Topic awaiting preservation: Dictionary of Superstitions

Lately i have acquired a dictionary of superstitions if anybody has anything they would like me to look up for them please post it here and i will gladly look it up for them.

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"dont piss against the wind"

^ That ain't no superstition!

Ok,

I have one, why is a 'black cat crossing your path' to some considered lucky and others really, really unlucky/v.bad...

Yeah and why is 13 lucky for some and not for others?

"You know you have been doing 3d too long when you walk into a church and think, "God, the polycount of this place must be huge!"

alright coffee Luxo I will look those up for you and get the info posted as soon as i can

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Coffee- I didn't find anything under the entry of Black Cat as one thing but here is what it says for both words individually:
BLACK- Of all the colors, black is the one most closely associated with evil and death. In Western culture it is the traditional color worn at funerals- not out of respect for the deceased but as a recognition ( dating back from the Roman times) that everyone is subject to death's dominion. The DEVIL himself was formerly said to materialize out of choice as a black-skinned man, and up until relatively modern times in some remote areas people turned themselves around upon meeting a black man just in case he was the Devil, in disquise, (converesly, it was once held that touching a black man would bring good luck.). Witches meanwhile, are traditionally depicted all in black with a black cat or raven among their most trusted familiars, and demons are said to prefer the form of black creatures, be they cats, dogs or cocks. On being confronted with an evil spirit, a victim may, it is said, distract the entity by offering the gift of something black, such as a black animal, and thus make one's escape.
As well as black cats being somewhat perversely a symbol of good luck black sheep are considered lucky. Sheperds regard the presence of black sheep as a good omen and general celebration traditionally surrounds the birth of a black lamb. Though death and bad luck will ensue if the first lamb of the season is black or ewe bears black twins.

CAT-this entry mainly tells you the witches turn into blck cats and all the horrid things the french and english did to cats to make sure they weren't. It also says that in most european countries it was held to be good luck if a black cat crossed your path and bad if a white or grey did so. The reverse is true for America.

So in conclustion a black cat across your path means either you are escaping a demon, or a witch is chasing you

Sorry luxo no time for yours you will just have to wait a little longer.

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I can kinda help with 13. My b-day is on the 13th of June, so I like the number 13. Oh, and why do people not like to smash mirrors or walk under ladders?

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you, rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

'Touching wood' as a ward against bad luck, or having tempted fate.

For example:

"The weather looks like it'll hold out for the rest of the day - touch wood..." *tap-tap*

Wood's no good. Iron you can rely on.

Perhaps it's a colloquialism from the South (Tennessee), but I've always heard it as "Knock on wood"

yup, "knock on wood" is how i always heard it said

which for me involves rapping my knuckles on my head a couple of times

Thirteen- of all numbers, thirteen is the most ill starred. The prejudice against the number 13 is almost universal and many people (who may be identified technically as triskaidekaphobics') will go to considerable lengths to avoid any association with the number. As a result there are many streets throughout the western world which have no house with this number, and many hotels which lack a room 13 or even a 13th floor, going directly from 12 to 14. Witches' covens have thirteen members and the in Tarot Card decks the number thirteen is reserved for the Death Card. Most unlucky of all is the discovery that one has set down at a dinner table where thirteen people are present, a referance to the fact tht there were thirteen people at the Last Supper, where Judas Iscariot was the thirteenth. Superstition has it that the first person to rise (or otherwise the last perosn to be seated) will die within a year. The only remedy is for all to sit down together or for one or more be sat at another table. Equally ubiquitious is teh fear that a Friday, itself an unlucky day, that falls on the thirteenth day of the month is a day when anything that can go wrong will go wrong (can we say.. Murphy's Law?) Even in modern technologically advanced society, Business will fall off whenever a 'Friday the thirteenth' {not the movie} comes around as important deals are delayed until a more propitious date. New undertakings of many other kinds including Weddings and other events of a personal nature, will be postponed also. In reality, the prejudice against the number thirteen is of obscure origins, as evidence exists of it in Roman civilizations long before Christ and the Last Supper, which is none the less usually cited as the source of the superstition. Perhaps significantly, the number 13 was to the ancient Egyptians the last step of the ladder via which the soul entered eternity, though other authorities have suggested Hindu origins.

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As for knocking on wood to avoid bad luck it had nothing under 'Knocking on Wood' or 'Wood'. However looking under knocking if found that a superstition has it that Death will knock three times consecutively on a window, door, or bedpost of a sick person before he takes you as a warning to make your last request lest ye shall not have a chance to make one. Another superstition of US origins says that if a caller knocks on a door and it is not answered this is an omen of iminent demise.

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I read somewhere that Friday is mathematically more likely to fall on the thirteenth of the month that most other dates - or was it the thirteenth and Fridays? I can't find the article now, but it seemed pretty plausible in the reading. Anybody know this one?

I don't know that one white hawk, sorry i hate math, i ignore it completely if i can help it.

Ladders.:
The taboo against walking under ladders is one of the most widely known and frequently observed of all surviving superstitions, encountered in many christian and non-christian countries even today. Many people who reject some of the more archaic superstitions will still cross the road or choose another route if a ladder propped against a wall blocks their path ( though they may protest that they are simply nervous of something being dropped on them.) The reasoning behind the superstition, which is probably obscure to the majority of people who none the less observe it, is that the ladder completes a triangle with the wall and the ground. The triangle is said to be a symbol of the Holy Trinity therefor anybody who walks straight through it is showing disrespect for God and possibly sympathy for the Devil. Alternatively, a ladder offers means of ascent to Heaven for the recently decesed, in which case great care must be taken not to obstruct or offend any spirits mounting it. THe usual punishment for such recklessness is to be a bout of misfortune, though more specifically in the case of unmarried persons it may entail postponement of marriage hopes for another year. In the Netherland and formerly in parts of the British Isles retribution went further and the person concerned was fated to be hanged- a conclusion that probably came from the fact that when a proper scaffolding could not be found condemned criminals were hung from a crude gallows made from a ladder leaning against a tree or wall. More on this superstition to come in a later installment.

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neat

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you, rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

In cases where there is no alternative to walking under a ladder superstition does, however, offer a safeguard, advising that crossing the Fingers and keeping them well crossed until a Dog is sighted will afford the transgressor some protection. Similiarly, Spitting on one's shoe and allowing the spit to dry may negate any ill effects. One scottish superstition suggests that if there is no alternative to walking under a ladder, breaking the taboo may have beneficial effects, it says that anyone who makes a wish as they pass under shall have it granted. Those who work on ladders are not immune to their dangers. In the USA it is said that anyone who climbs a ladder under which a black Cat has just walked will experiance bad luck, while in many European countries it is unlucky to pass anything through the rungs of a ladder-as it also is at sea. If the ladder has an odd number of rungs it may actually bring the climber good luck, but if he or she should slip on a rung this is an omen of a financial setback. Even if the ladder is resting on the ground, bad luck is risked if any person treads beneath the rungs. In many non-christian countries the taboo against walking under ladders is simply one aspect of a wider superstition that applies to walking under a variety of objects. The idea behind this is that it is inadvisable to allow anything to be placed above one's head, as the head is the seat of the spirit and should never be overshadowed. in Japan, for instance, it is thought that anyone who walks under a telegraph wire will be possessed be devils.

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that is all for ladders. Next installement: Pissing against the wind.

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I didn't find anything on that particular phrase but here is what it says about the individual words.
Urine- In common with other bodily fluids, urine retains a supernatural link with the body and therefore has certain magical properties. Measures should be taken against witches obtaining a person's urine, which might be used in spells to threaten that persons welfare- Spitting into one's urine or washing the hands in urine are accepted ways to ward off such interference, as is sprinkling the door posts of one's home and every member of one's family with urine. (If anyone does this it is reccommended that they do not get caught doing so and for the record they are a sad sad little human.) If witchcraft is defininantly suspected remedies include baking urine in some cake or boiling some NAILS in the urine of the victim: in either case the witch will quickly reveal herself, this is usually by suddenly taking ill. (NO FREAKING DUH! YOU EAT A PISS CAKE YOU GONNA BE SICK). The definition goes on but i don't feel the need to post any more of this distasteful entry.
Wind-Most superstitions relating to the wind are, obvious reasons, of nautical origins. SAILORS becalmed at sea claim several ways of raising a helpful breeze. Scratching the mast of the ship with a FINGERNAIL may have desired effect, as will breaking the taboo against WHISTLING, though this must be done very softly for fear of "Whistling up a gale (or storm)" Throwing a coin or brush into the waves is also supposed to create a healthy breeze.
More to come.

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