A friend of mine once told me not to leave my handgbag on the floor because it is bad luck. Leaving one's a hand bag on the floor means it is bad for money or a lack of it. 1) what other superstitions do you know? 2) Is a curse linked to superstitions? and 3) would you say bad luck is linked to superstitions? Thanks for reading.
1) Too many to name here. 2) Of course, not just ONE curse either. 3) People need something to blame instead of the random chaos and entropy of life. In answer to your title question, something that isn't asked in your post (???) then the answer is a flat No. I don't believe in anything supernatural, and to me superstitions are just people trying (and failing) to impose order on the random.
What do I 'make' of it? I'm not sure what you are asking. I've heard that story before though. I think it was in The Iliad and The Aeneid. If you are asking about the validity of the story, it would be like asking about the validity of Oedipus and the Sphinx, Icarus, or Lamia.
I know this was directed at Lemex, but Cassandra was cursed by Apollo for not loving him, it has nothing at all to do with superstition. I'm not seeing a connection other than the word 'curse'.
Very superstitious, writing's on the wall, Very superstitious, ladders bout' to fall, Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin' glass. Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past. When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer, Superstition ain't the way. - Stevie Wonder Every. Single. Time I see/hear the word "superstition," I think of that song. It's a good song, though, so I don't mind. =) Anyway, I think I'm a bit of a superstitious person. I can't really pin it down to personal examples though. It's nothing extreme, for example I can walk under a ladder or pass a black cat, but there are a couple things I try to avoid. (Again, I can't think of any. They only seem to pop up in my mind to avoid as I encounter the situation.)
Nope, not really. I sometimes knock on wood, but only if there happens to be some around when I'm talking. More of a habit than anything else, I suspect.
Well one cannot believe in curses if one is not superstitious. Superstition means believing in things, ''not very nice things'', to happen if we did something out of the ordinary or not. Like walking under a ladder is supposed to be bad luck. Cassandra's curse was that nobody was to believe what she predicted or said. This is also a ''bad thing'' If one believe in superstition is in this sense linked to the concept of a curse. They are of the same branch of ''beyond normal beliefs' that some people chose to have cling on or believe in.
I meant superstitions and curses have been around as long as the Pharoahs and the Greeks. There has got to be some element of thruth in all of this. There is no smoke without fire. If you think of Troy it is well documented that Troy existed for example.
because they are both supposed to be of another ''dimension''. They both represent bad luck, they are both linked in this sense. To cast a curse is like a bad omen and a superstition is also supposed to be a bad omen if you do not comply to certain beliefs like not walk under a ladder, or touch wood or leave your hand bag unattended.
Cassandra's curse is part of a mythological story. Like the story of King Midas in Ovid's Metamorphosis who wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. This came true, but then touched his wife and she ... well, she was turned into solid gold. This is very different to the superstition of, say, walking under a ladder with a black cat and thinking you'll be cursed with bad luck. Cassandra's curse is part of a vast mythos of traditional, oral stories. Besides, Superstition doesn't have to be negative. My mother, for example, believes if she bets on the Lottery with a few numbers she saw on a good day once, eventually she'll win big money with them. There doesn't have to be truth to them. Some old stories might have happened, or be based on real events, but because there might have been a young Thebian King named Oedipus who had a child with his mother without knowing who she was does not mean he solved the riddle of the Sphinx and removed a curse on his city. As far as I know Oedipus was just a character that Sophocles used however. Troy did exist. There is archaeological evidence for it. 100 years ago we thought it didn't, and that it was something Homer made up. I'm curious, what do you think of this?
I believe that there is archaelogical finds that are traced back to the Trojan wars. wether that is Troy or not is another matter. The fact that cassandra's curse mentions Troy makes me think yeah why not. I mean I quote: The city of Troy itself stood on a hill, across the plain of Scamander, where the battles of the Trojan War took place. scamander has a slight rhyme with cassandra too. This reminds of Atlantis and the stories of Plutos. PLuto and Homer can be quoted as similar in their writings although Atlantis has not yet been found. Again the story of Noah's Arc and the Bible. I watched a programm two years ago where they claimed to have found the Arc. I am quite happy to believe these stories happened although Iam guessing lots of writers at the time took the opportunity to embelish and make up more then there is to the story. A bit like hollywoond with the Titanic. The Titanic did sink, people did die but when you watch Hollywood version of it is glamourised, romanticised basicallu turned into a fairy story only this time it has and not so happy ending. This leads me to think that the Bible, Pluto and Homer all started with one a fact and wrote stories/poems where buy they exaggerated what they saw because it makes a better read if you like.
That's not what I was really asking, I was more getting at the fact that there is historical basis for the story of the Troy and the War in The Iliad. But that does not mean that because Troy existed then so did Zeus, or Achilles, or the Trojan Horse by extension. The main source of the Trojan Horse is actually from Virgil, and I don't think it's even mentioned in The Iliad. You are confusing Archaeology and the Scientific Process with Mythology. Atlantis cannot exist, because of our knowledge of plate tectonics. It was only talked about in the Socratic Dialogues to prove a point. The biblical Arc was apparently found on Mt. Errat. It wasn't. Sure, writers embellish stories, but these embellishments are often just that. I don't see what this has to do with Superstitions anyway, which is the point of this thread. Edit, sorry this really annoyed me: Scamander - Cassandra: What does the fact that they sound vaguely similar have to do with anything? Stories of Plutos? You mean Plato? And Plato didn't write stories, he was a philosopher. In fact he hated art and poetry.
Ummm... no. Superstition: 1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like. 2. a system or collection of such beliefs. 3. a custom or act based on such a belief. 4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion. 5. any blindly accepted belief or notion. Curse: 1. the expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, doom, etc., befall a person, group, etc. 2. a formula or charm intended to cause such misfortune to another. 3. the act of reciting such a formula. 4. a profane oath; curse word. 5. an evil that has been invoked upon one. 6. the cause of evil, misfortune, or trouble. 7. something accursed. 8. Slang . the menstrual period; menstruation (usually preceded by the ). 9. an ecclesiastical censure or anathema. verb (used with object) 10. to wish or invoke evil, calamity, injury, or destruction upon. 11. to swear at. 12. to blaspheme. 13. to afflict with great evil. 14. to excommunicate. Now, one could say that the 'formula' for a curse may be superstition, but it's more likely that those placing the curse are taking advantage of the superstitious beliefs of the one cursed, and not that they themselves are superstitious. A curse is not like a bad omen - it's a threat (and one that many times was followed by poisonings or other overt acts to 'fulfill' the curse).
no I have not up to know. why? I suppose I can figure out why it would be a curse if someone was looking to have kids, but other then that no I have not heard it as being curse no.
