Good Luck
Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.
- Lucky to touch wood .
- Lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves.
- A horseshoe over
the door brings good luck. But the horse shoe needs to be the right way
up. The luck runs out of the horse shoe if it is upside down.
- On the first day of the month it is lucky to say "white rabbits, white rabbits white rabbits," before uttering your first word of the day.
Catch falling leaves in Autumn and you're have good luck. Every leaf means a lucky month next year.
Bad Luck
Unlucky to walk underneath a ladder
- Seven years bad luck to break a mirror.
- Unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc..
- Unlucky to spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.
- Unlucky to open an umbrella in doors.
- The number thirteen is unlucky. Friday the thirteenth is a very unlucky day. Friday is considered to be an unlucky day because Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
- Unlucky to put new shoes on the table.
- Unlucky to pass someone on the stairs.
Food Superstitions
When finished eating a
boiled egg, push the spoon through the bottom of the empty shell to let the devil out
In Yorkshire, housewives used to believe that
breadwould not rise if there was a corpse (dead body) in the vicinity, and
to cut off both ends of the loaf would make the Devil fly over the
house!
Animal Superstitions
Animals feature a lot in our superstitions as they do in superstitions around the world.
One ancient British superstition holds that if a child rides on a
bear's back it will be protected from whooping-cough. (Bears used to roam Britain but now they are not seen on our shores)
In some parts of the UK meeting two or three
Ravens together is considered really bad. One very English superstition concerns the tame Ravens at the
Tower of London. It is believed if they leave then the crown of England will be lost.
It is said to be badluck if you see
bats flying and hear their cries. In the middle ages it was believed that witches were closely associated with bats.
If a
Sparrowenters a house it is an omen of death to one who lives there. In some
areas it is believed that to avoid ill luck any Sparrow caught must be
immediately killed otherwise the person who caught it will die.
In some areas black Rabbits are thought to host the souls of human beings.
White Rabbitsare said to be really witches and some believe that saying 'White
Rabbit' on the first day of each month brings luck. A common lucky
charm is a Rabbit's foot, but not for the Rabbit.
It is thought very unlucky to have the feathers of a
Peacockwithin the home or handle anything made with them. This is possibly
because of the eye shape present upon these feathers i.e. the Evil-Eye
associated with wickedness.
Visit the
superstition page on our
'Living in England Blog'
British Proverbs and Sayings Questions to think about for Students 1. Which British superstitions are similar to those in your country?
2. Which are different?
3. Do you know anything about the origins of some of the superstitions in your country?
4. Can you give the definition of "superstition"?
5. Do you believe that they can influence our lives and still live on in the age of science?
Konu: Batıl inançlar 
Cuma Nis. 25, 2008 8:22 pm
ok. okulda mı evde mi istersin??
:D
