Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-08-16
SUPERSTITION RAMPANT
An Sorts Of People Affected, Es-
pecially Women.
What Dreams Denote and How They Act
as Warnings - Beliefs About tho
Moon, Salt, Old shoes,
and Other Things.

Moon, Salt, Old Shoes,
and Other Things.
Are women more superstitiOus than
men? Possibly, and probably. as their
lives are more contracted than the
lives of men, and they have greater
leisure for breeding over the mystic
rious and supernatural, and comparing
the revealed, the real, with the fanci-
full, the occult forces which they long,
yet dread, TO fathom. Some one has
said that every human being has a pet
superstition of some kind, but that
women have more than men. Intelli-
gence, culture, reason, seem pOwerless
to remove the strange cOnceits, the odd
fancies which ruled and do still rule the
will and hope of mOrtals in connection
with trifling circumstances which they
believe predict their future for veal or
woe.
With the promiscuous strains Of blood
that we Americans have flowing in our
veins We have inherited the supersti-
tons of many countries in the old
world. Whole volumes have been
printed of the English. Welsh, Scotch.
French, German, Italian and Russian
superstitions. Perhaps we have one or
two which belong to each nationality.
At all events we have a variety. Sneez-
ing is not only very disagreeable, but
ominous in the afternoon and evening,
rs it predicts an influenza and bad news
of some kind. Women are partial to a
relation OF dreams. An old English
writer says:
dreams are but the raised impress
sions OF premeditated things
This is and is not true. We dream
of situations. of people unknown to us:
predictions are made to us in dreams
which are the shadow, the foretaste of
the future. thus revealed. The COM
monest superstition regarding dreams
is that to dream of gold predicts JOY;
of silver, sorrow: of flying. a journey:
of lightning, marriage: OF killing SER
penis, victory; of blindness. poverty;
of combing the hair, sickness: of gray
hair, death; of flies. enemies; of cupid,
love, but if he breaks his bow, you are
to be an old maid or Il widow. TO
dream OF white flowers is 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 fOreshadowed by
dreaming Of an infant. The .'child
Dream as she calls it, gives her
warning" and she begins to droop
like flower that is partly crushed.
while waiting for new baptism of
sorrow. Perhaps Jacobs dream of the
angels and the ladder is sufficient
foundation for superstitions regarding
dreams. Dreams. idle dreams" says
the poet, but they are frequently very
delightful, if they are idle
No woman need be ashamed to con-
fess that she is superstitious re-
garding the moon. or that she delib-
erately turns her right shoulder
toward the new moon and takes good
look at the new silver crescent. The
druids performed mysterious rites in
honor of the new moon, and Shakes
peare calls her The sovereign mis-
tress of the true melancholy" Proba-
bly, that is the foundation of calling
silly girls or boys ''luny." The ole
superstition regarding illness being
caused by moonlight shining on the
face of a sleeping woman has a curiou.
suspicion of truth in it. Certain
schoolgirls having heard that one o
their number had horror of moon
light streaming through the window.
OF her dormitory stole noiseiessly int
her chamber while she was sleepins
and pushed back the curtain so as t.
let the moon shine full on her face
The result of this prank was the Sc
rious illness Of the girl on whom it wa!
tried-a malady which puzzled tn,
physicians in attendance until the girl
confessed their crime. The old En-
glish custom for young girls to address
the moon New Years Eve regardin,
their future partner for life prevails {.
some extent among US. The girl says
Il pray thee. dear moon. reveal to m
who my husband viii and look
for the picture of her beloved that Is
or to be. in the round silver globe. ]
cloud sweeps over the disk the gir
says: ALAS! not this year, ugl
moon!''
Salt spilled between two people in
dicates a quarrel, yet the Arabs ca
salt together in token Of amity, an
the Egyptians, Greeks and Roman
used It in their sacrificial cakes. A
women like the comfort Of an old sho,