Over the last seven years, the newsletter’s This ‘n’ That articles have been about many, many topics and are always interesting, educational and well researched. A good number of the topics covered introduce us to reasons why things are as they are, and very often it is due to folklore, myths, legends, traditions… and superstition. (For example, why are Easter eggs delivered by the Easter Bunny, or why we salute and say “Good morning” to magpies.)
Superstitions are engrained in the human consciousness. Whether we believe in them or not, they are often cemented in our brains by word-of-mouth from one generation to the next. Often, even if our rational minds know we don’t need to follow superstitions, our gut instincts tell us otherwise, or maybe we are just plain scared what will happen if we don’t. Perhaps a particular course of action (e.g., not walking under a ladder) simply becomes a habit.
It is also interesting that we pick and choose which superstitions to believe in. For example, I will open an umbrella indoors, but I won’t put new shoes on the table. My Mum won’t pass someone on the stairs – which is quite easy for her these days as she now lives in a bungalow! Although her own Mum passed that superstition on to her, she didn’t pass it on to me – probably because we also lived in a bungalow when I was young and, by the time we lived in a house with stairs, I was a teenager so I rarely came out of my bedroom!
I thought it would be fun to look at superstitions, their meanings and their possible origins. Each month I will delve into a different superstition. It might be a good omen or a bad one, it could be a warning or simply wise advice, or maybe something that has become completely outdated in modern times due to everything we humans have learned over centuries of scientific or medical discovery.
As I write, and think about the many superstitions that I’m already aware of, I cannot bring to mind any ‘new’ superstitions. (If you know of any ‘modern’ superstitions, please do drop the newsletter a line at cambernews@hotmail.com) Superstitions seem to be steeped in history and could be based on anything from irrational fear to careful observations of nature – of the seasons, flora and fauna – over time. I hope newsletter readers will enjoy my findings over the coming months. I am certainly looking forward to the history lessons I am about to uncover!
I am going to start with a personal favourite of mine, and something I do almost every day of my life: put a hole in the bottom of empty eggshells!
It seems this is quite an ancient one. Reference to it can be found as far back as the first century AD when Roman philosopher, Pliny the Elder, wrote about it in his book, Natural History, when he talked about the ‘…dread [of] being spellbound by means of evil imprecations…’ and advised, ‘…the practice, after eating eggs or snails, of immediately breaking the shells, or piercing them with the spoon.’ It appears that the Romans believed witches might use intact eggshells to cast spells on the people who had eaten them, causing afflictions such as epilepsy, or ‘the falling sickness’ as it was known at the time.
By the Middle Ages, when witch hunting was at its height, it was believed that eggshells could be used as a sort of voodoo doll to inflict pain on the diner by sticking pins into the shells.
By the 19th century, when people had started to speak out against witch hunting, the English MP, Reginald Scot, wrote a book called Discoverie of Witchcraft wherein he tried to prove that witchcraft did not exist by documenting the methods used by witch hunters and showing them to be tricks of the mind. Scot’s book also mentions the widespread belief that witches would use eggshells as boats to carry them out to sea so they could create storms and cause shipwrecks. Sailors rarely ate eggs, and eggs were often banned onboard boats. Despite Scot’s efforts, many people continued to believe in the superstition. Piercing a hole in the shell, or crushing it completely was the only way to prevent the witches creating havoc on the waves!
I cannot remember when, or from whom, I learned this superstition. I suspect it was from my paternal grandparents. My Grandad often had a boiled egg for breakfast and he was always full of tales about methods for keeping the witches away. Whenever I had a boiled egg, I would shove the spoon handle through the base of the empty shell to make a hole so the eggshell would be no use to the witches. I had an idea that they would use the shells as boats on which to escape. I’m not sure if that is what I was told or whether my young imagination made that bit up!
I eat eggs almost every day. These days I just crush the shell, rather than make a neat hole. It serves a dual purpose, really, because they rot down in the compost bin much quicker if they are in smaller pieces. Wherever the story came from – my Grandad or someone else – I cannot remember a time when I didn’t put a hole in the shell and, to this day, I never, ever leave an eggshell intact. Camber has enough shipwrecks on its shores. I wouldn’t want to risk being the cause of another!
