Tag Archives: superstitions

Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day

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Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day

Yes It’s real. I saw it on Facebook.  Black Cat Appreciation Day aims to dispel all the myths and superstitions surrounding black cats. No more bad luck kitties! 

Its a fact that black cats are less likely to be adopted than cats of another color.  That’s usually attributed to the old superstitions. It is not true that owning a black cat makes you a witch. Maybe that’s just your personality. Its certainly not your cat’s fault! Black cats with their sleek, shiny coats often have an air of mystery.

Balboa- Photo Credit Deb Neumann

  Banner wants to know when ginger cats get an Appreciation Day. He says all this fuss over black cats is unseemly. I think he’s just jealous because Balboa is black and he just had a post all to himself. His Birthday post. (I forgot to post Banner’s birthday so BAD MAMA!)

photo credit Deb Neumann

A little Black Cat

Photo credit Deb Neumann

So here’s my little black cat waiting to be appreciated. He’s been helping me type this post as he quite likes the attention. 

Balboa

Balboa has many names- since he is a chatty cat (read demanding) he is sometimes called “Sir Talks A Lot”.  He’s also a wimp. He is easily frightened and slow to forgive. After the 4th of July fireworks it took him a month to calm down again. He still hasn’t completely forgiven me for the loud bangs. Same with the motorcycles that drive by on the street outside. They startle him and making it hard for him to get his daily nap.

photo credit Deb Neumann

Banner’s Day

By the way. There is an “Orange (Ginger cat) Appreciation Day.” Its September 1st so Banner will just have to wait a couple of weeks for his special post. 

Wacky Friday the 13th Superstitions

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Are you superstitious? Do you run from black cats?

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Then today you are probably home in bed, refusing to even attempt to go out. It’s Friday the 13th!

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The fear of Friday the 13th is the most widespread superstition in the world today. Dr. Donald Dossey, a psychologist who specializes in phobias, estimates that there are 21 million Americans who suffer from the fear.

Enough people are afraid of the date that there is even a phobia name for it. Paraskevidekatriaphobia (I’m glad I don’t have to pronounce that)

Here are 10 superstitions that relate to Friday the 13th.

 

10. If you pass a funeral procession on Friday the 13th, you will die the next day.  (This comes from across the pond so blame our British friends)

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9. If you cut your hair on Friday the 13th, it results in the death of a family member. (Who knows how this one came about)

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8. Ships setting sail on Friday the 13th will encounter disaster. (The deck may have been stacked against her but for the source of this superstition, look up the HMS Friday)

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7. Starting a business on Friday will result in a disaster. ( Not just Friday the 13th but all Fridays. Eve tempted Adam on a Friday, the Great Flood was Friday, the Crucifixion took place on a Friday; God tongue-tied those who built the Tower of Babel on a Friday; and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday…nuf said

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6. If you were born on Friday the 13th, your entire life will be plagued by bad luck. (Now that’s just plain depressing)

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5. Consulting an astrologer on Friday the 13th is a very bad idea. (In astrology, there are 12 signs of the zodiac as well as 12 months in a year, which might have given rise to this particular superstition…I guess throwing that 13th day in there messes up the system)

Samsung

Samsung

3. If you change your bed on Friday the 13th, you will have bad dreams all night. ( I don’t even know what to say to this one)

changing

2. Starting a trip on a Friday will bring misfortune. (Perhaps the most famous example of unlucky 13 is the Apollo 13 mission. It was launched at 13.13 hours and was aborted on April 13.)

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1. Cutting your nails on Friday the 13th brings you very bad luck. (A very unlucky Friday the 13th occurred in the Middle Ages. Friday the 13th, 1306 was the day that King Philip arrested the Knights Templar, torturing them in a “day of evil”.)

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With Friday traditionally considered an unlucky day and the number 13 considered unlucky too, it’s no wonder that the fear of this day is the most widespread superstition alive today. What is more mysterious is why it has more power now than it did 100 years ago. I guess you should avoid walking under a ladder on your way to work!

ladder

Friday the 13th, Full Moon or Poltergeists?

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Yesterday was Friday the 13th and they say there was a full moon too. I couldn’t tell you because it was raining. I guess I better plan to live a while longer. The next time we have a full moon on a Friday the 13th it will be 2049. I’ll only be 98. I can live that long.

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So full moons bring out the “crazies” and Friday the 13th is bad luck, right? Then today must have been a doozie!

I was working from home today. For once it was kind of quiet. I provide support to 3 real estate agents. One is a big producer. The 2nd one is new and is still very lightly loaded for work and one is just starting a new territory so not much going on there. My busy agent took the day off so I was using the quiet time to catch up on paperwork.

I was just updating the computer when I found myself in the dark (or maybe gloom). The lights went out but not all of them. The Cable box went dark but  the computer was still working, Rocky’s heat lamp was still on but the ceiling fan shut off??? I checked the circuit breakers. All fine. I flicked them off and back on just in case. Nothing. My neighbors were all fine. Then everything came back on except the desk lamp. That bulb was black but even a new bulb could not get the light back on. Another lamp bites the dust.

cfl-lamps

Back in business I became aware of a persistent squeaking noise. I thought it might be the ceiling fan so I shut it off. Still squeaking. I looked outside (my slider was open) but it wasn’t coming from outside. The weird part was that there was nothing where the sound was coming from.

I turned switches on and off and wandered from living room to bedroom to bathroom and back. I checked the refrigerator and the fan over the stove. The sound only got louder. It was starting to bother the cats now as well as me. They were pacing. What could it be?

mouse

Finally I started picking up cat toys in the area where the sound was the loudest and that’s when I found it. One of the battery operated cat toys would not shut off. I dug the sound box out of the mouse  and tried to smash it with a hammer. It just squeaked louder; now more like a squeal. I finally pried the battery compartment open but it still wouldn’t shut off. I eventually silenced it by cutting the wires to the battery. Now I know what Silence is Golden really means!

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So was it Friday the 13th vibes, the full moon or did I have a poltergeist visit yesterday?

 

 

The Ides Of March

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In modern times, the Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar no later than the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, “The ides of March have come,” meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied “Aye, Caesar; but not gone.”

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I remember  learning this is school. I think we learned it in English class, not history, when we read some of Shakespeare’s plays. I was not a fan. To this day I find the Bard hard to understand. But this phrase did stick in my mind and apparently in many other peoples minds as well. I think everyone is familiar with the expression if not where it comes from.

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It seems March 15 is right behind Friday the 13th as a day with bad vibes. 🙂 The ‘superstitions’ concerning the Ides of March are that on that date there would be forebodings that certain tragic events might befall persons if they do not heed the warning signs.

I am no soothsayer and I am not particularly superstitious but I will wish everyone well today while I remind you to “Beware the Ides of March”.

Will He or Won’t He?

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It’s February 2nd and the question on everyone’s mind is…will he or won’t he…see his shadow that is.

According to tradition if it’s cloudy when the ground hog pokes his nose out of his burrow today, he’ll be pleased and go about his business BUT…if he peeks out and it’s sunny, he’ll see his shadow and it will scare him back into his den and with his retreat winter will again close her icy arms around the land for another 6 weeks.

That’s a lot of pressure on a rodent. Let’s face it, no matter what they say in Gobbler’s Notch , PA  Punxsutawney Phil is no Mickey Mouse.

If you want to join in the fun remember, statistically the ground hog has only been right 37% of the time. On the other hand, how often are the meteorologists right?

Happy Ground Hog Day. 🙂

happy-groundhog-day

So how ’bout that Superbowl?