catcher, it is intended to manipulate the spirit world. It is like a talisman or charm. Idk what is your belief, but for Christians, it is a big no.
Sage does nothing, it is just calling for more imo. The reason u had bad luck not cuz of sage, its cuz the demons want u to depend on it and idolize it. Smudging is new age practice. The devils won't flee with smoldering sage, they only flee in the name of Jesus.
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
The most effective weapons we have against the devil are our faith, wisdom, and knowledge about God and His Word.

I understand about your daughter, sometimes when we sleep things could happen, it happened to me too, but trust in the Lord to keep us safe.

----

Growing up in Chinese family, I had plenty of superstitions lol! There are some I used to believe from friends influence rather than family and some I unconsciously followed it back then,

1. Don't clip your nails at night (or after 6 pm), this is like cutting your lifetime or something like that lol. But my family do this a lot, and it used to make me, "oof! why they do this?!" but now it doesnt matter lol. The real superstition about clipping our nails at night is "If you clip your nails at night, it will turns into firefly".

2. Do not open umbrella inside the house, this is like bad luck or inviting demons. But I do this many times to check if my umbrella is still intact or not lol xD! The real one is "If you are using an umbrella indoor then your mother will die".

3. Do not sit on a chair right after it was sat by a woman who is in their period. Cuz if you do, you will get period soon. Doesn't make sense right?! I used to believe this back then in my middle school days, my friends too!

4. You cant take picture if there are only three of you or else the one in the middle will die. It was supposed to be a soon-ish effect. This is the most famous one. So many horror movies and stories about this. I used to kinda believe this, but in high school, me and 2 of my best friends had a studio photoshoot and I was the one in the middle. I'm still alive years and years after, and it doesnt even matter if I'm the one who die first one day, it's not cuz of that but cuz God says it is my time.

5. Do not whistle at night. You are inviting demons.

6. During Chinese new year and a day after (if im not wrong), do not sweep the floor. It will sweep away the luck.

7. After chinese new year, do not cut your hair. It will shorten your life (?) or luck.

8. If you talk or mention something bad and you don't want it to happen to you, knock on wood 3 times. I used to do this a lot lol! "Where is wood?! Is this made of wood?"

And many more but now I'm looking back at this, everything shouldn't have mattered and we don't need to believe in this.

We should get our faith not from objects or rituals of man-made origin, but from the one true God who gives eternal life.

Colossians 2:8-10 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Cheers.
 

Thunderian

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I am not superstitious, but when I was a smoker I would never light three cigarettes from the same match. Apparently it comes from the trenches and foxholes during the Great War, and had to do with sniper fire. The lighting of the first cigarette draws the attention of the sniper, the second lets him aim, the third guy gets it.

Also, since I watched Hot Fuzz, I can't hear someone say "The Greater Good" without repeating it aloud.
 

Scars512

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2. Do not open umbrella inside the house, this is like bad luck or inviting demons. But I do this many times to check if my umbrella is still intact or not lol xD! The real one is "If you are using an umbrella indoor then your mother will die".


8. If you talk or mention something bad and you don't want it to happen to you, knock on wood 3 times. I used to do this a lot lol! "Where is wood?! Is this made of wood?"
I had forgotten about those, but I try not to open up an umbrella and I do say "knock on wood", but I don't actually knock on wood.

The dream catcher thing was just a suggestion for us by someone else. It really was just about the power of suggestion. If you think it will help you, it will. Now that she is older, she no longer needs it. I just need to be brave and throw out the sage, I guess :)
 

Scars512

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I remembered another. I take the "be careful what you wish for" literally. Maybe I was scarred by reading "The Monkey's Paw" as a child. I never wish for money or something that might be obtained from something bad happening (like the death of someone).

Apparently I'm a very superstitious person. Even though logically I know those superstitions make no sense.
 

DesertRose

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Hey Scars512 welcome to VC.
You put this topic in the lounge which indicates it is a fun topic for you.
Permit me to address it seriously because there are people whose lives are controlled by such thinking.
People who alter their day to day dealings based on seeing things they consider bad omens etc.
Superstitions are according to my path from the handiwork of shaitan.
People end up fearing or giving credence to things that should not be feared or considered lucky.
Many give up having lives that are optimistic, proactive and they place trust in these superstitions instead of putting trust in the Creator.
In Asia and in some Western capitals such as New York some apartment buildings do not have the 13th floor.
Moreover, in real estate numerology is used for pricing because some buyers can be alienated if they are superstitious about the numbers used. Sigh.......
and I do say "knock on wood", but I don't actually knock on wood.
Case in point, wood has zero bearing and does not help us in anything.
Good luck discussing this topic but honestly I do not believe in luck.:p:)
 

Aero

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BTW Cardinals don't even exist in many places. Just saying, that superstition can't be universally true.
 

polymoog

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BTW Cardinals don't even exist in many places. Just saying, that superstition can't be universally true.
who said anything about superstitions needing to be global?
almost all are on a local, cultural level. thats why theyre interesting and fun.
 

Scars512

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BTW Cardinals don't even exist in many places. Just saying, that superstition can't be universally true.
Maybe I just chose cardinals because they are my favorite birds :) But, I do know that the concept of birds being messengers of God is pretty widespread. Maybe I just developed my own superstition based off of that.
 

Dalit

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Maybe I just chose cardinals because they are my favorite birds :) But, I do know that the concept of birds being messengers of God is pretty widespread. Maybe I just developed my own superstition based off of that.
I wondered about the cardinal thing because I saw a few of them after one of my uncles died and one sat really close to me when I was eating at a picnic table. He didn't want food, he just perched there, looking away from me like we were just sharing the same space on a nice day. It gave me comfort and made for a nice picture. My dad needed to see the cardinals actually. He greatly missed my uncle, his brother. So I told him about them. One was flying around in his (Dad's) garage and exited after a couple of circles around.

When I was going through a hard time in life and sat next to a big window at my workplace, a friendly bird would visit me. He even visited me at the entrance to the building. He was black and purple colored, had this purple sheen to him that you could see in direct sunlight. I do think God sent the birds to cheer me up. Just like how every time I see a dog, especially one hanging out of a car window, cheers me up. :)
 

Aero

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who said anything about superstitions needing to be global?
almost all are on a local, cultural level. thats why theyre interesting and fun.
Idk, but someone probably said it somewhere.

I wasn't trying to debunk the Cardinal thing though. I actually left the door wide open. For example, if you see a bird way outside its territory that could be important. It could be a glitch in "The Matrix".
 
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