Yep, I’m trying to continue the Friday Group Therapy thing that I joined last week. And, strangely enough, this weeks questions are orientated around Friday the 13th…
- How is Friday the 13th treating you so far?
Well, I have to confess I spent most of the day asleep. I didn’t go to bed until around 6am on Friday morning (just couldn’t feel tired) – and then I slept right through until around 3.30am Saturday morning. - What kind of luck do you usually have? Good, bad, a mix of both?
I have to say, that I usually seem to have a mixture of luck. I haven’t won the lottery, but then neither have I been involved in a major accident: the worse one that I can recall is when I was travelling back on the school bus to home, we turned a narrow country lane, and due to the icy conditions a car (also coming round the corner, but from the opposite direction) hit the bus (just underneath from where I was sitting) and caused it to go into a ditch. We all had to climb out the back emergency exit. No one was injured, luckily, but the car was a write-off and the bus had to be off the road for a couple of weeks for repairs.
Although, if any one “with influence” is reading this, I could do with a bit more good luck at this point…
- Are you superstitious about anything?
Not really, no (or at least not consciously). Ok, if I can easily walk around a ladder then under it – I will do so, but I won’t go “out of my way” to avoid it. Looking down this list of superstitions, here’s ones that I appear to be guilty of or that ‘ring bells’:- Placing a bed facing north and south brings misfortune.
- All my beds have been East or West facing. This hasn’t been on purpose, just because the shape of the room has dictated it.
- If you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake with the first puff you will get your wish.
- Ok, so perhaps I believe in this one. But to my recollection it’s never happened so… Plus, on receiving a birthday cake, who CAN resist trying to blow all the candles out at once? My parents can be a bit cruel sometimes – they’ve got “Un-extinguishable candles” (candles that re-light once you blow them out – unless you blow really really really hard for a long time) which they occasionally bring out.
- If a black cat walks to-wards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.
- Hmm – can’t win on this one: we (my family and I) used to have a black cat and it used to walk all around us (and under us).
- Keep cats away from babies because they “suck the breath” of the child.
- Well, if this was true, then I should have died. You know most people have ‘child-minders’ – I had a cat to look after me. Every-time my Mum took me out in my pram or pushchair the cat would follow. My Mum then would leave me outside the shop whilst she picked up a few things – if anyone (including my Dad!) tried to come near me, the cat wouldn’t let them.
- If you get a chill up your back or goosebumps, it means that someone is walking over your grave.
- I tend to get these quite often – but I’m not dead yet, so how can someone walk over my grave?
- It’s good luck to find a four-leaf clover.
- Ok, I believe in this one as well. But, again, I’ve never found a 4 leaf clover so I don’t know if it’s true or not (I guess, statistically, you have got to be lucky to find one).
- It’s bad luck to let milk boil over.
- My experience has shown that it’s bad luck to let any thing boil over. Especially coffee. In a microwave. Over 5 minutes. Is a very bad idea (word of warning – don’t try it at home, and especially don’t try sticking a spoon in it to see ‘will it do the same as a TV programme warned about years ago’. It does and I think I was slightly lucky to get my hand out the way in time!).
- A girl standing under a mistletoe cannot refuse to be kissed by anyone who claims the privilege.
- 🙂 I believe in this one, but I’ve yet to have the courage to actually put it into action.
- If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first.
- Hmm, I don’t believe in this one – but remembering how my Grandmother arranges my Mother and I when she wants a photo taken of the 3 of us makes me think that perhaps she knows about it…
- Place a hand in front of your mouth when sneezing. Your soul may escape otherwise.
The devil can enter your body when you sneeze. Having someone say, “God bless you,” drives the devil away. - I seem to believe in a few more than I thought. 🙂 But surly it’s just polite to cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze anyway?
- The number of Xs in the palm of your right hand is the number of children you will have.
- According to that, I’m going to have eight children *faints*
- Cover your mouth when you yawn, or your soul can go out of your body along with the yawn.
- Again, surly this is just being polite?
Oh, and like Jennie, I also don’t like to sleep with the wardrobe door (or chest of drawers) open. I dunno why, but I don’t think it’s a superstition.
- Have you ever ignored a superstition only to have it backfire on you?
Not that I’m aware of. - Has anyone else’s superstitions annoyed or amused you?
Yes – but I can’t remember what they were now. T’was many years ago you see. - Have you ever owned a lucky {insert item here}?
I used to have a lucky lottery ticket, but it turned out not to be so lucky. 🙂 In other words – nope. - Have you known anyone who almost always had an excess of either good or bad luck?
Not really – of course, there are times when I’ve thought “Lucky s-d” or something, but I guess in the long run things just even themselves out for everyone.