Superstions

[Ken L]

I'd not heared the eggshells one until I was maybe 14. Probably because my family's roots are in Ireland and they didn't share the same superstition.

 

Davy, I had no idea that touching wood was a pre Christian tradition. Thanks for that.

Edited January 21, 2009 by Ken L

[DavyR]

Davy, I had no idea that touching wood was a pre Christian tradition. Thanks for that.

 

Impossible to prove, of course - like the origins of Morris Dancing! Folklorists since the 1970s have been in revolt against misguided earlier attempts (following the publication of Fraser's "Golden Bough" in 1890) to attribute all customs and superstitious beliefs to "Pagan survivals".

 

I think they've probably now gone too far in the opposite direction by insisting on documentary evidence for everything. I'm usually all in favour of evidence, but when something has gone on for centuries, practised by largely illiterate people and so much a part of everyday life that it didn't seem worthy of a written record anyway, finding evidence gets a bit tricky...

 

It drives me mad when I'm looking at a mention of a custom, or a song, in an old printed source and the author says "This is so well known as to need no further description" - Aaargh!!!

[corydoras]

Shame on you, Cory - as an ex-mariner, you should know that the witches use the shells to sail on the sea, not down rivers:

Davy, I had nine years in the Merch and never heard the one about egg shells. Back to the touch wood thing, I think this pre-dates Christianity too (though admittedly I can't cite anything at the moment)

 

Rowan is a potent protector against witchcraft in Scots folk lore. The berries have a wee pentagram on their base, The pentagram is a lucky symbol in Scotland. Rowan wood was often used for the lintels to windows and doors in dwellings and in byres because it was believed that a witch could not cross a lintel made of Rowan.

 

I don't know why but my old Scots granny would flip her lid if someone brought broom into the house. Holly and Ivy were out too unless it was during the 12 days of Christmas.

Edited January 21, 2009 by corydoras

[DavyR]

Yes, Rowan has always been regarded as a "Fairy Tree" and the juice from the berries applied to the eyelids on certain nights of the year was reputed to give the ability to see "The Little People". A lot of tree superstitions may (or may not!) be connected to the Druids and their (supposed) tree-lore.

 

There are several old ballads that mention the magical use of broom - the one that springs immediately to mind being "The Broomfield Hill", in which a young girl takes a wager with a wealthy man that she can visit him alone on the hill and retain her virginity. Taking advice from a local "wise woman", she puts him into a magical sleep using the flowers of the broom, leaves behind evidence that she has visited him and retired unscathed, and wins her bet!

 

Holly and Ivy are powerfully symbolic - Holly representing the male principle and Ivy the female. I'll leave you to work out why!

 

My Mum was very superstitious - I remember once getting yelled at for bringing hawthorn (May) blossom into the house. Any white flowers with a strong scent have always been associated with death, as they're supposed to shelter the spirits of the departed (no idea where that one comes from!).

[corydoras]

My Mum was very superstitious - I remember once getting yelled at for bringing hawthorn (May) blossom into the house. Any white flowers with a strong scent have always been associated with death, as they're supposed to shelter the spirits of the departed (no idea where that one comes from!).

Ne'er chinge a cloot till the May is oot!

[Vagabond]

Rowan is a potent protector against witchcraft in Scots folk lore. The berries have a wee pentagram on their base, The pentagram is a lucky symbol in Scotland. Rowan wood was often used for the lintels to windows and doors in dwellings and in byres because it was believed that a witch could not cross a lintel made of Rowan.

 

 

It's not a bad rod material either ! Tough and springy, and with about the right natural taper for a boy's all-purpose rod....and no witch is going to pinch it to make a broomstick

 

I'm fairly sure it is the same tree as the Yggdrasil of Scandinavian mythology,

 

Yes, no doubt someone will come up with "authority" that Yggdrasil is the ash, but intuitively, I think there has been misidentification.

 

1. If you travel Scandinavia you see fifty rowans (mountain ash) to every ash tree - rowan is a tree of the north.

 

2. The Norse legends refer to Yggdrasil as linking heaven and earth . Anyone who has seen rowan growing on broken rock, and on cliff ledges, with roots entwined into the crevices will recognise the analogy.

 

3. Yggdrasil and rowan are both considered "magical/mystical" in Scandinavia and Scotland respectively, and we know of the strong links between the two cultures.

 

I think the "authority" that started the ash theory was botanically ignorant and didn't know the difference between ash and rowan.

 

What say you DavyR ?

[corydoras]

It's not a bad rod material either ! Tough and springy, and with about the right natural taper for a boy's all-purpose rod....and no witch is going to pinch it to make a broomstick

 

I'm fairly sure it is the same tree as the Yggdrasil of Scandinavian mythology,

 

Yes, no doubt someone will come up with "authority" that Yggdrasil is the ash, but intuitively, I think there has been misidentification.

 

1. If you travel Scandinavia you see fifty rowans (mountain ash) to every ash tree - rowan is a tree of the north.

 

2. The Norse legends refer to Yggdrasil as linking heaven and earth . Anyone who has seen rowan growing on broken rock, and on cliff ledges, with roots entwined into the crevices will recognise the analogy.

 

3. Yggdrasil and rowan are both considered "magical/mystical" in Scandinavia and Scotland respectively, and we know of the strong links between the two cultures.

 

I think the "authority" that started the ash theory was botanically ignorant and didn't know the difference between ash and rowan.

 

What say you DavyR ?

With you 100% Vagabond Yggdrasil is I am sure Mountain Ash. Rowan is called Mountain Ash where I come from too.

 

Incidentally and a bit but Ash and Mountain Ash are not closely related. Ash is Fraxinus, and is related to the olive tree. Rowan is Sorbus and is Rosaceae[/]. Both burn well even when green.

[five bellies]

My ex misses was from Valencia I remember her walking under a ladder once (not just us that gets upset by that one) and totaly freeking out She found a acessable window Cill and started tapping it with both index fingers and chanting Lagarto wich means Lizard! never found out the significance of the Lizard or the window cill although she turned out to be a bit of a Nutter any way!

 

I always do my Blood knots with seven turns just seems a good number I get quite stressed when using heavy lines and cant neatly get my seven turns in!

Edited January 21, 2009 by five bellies

[corydoras]

My ex misses was from Valencia I remember her walking under a ladder once (not just us that gets upset by that one) and totaly freeking out She found a acessable window Cill and started tapping it with both index fingers and chanting Lagarto wich means Lizard! never found out the significance of the Lizard or the window cill although she turned out to be a bit of a Nutter any way!

 

I always do my Blood knots with seven turns just seems a good number I get quite stressed when using heavy lines and cant neatly get my seven turns in!

The not walking under a ladder one seems pretty common sense to me. I must ask my Spanish friends abou the Lizard bit. The next time I see my mate Carlos I'll ask him.

[five bellies]

Id love to find out Cory, although If he Isnt Valencian he might not Know they like us all have regional supperstitions.

 

I come from A Irish family and just about every thing is bad luck, Birds tapping on a window,bird in the house, Dreaming about fish!!! (I do that all the time Proberly why Im so unlucy!),Lilac,Stiring things with a knife,shoes on a table,The colour green,Walking under Ladders,Egg shells give you warts, Toads Cure warts, Silver birch is an unlucy tree, Any thing to do with Thirteen, Dont ever give an empty purse as a present, and never hand any one a pair of scissors To name but a few.

 

I try just to keep to my seven turn blood knot Hang up and leave all the rest to my Mum to worry about