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By ANN WORTHINGTON
I often tell my friends that I am not the least bit superstitious; however, I would like to share some of the things that were told to me when I was a little girl although,
I didn’t exactly believe some of them. I’m a bit like Barney Fife; I don’t go out of my way to prove them wrong.
Here are some of the things I was told:
Eat collard greens and black-eyed peas, seasoned with hog jowls, and it will bring you good luck. I still like to cook these items every New Year’s day.
Placing money outside of the house over the door meant money would practically fly through one’s door. If that were true, we would all be rich.
If a pesky sty developed on your eyelid, all one had to do was to take a piece of ribbon, rub over the sty, walk to the nearest crossroads, wipe the ribbon over the sty, throw the ribbon over your shoulder and walk back to your house without looking back. I can’t believe I actually did this one time. It was all I could do to make myself not look back, but I managed somehow. Sure enough the sty left my eye; however I now know it was because my mom took good care of it for me.
One of the worst things was if you walked under a ladder, you were sure to have very bad luck.
Now the one that I was always very, very careful about was what my brother told me: that if I stepped on a crack, I would surely break my mother’s back. I was extra careful with this one because I knew the pain and suffering I would cause my mom if I should step on a crack. To this day I’m not too fond of stepping on cracks.
If a person washing dishes should drop the dishcloth on the floor while washing dishes, someone was coming for dinner. The only thing that came out of this one was that Mom would put that cloth right in the wash if it had touched the floor.
Tie a bag of herbs around one’s neck for a few days to prevent a serious illness from entering the body. I know what did the trick on this one. The odor was so bad, no illness would come near you.
The one that really got to me was if you broke a mirror, you would have seven years of bad luck. I think that was the way my mom kept me from playing with mirrors.
I look back on some of the things that happened to me during my childhood and some of the beliefs I had and I have to laugh; however, I still don’t like to do some of the things that I have mentioned. I guess it was instilled in my brain, but to this day, I’m careful about walking under a ladder and will walk several feet if necessary so not to go there.
My friends, I hope you have as much fun looking back on your memories as I do, and I’m thankful most of them are happy ones.
So until next time, be safe, be happy and remember that God loves all of us. As always, have many blessed days in this year of 2007.
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