Superstitious Beliefs that May Save You Troubles or Life

A long time ago when I was still in the elementary grades; I heard so many superstitious beliefs from my old folks. My father used to tell us, “Get up from that mat. Don’t let the sun’s rays pass on you, while you are still lying on your bed.”

We often wondered why.

Then we grew older and that was when we learned that our old folks never allowed us to wake up with the sun already rising because according to them, you will become a lazy person if you wake up late in the morning.

That made sense to me.

Now that it is the year 2020 and man has invented impossible things that never existed in people’s minds in the past; are there still superstitious beliefs around? Do people still believe in superstitious beliefs?

When it comes to daily life, I usually make sure to ponder on some important issues in the past like some simple tips from my forefathers and some superstitious beliefs that I have heard.

I believe in superstitious beliefs because I have been surrounded by old folks who always reminded me that I should or shouldn’t do that because something would happen. I wouldn’t have believed in superstitious beliefs that I considered obsolete in modern times. But sometimes I think these old beliefs are helpful too.

When I was a little girl old men and women always told me not to sing while cooking because I will marry a widower. I didn’t buy that superstitious belief and because I loved to sing while doing things, I often sang while cooking. My son’s father was a widower. What if I’d listened to my old folks?

There was a superstitious belief that I heard from Ilocanos from the lowlands, they say that eating black beans and other dark vegetables make one dark. But I didn’t believe in this because many people I know who eat black beans maintained their fair complexion even while eating black beans.

If you believe in every superstition that you hear, you can end up not enjoying life because there are endless don’ts but if you just take precautions, you may reap the good things that life can offer.

I have gathered these life lessons through experience and it’s up to you to ponder on them.

In the early 1980’s my cousin started the construction of his house with a few men working. Suddenly while under construction, the men felt a slight tremor and thought they should report it to the old men because there must be something behind this tremor while a house is under construction. I belong to a group of minority people in the Philippines who are deeply rooted to their beliefs, traditions and practices.

In my hometown, the people still stick to their old culture and constructing a house and other similar important events are taken seriously. The men advised my cousin to stop work for a few days in order to ward off the bad spirits from creating harm. Although my cousin dismissed the tremor as only nature’s job and considered what the old men’s opinion only superstitious beliefs, he listened and obeyed.

After a few days rest the men continued the construction, but again they felt a tremor so they had to report it. Work stopped again for a few days before they proceeded to work. But there goes another tremor that disturbed the workers. In order not to interrupt the house construction, the men decided not to let the men know. And so the construction went on until the house was fully constructed and my cousin moved in.

A few months after the move in, something happened. My cousin was a soldier and in those times the rebels called the New People’s Army attacked my cousin’s house and riddled it with bullets. Luckily, no one was harmed. I believe that the old men did their fair share in praying for the safety of the house occupants during the two earlier tremor incidents.

It was only when the raid happened that the men who worked in my cousin’s house revealed what happened. The old men all agreed that the third tremor should have been reported.

It is hard to believe that there are incidents that should be seriously taken and not taken for granted. Sometimes it is not bad to listen to our old folks.

In terms of relationships, there are also superstitious beliefs that need to be taken seriously. It is a strong belief that during a wedding, the lady who catches the bridal bouquet that the bride throws during the bouquet toss will be the next bride.

In a related incident that I have witnessed thirty years ago, I saw a woman catch the bridal bouquet in the bouquet toss while laughing. She didn’t hold the bouquet tightly because at that time she was not seriously considering marriage so another woman who wanted very much to be the next bride grabbed it from her. The woman who first grabbed the bridal bouquet was engaged to be married after a year following the bouquet catching. But someone stole his boyfriend from her. She almost went insane and she never married until now.

There’s another incident. This woman caught the bridal bouquet during her first cousin’s wedding but the bouquet fell and she stepped on it before she was able to pick it up. There was a woman who predicted that she will become the head of the family. The woman ended up marrying a man without a permanent job so the woman became the breadwinner as well as the head of the family since the man cannot decide on family matters.

Another wedding incident that I witnessed was a falling ring. When the groom was about to insert the wedding ring in his bride’s finger, the ring fell and the candle died. There was an immediate buzz in the room. Most fear that the marriage is good as doomed. Everything went smoothly during the first years of marriage until the man started having affairs with different women. The man’s infidelity led the marriage into a mess that soon led to a separation. The man hopped from one woman to another but luckily the woman never set an eye anymore to another man and instead took care of her three kids until they all have their degrees.

So, the next time you get hold of the bouquet, hold it tight and don’t let someone grab it from you and don’t let the ring fall down too.

A few years ago, our neighbor's son died of a serious illness. He was only eighteen years old. In one of my very seldom conversations with the mother, she voiced out her resentment over what happened. According to her, nobody in her family knew that visiting a sick person is being discouraged if a member of the family is sick, especially when someone is seriously ill. According to her, she and the other members of the family had been visiting seriously ill people while her son was lying on his bed. I told her to brace herself and to calm down because it was God's will to take her son, but she insisted that perhaps if someone told her earlier that she was not supposed to be visiting a sick person, perhaps her son was still alive.

Here's what people say; never visit a sick person if a member of your family is sick. If you do, the sick member of the family will get worse or will not get better.

There's another superstitious belief related to this: Don't go to a wake or don't attend a funeral if you are suffering from an illness, or if a member of your family is ill.

At this time of high-technology and generations that do not believe in superstitious beliefs, this topic is often frowned at, but it pays to sometimes listen and believe.

In the Philippines, there are many superstitious beliefs related to accidents and death. They say that the most critical part of a person’s life where one is prone to an accident is when birthday, wedding, anniversary and graduation is approaching.

In the Philippines where superstitious beliefs are part of daily life; parents are often so protective of their graduating children when graduation day is nearing. One parent says, “I always advise my graduating child not to go anywhere when graduation is nearing.” Although others do not believe in this belief some people do.

Two events happened that prove that maybe the superstitious belief has some bearing with actual circumstances. Maybe they are just coincidences but may also be connected to superstitious beliefs. Whether it is only a coincidence, it is always better to give reminders to our children than to feel sorry later.

The first event happened to a graduating high school student riding in tandem. A man in another motorcycle grabbed the boy’s cellphone, but the boy refused to hand over his gadget. The man shot the boy dead. The boy would have graduated with honors.

Another event happened thirty years ago when I was still a student-teacher. A week before our grade six pupils would have graduated; he was run over by a ten-wheeler truck. The boy was supposed to be the valedictorian in his graduating class. According to his grandmother, she saw the young boy walking away in the morning without his head but she ignored what she saw and thought it was just her imagination. At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the boy was hit and run. His grandmother felt so sorry for ignoring what she saw. It was too late before she realized her mistake.

There was another incident that happened to our fourth-grade student a few months ago. The mother came to inform us that her son will miss the tutorial class that day and explained that a playmate of her son saw him while they were playing without his head. The mother knew this can't be ignored so she sent for a faith healer to do some rituals to keep his son safe.

When this happens, the affected person will not be allowed to go out for three days, and the clothes he was wearing when the incident happened will be buried. This, according to people will prevent the death of the person. The boy was fine after three days without any untoward incidents that happened after that.

Whether the events have something to do with the popular belief or it is a coincidence; I still believe that being careful is what matters. I don’t believe in all superstitious beliefs but there are times when it is not bad to take precautions.

Superstitious beliefs are considered the old tradition but it helps to heed to advice. After all, there is no harm in believing especially if it is for your own good.