Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Leesifer · 05-16-2003, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alli
I still catch myself saying 'Good morning, Mr Magpie!' whenever I see a solitary magpie, and getting the strangest looks for it. Superstitious things get even more embarrassing when you do them in front of people who've never heard of the superstitions

OMG you're the first person I've met on here that knows of the cancel to the curse, thank you I don't feel so weird now and so alone!!! :notworthy

Ditto! I say this all the time - sometimes adding "how are your wife and children".

Leesifer · 05-16-2003, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Marruk
I was told that Bloody Mary was one of King Henry VIII wives. Don't know if this is where it originated or if my father was just trying to take pop culture and give me a history lesson with it, (he can be quite creative sometimes).

I remember as a child being told that stepping on cracks in the road was bad luck. Found out that this is very true if you are wearing high heels and they happen to get stuck in the crack, but when wearing sneakers I make a point to hit every crack on my way to where I'm going.

Gotta love Google:

http://www.mythology.com/bloodymary.html

Treacle Worshipper · 05-16-2003, 10:44 AM

orpheus
in my country seeing a priest is bad luck

Heeheehee

They're onto something there.

Catseye, alli
'Good morning, Mr Magpie!'

Where I come from, you're supposed to salute lone magpies to ward off the "curse".

Marruk
I was told that Bloody Mary was one of King Henry VIII wives.

The historical Bloody Mary was Mary Tudor of England, Henry VIII's eldest daughter. She ruled immediately before Elizabeth I and in her efforts to bring England back to Catholicism she had a lot of Protestant people killed & burned at the stake. Hence the "Bloody".

My favourite superstition (one I've never tried) is sowing hemp seed. At midnight on Hallowe'en you're supposed to go out and sow hemp seed, saying, "Hemp seed I sow thee, Hemp seed I grow thee, He who will my true love be, Come after me & show me." If you then look over your shoulder you're supposed to see the man you'll marry. (Obviously doesn't work for lesbians & straight guys

)

There is a wonderfully gruesome story about 3 girls who tried it. One of them saw Satan & went mad (seeing a theme here?). One saw a coffin, and died within a year. The 3rd saw a seafaring man from their village. Turns out the spell worked by pulling his soul out of his body, which was such a dreadful experience that he swore he would kill the person who had done that to him. When he got home from the sea, the couple married, but when he eventually found out that it was his wife who went sowing hemp, he did kill her in some really gruesome fashion.

I'll shut up now.
TW

trillian · 05-16-2003, 12:36 PM

We had the bloody mary story too- reciting "bloody Mary" 3 times in a mirror (even though we all went to Catholic school we had the other version). I tried it, did nothing.
Also played "light as a feather" where you surround a person lying down and lift them with fingertips while chanting "light as a feather stiff as a board". Never worked, but there were always people who claimed it did. This was popular at girls' slumber parties.

The only superstition I really hang onto now is not having an open umbrella inside the house. My mother would go crazy if we had one open and tell us it was very bad luck.

Trillian

macschmermer · 05-18-2003, 08:35 AM

....Henry the 8th first daughter.
She took the throne after her brother Edward died and Jane Grey had her 10 days on the throne. Mary had gone into hiding until her army could take over.
Henry was Protestant so was Edward, the powers the be wanted to keep a Protestant so put Jane into power (she was a cousin or something and very young)
Mary was Catholic, so when she gained power she killed many protestants. For the relatively short time she reigned she killed more people than any other British monarch. Hence Bloody Mary.......

05-18-2003, 08:35 AM	#25
macschmermer Regular Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: canada a warm little island Posts: 133	Bloody Mary refers to.... ....Henry the 8th first daughter. She took the throne after her brother Edward died and Jane Grey had her 10 days on the throne. Mary had gone into hiding until her army could take over. Henry was Protestant so was Edward, the powers the be wanted to keep a Protestant so put Jane into power (she was a cousin or something and very young) Mary was Catholic, so when she gained power she killed many protestants. For the relatively short time she reigned she killed more people than any other British monarch. Hence Bloody Mary.......

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

05-16-2003, 10:44 AM	#23
Treacle Worshipper Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Wales, UK Posts: 931	orpheus in my country seeing a priest is bad luck Heeheehee They're onto something there. Catseye, alli 'Good morning, Mr Magpie!' Where I come from, you're supposed to salute lone magpies to ward off the "curse". Marruk I was told that Bloody Mary was one of King Henry VIII wives. The historical Bloody Mary was Mary Tudor of England, Henry VIII's eldest daughter. She ruled immediately before Elizabeth I and in her efforts to bring England back to Catholicism she had a lot of Protestant people killed & burned at the stake. Hence the "Bloody". My favourite superstition (one I've never tried) is sowing hemp seed. At midnight on Hallowe'en you're supposed to go out and sow hemp seed, saying, "Hemp seed I sow thee, Hemp seed I grow thee, He who will my true love be, Come after me & show me." If you then look over your shoulder you're supposed to see the man you'll marry. (Obviously doesn't work for lesbians & straight guys ) There is a wonderfully gruesome story about 3 girls who tried it. One of them saw Satan & went mad (seeing a theme here?). One saw a coffin, and died within a year. The 3rd saw a seafaring man from their village. Turns out the spell worked by pulling his soul out of his body, which was such a dreadful experience that he swore he would kill the person who had done that to him. When he got home from the sea, the couple married, but when he eventually found out that it was his wife who went sowing hemp, he did kill her in some really gruesome fashion. I'll shut up now. TW

05-16-2003, 12:36 PM	#24
trillian Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: OC Posts: 1,620	We had the bloody mary story too- reciting "bloody Mary" 3 times in a mirror (even though we all went to Catholic school we had the other version). I tried it, did nothing. Also played "light as a feather" where you surround a person lying down and lift them with fingertips while chanting "light as a feather stiff as a board". Never worked, but there were always people who claimed it did. This was popular at girls' slumber parties. The only superstition I really hang onto now is not having an open umbrella inside the house. My mother would go crazy if we had one open and tell us it was very bad luck. Trillian

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.