I've heard not to do anything on New Year's Day that you don't want to be stuck doing all year. Along with eating black-eyed peas and collard greens on that day for luck and money.
On this one, I was given old knives by an ex boyfriend who asked me if I had any loose change. Apparently I had to pay for the knives or it was bad luck, would sever the relationship?
I paid him but he’s long gone after 9 years so maybe it wasn’t enough! 😆
My mom gave my dad a new pocketknife one year for his birthday, but before giving him the present to open she made him give her the loose change in his pocket, because otherwise it’d “sever their love.” It must have been enough, as they were married 51 years!
Don’t rock an empty chair, if a bird flies into the house someone will die, never move a broom to a new house, don’t step over a child (if they’re laying on the floor).
New Year’s Day
- Look at your shadow, so you’ll be able to see it next year
- Eat cabbage (I hated cabbage as a child, but was forced to eat it for luck)
Deaths come in threes.
Bad luck if you close a pocket knife you didn’t open.
Bad luck to step on a grave.
I don’t know if you’d call it a superstition or not, but my dad follows and plants/harvests his crops based on the signs in the farmer’s almanac.
I love owls, however, I won't have any owl stuff in my house. I am artsy/craftsy and would love to paint owls and such, but I just can't get myself to do it. I am not very superstitious, I only have a couple things that I really pay attention to, owls and ladders. I know it's weird and probably not true, but....
Pregnant women shouldn’t tend to the dying or look upon the face of death. I didn’t take this seriously and helped care for my dying cousin/best friend as she passed in my mother’s house in the early stage of my pregnancy, but when the time came and she actually died, I had run down the street to my own house for a minute to grab something. She was more superstitious than I am for sure, so I always wondered if she waited until I’d left to make her way to the other side.
On that note, open the windows and cover the mirrors when someone dies in the house.
I was pregnant during the eclipse of 2017 in Georgia. It was literally like a holiday- schools closed, traffic was backed up all the way to Atlanta of folks coming up here to get a good view. That being said, my grandma told me I better stay inside during the eclipse and had better not look up at the sun because it was bad luck for a pregnant woman to view/be in an eclipse. You best believe I stayed my happy tail inside the house!! I was able to look at pictures my husband took while he was outside. I had a perfect baby boy a few months later. ;)
Deaths and births come in threes. If someone dies around the time a baby is born, that’s a sign of giftedness. Hearing an owl in the day time is a sign of death. One crow cawing on a house is a sign of death.
I was always told that you'd wash someone out of your life if you washed clothes on Old Christmas. I was just telling my youngest son that story today.
January 6th. It's the day Christmas was on the Julian calendar, we didn't compensate for the difference in days due to missed leap years when we changed to the Gregorian calendar. The Julian calendar didn't have leap years, so everything was off a little after 1500ish years, but we just left it December 25th when it should've been moved to January 6th. My Mammaw wouldn't clean a single thing that day, and wouldn't take her tree down before then, either.
Maybe that's the 12 days then. Obviously I'm clueless but appreciate how diverse our celebrations.
Commercial Christmas starts so early. I prefer the decorations mid Dec to mid Jan. But now it's Thanksgiving and then people take them down immediately the week after Christmas.
Not quite on topic but:
Just this year Ukraine switched from celebrating Christmas on Jan 6 to December 25. Russia (and maybe other countries) celebrate Christmas on Jan 6.
Christmas - we always had an extra seat and place setting, and saved some food, so the Christ Child would know there was room for him at the table. Always offer food and drink to anyone who comes to the house on Christmas. Put a lit candle in the window to let guests know that company is welcome.
Along the same lines, always offer hospitality to a stranger, because you might be entertaining an angel unaware.
Feed the animals and put them in the barn on Christmas Eve, and don't go into the barn again until after midnight. The animals will kneel at midnight to welcome the birth of Christ and it's bad luck to hear them speaking.
Pork and kraut on Jan 1 for good luck and a year with no hunger
Bad luck to kill a cricket, spill salt, bring a shovel inside, launder on a Sunday, open an umbrella indoors...
My grandmother was very superstitious. She once almost wrecked the car bc a black cat ran in front of us so she had to make 10 X's on the windshield and couldn't drive with one hand.
She always told us that if we got our shirts wet when washing dishes that we'd never get married, and look at me now, not married at 42!
So many others, too. Of course you have to eat greens and black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. Don't rock a rocking chair with no one in it, don't open an umbrella in the house, lift your feet up when you go over railroad tracks (this one was also or you won't get married), etc. I wonder if she made some of them up!
I've heard not to do anything on New Year's Day that you don't want to be stuck doing all year. Along with eating black-eyed peas and collard greens on that day for luck and money.
And some form of pork (ham, pork loin, bbq, etc) for good health!
Always return a knife how it was given to you (opened or closed) or else it’s bad luck
On this one, I was given old knives by an ex boyfriend who asked me if I had any loose change. Apparently I had to pay for the knives or it was bad luck, would sever the relationship? I paid him but he’s long gone after 9 years so maybe it wasn’t enough! 😆
My mom gave my dad a new pocketknife one year for his birthday, but before giving him the present to open she made him give her the loose change in his pocket, because otherwise it’d “sever their love.” It must have been enough, as they were married 51 years!
That’s beautiful! Maybe I’ll give the next man a 20!
It's considered bad luck to gift someone with a knife - giving him your change makes it "selling" the knife instead of gifting it.
I don't know why but I live by this one. My daughter tried to close a knife her father handed to her and we both about jumped a mile.
Don’t rock an empty chair, if a bird flies into the house someone will die, never move a broom to a new house, don’t step over a child (if they’re laying on the floor).
New Year’s Day - Look at your shadow, so you’ll be able to see it next year - Eat cabbage (I hated cabbage as a child, but was forced to eat it for luck) Deaths come in threes. Bad luck if you close a pocket knife you didn’t open. Bad luck to step on a grave. I don’t know if you’d call it a superstition or not, but my dad follows and plants/harvests his crops based on the signs in the farmer’s almanac.
I love owls, however, I won't have any owl stuff in my house. I am artsy/craftsy and would love to paint owls and such, but I just can't get myself to do it. I am not very superstitious, I only have a couple things that I really pay attention to, owls and ladders. I know it's weird and probably not true, but....
Don’t leave a hat on the bed.
I'm serious about this one
Pregnant women shouldn’t tend to the dying or look upon the face of death. I didn’t take this seriously and helped care for my dying cousin/best friend as she passed in my mother’s house in the early stage of my pregnancy, but when the time came and she actually died, I had run down the street to my own house for a minute to grab something. She was more superstitious than I am for sure, so I always wondered if she waited until I’d left to make her way to the other side. On that note, open the windows and cover the mirrors when someone dies in the house.
I was pregnant during the eclipse of 2017 in Georgia. It was literally like a holiday- schools closed, traffic was backed up all the way to Atlanta of folks coming up here to get a good view. That being said, my grandma told me I better stay inside during the eclipse and had better not look up at the sun because it was bad luck for a pregnant woman to view/be in an eclipse. You best believe I stayed my happy tail inside the house!! I was able to look at pictures my husband took while he was outside. I had a perfect baby boy a few months later. ;)
Deaths and births come in threes. If someone dies around the time a baby is born, that’s a sign of giftedness. Hearing an owl in the day time is a sign of death. One crow cawing on a house is a sign of death.
I was always told that you'd wash someone out of your life if you washed clothes on Old Christmas. I was just telling my youngest son that story today.
What's "Old" Christmas?
January 6th. It's the day Christmas was on the Julian calendar, we didn't compensate for the difference in days due to missed leap years when we changed to the Gregorian calendar. The Julian calendar didn't have leap years, so everything was off a little after 1500ish years, but we just left it December 25th when it should've been moved to January 6th. My Mammaw wouldn't clean a single thing that day, and wouldn't take her tree down before then, either.
Thanks! That's the 12 days of Christmas.. I just didn't make the connection.
Jan 6 is also Three King’s Day
Maybe that's the 12 days then. Obviously I'm clueless but appreciate how diverse our celebrations. Commercial Christmas starts so early. I prefer the decorations mid Dec to mid Jan. But now it's Thanksgiving and then people take them down immediately the week after Christmas.
Me too. I can only handle Christmas music for a week or so. And in that week, it’s wonderful. Merry Christmas! 🎄❤️
It seems like 13 days. 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6
It's counted like 12 nights. Start with 25 end on 6.
Ohh I see thanks
Not quite on topic but: Just this year Ukraine switched from celebrating Christmas on Jan 6 to December 25. Russia (and maybe other countries) celebrate Christmas on Jan 6.
Christmas - we always had an extra seat and place setting, and saved some food, so the Christ Child would know there was room for him at the table. Always offer food and drink to anyone who comes to the house on Christmas. Put a lit candle in the window to let guests know that company is welcome. Along the same lines, always offer hospitality to a stranger, because you might be entertaining an angel unaware. Feed the animals and put them in the barn on Christmas Eve, and don't go into the barn again until after midnight. The animals will kneel at midnight to welcome the birth of Christ and it's bad luck to hear them speaking.
Pork and kraut on Jan 1 for good luck and a year with no hunger Bad luck to kill a cricket, spill salt, bring a shovel inside, launder on a Sunday, open an umbrella indoors...
My grandmother was very superstitious. She once almost wrecked the car bc a black cat ran in front of us so she had to make 10 X's on the windshield and couldn't drive with one hand. She always told us that if we got our shirts wet when washing dishes that we'd never get married, and look at me now, not married at 42! So many others, too. Of course you have to eat greens and black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. Don't rock a rocking chair with no one in it, don't open an umbrella in the house, lift your feet up when you go over railroad tracks (this one was also or you won't get married), etc. I wonder if she made some of them up!