ChatterBank1 min ago
Superstitions, Why?
30 Answers
I really don't understand why people would believe in them.
Can someone please explain how these silly superstitions came about and why people would believe them.
I can understand people not walking under a ladder because something may fall on you or the ladder may fall on you but superstition seems to take safety to a different level.
How/why do some think that walking under a ladder is unlucky?
At work women wont pass on stairs, apparently they will fall pregnant, what a load of tosh, it just irritates me, I just run past them when they aren't looking or expecting it, some times they get a bit touchy about it.
What ever is wrong with people, why would they believe in something like that in this day and age?
Can someone please explain how these silly superstitions came about and why people would believe them.
I can understand people not walking under a ladder because something may fall on you or the ladder may fall on you but superstition seems to take safety to a different level.
How/why do some think that walking under a ladder is unlucky?
At work women wont pass on stairs, apparently they will fall pregnant, what a load of tosh, it just irritates me, I just run past them when they aren't looking or expecting it, some times they get a bit touchy about it.
What ever is wrong with people, why would they believe in something like that in this day and age?
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The Shoes on the table one I do know
It originates from when a person was on the gallows waiting to be hanged.
Once thier shoes were ''On the table'' meaning the trap door which they were soon to drop through, that was the end , no reprive could be issued once ''The shoes were on the table''
My wife is very hot on this one, though she has no idea of how it started, she goes into full panic mode if she sees a shoe on the table.
It originates from when a person was on the gallows waiting to be hanged.
Once thier shoes were ''On the table'' meaning the trap door which they were soon to drop through, that was the end , no reprive could be issued once ''The shoes were on the table''
My wife is very hot on this one, though she has no idea of how it started, she goes into full panic mode if she sees a shoe on the table.
Shoes on A Table
One of the most common things many people around the world fear are shoes on the table, and the reason for the fear is not only because they soil it. They signify a loss of a job, a breakup in the family, or more commonly, death. For the latter, most people trace it to the days of mining, when officers often placed boots on family dining tables to notify a death, or they traced it back to lynching and hanging criminals to the gallows, because the table represents the final platform which they stood before dying. Some others see shoes on a table as bad because funeral home workers embalm and dress a corpse on the table. For me, the origin of the jinx dates back to the Victorian Era, when photography was still in its early years. The main purpose for that technological advance was to take a photo of the deceased to show what the family member looked like if he or she died (especially if it was a child or infant, due to the high death rates of the time) and make prints of it to give to family members who can’t attend the funeral. That practice is called post-mortem photography, and in most cases of it, the photographer makes a makeshift bier out of a table to lie the dressed-up (mainly with footwear) dead so it can be photographed. If you want to know why you can’t put sneakers on your dining room table, look post-mortem photography up to find my origin of this bad luck superstition.
from: http://www.yousaytoo....-superstitions/307859
Ladders are also associated with the gallows.
One of the most common things many people around the world fear are shoes on the table, and the reason for the fear is not only because they soil it. They signify a loss of a job, a breakup in the family, or more commonly, death. For the latter, most people trace it to the days of mining, when officers often placed boots on family dining tables to notify a death, or they traced it back to lynching and hanging criminals to the gallows, because the table represents the final platform which they stood before dying. Some others see shoes on a table as bad because funeral home workers embalm and dress a corpse on the table. For me, the origin of the jinx dates back to the Victorian Era, when photography was still in its early years. The main purpose for that technological advance was to take a photo of the deceased to show what the family member looked like if he or she died (especially if it was a child or infant, due to the high death rates of the time) and make prints of it to give to family members who can’t attend the funeral. That practice is called post-mortem photography, and in most cases of it, the photographer makes a makeshift bier out of a table to lie the dressed-up (mainly with footwear) dead so it can be photographed. If you want to know why you can’t put sneakers on your dining room table, look post-mortem photography up to find my origin of this bad luck superstition.
from: http://www.yousaytoo....-superstitions/307859
Ladders are also associated with the gallows.
Ah I wondered what the passing on stairs thing was, I was hobbling down slowly at work and one of the girls waited until I'd got all the way down so she didn't pass me and said something about it being unlucky.
I do things without thinking about it, touching wood is one, I think from being around other people who do it so it's more socially the thing to do which is probably rooted in social psychology or something like that somewhere - mimicking body language.
I indulge some in more of a lighthearted amusing way - I remember seeing however many magpies it is for love, 9 I think. Very shortly after I went passed the place of work of someone I'd had a bit of a thing for (on my normal bus route) and a heartshaped balloon was floating up into the sky over it, I just ended up laughing like a nutter on the bus.
I do things without thinking about it, touching wood is one, I think from being around other people who do it so it's more socially the thing to do which is probably rooted in social psychology or something like that somewhere - mimicking body language.
I indulge some in more of a lighthearted amusing way - I remember seeing however many magpies it is for love, 9 I think. Very shortly after I went passed the place of work of someone I'd had a bit of a thing for (on my normal bus route) and a heartshaped balloon was floating up into the sky over it, I just ended up laughing like a nutter on the bus.
Hi vivandorron - as i explained, I think each generatiob believes less and less, and accordingly passes down less and less superstitions, so they will eventuallly be diluted out of our culture.
In my suposition, I was referring only to western culture, i think other cultures will continue to carry on superstitions long after we have lost them.
In my suposition, I was referring only to western culture, i think other cultures will continue to carry on superstitions long after we have lost them.
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