HALLOWEEN BLOG

[MissBarbara]

The number four has no particular significance in the Western world, but is regarded as unlucky I'm the Far East where it represents death. It is otherwise interpreted as symbolizing the material foundation of the world, as well as the seasons and the four directions of the compass."

I've always hated the number 4.   No known reason that I remember.   It just gives me the shivers.   Literally, goose bumps right now.

You're freaking me out JimmyGG.

The number four also symbolizes imperfection. The number three symbolizes perfection, chiefly due to the Christian belief in the divine trinity. So, four, one more than three, represents a lack of perfection.

[GEMINIGUY]

The number four has no particular significance in the Western world, but is regarded as unlucky I'm the Far East where it represents death. It is otherwise interpreted as symbolizing the material foundation of the world, as well as the seasons and the four directions of the compass."

I've always hated the number 4.   No known reason that I remember.   It just gives me the shivers.   Literally, goose bumps right now.

You're freaking me out JimmyGG.

The number four also symbolizes imperfection. The number three symbolizes perfection, chiefly due to the Christian belief in the divine trinity. So, four, one more than three, represents a lack of perfection.

Actually, the Jewish belief is six represents imperfection and seven is perfection. Three implies emphasis and four has a different meaning I can't recall at the moment...

[GEMINIGUY]

                                *****October 15th*****

                                      Numbers (con't)

"Specific traditions regarding numbers include the Jewish superstition that adding up the numerical value of the letters in a husband and wife's name (by equating each letter with its position in the alphabet) will reveal which of them will die first: if the total makes an even number it will be the husband, if odd, the wife. According to numerologists past and present, much the same process may be undertaken to reveal the essential traits if a person's true character. The numbers relating to the letters of a person's name are added up and these together until a single number is left which has certain pre-ordained attributes:

1 - dominating and ambitious personality
2 - kinder and gentler character
3 - high intelligence and an artistic temperament
4 - dependability, lack of originality
5 - intelligence, impatience, sociability and sexuality
6 - bespeaks a nature in harmony with itself
7 - intellectual
8 - powerful and wealth
9 - idealism and high achievement

Many localities boast ancient stone circles and accompanying legends to the effect that it is impossible to count the individual stones and to reach the same number twice. In some cases it is said that anyone who none the less attempts the task will be struck dead or taken I'll before the task is completed."

[END OF Numbers
RETURNING ON THE 20TH]

[GEMINIGUY]

                                   *****October 20th*****

                                                 Elbow

"British and U.S. superstition is agreed that an itching elbow constitutes a prophecy that the person concerned will shortly be changing his or her bed companion. That agony of banging one's 'funny bone' is literally doubled by the knowledge that this is a warning of bad luck only to be avoided by deliberately banging the other elbow as well. A negative English superstition, incidentally, suggests that if one succeeds in biting one's own elbow then one's enemies will immediately be soaked in a downpour or even killed."

                                               Epilepsy

"In ancient times epileptics were regarded as somehow in contact with the gods and people were thus very wary of the disease, around which many bizarre theories evolved. In later centuries firs of epilepsy were blamed on witchcraft and other external influences. Among the cures suggested were burying alive a black rooster at the point where the fit took place, or else piercing the ground with a nail, wearing a ring fashioned from the half-crown given during a service of Holy Communion, drinking a potion made from mistletoe and consuming the heart and blood of a crow on nine successive days."

[RETURNING ON THE 25TH]

[GEMINIGUY]

                            *****OCTOBER 25TH*****

                                             Thief

"Superstition offers a number of courses for those who wish to commit burglary without being discovered. Among these us the notion that a thief who carries the heart of a toad about his person will be immune from detection (carrying a piece of coal may also help). A Central European superstition, meanwhile, claims if a thief commits an undetected burglary at Christmas he or she will be able to continue in such nefarious activities throughout the following year without the slightest danger of getting caught.
To be absolutely sure of getting away without interference thieves should equip themselves with a Hand Of Glory, which will ensure that the sleeping occupants of the house do not wake until the miscreants are long gone. To get past locked doors, a thief should carry in a cut in his hand a sliver of Vervain, which will cause all doors to open at a touch. It is generally agreed that it is very unlucky to steal anything from a church, especially the chalice used in Holy Communion, or to steal a pack of cards.
Superstition also offers assistance to thief-takers, though. One procedure, according to the folklore of Devon, is to rake six stalks of grass from the scene of the robbery and to present them to a witch, who will scratch each one with a pin. If the spell works, corresponding scratches will disfigure the face of the culprit. Hungarians believe a thief can be punished by obtaining an item of his or her clothing and giving it a good thrashing: the owner will suffer the full effects of the beating and it will be some time before they are sufficiently recovered to resume their life of crime."

[GEMINIGUY]

                                *****OCTOBER 26TH*****

                                              Hazel

"The hazel is thought to be particularly effective as a defense against witchcraft and evil spirits, and was considered sacred in Celtic mythology.
Because of the tree's magical powers forked hazel twigs are among the favored tools of dowsers and diviners. For the same reason both sorcerer's wands and royal scepters we're once made of hazel wood. In forner times the tree also symbolised fertility and immortality, and so hazel twigs were frequently carried at weddings.
Welsh superstition has it that anyone who wears leaves and twigs of hazel in their cap will enjoy particularly good luck and gave their wishes granted. Hardened drinkers believe that if they cut a piece of hazel at midnight on Hallowe'en and keep it in their pocket they will never get drunk however much alcohol they consume. Hazelnuts may also be used for divination at Hallowe'en. If the nuts are placed in the fire and jump in the air, one's lover is unfaithful.
The nuts like the tree itself, represent fertility, and years when there is a good crop of nuts are said to be good years for the birth of many babies - and also for large numbers of prostitutes."

[GEMINIGUY]

                                *****OCTOBER 27TH*****

                                               Peacock

"Though revered by the Hindus as a sacred bird, the peacock is widely regarded as unlucky in Western tradition.
The 'eyes' on its tail have inspired more ominous assocuations. One legend claims that the eyes belong to the seven deadly sins, plucked out as a punishment by God. The seven deadly sins are, therefore, thought to lurk in the vicinity of the peacock, trying to get their eyes back, and the bird itself is a harbringer of intense bad fortune.
Peacock feathers should on no account be allowed indoors or worn as decoration, and actors and actresses are among those who express real fear about their presence are are likely to apprehensively about the Evil Eye. Another suggested derivation of this taboo links it with the tradition that peacocks were kept in the temples in Greece, where removal of their tail feathers was a crime punishable by death."

[KitKat]

                               *****October 15th*****

                                      Numbers (con't)

"Specific traditions regarding numbers include the Jewish superstition that adding up the numerical value of the letters in a husband and wife's name (by equating each letter with its position in the alphabet) will reveal which of them will die first: if the total makes an even number it will be the husband, if odd, the wife. According to numerologists past and present, much the same process may be undertaken to reveal the essential traits if a person's true character. The numbers relating to the letters of a person's name are added up and these together until a single number is left which has certain pre-ordained attributes:

1 - dominating and ambitious personality
2 - kinder and gentler character
3 - high intelligence and an artistic temperament
4 - dependability, lack of originality
5 - intelligence, impatience, sociability and sexuality
6 - bespeaks a nature in harmony with itself
7 - intellectual
8 - powerful and wealth
9 - idealism and high achievement

Many localities boast ancient stone circles and accompanying legends to the effect that it is impossible to count the individual stones and to reach the same number twice. In some cases it is said that anyone who none the less attempts the task will be struck dead or taken I'll before the task is completed."

[END OF Numbers
RETURNING ON THE 20TH]

That's just creepy. I refuse to do this, although I am curious.

[GEMINIGUY]

                                *****OCTOBER 28TH*****

                                              Calendar

"A superstition that has gathered momentum in relatively recent times is that concerning gifts if calendars at Christmas. People all over the British Isles are adamant that it is most unlucky to put the calendar up on the wall until the new year has actual arrived, presumably because if the danger of tempting fate. A derivative of this insists that it us also unwise to turn over the page from one day, week or month to the next before the appropriate time has come.
It is widely held that some days in the calendar are unluckier than others. They include the first Monday of April, the second Monday of August and the last Monday of December. Most ill-omened of all in 28 December, which marks the feast of Childermas.
It should be noted that the dates of the many important dates in the folklore calendar were changed when the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian calendar in Catholic countries in the sixteenth century. This change, designed to eliminate the anomalous extra day that occurred every 128 years under the old calendar, meant a recalculation of many significant dates in the Christian year, though popular tradition continued to honour the old festival dates in various ways."

[GEMINIGUY]

                                *****OCTOBER 29TH*****

                                              Left Side

"It is almost universally recognized that the left (Latin, sinister) side is associated with evil and Ill luck. Soothsayers in the ancient world identified the left as the abode if evil and ever since then it has been linked with witchcraft, the devil and malevolent spirits.
Various superstitions warn that it is bad luck if certain birds and animals cross one's path from the left-hand side, and witches and sorcerers often use their left hand more than the right in working their spells. In palmistry it is the left hand that is examined for information about a person, as it is believed to show inherited characteristics, while the right hand reveals only what a person has made of him or herself.
The left hand should not be used in situations where it baleful influence might endanger the owner's luck: players are often careful to avoid picking up their cards with the left hand, and since Roman times people have been wary of entering a house with the left foot first. At confirmation in the Christian church it is said that those blessed with the bishop's right hand will enjoy the full benefit of his favour, while those blessed with his left hand will experience only ill fortune.

[GEMINIGUY]

"Historically, left-handed people have always been regarded with mistrust, and in times gone by left-handedness was powerful evidence that someone might be a witch. It us said to be unlucky to meet a left-handed person in a Tuesday morning but lucky to encounter such a person on any other morning. Attempts to switch from the left hand hand to the right hand are not always successful, and according to U.S. folklore, the person concerned runs the risk of developing a stutter."

[GEMINIGUY]

                               *****OCTOBER 30TH*****

                                                Braken

"Evil spirits dislike braken, apparently because when a braken seem is cut the patterns within resemble the Greek letter chi, the first letter of Christ's name. Others claim that this marking depicts the oak in which the eventual Charles II hus from his enemies, it they simply spell out the initials of the future partner of the person who severed the stem.
Braken spores are especially prized  throughout Europe as they are supposed to bestow the gift of invisibility and of power over all creatures. Gathering these spores us no easy task, however, for it must be done in the hour before midnight on Midsummer's Eve and without letting one's hands touch the seeds themselves. To add to the difficulty, demon will try to prevent the seeds being successfully gathered, and few tales survive of anyone managing to obtain them."

[GEMINIGUY]

                           *****OCTOBER 31ST*****

                                              Will

"In superstition it is unlucky to make a will, which supposedly hastens the hour of one's death. In the past, great offence was sometimes caused by the suggestion that someone should make a will and it was customary to read the document over the body of the diseased so that if they are dissatisfied they might make some sign of their feelings."

[KitKat]

That's just creepy. 

[GEMINIGUY]

That's just creepy. 

Maybe you should try it sometime ;-)

[GEMINIGUY]

                                   *****OCTOBER 1ST*****

                                              "Pregnancy"

"The time between pregnancy and the birth of a baby is inevitably fraught and has inspired countless superstitions and taboos that purport to enlist the reassurance of magic in the business of a safe confinement and delivery.
Pregnant women and their unborn children are considered especially vulnerable to the threat of evil. Among the dangers against which superstition warns are allowing a rat or weasel to leap over a pregnant woman's belly, thus causing a birthmark; permitting a mother-to-be to look at a corpse, which will give her child a pale complexion; letting her knit or spin, which dooms her child to death by hanging; failing to prevent her from stepping over a grave, thus sentencing the baby to a premature death; and shocks of all descriptions (a pregnant woman frightened by a bird, for instance, may bare a child with a wing in place of one of its arms).
If a pregnant woman gazes at the moon her child will be born with mental problems. According to a Scandinavian superstition, if she steps over a cat her baby will be born a hermaphrodite. It is also risky to talk openly about the baby before the birth as this invites the interference if fairies, who may seek to harm the unborn child or to steal it; to counter this danger some women refer to the foetus as the 'pot lid' or use some other substitute word to avoid arousing the fairies' interest."

[GEMINIGUY]

                                     *****October 2nd*****

                                        "Pregnancy" (con't)

"To influence the sex of the unborn child the expectant mother is advice to dress in blue if she wants a boy and in pink if she wants a girl. In the USA it is said that a baby that deliver kicks on the right-hand side is a girl.
To ensure that the baby is healthy it is best to conceive at midday, when the sun is at its highest, and to promote its intelligence a pregnant woman should do as much reading as she can over the nine months. She should resist any temptation to steal it her child too will grow up to be a thief."

[GEMINIGUY]

                                  *****October 3rd*****

                                    "Pregnancy" (con't)

"Close contact with pregnant women increases other women's chances (or risks) of conceiving. Variations on this theme include taking care not to sit on a chair that a pregnant woman has recently vacated and never trying on her coat. It is also tradition in Scotland to bar a pregnant woman from the room of a woman who is in labor, as this is thought to be unlucky.
As with menstruation, pregnant women are forbidden in many cultures to prepare food or to help with livestock on the grounds that their touch contaminates. There is also a prejudice  against pregnant woman taking oaths of any kind; for this reason they are sometimes turned down as prospective Godparents, superstition claiming that the child concerned may due if this custom is not followed."

[TPPM]

Which child might die?  The pregnant woman's or the one being baptized?

[GEMINIGUY]

Which child might die?  The pregnant woman's or the one being baptized?

It's not specified, but I'd chance a guess not the pregnant woman's.