HALLOWEEN BLOG

[GEMINIGUY]

Although the idea of a spider dropping on to one's face from the ceiling may be viewed with horror by arachnophobes, it is supposed to be very lucky. Similiarly, if a spider is seen running over a person's garments this constitutes a promise of a new set of clothes (as does the sight of a spider actually spinning a web). If kept in the pocket or in the purse, the tiny red money spider, meanwhile, will similiarly attract money to the person concerned.
Folk medicine has many uses for the spider. Eating a live spider in a pat of butter is highly recommended for anyone fearing an attack of jaundice, while a spider eaten in an apple or in jam or treacle will ward off fever.
Various other remedies for a range of ailments such as ague involve suspending one or more live spiders in a small bag around the neck until they are all dead. Spiders' webs also have their uses in medicine, being rolled up into pills and then swallowed to alleviate fever, asthma and whooping cough."

[Elizabeth]

Do you hear that, Lizzie? ;-)

 
I got lots of spiders in my barn.
I still don't like them..!!!
But, yeah...they do eat the bugs in the barn, but then again so do the barn swallows that live there.

Love,
Liz

[joan1984]

  Do barn swallows also eat the spiders? Or upon eating a spider, would the barn swallow spit? hehe

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 3RD

Palmistry (Part One)

"Since ancient times it has been believed that a person's character and destiny may be divined by examination of the palms of the hands. Every aspect of the palm - its shape, its colour and lines upon it - are studied by those who claim proficiency in these matters.
In terms of shape, a long hand indicates a meticulous and thoughtful personality, while a small hand denotes impetuosity and intuitiveness and a big hand a cautious character. Narrow palms suggest selfishness, while those with wide palms are social and gentle. The shape of the fingers is also relevant, long thin ones denoting an artistic temperament and crooked ones suggesting untrustworthiness. Smooth fingers indicate alert minds, while individuals with somewhat pointed finger have strong sensual appetites.

[GEMINIGUY]

The shape of the fingertips is important too. If they are conical the owner has an intellectual frame of mind, but if they are broad at the tip then the person concerned is energetic and loves to be constantly busy and on the move. Those with flattened fingertips are given to hard work and have cinventional tastes and a realistic outlook on the world.
The shape of the thumb is crucial. The lower half relates to a person's reasoning ability, while the upper half concerns willpower. A short thumb indicates inhibited and weak character, but a long one suggests high achievement and confidence. Straight thumbs are a sign of independence of spirit and sincerity; while curved thumbs reveal impulsiveness and generosity."

[joe_and_michelle]

Palmistry...interesting word that might be taken differently from one with a perverted mind.

Interesting GG.   Thank you for sharing this.   I have learned that most of my hand characteristics described are positives. 
Keep it up, I'm enjoying and look forward to each installment.

[watcher1]

 
I got lots of spiders in my barn.
I still don't like them..!!!
But, yeah...they do eat the bugs in the barn, but then again so do the barn swallows that live there.

Love,
Liz

Bet your loft is free of bugs....

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 4TH

Palmistry (Part Two)

"Most Information, however, is obtained by 'reading' the lines on a palm. Broadly speaking, the left hand is supposed to reveal inherited character while the right reflects acquired characteristics.
The most important line of all is the life line on the left palm, which traces the edge of the Mount of Venus, around the base of the thumb, and ends at the wrist. The length of this line is said to correspond directly to a person's lifespan, and a short life line may suggest lengthy periods of ill health (though not necessarily an early death).
This line also reveals much about a person's vitality and sexual drive: the deeper and more curved the line the stronger the constitution and the person's love of life.
Authorities on palmistry insist that life lines will alter as a person's circumstances change in response, for instance, to successful medical treatment."

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 5TH

Palmistry (Part Three)

"The head line runs more or less across the center of the palm and refers to one's mental faculties. The most logical and practical individuals will have fairly straight head lines, while artistic type will have head lines with a prononced curve. If the head line actuall touches the life line this is a sign of a sensitive personality. If it ends in a fork, the person concerned has strong powers of expression.
The heart line runs above and almost parallel to the head line and concerns a person's emotional being. A curved line suggests a warm and friendly character, while a straight line bespeaks a cold and reserved individual."

MORE ON OCTOBER 10TH

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 10TH

Palmistry (Part Four)

"The line of fate runs vertically down the left palm. In the rare case of a long and unbroken line of fate, theis suggests that a person is exceptionally in all his or her dealings. If the line peters out below the middle finger this indicates a prudent personality given to hard work and saving money. If it ends under the first finger the owner is ambitious, if below the fourth finger he or she yearns for fame in the arts.
The marriage line (or lines) is a short line at the very edge of the palm. If deep and straight the individual will have a happy married life; small lines extending upwards from this indicates the number of children that he or she will have. Other lines  may be read to reveal information about the success a person may expect in life and to glean further details of their health as well as their passions, future travels and healing powers.

[GEMINIGUY]

The fact that medical authorities have claimed that it is possible to detect signs of illness in the hands long before actual symptoms emerge suggests that there may be at least some scientific basis for palmistry."
[END OF PALMISTRY[

BACK ON THE 15TH

[TinyDancer]

Was surprised that no mention was made as to callouses on one's palms.   

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 15TH

Figurehead

"A carved wooden figure, often depicting a naked woman, that formerly adorned the prows of most big ocean-going vessels and was thought to embody the soul of the ship. The custom of attaching such figureheads probably had roots in the ancient practice of dedicating ships to particular goddesses, which is why the majority of figureheads were female despite the tradition that it is unlucky to have women on board ship.
Sailors always place great faith in figureheads, claiming that they helped protect the ship, and they were consequently treated with great respect. Perhaps the most widespread superstition was that no ship could sink without its figurehead.
Though few modern ships are decorated with such figures except in a very truncated form, the idea is perhaps kept alive through the many mascots, bunches of lucky heather and other emblematic objects that are attached by drivers to the front of trucks and private cars."


BACK ON THE 20TH

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 20TH

Coal

"The link with the mysrical power of fire means that coal is considered very lucky and carrying a piece of coal  about a person is widely recommended.
In the nineteenth century burglars carried a piece of coal as a matter of routine because it was thought to keep them safe from arrest, and soldiers have been known to follow the same practice.
Finding a piece of coal in the road is deemed  lucky, though some variants of this tradition suggest that it must be tossed over the left shoulder and not spared a backward glance if the luck is to operate.
Sailors, meanwhile, believe that keeping a piece of coal found on the foreshore will protect them from drowning."

BACK OCTOBER 25TH

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 25TH

Travel



"Most superstitions relating to travel date back to days when joyrneying far from home was a much hazardous activity than it is now. A lot may be gleaned from observation of various birds and other animals when taking the first few steps of a journey: generally speaking, things that are noticed on the left-hand side bode ill for the journey ahead, while those on the right are more encouraging.
It is particularly crucial that no traveller turn back towards his home once her has started out: doing so will blight his entire journey. If there is no other choice, the traveller should delay restarting his or her journey until the next day; alternatively he can sit down and count to ten, or else stay to eat a meal, before resuming it.
Those seeing a traveller off, meanwhile, should refrain from watching until the person in question is quite out of sight, as this is most unlucky and might mean that the two parties never meet again.

[GEMINIGUY]

By the same token the traveller should avoid looking back as well (a reference to the Biblical story of Lot's wife, who was turned to salt when she looked back at the city of Sodom)."

[TinyDancer]

Never knew all that about coal GG...was most interesting.  I think, and this is just me, that soldiers might have carried coal to rub on their face to help disguise them from the enemy.

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 26TH

Hangman's Rope

"The rope used to hand a man was in former times considered to have its own
special properties. As far back as the ancient Romans it was claimed that wrapping such a rope round the temples would relieve a headache, and this tradition persisted almost as long as capital punishment in the British Isles at least.
Possession of a hangman's rope or even a single strand of it was also reputed to fend off all manner of fits and fevers, the rope being worn somewhat ironically around the neck.
Gamblers also greatly prized these ropes in the belief that they improved their luck. Time was when hangmen made a tidy profit from selling off portions of their rope, though pieces of rope used by suicides were considered equally effective."

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 27TH

Age

"The British tradition that it is unlucky, particularly for a woman, to reveal one's age is thought to have originated in the ancient fear of numbering things (the numbers themselves being vulnerable to the influence of evil spirits).
A way around this superstition is offered by one old custom, according to which a lover may determine a partner's age by attaching a single hair taken from his or her head to a gold ring, suspending it in a glass and counting the number of times it strikes the side (once for each year lived)."

Longevity

"Various procedures, some simple and others more complicated, have been advanced throughout history for the prolongation of life. Perhaps the simplest of all is the time-honoured European notion that anyone who drinks a lot of soup can expect to live into their old age."

[GEMINIGUY]

OCTOBER 28TH

Sword (for KatieBee )

"In the days when swords were one of the principal weapons of soldiers in battle they were often regarded as magical objects, with their own mystical names, emotions and supernatural properties. An oath made on a sword was once considered to be as binding as one made on a Bible. Among the various superstitions that have survived are the notions that a sword that falls out of its scabbard is an omen of approaching death and the tradition that a sword may be used in place of a wand in witchcraft. Skilled practitioners of magic might use swords as a defence against hostile spirits and also for scrying by looking unto the brightly polished blade.
For the purposes of love divinations, a man should walk three times round a church at the hour of midnight and then thrust a swrod into the keyhole with the words "Here is my sword, but where is the sheath?" He will then be rewarded by the appearance of his future wife.