Tag Archives: general

Superstition

An old superstition.

My mother used to tell me that if my hand ever began to itch it meant that I would be coming into some money soon. I still haven’t won the lottery yet so I don’t know how well it works.

I had never heard this superstition before my mother told me that my grandmother used to believe in it. After some research, it seems that people believe if your left palm is itching then you will be coming into money unless you are left handed then you will be losing money soon. Some also believe that if your right hand itches then you will be getting money and if your left hand itches then you will be losing money. I think it all depends on the personal beliefs which in this case my grandmother just believed if either palm itched then money would be coming in. This probably stemmed as a sign of hope or belief during such times as the depression when nobody had money if they thought it was coming maybe they subconsciously worked harder or something.

Folk Medicine

When I was little and I had an earache, my mom would take a cotton ball and dip it in warm olive oil that she had heated up to soothe the pain and make it feel better. It was also supposed to make the earache go away too. I know a lot of other kids had their parents do this too but I know my mom had gotten it from my grandma.

I’ve never had an earache so my mother never did this to me but after further research, I’ve learned that it is bad to put olive oil in anyones ear so I don’t know that this would be folklore I would pass on. I do know that this was a common way of soothing the pain.

Ritual

My father told me that his mother used to tell him about an old hispanic superstition and ritual that when you are at a baby shower a woman must thread a needle then have the pregnant woman lie on her back on the floor and someone must hold the thread above the woman’s stomach. The thread is said to move as soon as it is hovering over the belly, and whichever way it swings decided the sex of the baby. If the thread swings to the left then the woman is supposed to be having a boy and if the thread swings to the right then the woman is supposed to have a girl.

I believe that this is just another game played at baby showers that is supposed to guess the sex of a baby for fun.

Legend

Riverside, CA legend

There is a legend throughout Riverside, CA that on the historic Mt. Roubidoux near downtown, there is a bridge on the ‘dark side’ of the mountain (side facing Rubidoux city) and that if you walk over by it at night you will get attacked by a lizard like monster that walks the side of the mountain late at night. There are also rumors of dark spirits that roam the side of the mountain late at night as well.

I have personally been up the mountain at night and have not seen anything but Sara swears that it must be there even though she’s been there at night too. We have a trip planned there to specifically search for these ‘monsters’ but it is doubtful that we will find anything. I believe that these rumors and legends are there to keep people off of the mountain at night. Most likely people my age and younger that want to cause trouble, if there is a story that they will get attacked by a monster that lives under a bridge it will probably engrain in them that they need to stay away at night when the mountain is closed.

Folk Medicine

How to cure a child of their erratic behavior.

Whenever a child is acting crazy or erratic and the parents are embarrassed or something of their behavior or they were being made fun of for how they acted or something, what you are supposed to do is crack an egg in water and put it under the bed. When you check on it in a couple of days and if the egg dissolved in the water, then the child was supposedly cured of whatever their behavioral problem was.

I’d never heard of this before but apparently, this was supposed to work when children were acting crazy.