Strange Superstitions and Weird Wives Tales

Some old wives tales and superstitions predate literacy and are part of the great oral tradition that is passed down through generations. Such tales offered advice, predictions and warnings; possibly they gave people a sense of control and fostered the idea that we could alter fortunes and do something about the bad things that happen in the world. Occasionally they were true..but more often they were not.

Old wives tales occur in many different cultures and the first recorded reference was by Plato 2400 years ago. Wives tales are also mentioned in the BIble, though not as a positive influence:

"But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness" ~1 Timothy 4:7 .

That advice doesn't seem to have been taken too seriously as wives tales proved remarkably resistant to being ignored for a very long time. It seems likely they were called 'wives tales' because they were passed down from mother to daughter and thus the information was trusted and passed on in turn. There are literally thousands of superstitions and wives sayings; some still very well known, others not so well known or known only in specific areas.

Did you know that frogs and toads cause warts and potatoes cure them? If you have a wart rub a potato on it and bury it (the potato, not the wart) but be sure not to tell anywhere where it is, or it wont work!

It's not true of course but this is just one of a number weird beliefs about warts, some of which have their roots in pagan culture and others more recent. Here's a couple more weird wart cures:

• Rub a penny on a wart and it will dissappear
• Use white cotton thread to tie a knot for each wart. Bury it, and when the string rots, so too will your wart

If you step on a crack, bad luck will come to you; or so the saying goes. There have been several sayings based around this superstition:

• Step on a crack , break your mothers back

• Step on a crack and you'll be abducted by bears

• The number of cracks you step on will corrrespond to the number of dishes you'll break that day

Fruit features heavily in superstitions; particularly when it comes to romance:

• Think of a list of names of people you would consider marrying, then take an apple and twist the stem while reciting the names. Whoever's name you call out when the stem breaks is the one you will marry!

• Eat some cherries and keep the pips. Count the pips while calling out the following - tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar-man, thief , doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief- when you reach the last pip, you'll know the occupation of your future husand
• Cut an apple in half and count the seeds to find out how many children you will have.
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away
  

Some weird beliefs and superstitions involve colours, which are believed to have various powers:

• Wear a blue bead to protect yourself against witches

• If you pull out a white hair, ten more will grow in its place
• If you are not getting married, never wear white to a wedding or you will bring bad luck to the bride
• Wearing blue is bad luck for actors, though it's okay if it's worn with silver
• In the theatre, a yellow clarinet in an orchestra will bring disaster

There are a great many superstitions and claims made about plants; as cures for ailments, potions for attracting love, good fortune or warding off bad luck:

• Parsely should be picked and never cut and it should be grown from seed and not transplanted...and under no circumstances should you give it away or bad luck will fall upon you.

• Sage will grow well in the garden of a woman who dominates her husband

• To tell the time without a clock, blow the seeds off a dandelion as you count...one o'clock, two o'clock etc.

• Hold a buttercup under your chin and if there's a yellow reflection on your skin, it means you like butter.
• Sandalwood, ylang ylang, jasmine, and vanilla are very effective for attracting males
• Garlic will ward off vampires

Not surprisingly, death, being one of our deepest fears, features frequently in superstitions and wives tales. Just as well these are not true:

• Hold your breath when you pass by a graveyard or you may breathe in the spirit of someone recently buried..

• If a broken clock suddenly chimes in the house there will be a death in the family

• Don't bury a woman in black or she will return to haunt the household

• If a buried person was good, flowers will grow on the grave...if they were wicked, weeds will grow instead
• A bird in the house is a sign of death
• If you dream of a birth, someone in the family will die
• If you dream that you are falling and fail to wake up before you hit the ground, you wil die in your sleep

Old wives tales and superstitions still exist of course in the modern world and new ones are being invented all the time; only now they tend to be called 'urban legends' rather than wives tales.

In fact the web makes it even easier for stories and myths to be passed around quickly to become 'truths' and like the old folk tales, often changes are made to the original premise as it passes through many keyboards.

For an urban myth to take off virally, it usually has to have some value or significance to the community -and just as the old wives tales did, urban myths give us a sense of shared 'knowing' wisdom.