HOME, SWEET OMENS
A Superstitious Journey Through an
old-fashioned House
by Dr. Alec Gill MBE
TOPICS COVERED:
 | House Moving or Flitting: Never on a Friday |
| Front Door: Be careful with your keys |
| Threshold beliefs: Hogmanay |
| Living Room: Fire - Hearth of the Home |
| Clocks: Face the correct way into the Room |
| Pictures: Beware if they fall in the night |
| Family Pets: animal magic |
| Kitchen: Food, Glorious Food |
| Bread: Never upend |
| Salt: over the left shoulder only |
| Eggs: Never leave unbroken in the cup |
| Tea drinking: I'll be Mother |
| Table: Never sit on it; doors: never swing on them. |
| Cutlery: Avoid crossed knives |
| Household Chores: washing |
| Back-yard: Ladders |
| Upstairs: Never cross |
| Bedroom: Avoid the bed being athwart |
| Decor: Green - colour magic |
| Mirror Magic: Through the Glass Darkly Window - Turn Your Money Over |
| Roof Top: Chimney Stack + Father Christmas |
Home-spun religion / Divination in disguise / Pagan beliefs reinforced every living
moment.
The Domestic Domain of WOMAN - where she is the centre, superstition is strong.
Superstitions once inhabited every corner of the old-fashioned home. Taboo beliefs were not just a once-a-week activity but saturated every moment; every nook and cranny of the home. In that sense, superstition was very much a homespun religion - unlike any of the established religions that depend very much upon special buildings (synagogue, church, mosque, temple, shrine, etc) where beliefs are reinforced within specific rituals - and the worshipper was taken out of their own homely environment.
OBJECTS + OMENS
| Lucky Charms / Amulets / Talisman |
| Rabbit's Foot |
| Lucky horse-shoe |
| Stones - gemstones |
| Metal - iron |
| Lucky Coins - three in a fountain |
| Evil eye symbols |
| St. Christopher |
| Teeth of wild animals |
| A formula - Abracadabra / Open Sesame (Ali Baba) |
| Conclusion: The home could be seen as the macro-level; with the objects within the house (the micro-level) are also tinged with taboo beliefs. Everyday objects were sacred and saturated with their own magic. |