CONTENTS
Everyday Superstitions
What we may Learn from Animals
Charms and Spells
Understanding the Supernatural
Beings from Other Worlds
What we may Learn from the Body
The Interpretation of Dreams
CHAPTER ONE
THINGS TO REMEMBER
WELL-SPOKEN OF AND ILL-SPOKEN OF
THE left cheek is the “friend cheek.” When you hear a singing in your left ear there is someone speaking well of you; if the singing is in the other ear it is someone speaking ill. In the latter case bite your little finger very hard, and the person talking ill of you will bite his or her tongue just as hard.
If you have your clothes mended upon your back you will be ill-spoken of.
AGAINST EVIL SPIRITS
When opening the window at night always make the sign of the cross with the forefinger against the glass. It is a sure method of preventing the evil spirits who hover about in the dark from seizing the opportunity to enter the house.
IT IS DANGEROUS TO WEAR YELLOW AND GREEN
Yellow is the colour of jealousy. Green is also a colour of jealousy and of fickleness as well. “Green, forsaken clean,” says the proverb. A well-known rhyme has it –
“Green’s forsaken,
And yellow’s forsworn,
And blue’s the sweetest
Colour that’s worn.”
One of Dr. Robert Chambers’s correspondents wrote to him when he was compiling his “Popular Rhymes of Scotland” as follows: “An old lady of my acquaintance used seriously to warn young women against being married in green, for she attributed her own misfortunes solely to having approached the altar of Hymen in a gown of that colour, which she had worn against the advice of her seniors, all of whom recommended blue as the lucky colour.”
ENTERING THE WORLD FROM SUNDAY TO SATURDAY
It matters a good deal on what day of the week a child is born.
“Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child must work hard for his living.
The child of Sunday and Christmas Day
Is good, and fair, and wise, and gay.”
There is an old saying that if a man is born on a Sunday he will live without trouble all his life. “This is true enough,” an intimate friend has remarked to us. “I was born on a Sunday, and up to the present moment, having gone through over half a century of existence, I cannot recollect having had five minutes of real trouble about anything.”
INFANT VISITORS
If you wish well to your neighbour’s child, when it first comes to your house you must give it a cake, a little salt, and an egg.
CHILDREN SHOULD CRY WHEN BAPTIZED
For children to cry when they are baptized is a good sign. It is an indication, for one thing, that they will be good singers.
TAKE THE BOYS TO THE FONT FIRST
If several children are baptized together, if the girls are taken to the font before the boys, the boys will have no beards when they are men.
ROSEMARY DETERS THIEVES
A sprig of rosemary in the house is good to keep off thieves. This shrub grows best in the garden where the lady rules the roast. “That be rosemary, sir,” said a cottager in Hertfordshire; “they say it only grows where the missus is master, and it do grow here like wildfire.”
SIGN THAT STRANGERS ARE COMING
If you sneeze on a Saturday night after the lamp or gas is lighted you will during the incoming week see a stranger you never saw before.
UNLUCKY OMENS
BREAKING A LOOKING-GLASS
To break a looking-glass is a bad omen. Some say it causes seven years of sorrow; others that it is a sign that a member of the family will shortly die.
Most readers are no doubt acquainted with Bonaparte’s belief in the bad fortune that goes with breaking a looking-glass. During one of his campaigns in Italy he broke the glass over Josephine’s portrait. So disturbed was he at this ominous occurrence, and so strong was the impression made upon his mind that she might be dead, that he never rested until the return of the courier whom he had forthwith despatched to convince himself of her safety.
BEWARE OF SALT
To scatter salt by overturning the vessel in which it is contained is very unlucky. To some extent the evil may be averted by throwing a pinch of salt over the left shoulder.
Help no one to Salt. It is unlucky to help another person to salt. To whom the ill-luck is to happen does not seem to be settled, so it is as well for both to be careful. “Help me to salt, help me to sorrow,” says the proverb.
LAYING ONE’S KNIFE CROSSWAYS
It is unlucky to lay one’s knife and fork crossways; crosses and misfortunes being likely to follow therefrom.
PUTTING SHOES ON
The accidental putting on of the left shoe on the right foot or the right shoe on the left foot may be taken as the precursor of some unlucky accident.
To take off or put on the left shoe before the right is unlucky.
BREAKAGES
If you break anything fate will pursue you till you break two things more. The best way out of the difficulty is at once to break two matches.
GETTING OUT OF BED
Getting out of bed backwards makes things go wrong for the day.
WHEN MEAT IS BOILED
If meat shrinks in the pot when boiling it is unlucky; if it swells it is a sign of prosperity.
DON’T WALK UNDER A LADDER
To walk under a ladder is unlucky. According to some, it is a sign that you will be hanged, but this is to exaggerate the ill-luck.
STARTING ON A JOURNEY
When starting on a journey take care to put the right foot first; to make the first step with the left foot is not good luck.
AN UNLUCKY RETURN
You will meet with misfortune if you start to go out and have to return for something you forgot, unless you sit down for a minute or so before you go out again.
MEETING A SQUINTING WOMAN
To meet a squinting woman is unlucky unless you talk to her, which breaks the charm.
AN UNWELCOME MEETING
It is unlucky to meet a funeral procession; but the omen may be counteracted by taking off your hat, which is intended as a mark of respect to the evil spirits who may be hovering about the corpse.
WHISTLING WOMEN
It is unlucky for women to whistle. This has been the way ever since, when the nails of our Lord’s cross were being forged, a woman stood by and whistled.
BEFORE EATING AN EGG
To break the small end of an egg is unlucky.
SWEEPING AT NIGHT
A good housewife will never sweep the floor at night. Should circumstances ever compel her to do so she will sweep the dirt into a corner, and not lift it till the morning. Any other course will lead to misfortune.
STUMBLING IS UNLUCKY
Stumbling at a grave is a bad sign.
Stumbling when going upstairs is a lucky sign, but to stumble when going down is one of the worst signs possible.
SWEEPING LUCK OUTDOORS
Never sweep the rooms of a house immediately after one of the inmates has set out on a journey; this will sweep out all the luck with him.
SNEEZING
Sneezing to the left is unlucky, but prosperous to the right.
When any one sneezes it is the right thing, in case of ill-luck, to say “God bless you!”
NOSE BLEEDING
A single drop of blood from the nose commonly foretells e
ither death or a very severe fit of illness; three drops being still more ominous.
SHAKING HANDS
It is unlucky to shake hands across a table.
GOING IN BY THE BACK-DOOR
It is unlucky to enter a house which you are going to occupy by the back-door.
GIVING SHARP OR CUTTING INSTRUMENTS
It is unlucky to give a knife, scissors, razor, or any sharp or cutting instrument to one’s mistress or friend, as they are apt to cut love or friendship. The ill effects of such a present, however, may be counteracted by our taking some trifle in return – a farthing, a pebble, an oyster-shell, or such like.
CHILDREN! DO NOT WALK BACKWARDS
Children ought to be cautioned by their parents not to walk backwards when going an errand; it is a sure sign that they will be unfortunate in their objects.
SINGING BEFORE BREAKFAST
If you sing before breakfast you will cry before supper.
YOU WILL WEEP SOON
Should your eyelid quiver, that is an unlucky omen: you will weep before long.
THE LOOKING-GLASS
It is unlucky to see one’s face in a glass by candle-light.
LOSING THE WEDDING-RING
If a wife loses her wedding-ring it is a sign that she will sooner or later lose her husband’s affection.
LETTER WRITING
The mistake of a word in a letter is a sure omen that whatever request it contains will be refused.
LUCKY OMENS
RISING ON THE RIGHT SIDE
To rise on the right side is accounted lucky.
FINDING MONEY
To find a piece of money is a very fortunate circumstance.
FINDING A HORSESHOE
It is very lucky to find a horse-shoe, and all the more lucky if the shoe is studded with nails.
WHAT THE TEETH TELL
To have teeth far apart is a sign that one will be fortunate and see a great deal of the world.
BORN TO BE RICH
Persons with much hair or down upon their arms and hands will at some future period enjoy great wealth; or, as the common expression has it, “they are born to be rich.”
A LUCKY COIN
The luckiest coin to give away is a bent one. A copper coin with a hole made through it is also a lucky coin.
THROWING THE SHOE
To throw an old shoe after any person when we wish him to succeed in what he is going about is lucky. For this reason an old shoe is often thrown after the bride and bridegroom on their leaving the church or the maison paternelle after the wedding.
MONEY AND GIFTS ARE ON THE WAY
The itching of the right-hand palm portends the reception of a gift; which is rendered more certain if this advice be followed –
“Rub it ’gainst wood,
Tis sure to come good.”
If, however, the left palm itches, it is a less cheerful sign, and betokens that you are about to pay money.
THE SLEEPING CHILD
A knife placed near a sleeping child is a lucky omen.
SOMETHING IMPORTANT ABOUT DAYS
ONE day is not as good as another. They vary in excellence, and an undertaking which would turn out prosperous if started upon, say, the 10th of May, might have a very unfortunate ending if begun upon, say, the 15th of August.
THE DAYS OF THE WEEK
Tuesday and Wednesday are lucky days.
Thursday has one lucky hour, viz., the hour before the sun rises.
Friday is unlucky. Monday and Saturday and Sunday are neutral days, of which in regard to luck it is often, indeed, almost always, difficult to affirm either one thing or another.
Friday is in all countries, to say the least of it, a peculiar day. In this country it is unlucky, and upon it no undertaking of importance should be commenced. It is not a propitious day for setting out on a voyage or a journey, or entering on a new situation, or indeed for making a start with anything whatever, matrimony in Scotland alone excepted. Neither is it a good day for “going a-courting.”
It is remarkable that there is a difference between England and Scotland in regard to matrimonial ventures begun on a Friday. There is some mysterious cause for it no doubt in England.
Friday is certainly not a lucky day south of the Border on which to start matrimonial life; but in Scotland Friday is the lucky day of the week for marriages. It is a well-established fact that a large proportion of the marriages in Glasgow, for example, are celebrated on Friday.
DAYS FOR NEW CLOTHES
If a person have his measure taken for new clothes on a Sunday it is very bad luck. If on a Monday he will be fortunate. If on a Tuesday he may expect accidents by fire. If on a Wednesday he will enjoy happiness and tranquillity. If on a Thursday he will be called to travel both by land and sea. If on a Friday a death will happen amongst his nearest relations. If on a Saturday he will shortly receive a handsome legacy.
DO NOT CUT YOUR NAILS ON A SUNDAY
It makes a considerable difference whether a man cuts his nails on a Sunday or puts it off till another day.
“Cut them on Monday, cut them for health;
Cut them on Tuesday, cut them for wealth;
Cut them on Wednesday, cut for a letter;
Cut them on Thursday, for something better;
Cut them on Friday, you cut for a wife;
Cut them on Saturday, cut for long life;
Cut them on Sunday, you cut them for evil,
For all that week you’ll be ruled by the devil.”
Another version gives the last two lines –
“A man had better ne’er be born,
Than have his nails on a Sunday shorn.”
BEST TO SNEEZE ON SATURDAY
“If you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter;
Sneeze on a Thursday, something better;
Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow;
Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart to-morrow.”
OMENS FOR LOVERS
DAYS FOR LOVERS
There are many opportunities during the course of the twelve months for obtaining the guidance of the powers of mystery in connection with one’s love affairs.
NEW YEAR’S DAY (JANUARY 1ST). His or Her Christian Name? – The Christian name of the first person one sees of the opposite sex on New Year’s Day will be the name of one’s future husband or wife.
ON THE EVE OF ST. AGNES (JANUARY 20TH). St. Agnes, the patron of purity, whose day is the 21st of January, has from time immemorial been invoked by love-sick damsels, anxious to obtain some knowledge of their future husbands.
ON ST. VALENTINE’S DAY (FEBRUARY 14TH). Learning One’s Destiny – The first unmarried person of the other sex whom you see on the morning of St. Valentine’s Day is your destined wife or your destined husband.
ALL HALLOWS’ EVE, OR HALLOWEEN (OCTOBER 31ST).
The leading idea of this famous festival is that it is the time of all others when supernatural influences prevail. Divination then attains its highest power, and then, if ever, we can obtain authentic information in regard to our love affairs.
MARRIED LIFE BEGUN AS IT SHOULD BE
IN an affair of such importance as taking the first steps in wedded happiness – or the reverse – it is as well that the wisdom of our ancestors is at our disposal. Wise readers still unmarried will treasure up for future reference what is here set down, and may one of these days look back on their first acquaintance with the following notes as one of the fortunate circumstances of their lives.
WHEN TO MARRY
To marry in Lent is very unlucky –
“If you marry in Lent
You will live to repent.”
MAY IS AN UNLUCKY MONT
H FOR MARRIAGES. A bachelor, on this, remarks that the other unlucky months are June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January, February, March, and April.
JUNE AND OCTOBER are the most propitious months of all the twelve for marriage, and a happy result is rendered doubly certain if the ceremony is timed to take place at the full moon or when the sun and moon are in conjunction.