Taboos, Rituals, Potions, and Spells

Big Sam

Today a friend mentioned potions and spells and a fun little mini-discussion was started. This got me to thinking about all the little things we do (well some of us anyway), and why we do them. I think just about everyone has superstitions or believes in wives tales. For instance; in my family if one of us has a bad headache we eat a wedge of iceberg lettuce for relief. We don't take acetaminophen or aspirin, we eat lettuce. It works, but why? If my mother is exposed to anyone who is ill, with a cold or sore throat or any such thing; she will immediately start eating sour kraut. She swears this keeps her from catching the virus, and she is never sick. We also practice an old wives tale to get rid of warts…. Of course all we really need to do is allow my mother to touch the wart and it will go away. But there is also the practice of washing the wart with dirty washrag and then bury that rag in the yard, and the wart will go away.

Another example is when one of us moves into a new home, before we bring in any belongings; we go in and open every door and window. Then with a straw broom we sweep out the corners (not touching the floor) of every room and then direct the sweeping out the open doors and windows.

There are taboos in my family too. Don't rock an empty rocky chair, or someone will become ill, injured or worse die. This goes for empty swings and rocking horses too. Don't play in a wheelchair, or you will wind up in one later. And whatever you do, don't say "At least __________didn't happen" or something similar or you will cause whatever bad thing it is to happen. We also tend to believe that all things happen in threes.

We have other cures, talisman, taboos, and rituals that have been passed from generation to generation. So I ask now, for you to share your stories with us. What rituals, or taboos are in your families?

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