My informant’s Irish ancestry has a belief about women’s purses. It is seen as bad luck for a woman to leave her purse on the ground, even for a second. Many believe that setting one’s purse on the ground will cause all the money in that purse to “run away”, leaving the owner with nothing. According to my informant, taking care of one’s money is very important to the Irish people, and to set it down, leaving it out of one’s attention and control, is seen as practically throwing money away for the very reason that without a hold on one’s purse, it could easily get lost, or worse be stolen by someone taking advantage of one’s neglectfulness. It seems like putting one’s purse down is about as much bad luck as being ignorant is.
Tag Archives: bad luck
No-hitters
My informant talked about pitchers and their no-hitters. A no-hitter is the instance when a pitcher throws a complete game without letting one opposing hitter get on base by getting a hit. Most players will recognize if a pitcher has a no hitter going at around the middle of the game, about the sixth or seventh inning. According to my informant, it is bad luck, or a jinx on the pitcher to talk in the dugout about the pitcher’s prospective no-hitter. For example, for someone to look up at the scoreboard and notice the chance of a no-hitter and say something to someone like, “Hey, look at that he’s got a no-hitter going. You think he’ll do it?”, is believed that almost always the no-hitter will end right at that point. In fact, at the first sound of any no-hitter talk in the dugout, you can be sure that someone is going to strike it down very quickly.
Superstition – Bad Luck – Marine Corps
Military Marine Corps Superstition
When youre in combat or even training its bad luck to eat the charms in your MRE Its something you learn early on so you just dont do it. Every MRE comes with some sort of dessert.. like lemon pound cake or poppy seed pound cakes. Those are the best, but you never know what youre going to get.. but if you get these charm candies you arent supposed to eat them. Youre supposed to throw them out on the side of the road or into the garbage. I dont really know why its bad luck. But I think its just in the Marines. There are stories of misfortunes from Marines disobeying this.
The informant did not seem to have much of an opinion about the reasoning behind this superstition. In my opinion, it seems to relate to the Marines (or other military service members) experiences with dangerous situations while in combat. Although the individuals play a large part in their own safety, they are living in constant danger, and the potential of death looms over them. In some ways, this superstition seems to be an attempt to alter ones fate in a dire situation. The Marines have relatively little control over their situation during combat, and must follow orders in every aspect of their lives. In this way, it makes sense that throwing away these candies is a way of asserting some form of control over ones own fate. It is ironic that these candies represent bad luck because they are charms, which typically are viewed as symbols of good luck. The charms remain symbols of luck in this context, but represent bad luck rather than good. This consistency as a symbol of some form of luck helps explain why these specific candies are associated with bad luck, and exemplifies that this association is not entirely random.
Evidently, this superstition is discussed in this publication:
Evan Wright (2004). Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the new face of American war. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. pp. 83. ISBN 0-399-15193-1.
Furthermore, there are many message boards and online posts regarding this superstition. There are even people who suggest that candy should be entirely removed from MREs, supposedly to prevent even the possibility of bad luck stemming from these candies. The informant also stated that he believes the film Jarhead (2005), directed by Sam Mendes, references this superstition.
Folk Belief – American
It is bad luck for whomever you are making a toast if you drink from a cup containing water.
Barry explained to me that it is considered bad luck for someone if you raise your glass filled with water to make a toast on their behalf. He said that, traditionally, toasts are made using some sort of alcoholic beverage, such as champagne, wine, or a mixed drink. However, he said that it is perfectly fine for children or those opposed to alcohol to toast using some sort of a soft drink. The one thing that is not considered good etiquette is to raise a glass filled with water, as many view it as bad luck that you are wishing upon the guest of honor.
Barry remembers learning this superstition from his grandfather at a wedding he attended for his cousin when he was approximately age twelve. A toast was being made so Barry, being the minor that he was, raised his glass of water in honor of the guest. His grandfather scolded him for the action as he said it was rude and improper to do such a thing.
Barry said he did not know where the reasoning comes from to support this superstition. He continued to explain that this, like many superstitions, could have roots stemming back hundreds of years that help clarify the reason this superstition exists.
Doing some research after the interview, I discovered that this superstition comes from the United States of Americas Navy. The reasoning they use to support this superstition is that toasting with a glass of water is essentially dooming the person to be honored to a watery grave. Now after knowing this it is much more understandable. People in the navy spend large amounts of time on the water, so it would be bad to toast with something that could end one of their lives at any moment. I have not been able to ask Barry since the interview if his grandfather was in the Navy or not.
I found this superstition at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toast_%28honor%29#Beverage_choice
Superstition – China
The spout of the teapot cannot be pointed at any one person, because its considered very bad luck for the person it is pointed at.
Notes:
This informant told me that it is an old belief in China that still continues today, and that even in her household (half Chinese) she still practices it. She says that if the spout of the teapot is pointed at one person, the person it is pointed at will have very bad luck. She was not sure exactly where it came from however.
I know that tea is a big part of Chinese culture, being served at nearly every meal, and I can easily see how the teapot gained such folkloric value. I looked up this custom and the importance of tea to the Chinese, and found an old saying, which depicts tea as a necessity. In a travel guide to China, it said, The Chinese have a saying: ‘Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day. (Chinese Tea Culture). This quote obviously shows the extreme importance of tea in the lifestyle of the Chinese, and therefore I can conclude why there is a superstition involving teapots, since it is such a prominent part of Chinese cuisine. This same site also described the relation of tea to the Chinese life as, Tea is compared to personal character. The fragrance of tea is not aggressive; it is pleasant, low-keyed and lasting. A friendship between gentlemen is also like a cup of tea. With a cup of tea in hand, enjoying the green leaves in a white porcelain cup, you will feel peace. Fame, wealth and other earthly concerns are far away. Tea is the symbol of elegance. (Chinese Tea Culture) These quotes show why tea is placed as an item of importance in Chinese life, however it does not explain the reasons behind the superstition, and the only thing I could find about relating to this superstition was on an etiquette site, saying, Make sure the spout of the teapot is not facing a guest. It is impolite to set the teapot down where the spout is facing someone. The spout should always be directed to where no one is sitting, usually just outward from the table (Cross cultural awareness-social customs). Its interesting to note the difference between the etiquette site and this informant, with one saying the tea spout facing someone is impolite and the other said that it causes bad luck. I think that it is possible that the reason it is considered impolite is because it is bad luck for the person, but that since the website was intended for visitors it was easier to say it was impolite, rather than explain the entire back story of the folklore of China.
http://www.santaferelo.com/ecs/data/sfguide/CHE/SocialCustoms.htm
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/tea/culture.htm