Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1888-07-24
VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
OUR INHERITANCE FROM THE OLD
WORLD NATloNALlTlES.

Tho Mystery of the Moon-Women's SUI
perstiuons Regarding cats-Breaigins u
Mirror-Ghost stories.
With the promiscuous strains Of blood that
we Americans have flowing in our viens we
have inherited the superstitions 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 we have a variety.
The commonest superstition regarding
dreams is that to dream Of gold predicts joy;
silver, sorrow; Of flying, a 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 widow.
To dream Of white flowers is a good omen; of
yellow flowers, you are 70 attend 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 a
flower that is partly crushed while waiting
for new baptism Of sorrow. Perhaps
Jacobs dream Of the angels and the ladder is
a sufficient foundation for superstitions re
garding dreams. aDreams idle dreams,n
says the poet but they arc frequently de-
lightful if they are "idlen
REGARDING THE MOON
No woman 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 good look
NJ 40 sill aagsf
formed mysterious rites in 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.n The old superstition regarding
illness being caused by moonlight shining on
the face of a sleeping woman has a curious
suspicion of truth in it, Certain school girls
having heard that one Of their number had
horror Of moonlight streaming through the
windows Of her dormitory, stole noiselessly
into her chamber while she was sleeping and
pushed back the curtain so as to let the moon
shine full on her face The result Of this
| prank was tho serious illness of the girl on
whom it was tried-a mnlady which puzzled
the physicians in attendance until the girls
confessed their crime. The old English Gus
tom for young girls to address the moon
New Years eve regarding their future part
ners for life prevails TO some extent among
us. The girl says: II pray thee, dear moon,
reveal TO mo who my husband will, y etc,
and looks for the picture OF her beloved that
is or 10 be in the round silver globe. II a
cloud sweeps over the disk the girl says;
"Alasl not this year, ugly moonf'
Many women are superstitious regarding
strange cats II cat is found in now
house that house is doomed FOR the III luck OF
] ff- A -. =.
! perstitious regarding the appearance of cat
on the stage-the great Siddons once faint
ing when a black cat walked before her dur
ing a performance at Drury Lane theater.
Most women regard the putting on Of gar
ment the wrong side out as presage Of bad
luck. Friday is a black day 70 some women.
They will not start upon a 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 a funeral
procession, and tells her coachman never to
drive across the line Of a funeral ccrtege or
before a hearse in such a procession. She
considers such acts, by accident or purpose,
a warning Of death 20 herself or family.
BREAKING A LOOKING GLASS.
To break looking glass is the presage Of
some terrible disaster or death in the house
where it occurs. De Constant, the favor-te
valet of Bonaparte, tells Of his master being
so agonized while in Italy over breaking a
mirror that he sent a special envoy to Paris
to learn if his beloved Josephine was alive
and in safety. Josephine's i'll luck, it is said,
began soon after this. She was as suporsti-
tious as her famous second consort
Tingling of the ears is a sure sign some
body is gossiping about you; burning Of the
cheeks that some one is thinking Of you, and
if your nose itches you are to see a stranger.
Yellow spots on the nails betoken near
approach of death; white spots predict gifts.
To cut the nails on Friday or Sunday is aw-
fully unluclzy. Then there is the winding
sheet in the candle, bnt if there is a spark in
the wick it betokens letter Of good news.
To some people odd numbers are lucky; to
others, even numbers.
OF all things a wrath is most TO be
dreadod-in short, a ghost Of some one you
have known or of yourself. Robert Dale
Owen, in his footprints on the Boundary
Of Another World says that the Holland
family of England always see their own re-
sembance as a warning Of death. One Of
the fairest ladies of this noble family saw a
most complete and perfect likeness Of herself
coming toward her njhe garden. She UNI
derstood this premonhion, and calmly pre-
pared for her exit from this mundane sphere.
A group Of ladies gathered in a country
house during the cleaning told ghost stories
recently till they were afraid to retire The
browning experience was 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 L
hear the narrator, a buxom, healthy woman
flair, fat and forty, say: But, yon see, here
am, and the mouIner has been mourned. -
, Brooklyn Eagle.
An Anecdote OF FRANKLIN.