The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-11
OMENS FOR GOOD OR EVIL.
Incidents That Cause joy or Worry
to the SuperstitiOus.
Good Luck Follows the Person Who
UnintentiOnniIy Gets His Clothes
on Inside Out-Queer Signs Tint
Are Believed to Refer to Weather,

Students of human nature declare
that almost all persons are supersti-
tious. The belief in good and bad omens
the constituting of trivial accidents ano
happenings of the present into grave
portents of the future is as old as re-
corded history. Such apparently child
ish mental process is often attributed
contemptuously to peasants or persons
of inferior knowledge or education, but
it is a WE'LL known fact that DR.. john
son. one of the gravest most learned,
ana philosophical minds of modern
times. was a veritable slave to super
! stition.
Without entering into the origin and
history of this peculiar form of belief,
common to many of the greatest men of
| antiquity and the present, it is inter
esting and curious to gather some of its
most popular and current forms in
England and this country.
Old sayings regarding clothes are still
| implicitly believed in by many; as for
| instance:
| II is lucky to put on any article of
dress, particularly stockings. inside out;
but if you wish the omen to hold good
| you must continue to wear the reversed
portion of your attire in that condition,
| till the regular time comes for putting
| it off-that is, either bedtime or before
| bath. If you set it right, you will
| change the luck" 1t will be of no use
| to put on anything with the wrong side
out on purpose.
When William the Conqueror in arm
ing himself for the battle of Hastings,
happened to put on his shirt of mail
with the hindside before, the bystanders
seemed to have been shocked as by an
ill omen, until William claimed it as a
good one, betokening that he was to be
changed from a duke to a king. The
phenomenon of the hind side before
is so closely related to that of inside
OUT that one can hardly understand
their being taken for contrary omens.
Another and weird belief regarding
personal attire is that the clothes of the
deaG will never wear long. When
person dies and his or her clothes are
given away to the poor, it is frequently
remarked: N"Oh, they may look very
well, but they won't wear; they belong
to the dead" -lE
If girls petticoats are longer than
her frock, that is a sign that her father
loves her better than her mother does;
perhaps because it is plain that her
mother does not attend so much to her
dress as she ought to do; whereas her
father might love her very much, and
at the same time be very ignorant or
unobservant of the rights and wrongs
of female attire.
If enc would have good luck, he must
wear something new on Whitsunday,
not Ea ster.
AmoEg miscellaneous superstitious
sayings. the following may be noted:
1T is unlucky to enter house, which
you are going to occupy, by the back
door" Lightning will not strike elder
wood" The reason for this superstition
is probably the tradition that the cross,
on waitt our Saviour was crucified, was
made of this wood. Dean French, in
one of the notes to his Sacred Latin
Poetry" accounts for the trembling OF
the leaves of the aspen tree by saying
that the cross was made of its wood, |
ceased to shudder.
AS hot cross buns are being intro |
duced into this country, it may be noted |
in connection with that pastry that, ac-
cording to English superstition, they |
will. If properly made, never get |
moldy. To make them properly, the |
materials must be mixed, the dough |
made. and the buns baked on Good Fri
day.
Regarding the cutting of the finger
nails
Cut 'em on Monday, you cut 'em for health;
Cut EN- on Tuesday. you cut EN- for wealth;
Cut 'eTp on Wednesday, you cut EN- for news;
Cut EN- on Thursday, pair OF new shoes;
Cut 'em on Friday, you cut 'em for sorrow;
Cut EN- on Saturday, you'll see your true love
tomorrow;
Cut ZEN Sunday and you'll have the deyil
with you all the week.
Superstitions with respect to the cut
ting of the nails are of ancient date.
Heriod, in his Works and Day." says: |
Not to cut from the fve-branched
with glittering iron the dry from the
quick in the rich feast of the gods"
Mushrooms will not grow after they
are seen. Very naturally, the first per-
son that sees them gathers them.
Readers Of the immortal "Pickwick
Papers" will recall mention therein OF
the town of Bury St Edmunds. About
four miles from this place is Barton
Mere-an eccentric piece of water,
which varies in size from twelve or
fourteen acres to a small pond and is |
entirely dried up. 1t is re-
garded locally as a sure indication of
the value of corn stocks. 1t is, in fact,
a well-attested fact that the price of
corn, and the height of the water, fire.
quently do vary together. 1t is sup
posed that the character of the weather
may affect both in common.
In the same manner. the saying: IF
the raindrops hang on the window,
more will come to join them" may be
accounted for by the fact that it is | ,
sign of slow evaporation, of the pres ,
ence of abundant moisture, which will |
De likely to precipitate itself in the form |
Of more rain. &
If. when you are fishing, and count
what you have taken, you will not
,atch any more. To discover a drowned
body, cast an apple into the stream al a :
point above the spot where the body is I
to be. The apple will drift )
Town and stop over the place where the
corpse lies. I
There are some odd superstitions ra