Karma: The Final Superstition Blog...Or Is It?

All good things must come to an end. It seems like just yesterday that all of us were scrambling around to find an empty seat with a computer that didn't have issue for that first day of English 112. Some of us had no idea what to expect; some of us just figured that this would be another boring English class where you read a piece of literature and write papers about them. Alas, a curveball entered into the pitch count [a baseball metaphor explaining how something was different from the normal]. "Professor Peluso [or Quinn, whatever you want to call yourself now!], first of all, you mean I don't have to call you Professor? Second, you are saying that this class does not have any required text to read, no papers to write, and no strict syllabus to follow? Lastly, you are telling me that this class will be all about internet blogging? This is madness!" All of these things immediately rushed into my brain housing group that first day. I must admit, I was a little nervous. I didn't know anything about internet blogging, let alone even know how to create my own.

Blogging for me has been enjoyable. Often times, I would catch myself feeling proud of a post that I just created or quickly jumping on the computer to see if anyone posted comments. Even though superstition is not the easiest of topics to choose from, I felt like I made it my own. Maybe I did not bring anything new to the table, but hopefully, I entertained or educated.

Karma is the belief that if something good is done for someone, then good will be reciprocated back on the doer. This class has done just that. By opening ourselves up for comments, critique, and suggestions from other students about our respected blogs, we ultimately became the benefiter of something better. Think about it; by leaving a positive comment on a classmate’s blog, you personally connected with that person and vise versa. Speaking for myself, if someone commented on one of my blogs, the next class that I saw that person, we made some kind of personal encounter, something that is hard to do in an eight week class.

Blogging in this class has expanded my knowledge of everything from drive shafts to Japan. I am glad that I had this chance to learn, share, and grow as a writer.

Response to some tough questions

Blogging is in deed interactive, so this is my chance to reply to some questions asked of me about superstitions.

My last post was about horoscope as a superstition. In case you didn't read my last post, I defined what a superstition was and compared it to a horoscope. I also touched on the attributes that my son possess as an Aries, the first sign of the zodiac. A couple of questions came of that post, and I will do my best to explain and answer those in this one.

Julie P asked, "So in the end, do you believe it's [horoscope] true when you consider your son?" Although your question is a simple one, it is a bit complicated to answer. I am not one of those people who checked yahoo.com everyday to see my horoscope, but I have been know to see glace at mine (Virgo), my wife's (Pieces), and now my son's (Aries). I guess what I am trying to say is that I do believe in them, but only to a certain degree. To me, I would have to compare a horoscope to a fortune cookie, broad and vague but one that will fit the bill of any occasion. My son is shaping up to be the typical Aries, energetic, a bit of a dare devil, and a leader (he is the only kid that I have even know to start children milestone [rolling over, crawling, etc] earlier than expected).

BloodSweat. Your question is even harder to answer. "In your opinion what is the difference between the definition of superstition and a organized religion?" When you asked what the difference between organized religion and superstition, I must admit, I had to look up "organized religion". In one of my earlier post, I stated that superstitions are deeply rooted in religion. In a way, I believe the two terms can be interchangeable. A religion can have superstitions, but not all superstitions are religious. Some are just cause and effect.

Another answer to your question would be that religion refers to a god or higher being where as superstitions do not all have that common ground. While a lot of superstitions deal with spirits [good and evil], some do not.

I consider myself a fairly superstitious person as well as a fairly religious person. Growing up, my mother instilled in me a strong since in God, Jesus, and his teaching. Growing up in a rural community deep in the piny woods of Texas, she also exposed us to a grocery list of superstitious acts. For instance, she would make us eat something green on New Years Day to bring money into the house, we always had a horse shoe over the front door for good luck, and heavy help you if you swept over someone's feet, hit someone with a broom, or stepped over one for that matter.

All in all, if you believe that something good or bad, positive or negative, something is right or wrong, then that is what you believe. Whether it is rooted in religion, tradition, or you just do it because that is all you know, then I say stick with it.

I had a western civilization class last semester, and my professor said numerous times that the Romans never really invented anything. When they conquered civilizations, they just assimilated the culture, customs, and religions of the conquered. If their civilization had 10 deities, and the Romans had 30, then the Romans would have 40. My point behind saying that is this: the more you believe, the merrier.

Aries

I want to pose a questions to the readers of this blog. The question is this: Do you think that believe in horoscopes and zodiac signs are considered superstitions? Well, lets look at the definition of the two words.

Superstition: 1 a: a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation b: an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition2: a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary. (Merriam-Webster)

Horoscope: 1 : a diagram of the relative positions of planets and signs of the zodiac at a specific time (as at one's birth) for use by astrologers in inferring individual character and personality traits and in foretelling events of a person's life 2 : an astrological forecast. (Merriam-Webster)

To me, the key words that stand out in the definition of horoscope is,"foretelling events of a person's life", while the big ticket in the superstition definition is, "fear of the unknown". So, I iffer is that if you fear what you don't know, then checking out your daily horoscope can be form of superstition. Makes sense right?

Whether it is in the back of a magazine, or next to the Sudoku puzzle in the paper, I bet everyone has glanced at their daily horoscope once or twice in their life. Some people check their daily horoscope before they go to work or school just to keep themselves sharp on what to expect for the day. Others use it to check the compatability of their siginificant other, or even to predict their child's personality.

I am not one to really believe in horoscopes, but I got to thinking about my eight month old son today. He was born on April 7, 2008, which makes him an Aries.

Arians are usually very energetic, daring, adventureious, confident, quick on their feet, passionate and friendly. On the other side of the pillow, Arians tend to be self centered, quick tempered, hasty to action, "me first" attitude, and naivé at times.

My son is definitely a square peg for a square hole. Highly energetic, attentive, adventurous, and self motivated, Quinten already posseses several of the Aries stong points. Being that his skin is the color of cappuccino, his eyes change like the leaves of autum, and his hair grows like rip curls of the ocean, I know he is going to be the monkey that stops the show [From the expression, "One monkey doesn't stop the show"]. I guess we will have to see him grow up to find out if the bad attributes of the Arian will come out!

Works Cited:

"horoscope." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008.
Merriam-Webster Online. 2 December 2008http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horoscope

"superstition." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008.
Merriam-Webster Online. 2 December 2008

Give Me A Break

"About 46 million turkeys will be eaten on Thanksgiving Day," said Sherrie Rosen Blatt, spokeswoman for the National Turkey Federation(Fredrix).

As Thanksgiving nears an end, I hope that all of you had a happy Turkey Day. The intent of this blog is to enlighten you on a couple of well known superstitions about Thanksgiving.

Probably the biggest Thanksgiving tradition is pulling the wishbone. The superstition goes that two people hold the wishbone of the turkey with two fingers and pull. Whoever gets the larger end of the bone will have their wish granted.

Ok, where is the wishbone locate? The wishbone, also called the Merrythought, can be found in the front of a breastbone of foul such as ducks, chicken and turkey. It is a "forked bone...consisting chiefly of the two clavicles fused at their median or lower end (Merriam-Webster)."

Here is how it works. Once the turkey has been cooked to perfection, sliced and diced to dine, and the remains discarded, one should set the wishbone out to dry. Once dried, two people grab the ends of the bone at it's lowest point with two fingers. They both pull in opposite directions until the bone breaks. Whoever gets the larger end of the bone will have their wish granted. The winner is not to tell anyone what he/she wished for, or else it will not come true.

According to Jane Marie, this tradition dates back 2,400 years during the times of the Etruscans. These Italian dwellers believed that fowl were fortune tellers and sacred. They would set the bone out to dry, and anyone was allowed to come stroke the bone and make a wish, giving it its nickname. Once the Romans conquered the Etruscans, they assimiliated this custom of good fortune. Unlike the Etruscans, the Romans would fight over the bone, often times breaking it.

It is said that the phrases "I need a lucky break" or "I never get a break" come from being the loser in this tug of bone contest. The English heard of this superstition from the Romans and called their wishbones merrythoughts after the merry or happy wishes that most people desired. When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in the New World, they brought along the custom of breaking the wishbone. When they discovered the northeastern woods of North America were filled with turkeys, they changed their custom from the chicken bone to the turkey bone (Marie)."

Just some "food" for thought!

So, if you haven't already thrown away your turkey, here are a couple of ways that you can win the wishbone pull. Again, Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Christmas is only 28 days away.

Works Cited:

Fredrix, Emily. "Consumers to win '08 wishbone pull." Denver Post 14 Nov 2008 27 Nov 2008 http://www.denverpost.com/ci_10989420.

Maria, Jane. "Wishing on a Wishbone." greenlightwrite.com. 2008. 27 Nov 2008 http://www.greenlightwrite.com/wishbone.htm.

"wishbone." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2008.
Merriam-Webster Online. 27 November 2008

Haka!!!

Superstitions tend to be along the line of, "If something is done, then something else will happen." For instance, if I break a mirror, I will have seven years of bad luck. I guess this is true for the most part, but some superstitions are just rituals, customs, or something traditional that generations to follow will continue to carry on. An example of this is the Haka, the Maori dance that originated in New Zealand.

Alan Armstrong, author of Maori Games and Haka, defines the Haka as:

"A composition played by many instruments. Hands, feet, legs, body, voice,tongue, and eyes all play their part in blending together to convey in their fullness the challenge, welcome, exultation, defiance or contempt of the words.

In football, it is not uncommon to see the team come together before the game, huddle around each other, and hype themselves up to prepare for a big game. The University of Hawaii took this tradition to a whole new level. In keeping with the Polynesian sprite, the Warriors began preforming the Ka Mata, the Maori war chant. "[Maori] Warriors used the Ka Mate to prepare for a battle. To focus their strength. To proclaim their powers, To celebrate the triumph of life over death, but mostly to challenge and intimidate the opponent."

Being that college football can be "war on turf", it was only fitting that Hawaii would use this chant. During the 2006 football season, two UH Warriors, Tala Esera and Leonard Peters wanted to do something memorable for their senior year. According to Steve Uyehara reporting for KGMB, Esera asked his cousin from New Zealand for ideas, and he taught them this Haka that was orginally written for New Zealand's Rugby team.

During the Ka Mata, the leader will try to hype up the member by yelling a series of commands. He will tell the members to "Slap the hands against the thighs!Puff out the chest!Bend the knees!Let the hip follow!Stamp the feet as hard as you can!" Next, the leader and members will recite these words: "

Leader: Ringa pakia! Uma tiraha! Turi whatia! Hope whai ake! Waewae takahia kia kino!
Leader: Ka mate, ka mateTeam: Ka ora, ka oraLeader: Ka mate, ka mateTeam: Ka ora, ka ora
All together :Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuruNāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rāĀ upane, ka upaneĀ upane, ka upaneWhiti te rā, hī!

Translation:

Leader: ’Tis death, ‘tis death (or: I may die) Team: ’Tis life, ‘tis life (or: I may live) Leader: ’Tis death, ‘tis death Team: ’Tis life, ‘tis life All together :This the hairy man that stands here……who brought the sun and caused it to shine. A step upward, another step upward. A step upward, another step upward. The sun shines! It is death, it is death: it is life, it is life; this is the man who enabled me to live as I climb up step by step toward sunlight."

The story has it that a Maori chief fled from an angrey neighboring tribe and hid in a kumara (sweet potatoe) pit. When the rivial tribe came looking for the cheif, a woman from an allied tribe sat over the pit. "In Maori legend, female sexuality is very potient..." The hairy man mentioned is said to be in reference to the cheif of the allied tribe, and others say it is a tribute to the woman who exposed her pubic hair over the pit.

As I mentioned earlier, this is not really a superstition, but more of a ritual. The All Blacks Rugby team believes that don't think so. Since Wayne "Buck" Shelford got the All Blacks to preform the war dance the way it was intended to be preformed in 1985, his team was unstoppable in the '87 Inaugural Rugby World Cup! Check out this comercial which shows how the Ka Mata transforms the All Blacks Rugby team into Maori warriors!

Possible topics to come.

I seem to be in a small rut right now on where to take my blog next, so I just simply jotted down a few that I was thinking about doing. If you have any more superstitions that you would like to know about or have any questions, feel free to comment. I will do the research for you and answer your questions or comments as best as I can.

Sports superstitions
OCD vs. Ritual
Wedding Do's and Don'ts
Death superstitions
Phobia of Friday
Where do they come from?
What superstitions do I believe in?
Who, what, when, where, why, how?
Horoscope
Fear and superstition
Superstitions from around the globe
"Break a Leg: Superstition in Theater"
Predicting the Weather
What to do on New Years
Feng Shui:
Breaking down the Placebo Effect
...

“Now that you bought the cow, Toby, you can get all the milk you want.”

This post originally started off as an entry explaining about wedding traditions and superstitions. It was going to be about the usual stuff that we probably have all heard or experienced: something old and something new for brides, the couple will have bad luck in their marriage if the groom sees the bride before the ceremony, the next single lady to snag the bouquet will be the next to get married, etc.

As a kid had, I had only attended one or two weddings. I don't know if it was because my twin brother and I were just too young and would be a hassle or people around my way just didn't get married, but I had always heard of unique tradition among African Americans. It was called "Jumping the Broom". I just assumed it was a cliché for marriage much like "Getting the Ball and Chain" or "Tying the Knot". It wasn't until I was old enough to comprehend what marriage was that I realized that Jumping the Broom is an actual tradition practiced by many people through out the world.

The first time that I ever saw this custom preformed was in the mini-series based on the book by Alex Haley called Roots. Watch. (clip begins at 5:55-6:55)

"It's original purpose and significance has been lost over the years because of the association with slavery." The tradition originated in the African American community during the times of slavery. Slave couples were not legally permitted to wed, so "Jumping the Broom" was a symbol of holy matrimony. "During slavery, our ancestors sought the legitimacy of marriage by jumping over the broom and into the bonds of domesticity. For our ancestors, this small ritual was a legal and bonding act connecting them with the heritage of the home land and giving legitimacy, dignity and strength to their unions. In there eyes this union was now sanctioned by 'the almighty'."

Jumping the broom is a symbol of a man and woman to start their new lives together. There are other superstitions involved brooms too. My mother always told me not to step over a broom lying down because it was bad luck. If a woman did this, she would be a mother before a wife. I was always taught to never hit someone with a broom handle. Through some research, I found an old African superstition explaining it. They believed that if a man was hit by a broom handle, unless he knocked on the handle several times, he would be impotent! Needless to say, I never hit my brothers, or anyone for that nature, with a broom. The superstition of Jumping the Broom still lives on today despite it's close ties to slavery. I now pronounce you Man and Wife. You may jump the broom!