BAD LUCK BOGIES.

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 7, 10 July 1930, Page 12

BAD LUCK BOGIES.

TALES OF THE SUPERSTITIOUS

Superstition, without a doubt is n. e3 to-tlny among 90 per csut of the people air;-the remaining 10 per cent are only.* probabiyv affsj^iii; to it. | Superstition is the r>r<jduca of fear au^f back in^tlie iu\r.ds of all of us 13 a sense f of self-preservation from either supsrnatural or material harm. Some hide; their feelings others openly confess them - as a weakness. Take the risk of -walking under a ladder. Absurd! many will exclaim, and, should you challenge many a man who' steps into the road he.will tell you it is to prevent a paint-pot falling on his head. Rubbish I At the back of his mmdi he knows he is protecting himself against the chance of bad luck. After all he thinks to hinj--aelf there may be something in superstitition. Then why take the risk? One day I counted fifty-two people passing along a narrow street in Rochester at that time full of motor traffic and forty-seven stepped into the roadi lather than pass under a ladder resting against a shop front. The.ladder,superstition, lika so many: others has a religious origin and it,is \ interesting to recall the fact that the^ ancients admitted the. Evil One as well] as a Deity and prayed to the Deity to j thwart the other. . • • But the introduction of Christianity; produced most.of the superstitions of-to-day: The ladder against, the wall for instance, forms a triangle and is symbolical of the Trinity and the layman of long ago was brought up to allow only the priest to be close to such an emblem. . ■ The practice of refusing to light three cigarettes with one match emanates from the ritual of the * Russian Church where-. in only the High Priest shall light the tnree candies at tfcie altar. There are many religious birds, the destruction of which will bring disaster to the^slaughteher. The magpie superstition is one, of the conimonest; it was a sacred bird in years gone by as it represented the creation of day and night. In most places it is considered bad luck te see one magpie and good luck to see two, but there are many variations as to the position in which you must seei] the bird—whether it flies from the right] hand' or left—while the antidote to the J ' bad luck which threatens you when you see a single bird is equally varied. The most popular way" to take, off your hat and spit in it, and this remiidß that expectoration for some unexplained reason is obnoxious'to the evil "spirits.For instance if "two people wash their hand in the same watery it is considered Bad luck unless one of them spits in the water after the ablutions. If you pass a load of hay along a country roadi it iieans good luck. On the other hand, a load of straw brings bad" luck, but you can avert calamity by spitting at the cart before it is but of sight.

The symbol of the Cross accounts for the superstition that' touching' wood will protect any-.'one'from the evil eye. How frequently you will hear of a" man, who, having boasted of god health or a succession of good lucfcj immediately after-

; wards touches wood-. :He has had the temerity to challenge fate and seek absolution. - ./.".-■■■ "The schoolboy looks on wood as sanctuary and the ttfggeat bully dare not touch the little fellw who has claimed s this protection." * . £ ;\ The same symbol jSjCarried much fur- ? iner, but in an opposite direction. To ; cross knives is: bad luck .or to place slippers in the same positibniis equally haz- . ardous.^ On the other hand, you cross \ ( ybur tigers to avert calamity when passing under a ladder, or if you meet a cross-eyed man. In this connuection, however we come ; across the reverse idea _in which the meeting of a cross-eyed man is considered good luck. ,A cure for chilblains is to cross your feet while thrashing them with holly. The poker is placed in a newly lighted fire, not for the purpose of creating a draught but to drive away the Evil. One. The farmer and his men live in an atmosphere of superstition. The first time you walk into a cherry garden when the fruit is ripe you must rub your shoes with the leaves of the trees or run the] risk of being choked by a cherry stone, f On the death of a Beekeeper the bees! must be immediately informed lest they] swarm, and in Kent there is an old cus-* torn that when a farmer dies the bailiff i must whisper the fact into the ears of the cattle and the sheep, otherwise they will die. When- a woodman intends to fell a ti'ee neither he no&j Ms helpers must approach it from the direction in whichJie 'intends it to fall. Sudden death will be thefate of any one Breaking this rule. A scythe is placed crossways on the top of a haystack to prevent the Evil One overheating it with the invisible flames of hell. The first lamb to be born while the snow is on, the ground must be rolled in the snow, frequently with fatal results, but as a shepherd once told me. "it is better to lose one lamb than all the flock later on, which would happen if I hadn't done it." Should a farmer see his first lamb with tail towards him it-brings bad luck; if it .faces Mm he can be assured of a good lambing season. The shepherd takes care that his master shall approach from the j opposite direction; L» JNtention of snow recalls the old midwifes custom of rolling a baby in the snow immecJdately after its birth, should ' the event Happen" when snow is on the i ground. ■ One of. these old ladies gave me much information in connection with the birth of ehildxen. A boy child should immedi ' ately be wrapped in a woman nightgown and a girl child in a man 'es shirt, sa later ;pn all girls will love the boy and all boys wifl love the girl.