POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
SOME ORIGINS EXPLAINED. AX CIENT SUR VIVALS. Popular superstitions received some hard knocks at a meeting of the Ilenfield W omen s Institute, when they were attacked by Mrs. Graham Lacey, of Wimbledon. 'lhis is what she said about a few of the beliefs which still persist:— louching Wood.—A survival of pagan times, when people making an assertion placed their hands on a tree where it was believed the gods resided, lest an outraged deity should send them bad luck. Spilling Salt.—While a picture of the " Last Supper " depicts the salt as overturned, the superstition dates back before the Christian era. In Roman times the soldiers and the slaves had no privileges and no rights. They only had salt money, from which the present-day name of " salary " is derived. Salt in those days was valuable; hence it was a misfortune to spill any. The Wearing of Green. —A survival of (he times when the gods were considered to be attired in emerald; consequently, mortals should not dare to copy them. In a word of advice, Mrs. Lacey asked the women present not to pass any of theso beliefs down to their children.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19290330.2.183.28
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20217, 30 March 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)
Word Count
194POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20217, 30 March 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)
Using This Item
NZME is the copyright owner for the New Zealand Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence . This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of NZME. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Auckland Libraries and NZME.
Log in