Superstitions

[LadyDeath]

What a kool vid. Open my eyes to some i didn't know.


Some Indian Superstitions Passed Down From India Homeland. Via beforeitsnews.com

Women going through her monthly menstruation cycle or periods are considered to be unclean and impure. They aren’t allowed to either enter the kitchen or even go to temples, any sacred places as such. Only after the certain number of days, she is told to bath a considerable amount of times then only she is allowed to do household works. People forget that when a woman goes through her monthly cycle her body is weak, making her tired while doing hefty household work. So she was told to rest in those few days. But as the time went by, this got totally misinterpreted thus labeling the women as unclean for those couple of days.

You would have noticed that when you are all dressed up beautiful for any function, one aunty comes and puts a black mark behind your ears. This is the most famous of the superstitions followed in India which is known as “Nazar Uthaarna” which means removing the evil eye. It is believed that when someone or something is as perfect and beautiful, putting a black mark acts as a flaw in that perfection making it imperfect thus warding off any evil eye. This is even done for babies because they are so cute and people shower them with love. They put the black mark on the baby to avert any evil eye which is believed to keep the babies away from any disease.

 

[Shadowhunter]

What a kool vid. Open my eyes to some i didn't know.


Some Indian Superstitions Passed Down From India Homeland. Via beforeitsnews.com

Women going through her monthly menstruation cycle or periods are considered to be unclean and impure. They aren’t allowed to either enter the kitchen or even go to temples, any sacred places as such. Only after the certain number of days, she is told to bath a considerable amount of times then only she is allowed to do household works. People forget that when a woman goes through her monthly cycle her body is weak, making her tired while doing hefty household work. So she was told to rest in those few days. But as the time went by, this got totally misinterpreted thus labeling the women as unclean for those couple of days.

You would have noticed that when you are all dressed up beautiful for any function, one aunty comes and puts a black mark behind your ears. This is the most famous of the superstitions followed in India which is known as “Nazar Uthaarna” which means removing the evil eye. It is believed that when someone or something is as perfect and beautiful, putting a black mark acts as a flaw in that perfection making it imperfect thus warding off any evil eye. This is even done for babies because they are so cute and people shower them with love. They put the black mark on the baby to avert any evil eye which is believed to keep the babies away from any disease.

In my family, "unclean" women were only banned from participating in prayer services, all work was expected to be done as normal. Women who have just experienced childbirth or miscarriage are considered unclean for 40 days and are not allowed to participate in religious events or touch religious items, but again, still expected to do work as normal. There's a bunch more very popular ones for women who have just had a child but I can't remember them all. Some are:

-You cannot bathe for the first 6 days after giving birth.
-The first post partum bath must be 7 days after giving birth, and someone else must bathe you.
-You must not walk barefoot or go near the fridge for the first 40 days after giving birth because your pores are open and you will catch....bad stuff (idk lol)
-A newborn baby must not be seen for the first 6 days after birth by others until God blesses him/her on the 6th or 7th day.
-After giving birth it is important to be "rubbed" by weird old ladies or your insides will fall out of place.
-After giving birth, you must sit over/in a hog plum bush bath to heal properly.
-Saffron tea is essential after giving birth to cleanse you from your impurities.


I know there's more I can't remember. I think the older generation just likes to frighten new moms away from enjoying their experiences by convincing them they are clueless and helpless. I also think it gives older moms who want a do-over with kids a chance to impose themselves on someone else's child and new mom experience under the "they say" claim and feel needed and essential; then that mom does the same to someone else in the future. FWIW, I didn't listen to a single one of those supersititons and I ended up all the better for it.

 

[Shadowhunter]

Some I remembered today:

-Women or young girls are not supposed to cut pumpkin or they will become barren.

-You must always cook peas on the first day of the new year.

-You must not do any cleaning on the first day of the year (some kind of bad sign for the rest of the year).

-Whoever you spend your New Year's with will indicate what kind of company and fortune you will have throughout the year.

 

[LadyDeath]

Oh yes you bring back the memories Shadow Hunter with those superstitions ..

How about these


-Be weary of creepy old women who live alone, they might be soucouyants
- To know if a woman is one, draw a cross on the road and see if they can cross it . If not, they are indeed LOL.
- If you hear a chain dragging in the night is a lagahoo
- If you hear someone calling your name in the middle of the night, don't answer.

 

[Steven Ramadar]

I really don't believe in anything like this. Including maljo, Nara, bad eye, obeah, etc. The idea about it seems illogical

 

[Shadowhunter]

Oh yes I remember those! There's also one about drawing a line with salt (or rice?) in the soucouyant's path that they won't be able to cross. When I was very young, a relative told me a story about a village in South Trinidad (I can't remember where) catching a soucouyant. They hid and waited for her to turn into the ball of fire and leave the house and then they rubbed salt all over the skin she left behind. When she returned and put on the skin she shrieked and melted or burned or something (bottom line: she died lol).

I've always been curious as to what the scientific explanation for the "soucouyant bite" is. In certain places I've stayed I had the markings regularly and never found a legit explanation why. I think there are facebook pages dedicated to unexplained markings and people from all over the world used to post pics of seriously weird bruises they couldn't explain and some of them looked like the "soucouyant bite".


-Don't accept anything from anyone (eg jewelry, food, any material item). People can put spirits in material items or cast spells over them to control or negatively affect you.

-Don't let strange people take pictures of you or give photographs of yourself for the same reason.

-Don't give out your date of birth or full name freely because people can use that information to.....idk...do something extra bad? and cast spells/hexes on you (eg. misfortune, forced "love", illness, etc)

 

[Shadowhunter]

I really don't believe in anything like this. Including maljo, Nara, bad eye, obeah, etc. The idea about it seems illogical

When I was going to school, everyone around me was full of these stories and I eventually started looking into it and asking around, reading up on it, documenting to look for coincidences etc. My conclusion was that a lot of these theories are baseless and inappropriate and/or unnecessary. Some of them seem to stem from common sense that just got out of hand and exaggerated the more it goes around, but all in all, science always wins when it comes to these tales.

 

[Steven Ramadar]

I don't take food from anyone. I make exceptions for certain places. Simply because of the preparation of the food. I'm sketchy about eating food from my aunts, dad, grandmother. All except my mother. Because I mostly cook with her.

 

[Shadowhunter]

I didn't really care when I was younger; once my mom said it was okay I would eat because I really, really like food. Once I started cooking more though, my food became first priority and I didn't really care for other people's stuff since I knew exactly what was going into my stuff and not theirs.

Funny/weird/gross story: I used to cook for all my friends when I was in school and my grandmother cooked daily without fail for all of us even though I wouldn't eat from her. To prove to my mom that I just trusted and liked my food more and I wasn't trying to offend anyone, I made her watch every detail of how I cooked and then we watched my grandmother cook so she could see the big differences in cooking style etc.

Dude, I cannot tell you how many times I saw my grandmother scratch her butt while cooking and she did not wash her hands once! I got kind of scared of trying other people's food even to be polite after that because you seriously never know lol

I did eat at weddings/prayers etc around that time and got food poisoning twice within my last year or so at school (first time was from a wedding, second time was box lunch lol!) so I usually just eat before I go anywhere since then.


-A pundit once told me to wear a hat while eating to avoid getting maldeaux because everyone can get it while eating and hats....prevent it(?) while eating and also prevent maldeaux on your hair.

-A Guyanese person later told me that wearing hats is very rude, and to wear a hat while eating is bad luck and extremely offensive. I actually had a fave baseball cap I used to wear constantly and I was just sitting near the table at a restaurant, not eating, and she made a huge scene and refused to sit at the table to eat unless I took off my hat.

 

[LadyDeath]

Waw i have learnt alot .

A man walked up to me and said to don't eat food from strangers because i can easily contract 'bad hand' . I was kinda confused thou but i went to someone who told me the same thing.


- Never open bottles on the beach because they can have spirits in them
- Females cannot bathe in the beach when they are on their menstrual cycle because it can apparently upset mother nature
- It's bad luck to carry home seashells and other collectables from the beach
- If someone has two bumps on their heads they are bad luck and have to be careful when swimming in deep waters

 

[Shadowhunter]

I hadn't heard some of those! I was told not to open bottles in rivers or the back of people's houses and the same for flowers floating in rivers because people supposedly trap the spirits in those things when they remove it from a possessed person.

-Never give anyone anything in a black bag. Always give items in a white bag.
-People with swirls to the back of their heads that are in any way different (eg. double swirl, anti-clockwise, off-center, oddly shaped etc) from a "normal" swirl must avoid water because it is particularly dangerous to them with their swirl.
-People with moles on their heads or lines in their palm that make up an "M" will be wealthy.
-Never turn your back to the sea because it will get "her" angry and the waves will intentionally rough you up in their wrath (or something like that lol)
-Resting bags on the floor is bad luck.

 

[Shadowhunter]

If you are thinking about someone or talking about someone and they walk into the room or call, they will have a long life.

Full moon makes people act like the truest part of themselves to a greater extent.

Mad/crazy people get "madder" during a full moon.


Heard this one for the first time yesterday:

Nobody is supposed to do any work on Good Friday.

 

[LadyDeath]

Loll never heard that one shadow about good friday.

On easter , when you crack an egg and put it in a glass of water it supposed to form something in the glass. This apparently supposed to be something significant

 

[nirtime]

Hmmm well I'd like to add to this thread but I really don't take on these things what so ever. Interesting read though.

 

[LadyDeath]

It is a bad omen to eat prayers food before the prayers have finished.

It is a bad omen to hand someone peppers directly

You cannot sweep after 6 because mother laxmi will leave the house.

 

[nirtime]

It is a bad omen to eat prayers food before the prayers have finished.

It is a bad omen to hand someone peppers directly

You cannot sweep after 6 because mother laxmi will leave the house.

Just now you will tell me doh use d hand rail in a 25 seater because I go get possessed.

 

[Lorenzo]

Sleeping with a knife/scissors under your bed helps you sleep better. Works for me, the suggestion that is.

 

[LadyDeath]

sleeping with garlic and pepper and salt under your bed will promote good dreams and keep evil away

Sleeping with a holy book under your pillow will keep evil away

Drink water before you go to bed because if your spirit is thirsty and goes searching for water bad things can happen .

 

[Shadowhunter]

Sleeping with a knife/scissors under your bed helps you sleep better. Works for me, the suggestion that is.

Sleeping with a holy book under your pillow will keep evil away

I've heard both of those things will chase evil away and "cut" bad dreams. In the same boat:

-Dust off your bed before you sleep in it as spirits may lie there waiting for you.
-Sweep your house in the evening before 6pm. This will sweep out the bad spirits. Sweeping after 6pm is sweeping out your family's money and luck.
-Put a cocoyea broom upside down in front of your back door to ward off evil spirits, especially sequioa.
-Always leave a light on in or around your home to ward off evil spirits.




I'm not superstitious, but I have intentionally freaked out superstitious people who tried to force their beliefs on me or were freakishly into it and tried to impose it on others around us through peer pressure.
A "superstition" if you're ever in this position:

-If you're driving in a car in the middle of the night on a long, lonely, unlit road with a very superstitious person, take off all the lights (interior and exterior) in the middle of a scary story and go MUAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA and/or go "OMG I see it!!!! It's trying to get in the car! AAHHHHH!!!!!" and you will hear the scream of a little girl even though strangely, there are no little girls present. Like magic, I tell you. Magic!