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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2009 8:22:23 GMT
1. A bird in the house is a sign of a death
2. A loaf of bread should never be turned upside down after a slice has been cut from it.
3. Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one.
4. If the first butterfly you see in the year is white, you will have good luck all year.
5. If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.
6. An acorn at the window will keep lightning out
7. A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen.
8. It’s bad luck to leave a house through a different door than the one used to come into it.
9. A horseshoe hung in the bedroom will keep nightmares away.
10. If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.
11. If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.
12. Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.
13. All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.
14. If the groom drops the wedding band during the ceremony, the marriage is doomed.
15. To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have a secret enemy.
16. If a friend gives you a knife, you should give him a coin, or your friendship will soon be broken.
17. You should never start a trip on Friday or you will meet misfortune.
18. Dream of running: a sign of a big change in your life.
19. If a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family.
20. It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same match.
I have heard of maybe four of these.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 18, 2009 8:41:19 GMT
God -- I'm going to have to die & come back several times. I get about a bird a week in my house.
On the broom one -- if you must keep the old broom, pass it into the new house through a window, not a door. And never buy a broom in August.
Don't put a hat on the bed -- I'm not sure what kind of bad luck that brings; I think death.
Here it's Tuesday that you're not supposed to start a trip -- a good time for a gringa to get a ticket.
You can generally tell the foreigners on a Mexican street -- they're the ones avoiding walking under ladders.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2009 12:38:15 GMT
I had to stop reading at # 13
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2009 12:48:21 GMT
Did you go to open your windows just in case?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2009 12:54:08 GMT
Right now with this bum knee I'm SUPER superstitious, I have 2 black cats, too many brooms,broken mirrors,hats on and under beds...I'll end up widowed in a body cast, oh no, I've cast a spell,STOP!
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Post by spindrift on Feb 18, 2009 16:32:23 GMT
Bixa's number 13. I knew about that. I thought that one window open would be all right. I think it's true.
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Post by palesa on Feb 19, 2009 5:12:57 GMT
I have heard lots of those, some of the superstitions that I grew up with
Don't walk under a ladder If you break a mirror you will have 7 years bad luck If your nose itches it means you are going to have a fight.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 19, 2009 5:38:35 GMT
I never heard the one about the horseshoe in the bedroom, but do know that a horseshoe should be hung with the round part at the bottom or all the luck will run out.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 7:44:51 GMT
The thing about lighting 3 cigarettes on the same match has absolutely no basis in superstition and I don't even know why it was on the list.
It's one of those WW1 trench warfare things. Keeping a match lit for three cigarettes gave enemy snipers enough time to set their sights on the match holder and kill him.
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Post by gyro on Feb 19, 2009 8:27:35 GMT
Also, Lucifer was a nickname, or maybe a brandname for a match, hence the line in the song Pack Up Your Troubles that says:
"While their's a lucifer to light your way .... "
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 12:51:46 GMT
I had a dream this a.m. with 3 lizards in it. 3 secret enemies?
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Post by spindrift on Feb 19, 2009 15:21:21 GMT
Ireland: if you hear the banshigh calling from the roof of a house - someone in there will die.
Gaelic. Ban = woman Shigh = fairy
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 17:12:38 GMT
Poland: If a woman puts her handbag on the floor she will have no money
It is good luck to be married in a month with a R in it's name
( in NOLA we are advised not to eat oysters unless there's a R in the month,temperature factor)
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Post by spindrift on Feb 19, 2009 22:28:45 GMT
It's the same regarding oysters here in Europe.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 22:48:59 GMT
The oyster industry keeps telling people "Hello! Louis XIV wrote that rule way back when oysters spent a week or more being transported by mule cart from the ocean to Paris. No way to keep them cool on hot summer days. Hey, we have refrigeration now!"
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Post by Kimby on Feb 19, 2009 23:29:13 GMT
I believe the concern is related to "red tide," an algae that "blooms" in summer and causes shellfish to be unfit for human consumption. I don't think refrigeration has anything to do with it...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 23:47:06 GMT
I don't think the red tide applies to the oysters here,I could be wrong though. I know it applies to my beloved bay scallops that my mother used to send me from Long Island,little nuggets of sweet gold...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 23:48:41 GMT
Look it up. The 'only months with an R' was indeed a royal decree.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 19, 2009 23:51:07 GMT
so casi, what does affect oysters if not red tide?
The alge blooms during warmer water temperatures, the months without R's, shellfish that filter water end up getting tainted with the algae until the algal population drops...
I always thought all shell fish was affected.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 23:54:03 GMT
The seafood restaurants in Paris have seafood (oysters, mussels...) 12 months a year now, as do the oyster bars.
However, I am talking about northern Europe, so maybe the conditions are different elsewhere.
Nevertheless, I have eaten the same items in Bangkok and Singapore and Bali, all fished from eternally tropical seas, so I don't know which places might be dangerous.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 23:54:15 GMT
I think Kerouac knows more about it than I
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Post by Kimby on Feb 19, 2009 23:55:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2009 23:59:08 GMT
Because that is the local lore and they do tend to be milky then. Maybe this needs to go to the Galley as a new thread if you're interested.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 20, 2009 0:01:43 GMT
Thanks but no thanks. I don't like oysters anyway, so am happy not to eat them in any month. ;-)
Back to superstitions?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2009 0:01:55 GMT
There are algae blooms in Europe, too. Sometimes oysters and mussels are banned for a month or two or even more. But there are so many production areas that there is never any lack of what people want to eat. In France, there is a big chain specialized in mussels called "Léon de Bruxelles." Normally, they don't bother to tell you where the mussels are from (normally they are Dutch), but whenever there are any health concerns, the mussels come with a paper tag on the pot that says "mussels from Greece" or "mussels from Italy" or "mussels from Spain" or whatever, which stops most questions before they begin.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2009 0:05:34 GMT
Maybe your avatar knows Kimby. I like he or she.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 20, 2009 5:08:43 GMT
The R thing about oysters is simply that the warm months don't have Rs in them and that's when oysters are milting -- that is producing their sperm. Oysters at this time do not have a pleasant texture or taste. They are not bad, simply too soft and lacking in the essential brininess.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 20, 2009 7:07:50 GMT
I like bixa's explanation. Makes sense. The red tide explanation only works in areas that have the red tide algae, like the part of Florida that I visit, the gulf coast.
(casi, I don't know if the hermit crab is a he or she, since its privates are hidden inside the shell)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2009 7:35:32 GMT
What about the southern hemisphere? Do they use a rule?
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Post by gyro on Feb 20, 2009 8:01:10 GMT
If It Moves, Kill It And Eat It.
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