Superstitions

Salt spills. Panic arises. What do you do??! Oh my! In my world, you grab the salt and toss it over your left shoulder or else that pesky bad luck sweeps in and pulls the rug from under you. Where did I learn this valuable lesson? I don't know. Is it true? Well, it depends on if you believe it or not. It's irrational. I know, but it's what I do. It's become an automatic response on my behalf.

Today, my Mini Me spilled salt at a restaurant. Guess what happened next? I passed on my belief. **big grin** My son thought it was funny and was happy to toss the salt over his left shoulder. =D

I have another "salt superstition" and this one comes w/ story. Yay! Storytime! Once upon a time, my roommate, Carlos, invited me over to dinner at his mom's house. He, his brother (Matthew) and I sat down to eat at the coffee table. Unfortunately, I don't remember what we were eating, but apparently it was lacking salt. So, I asked Carlos to pass me the salt. As is common with most folks, he picked up the salt and attempted to hand it to me. I asked him to set it down on the table because.... guess?! YES! Because it's bad luck to pass the salt from one hand to another. Muah ha ha ha ha ha. Both he and Matthew turned to look at one another and busted out laughing. Then, in order to taunt me more, guess what the two silly boys did?? They started handing the salt to one another back and forth and chanting out loud that something bad was going to happen. I rolled my eyes, shrugged my shoulders and said, "Oook," and proceeded to have my meal. After the taunting, Carlos had stepped into the kitchen to grab his plate of food and returned into the living room to eat with me when CRASH! His plate fell and broke on the living room floor. Guess who laughed hardest? ME! From that day forward, he and his family called me a Bruja-ja. What can I say? Boo! ;)

My mom has passed on her "religious" superstitions, which I would call as curandera beliefs. If you're in a rut and are having a lot of bad luck or have been terribly spooked, then it all means that you need a cleansing.What does that entail? An egg, a glass of water and the Apostles Creed. The bearer of bad fortune lays quietly on their back with their arms extended while the "curandera" passes a raw egg over the body in a form of a cross beginning w/ the head. The "curandera" continuously passes the egg over the body while reciting 3 Apostle's Creeds. Then, cracks the egg open and pours it into the glass of water. If there are threads from the egg yolk rising from it, then the bearer of bad luck truly had bad luck and has been cleansed. I know that I've always felt better afterwards as my Mini Me has. Whether or not it's true depends on the believer. In essence, it's a form of meditative prayer that helps relax the bearer. And heck, thoughts become things. If you think you're cleansed, then you are. ;) Below I've embedded a video that depicts what these eggs may look like after a cleansing.

My list of superstitions:
1. Spilled salt: Toss salt over your left shoulder to prevent bad luck.
2. Passing salt is a big no no because it brings bad luck.
3. Do NOT leave purse on floor or the devil will steal your $.
4. Bite your tongue when your ears ring to stop people from speaking ill about you.

There are tons of superstions that I'm aware of but do not necessarily cling on to. Unlike most folks, I actually find Friday the 13th as a comforting day(s) out of the year.

There was another instance with my former roommate, Carlos, that truly led him to believe that I was a witch. LOL But I'll save it for another storytime.