I have come across people who truly believe in their own superstitions. One of them was my (late) mother in law. New clothes couldn’t be worn for the first time on Tuesday. If you did the evil deed, bad luck was sure to follow you. If Eid was falling that day, or some other important occasion, all you could do to avert the bad luck was to wear them for a brief time some other day before the coming Tuesday. For her Tuesday was a harbinger of bad luck.
Something must have happened in her life on Tuesday to think that way.
Another superstition of her was not to use the broom for sweeping after her children left. She would get up early that day, and instruct the cleaning lady to quickly clean the house before the children left on that particular day. She feared something terrible would happen to her children, and they won’t come back ever.
Another person I know doesn’t wash clothes, or does the cleaning on Friday. She thinks bad luck is sure to follow her if she doesn’t follow her belief.
My (late) maternal aunt thought wearing black clothes brought bad luck. When a black jora (clothes) arrived for me, from my in laws before my wedding, she was shocked at their doing.
My brother in law hid away at funerals. He thought that if he attended funerals death was sure to knock at his door. His wife died about a few years back, and he is childless. Now he comes to funerals, but keeps at a safe distance from the dead person.
Another very dear and sweet lady keeps on knocking on wood for good luck. I wonder how her knuckles survive so much knocking. It’s a continuous knock knock with her within a few minutes of talk. Many a time I would like to get hold of her hands to stop her, but then forbear and withhold my inclination. She is a Muslim, but she crosses her fingers when she wants good luck.
DAILY PROMPT
Superstition
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My dad wouldn’t allow us to sweep the floors at night. He says it’s like sweeping the good luck out the door. Dunno how that’s connected but I simply followed the edict.
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My (late) husband held the same belief as your dad. I clean my kitchen after dinner. He didn’t like me to sweep the floor. He would tell me not to. The floor needed cleaning after children dropped food items, and you know how ants materialize if one doesn’t clean.
After he died I was swamped by guilt, as if my cleaning was somehow connected with his death.
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My daughter hates the number 13 and my son wants everything to be an even number.
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Interesting!
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Fun article! There is an old tradition or ritual of sweeping the floor as soon as someone you don’t “like” exits your home, and the belief is that you are sweeping out their negative energy, and that they won’t come back, or at least will come less often… so that is probably what caused the fear of sweeping after your loved ones leave. I love learning about superstitions!
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Thank you Sandra. I am glad you liked my writing.
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