Simply Superstitious

Cultures from all over the world are steeped in superstition. 

Some of us have family superstitions, some are cultural and some are adopted.

There are countless interesting superstitions and some are really strange like a Swedish one I came across; if you are handed a piece of cake and it falls to the side as you accept it, you will apparently never get married. Maybe that’s why I’m still single.

Walking under ladders, a black cat crossing your path, breaking a mirror are some of the common ones. From when I was a child I was one of those people who was thrilled when a black cat crossed me (I had to prove a point), deliberately walked under ladders, and celebrated Friday the 13^th  as my lucky day.

My family believes that taking the largest piece of the broken mirror and deliberately smashing it breaks the bad luck. Conversely, accidentally breaking a glass in the house dispels any negative energy. Yep, totally under the radar pagans.

Whether we are superstitious or not, there is that little nagging voice at the back of our minds messing with us when something “unlucky” happens.  I still break the biggest piece of the broken glass, just in case...

Life has dealt some of us some nasty blows and I can’t help but wonder if were there too many black cats, if I dared the universe a little too often, and if so can I undo it? If I put up a ladder and walk backwards through it will it change my luck? Do I have to go find white cats now, and when someone hands me a piece of cake, do I grab it before it has a chance to fall, or make it fall the other way, and which way is the other way, it’s all very non-specific.

As a child, I often dreamed of snakes.  Western belief is that it means your enemies are after you and the circumstance of the dream foretells their success or failure. This never made sense to me. As a small child, I certainly hope I didn’t have enemies!

Years later I found that in African culture dreaming of a snake means your ancestors are sending you a message or protection. I much prefer their interpretation and “adopted” it. I no longer wake up with dread after dreaming of a snake.

My perception has changed, to suit me, you might say.

Yes, definitely, and I feel better about it.

Other than us pagans, many cultures and religions put a lot of stock in dreams. Stories are written about them in holy books, and many households in the ‘80s and ‘90s had a dream dictionary or two, or three…

Look online and you’ll find all sorts of interpretations but I have to ask; do dream interpretations also fall under superstition? Or do we take them seriously because holy scripture includes them?

I still smile when I think about an old friend and self-proclaimed atheist who scoffed at all of what he referred to as “crutches”, but when I told him I had a dream about him he always paled, quite a feat for a Venda man.

Most of us are philosophers at heart, we have our beliefs, our moments of deep thought, and our own opinions. We see the world through our own eyes. Superstitions, culture, faith, we have our own vantage point depending on our seat at the table.

There are often unusual beliefs and rituals discussed on social media groups especially those run by groups that fall within the pagan umbrella. Keep an eye out and drop a comment if you’d like to share any interesting ones.  

Sweet dreams!