Old Sayings.

An old saying in the UK is
"DONT wash on Good Friday,Christmas Day or New Years Day because you wash someone out of the family". I dont know where it originated from but my mother firmly believed this and having had it dinned into me when I was a youngster, which was MANY moons ago I have adhered to it all my life.
Crazy I know but old habits die hard.

Anyone else here still influenced by this sort of thing?????????

Eating Fish on Friday's stayed with me for a long time, and also to dress smarter on a Sunday.

I can't remember this saying exactly, but I remember my Grandma saying to push on with what ever life brings our way, she would say ' If God leads you to it, he will help you through it'..having that in mind gave me the thought that tomorrow really is another day..

Your Grandma was one of the old school Tan, I remember that saying well.

Aww, that's lovely to know Maisie...

It's amazing how so many of the sayings, if we stop and think for a while, do so much make sense, and can set us straight in mind too..

It came under the heading of superstitions Tan and some years ago I wrote this poem. You may recognise some of the things in it especially if your Grandma ever said them.



SUPERSTITIONS
Are people superstitious today as my mother was years ago?
Like bringing lilac in the house, this could bring much woe
Not to wash on Good Friday or Xmas and New Year’s Day
Because this was bad luck for family, and would wash a member away.

Number 13 was unlucky and 666 was taboo
This is the devil’s personal number and he would come looking for you,
Never put new shoes on the table or pass anyone on the stair
Something unpleasant would happen, do it if you dare.

Crossed knives meant an argument and one magpie something sad
Don’t walk under a ladder, spilling salt was also bad,
Breaking a mirror means seven years bad luck for all the family
My mother with all of her sayings tried to put the fear of God in me.

Seven is supposed to be lucky, good fortune is on its way
And to have a black cat cross your path, it could be your lucky day.
I grew up with these superstitions pushed into my head
It’s a good job I ignored a lot of what my mother said

So anyone who believes in all this think hard before you speak
Because for someone who is nervous these sayings can make life bleak!.

Yes, I do remember a lot of those Maisie, so many coming back to me now..

Surprised about the salt though as I remember hearing throwing some salt over our shoulder brings good luck, or maybe I have got that wrong..

I still never put new shoes on a table, even when they are in a box or a bag from just buying them, apart from the shops counter of course..

Brilliant poem, well done.. :clap10:

I was told that spilling salt was unlucky, but that could be undone by throwing a pinch of salt over your shoulder. Always struck me as daft as spilling salt is a waste, but throwing even more over your shoulder is compounding that waste.
This salt thing comes from the times of much earlier when salt was rare and worth a lot of money, so of course accidentally spilling some meant a great loss.

Ah, so I did remember rightly then Nev, thankyou for that as I got wondering afterwards..

Wonderful poem Maisie and a great thread , so often much we do without thinking is steeped in superstition and we really dont know why some have a common sense angle like dont walk under a Ladder you can bet some hapless person got hit by a bucket or similar object ,
I can remember the putting salt if spilt over your shoulder and on one occasion my Mother broke a mirror and I took the fragments to the river and threw them in this was to counter the 7 years bad luck , also the never pass on the stairs ,
Also my Mother wouldnt have peacock feathers in the house so when I found one it had to be put back as it was concidered the Devils Eye,
Tanooma your Grandmother sounds a remarkable Lady and like many of her generation grew up in hard days and had a great deal of strength and fortitude from a life with no medical care and so much of what we take as essential not avaliable , you have a great deal of your Nanna in you she will be so proud of you ,

My Grandma Minnie was a very special lady indeed, she taught me a lot, and gave me a lot of her time Captain, I treasure those times for sure.
She was very strong in mind, and like all her Generation she learned that nothing came easy, and to appreciate all she, and my Grandad, had worked and saved so hard for..

Also as you may know Seafarers are very superstitious ,
A ship wouldnt set sail on a Friday it was a sign of bad luck also it was bad luck to have a Female on board ship as was changing the name of a ship, I have read a lot about Naval traditions and could go on sailors were extremely superstitious like most peoples over time , its very easy to understand when you have so little control over the sea or the weather on land and your crops and lives depended on good luck and good fortune so very easily rituals and beliefs soon become practiced then become folk law and many are still in our daily lives often masked , but I believe take away our health care and security and if we were reliant on the elements then soon many of these superstitions would soon be all you had ,

Certainly makes me think that too Captain...

Tanooma when I had Grandparents it was so different they never seemed to lighten up and as a small lad always seemed a bit foreboding and stern and lacking humour , I think the realities of there life and 2 world wars and the strict and stoic beliefs of the Victorian era made them vastly more self reliant and strong in mind and spirit than many of us today could imagine
Im very Glad you had your Nanna Minnie clearly she has helped instrumentally in shaping and making you the Lady you are today ,

We all certainly learned a lot from our Grandparents, they were strict, I so remember that, but I felt so very safe with them, sort of knew my boundaries, and that they were above me, not like some youngsters these days where they want to get above their elders.
So many wonderful memories I have, as I'm sure we all have too, they will carry on with us for all time..

As you know there is a condition called OCD I remember telling you about this Tanooma and you spending hours talking to me about it and my depression to help me get sorted and the help that I need , Thankyou for that ,
Its a fine line between Superstition and Compulsion anyone with even a hint of OCD will know what im saying and how to gain some control in your mind against conditions and worries out of your control you can easily get into repetitive and compulsive routines and rituals till soon you are convinced you have to do things and in certain orders , this is so similar to Superstitions and how say in Farming the farmer would leave a small area of grain for the Fairies and make Corn Dolls it wasnt as seems no a quaint past time but steeped in real fear of upsetting whatever you believed brought the rain and sun and your food and let you live another year , and soon it was passed down generations who were then even if knowing like we do now they wont affect anything constructively still wouldnt dream of being the one to not adhere and break the chain just in case ,
I have a large Mirror outside my Kitchen door its been there a long time Its to big to go in the car and would be easy to pit in a cover and break it but I know it wont bring 7 years bad luck , but still wont break it
I will put it on the side of the road it will soon get taken

Tanooma I wouldnt dream of running in my Grandparents house and had to sit there hours as the grown ups talked no tv on nothing sat quietly , My Dads Dad was lovely he was an old Soldier from the 1st war and though he said very little on his own was fine just so Victorian , His wife My Dads Mum she was very stern she never said much only how was school going and dont play up and upset your Parents that was it really . but your right Tanooma the Grandparents had been there done it and survived so had a strong sense of decency and pride that got them through it all and did deserve to be looked up at and respected ,

Its brought back quite a few memories for you Captain.

My mother was the same with a peacock feather, she was adamant that it would bring bad luck.

Goes to show how our memories do last, and what can trigger them to come to the surface, so much we think we have forgotten until such time the subject arises, and all the lot comes back to recall, we can all walk back for a while, an so many times it is lovely to do so..

As for your OCD Captain, you have done marvellously over these years, you really have, and importantly is you reached out for help, got your doctors to listen to you, and advanced from there, it was you that took that first step, so all congratulations to you first and foremost.. :clap10:

Thankyou Tanooma ,
So often if someone asked you to give all your superstitions an airing you cant its like saying say a funny joke they come in dribs and drabs , but say you see the single Magpie or the Ladder its in the fore of your mind so I say goodmorning Mr Magpie and I dont walk under ladders but if say you get soaking wet caught in a storm and there is a huge flash of lightening and you trip over in a ditch ,and a tree falls right where you were stood and your alive as a result suddenly the Lightening and being wet through even a trip can all be made into good omens many of these superstitions will have chance and fortune at there start , just imagine if you fall in that ditch and find a bag of gold coins

Wonder who came up with the 'Step on a crack, break your Mother's back!".

Must have been a sadist as I spent so so long trying to never step on a crack when I was little - darn hard to do when one has short legs!