Saying “white rabbits” on the first day of each month apparently brings you luck, at least that’s what I was told as a child. I have no idea why – it’s just a superstition. Any suggestions why white rabbits might be lucky? Do you do or say any other things on the first of each month to bring to luck?
Today is May Day and a bank holiday in the UK. Traditional activities on this day include Morris dancing, a form of folk dancing that dates back to at least 1448 and that is praticed mainly in England. It involves a bunch of blokes in unusual costumes dancing around, waving handkerchiefs and attacking each other with sticks. This is often perpetrated in the vicinity of a pub so that the participants can refresh themselves after their exertions.
We don’t really have such superstitions for the beginning of the month, but would you think that if I did anything of the above, i wouldn’t be kept in prison for more than 12 hrs for something I don’t know anything about?
I’ve never been able to understand the superstitions of any civilization. Nevertheless, they’re fun to engage in. As long as you don’t actually believe in them, they’re probably harmless. They’re more of a cultural secret handshake, or an inside-joke. They’re the 3-D, flesh and blood, equivalent of idioms and verbal expressions.
In my wife’s family, they say “Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.” Naturally, I’ve joined in the fun. (The bad part is, if you forget to say it first thing on awakening, you have to walk down the stairs backwards.)
hmmmmm ………. Interesting! @@
I know a chemistry teacher who does pretty much what language hat said, and it seems to work for him, too. Also, I am interested in the origins of this interesting superstition.
I don’t know if this counts as a superstition but whenever I see little animals that got run over by careless people on the road, I would say quitely “nanwuamituofo” to myself.
I guess I got this from my mother as she’s a Buddhist and this is what she did whenever in that situation when I was young. Supposedly, when you say it, the soul of the animals will find peace. But I do it just to make myself feel better about this horrible incident.
That is a *much* nicer custom than carrying a severed white rabbit’s foot around one’s neck, which always makes me think how UNlucky the rabiit was …
The White Rabbit is as lucky as the Black cat is unlucky.
It appear Lewis Carrol knew about this superstition.
It is implicit in his book,
Alice should never have chased after the white rabbit.
You should never chase after luck.
If she had just said White Rabbit 3 times, she could have gone back
to sleep.