Almost all of us remember that «Swallows fly low — to the rain.» Although the inhabitants of the metropolis, agricultural signs about the weather and harvest seem to be useless. There are other superstitions and rituals that we know and sometimes perform ourselves. Why?
Almost all of us remember that «Swallows fly low — to the rain.» Although the inhabitants of the metropolis, agricultural signs about the weather and harvest seem to be useless. There are other superstitions and rituals that we know and sometimes perform ourselves. Why?
- I am a superstitious person
1. A black cat crossed the road — there will be no luck on the way. It is better to wait until the other one comes forward or cross the “cat border” backwards.
Believing in what our grandmothers believed in, doing the same as our friends do, we feel that we belong to something more: family, society, culture. That is, in this way we satisfy our affiliative need.
2. “Pah-pah-pah, so as not to jinx it” — you need to spit three times over your left shoulder and knock on wood if you said something good.
We introduce an element of mystery into our everyday life in order to balance our overly scheduled and rational life.
3. Do not put bread back down, belly up — this is to poverty.
We get a kind of «inoculation of fear.» Many signs speak of something frightening, but at the same time they offer opposition (say, sprinkled salt, in order to avoid a quarrel, you need to throw a pinch over your left shoulder). So we experience a brief fright, getting used to the fact that such a feeling is possible in our life, and at the same time acquiring an important skill — to look for a way out of unpleasant situations.
- Somnambulism without mysticism
4. Salt was scattered on the table — to a quarrel.
We reduce our anxiety (if we have it) by creating for ourselves the illusion that we anticipate possible dangers and keep the situation under control.
5. The mirror broke — to illness or death.
We “attach meaning”—attributing causality—to events that are not actually related. This, at first glance, is of no use, but the desire to comprehend the world is one of the most important human features that distinguish us from other creatures. And we are pleased once again to feel like “thinkers” discovering secret connections in the world.
6. If two people uttered the same word at the same time, then immediately, without saying the next word, grab the black and make a wish in your mind — it will certainly come true. But if someone managed to say at least something, then it’s too late to make a wish.
We feed a sense of self-worth (satisfy our self-centeredness) by intertwining our fate with events that did not originally concern us, and believing that some forces take us into account and influence us. At the same time, we shift some of the responsibility for what happens to us to the world (“I have nothing to do with it, the black cat is to blame”).
- Prophetic dreams: coincidence or truth?
7. Who happened to be between the namesakes, can make a wish, and it will surely come true. If someone purposely settled down like this for guessing, then he may be lucky, or maybe not.
We increase the number of our happy opportunities. And even if we do it in our own imagination, our mood improves quite realistically from this. Everyone who found himself sitting between two Kolyas or Galyas or received a happy piece from a common pie with a coin baked into it was convinced of this.