What probably pointless, but you never know, superstitions do you have? And old wives tales.

[longwayoff]

Following on from greeting magpies, I think I'm not superstitious at all but actually I have a few picked up from mother. Sneeze, Bless You. Stops the devil from entering our souls. Umbrellas indoors. Ladders. Spilled salt over left shoulder - always do that. Don't wash your hair if you have a period. Don't put new shoes on a table ??? Don't bring lilac into the house. Don't make a present of a purse or bag without putting a coin in it. I could keep going . . .

Ada you are first person I've ever come across that also knows this! I thought it was some weird thing only my family did.

I refused to have anything baby related in the house until I was 36 weeks' gone, as by then, I thought that they had the greatest chance of being OK and I just didn't want to risk it. In mitigation, I had been given (without wanting it) a cardigan by X1's arsehole sister at 18 weeks and promptly began to bleed and then, at 24 weeks, she brought something else in and it started again within three hours. Spent the next month on bed rest in hospital. XMIL kept screeching that I must have lifted my arms above my waist and caused it myself. I suppose her MCs were immediately after she'd put something into a high cupboard or changed nets.

If the birds and animals go silent suddenly, head for shelter as a storm is coming, but if you're in woodland, stay absolutely still until the danger has passed.

Granddad taught me to never, never, light anything with the third light/match, but blow it out and start again. I know that came from taking the third light in the trenches (he was there), but he extended it to candles, hob rings and the fire/range.

I always flick the last grains of salt over my left shoulder.

Pull the dust with a broom, don't push it out of the house or you'll push good luck.

I have the horseshoe that he kept on his coalshed on my garden shed. It's not quite worked, as I still haven't opened it to find a stray cat with little black kittens in it, but I live in hope.

Tell the bees your news first and they'll take any secrets back to the nest/hive and keep them safe for you.

Magpies, crows, ravens and the rest of their family need you to say hello to them and then they'll watch over your home.

A Rowan Tree outside protects your house from lightning.

When you are looking at a tree and thinking of collecting fruit, ask in your head if you can have some and say thank you afterwards.

Birds nesting in your house/eaves/a gap in the wall/Ivy on the wall is good luck.

Never bring Elderflowers into the house unless you're going to be cooking them.

Never kill a spider.

A money spider needs to be spun round your finger three times and then set down in safety.

If a Ladybird lands on you, let it climb to the top of your finger and fly off and it'll fly to your true love.

If you feel uneasy in your garden at night, put the last of your dinner out on a plate by the back door and whoever is out there will protect you.

Give the last of any drink taken outside to the ground.

And if you're travelling at night and you see a big, black dog, ask it silently for help and it will walk alongside you until it knows you're safe again.

I really don't sound like a city kid, do I?

Oh, I've got some more.

A sprinkle of salt on the windowsill will stop bad dreams, especially if you clean the window first.

Herbs grown round the sides of the house will keep illness away.

Always tell a plant/tree what you're doing and why when you're pruning it.

A tree will warn you if it has branches that will fall if you ask it. I've actually used that one in conservation work - and found quite a few widowmakers on Oak Trees as a result. (They don't look any different, but as you put the pole saw onto them, they snap and crash to the ground).

If you keep coloured glass and empty bottles/vases on your windowsill, put small things into the bottles and anything bad will stop and have to count them. A mirrored/silvered ball or fishing float will mean they see their reflection distorted and their ugliness will scare them away.

If an animal stops and stares at nothing, it isn't nothing. You can tell it you mean it no harm and if it doesn't go/the animal puffs up, tell it that's enough and it will go, because it thinks you can see it.

And if you suddenly feel a cold drop of air around you, somebody long gone is saying hello.

I'm sure a lot of these are bollocks, but I know all of them.

@MitziK
Some of of those I knew about, but others are completely new to me.

Do you touch chimney sweepers on the shoulder, too?

Drop a knife and a man will call at the door. A Rowan tree keeps witches away. Can’t get anyone in Scotland to cut one down. Asked a couple who refused and then one guy said he cut one down and within 6 months his wife left him and took the kids.

@AdaColeman my lovely grandmother also taught me that. As a rational grown woman, I could never throw away an intact egg shell in case you know the witches.

Could you explain the tree branch one a bit more Mitzik? I don't get how you are supposed to ask the tree/what difference it makes- wouldn't the branch break off anyway when you put the saw on it if it was dodgy?

I always smash up my boiled egg shell as I was told as a child that witches used them to go to sea to sink ships.

Never met a chimney sweep and was kept well away from the coalman because they knew full well I'd get filthy.

Some trees, @CherryBlossom23, like Oaks, have branches that appear perfectly strong, but will suddenly snap and drop. The idea of the conservation work was to only remove those that were already looking damaged, wonky or 'wrong', and it's definitely quite a bit of effort/waste of time and perfectly good tree to take off every branch on the offchance it's rotten halfway through. People also aren't that keen on you repeatedly hacking away at a 500 year old tree if it can be avoided - think of when the council go round hacking at street trees with chainsaws and create bulbous lollipops because they can't be doing with risk, compared to just taking out dangerous branches. The latter is preferred by most people.

The asking the tree thing somehow puts you in a mindset that leads you to the branches that look absolutely fine, but pretty much as soon as you touch them, come down with a crash that would undoubtedly have killed anybody walking underneath at the time.

I doubt that it is really magical, but I'm not knocking it, as it definitely worked for me, even with the crew supervisor saying he would have left them and been utterly wrong.

Mitzi your life is full of magic! This thread is riveting. I'm thinking now of the Rollright Stones, my mother grew up nearby, Oxfordshire, and told me one or two things about them which I have utterly forgotten. May morning? Anyone know them and their stories?

It's a nice thing to think as you go about your day, @longwayoff. And though I'd never say it on a boat, I have a much loved necklace with the Tinners' Rabbits/Hares on it that I wear constantly.

Oh, that reminds me. Never kill a hare, especially a white one, because she is a witch travelling.

Something about an ancient King who set out to conquer the entire country and fell in with a witch, who turned him, his knights and soldiers into stone, i think.

And you can't go around the circle and count the stones three times without getting a different total at least once.

O thanks mitzi, that's it, the counting and the King too.have a magical day

Don’t wash your hair when having a period..you might catch a cold
Don’t sit on cold steps...you’ll get bad kidneys

Don't sit on cold steps or you'll get piles!
Don't cross cutlery on a plate.

I say "white rabbits" on the first day of the month. I think that's my only one. Got it from my mum.