a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge

"old wives' tales"commonly applied to beliefs and practices

surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings

future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events

to touch wood to find a clover plant

with four leaveswhite heather (bijeli

vrijesak)a horseshoe over the

doorcatch falling leaves in

Autumn if you cut your hair

when the Moon is waxing(getting larger in the sky, moving from the New Moon towards the Full Moon).

Bad luckto walk underneath a

ladderto break a mirrorto open an umbrella in

doorsthe number thirteento put new shoes on

the tableto pass someone on

the stairs

the expression 'Bless you'

very lucky to sneeze at exactly the same time as someone else you are with

Sneeze 'once for a wish, twice for a kiss, three for a letter, four for something better‘

Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger. Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger. Sneeze on Wednesday, sneeze for a letter. Sneeze on Thursday, something better. Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for woe. Sneeze on Saturday, a journey to go. Sneeze on Sunday, your safety seek—for Satan will have you for the rest of the week!

Unlucky to spill saltWhen finished eating a

boiled egg, push the spoon through the bottom of the empty shell to let the devil out

housewives used to believe that bread would not rise if there was a corpse in the vicinity

to cut off both ends of the loaf would make the Devil fly over the house

If you drop a table knife expect a male visitor

if you drop a fork a female visitor

Crossed cutlery (knives) on your plate and expect a quarrel

leave a white tablecloth on a table overnight and expect a death

Bride and groom must not meet on the day of the wedding except at the altar

The bride should never wear her complete wedding clothes before the day

For good luck the bride should wear “something borrowed, something blue, something old and something new”

The husband should carry his new wife over the threshold of their home

For brides to be kissed by a passing chimney sweep is very good luck

BAT bad luck if you see bats flying and hear their cries witches were closely associated with batsRAVEN An ill-omened bird, able to predict the future, particularly death If the Ravens in the Tower of London should be lost or fly away

then the Royal Family will die and Britain will fall to an enemy  To kill a raven is to harm the spirit of King Arthur SPARROW They carry souls of dead, unlucky to kill one if a sparrow enters a house it is an omen of death to one of the

people who live thereMAGPIE , 'One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy;

five for sorrow, six for gold, seven is a secret never to be told, eight is a wish, nine is a kiss and ten is the bird you must not miss.‘

CAT a black cat crossing one's path brought good luck If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it

walks away, it takes the good luck with it

hare and white rabbit was thought to be witch in disguise

rabbit which crosses one's path in front is a good omen and one which crosses behind is a bad one

unwise to shoot a black rabbit

an old custom is to say 'Rabbits' or 'White Rabbits' either once or three times on the first day of the month, as a good luck charm

RABBIT'S FOOTa well-known lucky

charm a symbol of fertility In Wales an old belief is

that a new-born child rubbed all over with a rabbit's foot will be lucky for life