|
Post by Morgana on Jun 28, 2017 14:12:54 GMT
Having read today about the old Chinese lady that threw coins into a plane engine, for good luck, I was reminded of a superstition that my mother (part Chinese) had told me about. She said they would throw out a piece of either new or old (I don't remember) coal, at midnight on New Year's Eve. Has anyone else ever heard of this superstition? I'm wondering if it's a Chinese superstition or something else.
|
|
|
Post by Aj_June on Jun 28, 2017 14:26:05 GMT
I remember that when travelling on train many people including some of my family members used to throw coins in river Ganges in a place where it met with two other rivers. I found it extremely annoying that people were so superstitious they would throw coins. I later came to know that actually the concept behind it was that copper cleanses water and has beneficial qualities of killing bad bacteria. People of ancient times had known this but they further mixed this concept with their superstition and started throwing coins in rivers for luck or something. Also, in the modern times coins are no longer made of copper but people made a habit of throwing coins so they would even throw steel coins.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2017 15:54:08 GMT
I remember that when travelling on train many people including some of my family members used to throw coins in river Ganges in a place where it met with two other rivers. I found it extremely annoying that people were so superstitious they would throw coins. I later came to know that actually the concept behind it was that copper cleanses water and has beneficial qualities of killing bad bacteria. People of ancient times had known this but they further mixed this concept with their superstition and started throwing coins in rivers for luck or something. Also, in the modern times coins are no longer made of copper but people made a habit of throwing coins so they would even throw steel coins. Actually, many US coins still have some copper in them, and US pennies since 1982 are still completely copper coated. That's interesting about the natural antimicrobial properties and drinking water. Supposedly that's where the tradition of leaving a silver coin in the horse trough came from... the natural antimicrobial properties of silver helping to keep the water cleaner.
|
|
|
Post by Aj_June on Jun 28, 2017 16:05:26 GMT
I remember that when travelling on train many people including some of my family members used to throw coins in river Ganges in a place where it met with two other rivers. I found it extremely annoying that people were so superstitious they would throw coins. I later came to know that actually the concept behind it was that copper cleanses water and has beneficial qualities of killing bad bacteria. People of ancient times had known this but they further mixed this concept with their superstition and started throwing coins in rivers for luck or something. Also, in the modern times coins are no longer made of copper but people made a habit of throwing coins so they would even throw steel coins. Actually, many US coins still have some copper in them, and US pennies since 1982 are still completely copper coated. That's interesting about the natural antimicrobial properties and drinking water. Supposedly that's where the tradition of leaving a silver coin in the horse trough came from... the natural antimicrobial properties of silver helping to keep the water cleaner. I didn't know. Thanks for the info.
|
|
|
Post by Marv on Jun 28, 2017 16:18:14 GMT
If I drop a coin and it's heads down I leave it.
|
|
|
Post by tickingmask on Jun 28, 2017 16:28:35 GMT
Having read today about the old Chinese lady that threw coins into a plane engine, for good luck, I was reminded of a superstition that my mother (part Chinese) had told me about. She said they would throw out a piece of either new or old (I don't remember) coal, at midnight on New Year's Eve. Has anyone else ever heard of this superstition? I'm wondering if it's a Chinese superstition or something else. It sounds not entirely dissimilar to the 'first-foot' tradition that originated from Scotland (I think) where you go round to somebody's house first thing after midnight and bring them a gift for luck, usually a lump of coal. Maybe there's the connection.
|
|
|
Post by Aj_June on Jun 28, 2017 16:29:28 GMT
If I drop a coin and it's heads down I leave it. That's very ungreedy of you. If you did that in childhood some lucky child would have benefited from you.
|
|
|
Post by Marv on Jun 28, 2017 16:46:39 GMT
If I drop a coin and it's heads down I leave it. That's very ungreedy of you. If you did that in childhood some lucky child would have benefited from you. I leave it because I think it to be bad luck. So am I a bad man for allowing some unsuspecting child to pick it up and get the bad luck or am I a good man for leaving money in the street for the hobos to fight over?
|
|
|
Post by Morgana on Jun 29, 2017 10:47:20 GMT
I remember that when travelling on train many people including some of my family members used to throw coins in river Ganges in a place where it met with two other rivers. I found it extremely annoying that people were so superstitious they would throw coins. I later came to know that actually the concept behind it was that copper cleanses water and has beneficial qualities of killing bad bacteria. People of ancient times had known this but they further mixed this concept with their superstition and started throwing coins in rivers for luck or something. Also, in the modern times coins are no longer made of copper but people made a habit of throwing coins so they would even throw steel coins. That's very interesting, AJ. Our ancestors weren't as dumb as some would have them be because of their superstitions.
|
|
|
Post by Morgana on Jun 29, 2017 10:49:33 GMT
Having read today about the old Chinese lady that threw coins into a plane engine, for good luck, I was reminded of a superstition that my mother (part Chinese) had told me about. She said they would throw out a piece of either new or old (I don't remember) coal, at midnight on New Year's Eve. Has anyone else ever heard of this superstition? I'm wondering if it's a Chinese superstition or something else. It sounds not entirely dissimilar to the 'first-foot' tradition that originated from Scotland (I think) where you go round to somebody's house first thing after midnight and bring them a gift for luck, usually a lump of coal. Maybe there's the connection.
Could be. My grandmother was part Welsh, so maybe that's where it comes from and not from the Chinese connection. Having thought about it, I would assume it would be a piece of old coal that was thrown out into the street, to get rid of bad luck or something similar.
|
|
|
Post by Morgana on Jun 29, 2017 10:52:30 GMT
That's very ungreedy of you. If you did that in childhood some lucky child would have benefited from you. I leave it because I think it to be bad luck. So am I a bad man for allowing some unsuspecting child to pick it up and get the bad luck or am I a good man for leaving money in the street for the hobos to fight over? If a kid picks it up and something bad happens, or hobos fight over it and someone gets hurt - either way, it's your fault!
|
|
|
Post by Arlon10 on Jun 29, 2017 11:25:52 GMT
Perhaps you've noticed that on various social media lately I have complained about people copying ideas without critically analyzing them. An irony is that the self proclaimed "scientists" are worse than anyone else. There is however something else it is very important to remember in this regard. Merely copying the ideas of well tested authority can be especially efficient. Taking time, effort and expense to prove every detail of the tradition handed down can have dire consequences. If the tradition of your parents is to attend religious services on Fridays then it can save much trouble by simply following that. The topic here is "superstition" but what is that really? It's just rules you follow without questioning them. Does it really make sense to challenge every rule there is? No one has the time or resources to do that. It is efficient to accept quite much tradition. Are there items that seem particularly inefficacious? Then study those matters. Notice that already in this thread a reasonable foundation has existed at some time past some for those.
|
|
|
Post by FilmFlaneur on Jun 29, 2017 11:31:11 GMT
Having read today about the old Chinese lady that threw coins into a plane engine, for good luck, Perhaps it is just me, but I would have thought putting small metal objects in to an engine would be more likely to bring bad lack rather than good.
|
|
|
Post by Arlon10 on Jun 29, 2017 11:40:08 GMT
Having read today about the old Chinese lady that threw coins into a plane engine, for good luck, Perhaps it is just me, but I would have thought putting small metal objects in to an engine would be more likely to bring bad lack rather than good. Excuse me, but throwing coins into engines is not a "tradition" anywhere. I think it should be obvious that it is only a "strawman" argument against people who ordinarily wisely follow traditions. Are there people who misunderstand their traditions? Of course there will be at least a few. That should not however be an argument against all traditional wisdom. See my previous post. It is a mark of how desperate "scientists" are to win arguments against religion that they have to make up things even more stupid than they are.
|
|
|
Post by FilmFlaneur on Jun 29, 2017 11:58:43 GMT
Perhaps it is just me, but I would have thought putting small metal objects in to an engine would be more likely to bring bad lack rather than good. Excuse me, but throwing coins into engines is not a "tradition" anywhere. I think it should be obvious that it is only a "strawman" argument against people who ordinarily wisely follow traditions. Is following a tradition necessarily a wise thing? Is traditional wisdom always wise? I don't think the OP was making this sort of argument. But I agree often it is hard sometimes to make things more stupid than they are.
|
|
|
Post by cupcakes on Jun 29, 2017 13:20:27 GMT
|
|