Myths and Urban legends, How do they work?
What is an urban legend or Myth. Many of us can recount 1 or even more of these from early years. Different countries have many different stories that were told of beliefs that they truly believe in. Some may be true, but a vast majority are not. Many urban legends are many years old and the story has only had minor changes to them to suit geographical variations. Folklore and legends can occur in our modern society and not only in so-called primitive and traditional societies. Some modern urban legends may be told by someone to have happened to a friend, or a friend of a friend which may sound like it is a legitimate event, but yet still distances the teller from the event. Many urban legend are jokes which have been embellished to sound like legitimate events that have been told to the teller, and then told again and again. Persistent urban legends may seem even plausible.
Here is a link to the 25 most popular urban legends.
http://list25.com/25-most-popular-urban-legends-still-being-told/
There is a video or you can read about them, pretty interesting!
Another variation of Urban legends are referred to as Old wives tales.They are defined by a superstition or traditional belief that is regarded as unscientific or incorrect. These tales are sometimes passed down from older women to younger women and so on. Old wives' tales often center on women's traditional concerns, such as pregnancy, puberty, social relations, health, herbalism and nutrition. They often discouraged unwanted behavior. They originate in the oral tradition of storytelling. These stories that were usually told by women were taken by men and sometimes turned into books, for example.
I remember my mother telling me that her mother (my grandmother) told her when she was a young teenager (around 1940) that if she sat on a toilet that a boy previously sat on, she would get pregnant.
Examples of old wives' tales include: some of these may also fall into the category of superstitions.
Masturbation will make you blind and have hairy palms.
Ice cream leads to nightmares.
Toes pointed up signify low blood sugar.
Letting a wound "dry out" is the proper treatment.
Cracking knuckles gives arthritis.
High heart rates lead to female fetuses.
Swimming with full stomach causes cramps and that one should wait an hour after eating before swimming.
Don't swallow gum or it will stay in your stomach for seven years.
Don't make silly faces or it will make the silly face permanent.
Chocolate leads to acne.
Shaving makes the hair grow back thicker.
Eating crusts (of a sandwich) makes your hair go curly/you grow hair on your chest.
The appearance of white spots on the fingernails (Leukonychia) is due to lying/not eating enough green vegetables/calcium.
It's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors.
Nosebleeds are a sign of sexual arousal.
Superstitions:
I grew up in Canada and can still remember things that were put into my conscience and still to this day can remember them and actually put memory to them. I will give you a few. As I talk to other people, some of these are common
“Step on a crack, you'll break your mothers back” I remember walking down the sidewalk trying not to step on the crack which divided to slabs.
“If you break a mirror you have seven years of bad luck”. Still to this day (I'm 55) I still say to myself that I will have bad luck if a mirror breaks. (I must have broken a lot of mirrors, haha).
“It's bad luck if a black cat crosses your path”, so I would always turn and go the other way!
“If you walk under a ladder you will have back luck” I think this would be more of a safety issue”
Its unlucky to spill salt, if you do you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.
Knocking on wood 3 times prevents misfortune.
Friday the 13th is an unlucky day. Also many highrise apartment building dont have a 13th floor because of the # 13 superstition.
When you see a penny on the ground, pick it up you will have luck all day long.
A rabbits foot will bring you good luck. Many people would use them as a key chain.
Make a wish on a wishbone. This was always a thing that we did around the holidays with the dried wishbone from the turkey.
Cross your fingers for good luck. This is a very old superstition dating back to early Christianity.
You never open your umbrella inside. This will bring bad luck.
I am currently living in Panama, and I have heard a few interesting superstitions.
One that I heard a long time ago has to do with cars that have been in an major accident. If you see one in a scrap yard of such and it has a tarp on top if means that someone was killed and the tarp is to protect the spirits of the people that died from Witches.
If you are ironing clothes you can not open the refrigerator door. If you do your mouth will become distorted on one side.
If you are cooking and have opened the oven or using the stove top, you need to wait a long while before you take a shower, if you are using warm or cool water in the shower.
In Korea, a well know superstition is if you leave a fan on in a closed room it can kill you.
In Great Britain seeing a single magpie (a kind of bird)is considered unlucky and many people salute or or touch wood to counteract the bad luck.
In Greece, they used to carry a little bone of a bat, since it was believed to protect from the Evil Eye.
In India taking a teaspoon of curd before an exam will bring good luck.
Here is a link to a superstition video
I'm sure you know many many other superstitions and maybe some unique ones from your own country. I hope you enjoyed this.
Cheers!