The Dickinson press., 1888-09-15
VARIOUS SUPERSTITI0NS.
OUR INHERITANCE FROM THE OLD
WORLD NATlONALlTlES.

OUR INHERITANCE FROM THE OLD
WORLD NATIoNALlTlES.
What Dreams Arc Thought to Denote.
The Mystery of the Moon-Wonhen's SUI
perstitions Regarding Cats-ltvrakins a
Mirror-Ghost Stories.
With the promiscuous strains Of blood that
NO Americans have flowing in our viens we
have inherited the supcrstitions of many
countries in the old world. Whole volumes
have been printed of the English, Welsh,
Scotch, French, German, Italian and Rus
sian superstitions. Perhaps we have one or
two which belong to each nationality. AT
all events VIC have n variety.
The superstition regarding
dreams sthat to dream of gold predicts joy;
silver, sorrow; of flying, II journey; of light
ming, marriage; of killing serpents, victory;
of blindness, poverty; of combing the hair,
sickness; of gray hair, death; of flies, enc
mics; of Cupid, love, but if he breaks his
bow, you are to be an old maid or n widow.
To dream of white flowers is Il good omen; of
yellow flowers, you are to attend a funeral.
a lady tells the writer that through her
whole life all her various Affections have
been f~oreshadowed by dreaming of an infant.
The "child dream,n as she calls it, gives her
warming" and she begins to droop like Il
flower that is partly crushed while waiting
for a new baptism of sorrow. Perhaps
Jacobs dream of the angels and the ladder is
Il sufficient foundation for superstitions re-
garding dreams. 'Dreams, idle Dreams"
says the poet, but they are frequently de-
lightful if they arc eide"
REGARDING THE MOON.
No roman need be ashamed to confess that
she is superstitious regarding the moon, or
that she deliberately turns her right shoulder
toward the new moon and takes a good look
at the now silver crescent. The Druids per-
formed mysterious rites i'll honor of the new
moon, and Shakespeare calls her "the sove-
reign mistress of the melancholy" Probably
that is the foundation Of calling silly girls or
boys ''luny." The old superstition regarding
illness being caused by moonlight shining on
the face of n sleeping woman has a curious
suspicion of truth in it. Certain school girls
having heard that one of their number had
a horror of moonlight streaming through the
windows of her dormitory, stole noiselessly
into her chamber while she was sleeping ami
pushed back the curtain SO as to let the moon
shine full Oh her face. Tho result of this
IItlh WIS Iuc SellOuS 1lll1Cso vi Ollc gin vi
whom it was tried-a malady which puzzled
the physicians in attendance until the girls
confessed their crime. The old English GUS
tom for young girls to address tho moon
New Years eve regarding their future part
ncrs for life prevails to some extent among
lis. The girl says: ~ pray thee, dear moon,
reveal to me who my husband will" ETC.,
and looks for the picture of her beloved that
is or to DO in the round silver globe. If q
cloud sweeps ever the disk the girl says:
alas! not this year, ugly moon!"
Many women are superstitious regarding
strange cats. If a cat is found i'll u new
house that house is doomed for the i'll luck Of
its occupants. Actresses are said to be SUI
pcrstitious regarding the appearance of a cat
on the stagc-the great Siddons once faint
Ing when Il black cat walked before her dur
ing q performance at Drury lane theater.
Most women regard the putting OH Of Il gar
ment the wrong side out as n presagc of bad
luck. Friday is a black day to some women.
They will not start upon u journey, begin a
piece of work, have company or do any act
of Importance.
A lady of unusual culture, travel and all
opportunities which position and wealth can
give for intelligence says she has a horror of
crossing between the carriages of n funeral
procession, and tells her coachman never to
drive across tho limo of u funeral cortege or
before a hearse in such q procession. She
considers such acts, by accident or purpose,
u warning of death to herself Or family.
BREAKING A LOOKING GLASS.
To break a looking glass is the presage OF
some terrible disaster or death in the house
where it occurs. De Constant, the ~favorite
valet of Bonaparte, tells of his master being
SO agonized while in Italy over breaking a
mirror that he sent q special envoy to Paris
to learn if his beloved Josephine was alive
and in safety. Josephine's ill luck, it is said
began soon after this. She was as s%upcrsti
tio;s as her anlou second consort.
Tingling Of the ears is a sure sign some
body is gossipin9a about you; burning of the
checks that some one is thinking of you, aud
il your nose itches you are to see n stranger.
Yellow spots on the nails betoken a near
approach of death; white spots predict gifts.
To cut the nails on Friday or Sunday is aw-
fully unlucky. Then there is the winding
sheet in the candle, bnt if there is q spark in
the wick it betokens u letter of good news
To some people odd numbers arc lucky; to
others, even numbers.
OF all things q ''wraith' is most to be
dreaded-in short, a ghost of some ono You
'o'S hiO"h VI VI JouAoSAA. oAAS
Owen, in his footprints on the Boundary
of Another World" says that the Holland
family of England always see their own re,
semblance as a warning of death. One of
the fairest ladies of this noble family saw Il
most complete and perfect likeness of herself
coming toward her in the garden. She TIL
derstood this premonition, and calmly pre-
pared for her exit from this mundane sphere.
A group of ladies gathered i'll Il country
house during tho cleaning told ghost stories
recently till they were afraid to retire. Thu
drowning experience vas that Of one of the
number while in a curious mental and physi-
cal condition had beheld herself dead and
her husband weeping beside her. As the
pathetic or the serious is first cousin to the
comic, so it was a relief to this gathering tc
hear the narrator, u buxom, healthy woman
"fair, fat and forty, say: "But, you see, here
I am, and the lnourner has been mourned. y
Brooklyn Eagle.