Pierre Bezukhov

After watching Candyman over at a friend's house, he dared me to say "Candyman" three times in the mirror. I stood in front of the mirror about to say it (just to prove that I wasn't affected by the movie) when suddenly I felt like a complete moron. I refused to say it, not because I was scared, but because I don't like feeling like a complete moron. My friend confessed he had hoped I would say the words just so he could mock me as an idiot.

Born Free

Anybody else find that they were too scared to touch a Rubik's Cube ever again after seeing Hellraiser? No? Just me? I'll get me coat.

Ha Ha me too

I get the candyman thing now, I vaguely remember the movie, thanks!!

Marduk

"The one superstition I can't keep myself from doing is knocking on wood... I guess the feeling of tempting fate is too uncomfortable to ignore!"

me to. (blush blush blush)




this tradition originated thousands of years ago, if you wanted a favor from the gods you'd knock on a tree to get their attention, seems that gods lived in trees in those days.

Catseye

I've done the 'Candyman' and the 'Bloody Mary' things back in, ahem, my slightly younger days (although I don't remember what Bloody Mary was supposed to do, exactly). Bit of a let-down. I've also drunk from a glass that had just been used as part of a ouija board, which is apparently incredibly back luck, and means that The Spirits Will Come And Hunt You Down. They didn't, but then again, they didn't do much in the ouija board, either - maybe it was a half-day in the spirit world

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.

Clarice

I know there is no closet monster. There is no evidence for a closet monster, and all known science contradicts the idea of a closet monster.

But try telling that to my amygdala at 3 a.m.

The thing about evolution is it has laid down successive layers of brain, and we use all of them, not just the rational cerebral cortex. Animalistic reactions that kept your distant ancestors from getting eaten by large nasty creatures tend to hang around and make a nuisance of themselves.

Personally, I think there's a fine line between obsessive compulsive disorder and superstition. Ritualistic actions seem to soothe anxiety. When one person has a quirky one, it's an eccentricity or a disease, but if enough people start using the same nonsensical ritual, it becomes a superstition or religion.

Anyway, it's nothing to really worry about. I don't discount the courage it will take to prove your rationality to yourself (what is it about mirrors that is so damned freaky to us humans, anyway?). Emotions are annoyingly immune to reason, so you will feel fear even if you know you are safe. I've been known to sleep with the light on or turn over the scary cover of a horror novel before going to bed - no biggie.

If you do the experiment, let us know what happens, OK? (My guess is you will feel terribly frightened, and then when you finish and nothing happens, you will feel both vindicated and slightly dorky )

Born Free

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

mongrel

In my family, it's always been a superstition that to put new boots on the kitchen table is bad luck.

So, I've always put new boots on the table, just to see the freaked out reactions.

Stephen Maturin

That's an interesting one! It was bad luck to put new boots on the kitchen table in our house too. In fact, it was bad luck to put old boots, new or old dress shoes, new or old Chuck Taylors, or new/old any other kind of footwear on the kitchen table. That belief was based not on superstition but instead on certain knowledge that my mother would kick ass. Ultimately, then, placing boots on the kitchen table wasn't really bad luck in our house; it was just plain stupid.

lunachick

A bird crapped on my head once. Someone said that was good luck. It didn't feel like a very lucky event at the time.

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.