Old Wives Tales, Myths (true or otherwise)

[zhaldev]

As for number 13 Aussies are superstitious as well from cricket pov and number 111 or multiple of 111(nelson figure) is considered unlucky in cricket.
Aussies also consider 87 as unlucky as it is 13 short of 100.
many batsmen prefer to pad up any particular leg before the other as per their superstition through out their career.
my friend a bowler would always wear blue underwear on eve of match as it was lucky for him.

 

[BritinBritain]

....is a tradition in many countries, when someone has died.
But did you know that it originates from old superstition?

It is believed to originate from the 1300-century sailors. As always, life at sea was filled with dangers, and many died along the way.

The reason that sailors had the flag flying at half, was that there should be space for the invisible flag of death. If they did not, they could expect more deaths in the near future.

But maybe the explanation is that back then flagging was the only way to communicate with other ships. So by flying the the flag at half mast other ships knew someone had died.

Good lor, I never knew that.

 

[viper2007]

I apologize, Viper. I am sure you love and adore your wife.

If we have rituals to a new born? The baptism, but that's later. What I am thinking of is to smoking a cigar

No apologies needed, my friend. Yes, I do love her and I simply adore her...

(She was behind me, reading all this, a minute ago...)

Smoking a cigar is not somethoing we Asians do, but I do see my friends doing that...

As for Muslim fathers, at least for Malays, what he will do is that he will recite the Adzan and the Qamat, prayer calls to the newborn child, one to each ear, so that the child will grow up to be a good Muslim and a good citizen.

And after when the child is about 40 days or so, we have a small gathering where they child is introduced to the relatives, and a simple ceremony where the hair of the child is snipped for significance of a new addition to the family, something like that...

 

[viper2007]

Um... Guilty. It's like a Disney soundtrack when my moms side of the family gets together.


When I was growing up I was always told that you had to wait an hour after eating to go swimming. The hour after meals was the longest period of time in my life.


And I don't know if this counts as an "old wives tale," but when I was young my friends would tell me not to say "Bloody Mary" into the mirror with the lights off...to this day my heart jumps if I see my refelection in the mirror in the dark. I'm going to turn on another light as I write this.

As for the swimming portion, there is good medical reason for that, it takes time for your food to be processed, and more blood is diverted to your stomach for that process- which is why we feel kinda sleepy after a meal, naturally (trying to sound like a German, there).

As fort he Bloody Mary thing- maybe someone here can help on that? I was told that if you hold an apple with candle in the dark in front of a mirror, you would see something... I tried that, and boy the reflection was indeed ugly! irate2:

You afraid of the dark, pixie...?

 

[viper2007]

There are some who take the placenta home and bury it in the garden and then plant an ash because it is the tree of life according to Norse mythology and the placenta blood vessels are called the tree of life.

Until 1754 it was in Denmark determined by law that after a childbirth the woman had to be reintroduced into the church, which took place about six weeks after birth. There are some Christian women who choose to do so voluntarily today.

Ohhh, I dindn't know Danish people do that with placenta? Interesting info... Freyja. Thanks.

 

[viper2007]

....is a tradition in many countries, when someone has died.
But did you know that it originates from old superstition?

It is believed to originate from the 1300-century sailors. As always, life at sea was filled with dangers, and many died along the way.

The reason that sailors had the flag flying at half, was that there should be space for the invisible flag of death. If they did not, they could expect more deaths in the near future.

But maybe the explanation is that back then flagging was the only way to communicate with other ships. So by flying the the flag at half mast other ships knew someone had died.

Hmmm, another interesting piece of information... Freyja. Thanks.

My dad was in the Marine Police (now it is the Police Coast Guard). I notice he had some perculiar habits. One of which, when he eats fish, he would never, ever, turned the fish over to get to the flesh. He would removed the bones, then continue. I asked one time, and all he replied was it was bad luck for seamen to turn the fish over when eating. later I found out it was something to do with the boat, turning over the fish may cause the boat to capsize- or something like that...

 

[viper2007]

As for number 13 Aussies are superstitious as well from cricket pov and number 111 or multiple of 111(nelson figure) is considered unlucky in cricket.
Aussies also consider 87 as unlucky as it is 13 short of 100.
many batsmen prefer to pad up any particular leg before the other as per their superstition through out their career.
my friend a bowler would always wear blue underwear on eve of match as it was lucky for him.

I hope it is not one of those with lace and made of silk or satin...? :smile:

 

[BritinBritain]

Hmmm, another interesting piece of information... Freyja. Thanks.

My dad was in the Marine Police (now it is the Police Coast Guard). I notice he had some perculiar habits. One of which, when he eats fish, he would never, ever, turned the fish over to get to the flesh. He would removed the bones, then continue. I asked one time, and all he replied was it was bad luck for seamen to turn the fish over when eating. later I found out it was something to do with the boat, turning over the fish may cause the boat to capsize- or something like that...

I have heard that its unlucky to set sail on a Friday and unlucky if a vessel is renamed while she is in the water.

 

[I3BrigPvSk]

I have heard that its unlucky to set sail on a Friday and unlucky if a vessel is renamed while she is in the water.

It was for a long time viewed as bad luck to have women onboard ships, whether this superstition still exist or not. I don't know.

The Oceans provide with other myths; the Bermuda Triangle and the Devil's Triangle south of Japan. The Bermuda Triangle is also related to the myths/legends of the Atlantis. Since Plato wrote down the thing about a high developed society which disappeared beneath the ocean, people have been searching for the Atlantis.

 

[zhaldev]

The legend of Bermuda triangle used to be a hot topic back in school those days.many stories were told of its magnetic field to suck up anything that come near its range.then there were stories of ship wreck and airplane crashes who dare venture near it,i don't know how but we believed in many things back then.

And about superstitions no country is as superstitious as India.As an ancient country and civilization it comes with varied superstition one can imagine.However their are many superstitions which has scientific reasons or say it teaches science in very common, popular,acceptable ways.for ex.Like plucking of a flower at night is considered a sin.

 

[viper2007]

I have heard that its unlucky to set sail on a Friday and unlucky if a vessel is renamed while she is in the water.

I have heard my dad says the same thing, only thing is that if you are in the service, any day that you are scheduled to the boat/ ship is a bad day, I suppose...!! :bang:

As for the renaming, that is usually done when the boat is in port, or under servicing, so I suppose there is some to what you've mentioned, Opa Brit.

 

[viper2007]

It was for a long time viewed as bad luck to have women onboard ships, whether this superstition still exist or not. I don't know.

The Oceans provide with other myths; the Bermuda Triangle and the Devil's Triangle south of Japan. The Bermuda Triangle is also related to the myths/legends of the Atlantis. Since Plato wrote down the thing about a high developed society which disappeared beneath the ocean, people have been searching for the Atlantis.

Funny you should mention that, 13. When Singapore was embarking on the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), the train system, the main engineers, were guys from Holland, particularly the underground tunneling. Stories had it that they too, were aversed to having women's presence in the tunnel during the tunneling process- bad luck I was told. What happened was, during the process, the PR director of the project, a woman, wanted to inspect and tour the underground section. All the entourage was cleared, except for her, the only woman in the group- reason given was safety reasons...

Well, you do have women serving on board vessels nowadays, even submarines... what can I say, buddy...

 

[viper2007]

The legend of Bermuda triangle used to be a hot topic back in school those days.many stories were told of its magnetic field to suck up anything that come near its range.then there were stories of ship wreck and airplane crashes who dare venture near it,i don't know how but we believed in many things back then.

And about superstitions no country is as superstitious as India.As an ancient country and civilization it comes with varied superstition one can imagine.However their are many superstitions which has scientific reasons or say it teaches science in very common, popular,acceptable ways.for ex.Like plucking of a flower at night is considered a sin.

Interesting that you've mentioned about plucking flowers at night, zhaldev... This is what I understand from my Indian Singaporean friends- Treees are living things, too (It has been been proven scientifically ) and they have spirits residing in them, especially after sundown. So disturbing them after dark would not be a good idea, because you would be disturbing the spirits- So don't go plucking flowers at night...

 

[I3BrigPvSk]

Funny you should mention that, 13. When Singapore was embarking on the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit), the train system, the main engineers, were guys from Holland, particularly the underground tunneling. Stories had it that they too, were aversed to having women's presence in the tunnel during the tunneling process- bad luck I was told. What happened was, during the process, the PR director of the project, a woman, wanted to inspect and tour the underground section. All the entourage was cleared, except for her, the only woman in the group- reason given was safety reasons...

Well, you do have women serving on board vessels nowadays, even submarines... what can I say, buddy...

There are many women serving onboard naval vessels around the world; what about all those merchant ships and other work related vessels? Another thing with this superstition; it must have been an odd feeling on all the ships, transporting immigrants if the people working on these ships were superstitious about to have ladies onboard

 

[viper2007]

There are many women serving onboard naval vessels around the world; what about all those merchant ships and other work related vessels? Another thing with this superstition; it must have been an odd feeling on all the ships, transporting immigrants if the people working on these ships were superstitious about to have ladies onboard

Hmm, nobody seems to have difficulty in handling that, I suppose...

As to why this superstition exist, I am somewhat curios... Perhaps someone has the answer to this. Any help would be most appreciated...

 

[42RM]

Sailors have a long tradition of superstition; looking for any edge they could find to give them comfort on stormy nights at sea. There are so many facets the ancient sailor´s life that he has no control over—the sea, the weather – that he seemed to seize control over any aspect he could. Women were considered bad luck, and that having a woman on board a ship when it was at sea would anger the sea gods, bringing on horrible weather and rough water.

The most ironic twist to the "women on ship are bad luck" superstition was the flip side of the coin, a superstition that had women being good luck in connection with the ship. Put this together with the power of a bare chested woman to "shame nature" and keep the waves away, and you have the reason behind the popularity of topless women depicted as figureheads on many sailing ships.

Keeping women off of a working ship, and like many superstitions in the work place comes from a very sensible origin. The fact is while in some cases there were rules against women on board ship (not passenger ships, however) it was more often due to the distracter factor than any superstition. A woman on board a ship full of men on a months-long voyage could bring on all sorts of headaches for the captain, not to mention the woman.

 

[BritinBritain]

A smoker not accepting the 3rd light has a basis of fact. During WW1 a sniper would see someone strike a match and take the first light, he would take aim as the second smoker took the 2nd light and when someone took the 3rd light BANG, he took the shot.

 

[Freyja]

According to a law of the Danish King Christian the 4th (1577 - 1648) it was said: Women and pigs must not be held on board His Majesty the King's ships

That has changed - women are serving today on board Danish Navy vessels. And let's face it, the pigs have always been on board. :mrgreen:

 

[BritinBritain]

According to a law of the Danish King Christian the 4th (1577 - 1648) it was said: Women and pigs must not be held on board His Majesty the King's ships

That has changed - women are serving today on board Danish Navy vessels. And let's face it, the pigs have always been on board. :mrgreen:

LOL Oh blimey LOL :mrgreen:

 

[Freyja]

I have heard that its unlucky to set sail on a Friday and unlucky if a vessel is renamed while she is in the water.

Friday was named after the Norse goddess Frigg, or Frigga. She was the wife of the god Odin. In early times, Friday was regarded as a lucky day, and an especially good one on which to get married. But in early Christianity, Frigg was regarded as a witch; her day unlucky because it was the day of the week Jesus was crucified. Becoming a deeply-rooted superstition among sailors, it became bad luck to set sail on a Friday.