Signs, omens and superstitions

THE MYSTERY OF NUMBERS

That there is virtue in numbers and that every person is under the influence of certain numbers was taught as far back as the days of Pythagoras, and a vast collection of books have been written concerning this phase of superstition.

Any clairvoyant to whom you may go to have your fortune told will ask you on what day of the month you were born and in what year. From this she will tell you whether to expect good or evil fortune in the coming year. The basis for these calculations has been handed down from very ancient times.

According to astrologers, every letter in one’s name corresponds to a number, so that if you understand how to calculate the numerical value of your name you can foretell your future.

The planets have numbers, and the influence they exert on you depends in how far their numbers correspond with those in your name and dates of important events in your life.

In horse racing, the names of the horses, taken according to their numerical value, often predict the result of the race.

Every nation had its lucky and unlucky numbers that occur in their mythology and history. The Greeks believed in the sacredness of the number nine. They had nine muses, nine principal deities, nine oracles, etc.

The Romans believed in the mystic three, the Egyptians in twelve, etc.

The Jews revered the number seven, and its recurrence throughout the Bible is remarkable: Seven days of creation, seven lean years, seven fat years, seven stars, seven times bathing in the Jordan, seven years followed by a year of jubilee, etc. This number, according to Kabala was obtained by adding the letters of Man and God together.

Thirteen, as we know, has been regarded by Christians as a very unlucky number on account of the events following the Last Supper.

Divination by numbers is a favorite pastime and leads to some remarkable results. Many historical events have been prophesied by this method. Thus Napoleon III was born in 1808 and assumed the empire in 1852. Add 1-8-0-8 to 1852 and you have 1869, which foretold the end of the empire about that time.

The French Revolution occurred in 1789; add this date to the sum of its numbers and you have 1814, which foretells the end of Napoleon’s reign.

The dates of other personalities can be worked out the same way and the result is often remarkably correct.

Kabala, or the occult science of the Jews of the Middle Ages, depended almost entirely upon the mystic powers of numbers.

Many problems in modern mathematics depend on the mystic number nine and both nine and seven are used by fortune tellers in divining the future.

LOTTERY NUMBERS AND USAGES

Lotteries are practically a thing of the past in America, but there was a time when they flourished and when everybody from the wage earner to the millionaire wagered his pile on some lucky number. In the South the fever raged particularly strong, and the Louisiana Lottery and the Dismal Swamp Lottery counted their victims by the million. Policy, too, was very prevalent, and is still being conducted secretly in many parts of the country. Both lottery and policy were similar in that a certain price was paid for a ticket or a paper with numbers. On stated occasions numbers were drawn out of a wheel and these were announced. The holder of the lucky number won an amount that differed according to the occasion.

A man’s age, or that of his wife or children, was frequently taken as the number. Some men added the figures in the date, month, etc.

Dreams are considered particularly efficacious in playing policy. Most dream books give policy numbers coinciding with every possible dream, and these when played are supposed to make a winning.

Among the numbers often taken are the date of the year, or the date of an important event. The numbers on a freight car have been known to bring fortunate results.

In the case of a murder committed in a community, certain numbers are supposed to have a peculiar significance and bring luck.

In the South many negroes make a comfortable living by interpreting dreams, signs and omens and telling the proper numbers they signify for the playing of policy.

In buying several lottery tickets, it is not lucky to have them all follow each other consecutively. An interval should separate them.

Odd numbers are more apt to bring prizes than even numbers. Numbers ending in three, nine, twelve or seven are the most likely to strike luck.

A number given you by a cripple is sure to be successful, but that given by a cross-eyed man or woman is bound to lose.

PREDICTIONS OF WEALTH

To have lots of hair on your arms and fingers is a sign of coming wealth.

When you throw a lump of sugar into your coffee or tea, the number of bubbles that arise are an indication of your future wealth.

Many moles over your body indicate that you will be wealthy.

To be born with a caul indicates that you will have luck and amass wealth.

A birthmark in the middle of the back indicates a wealthy marriage.

To be born during an eclipse, denotes hardship and poverty.

DIVINATION BY LETTERS

The most celebrated arrangement of letters by which fortunes were told or cures effected was the ABRACADABRA. It is attributed to Serenus, a celebrated physician of the second century. It is often written so that reading from the apex like an inverted pyramid up to the right side, the same word will be spelled as at the top. Thus:

A B R A C A D A B R A
A B R A C A D A B R
A B R A C A D A B
A B R A C A D A
A B R A C A D
A B R A C A
A B R A C
A B R A
A B R
A B
A

The belief in the wonderful powers of this word are well-nigh universal. By writing it on a parchment and hanging it about the neck of a sick person, it would staunch blood, heal disorders, cure toothache, etc.

The Jews used a similar word, Abracalam, to cure disorders. In the Middle Ages the word, Anamazaptas, if whispered into a man’s ear, was supposed to cure epilepsy.

The word “Bedooh” inscribed on rings and charms or on helmets or sabres is supposed to bring good luck. It comes from an Arab word which means “he has walked well.”

The word “Osy” was used as a charm against serpents, and caused them to lie still as the dead.

Pythagoras considered the letter Y a symbol of life, and used it in his divinations.

Anagrams are often used to tell fortunes and to decide the career of a person. Thus Eleanor Davies, a well-known English woman and the wife of a poet, became a prophetess because she found that the letters of her name could be transposed to read, “Reveal O Daniel.”

In many countries, charms worn about the neck and engraved with mystic letters have the power to keep away evil and cure disease.

DIVINATION BY BOOKS

In ancient Greece, when people wanted counsel on important matters, they opened a scroll of Homer at random and noted the lines covered by the thumb. At the present time the Bible is the book usually employed for that purpose.

If in distress, open the Bible and put your index finger on the page at random. The text will tell you what to do. If the words have no apparent bearing on the question, you should consider it an unfavorable reply.

To decide Yes or No in any doubtful matter, open the Bible and note the first word on the left-hand page. If it has an even number of letters, the answer is No; if an odd number of letters, the answer is Yes.

If things have gone wrong with you, open the Bible and say:

“Mark and Matthew, Luke and John,
Counsel, that I may get on.”

Then retire and inspiration will come in your sleep.

A singular mode of divination for girls who desire to know their fate is described in an old book, as follows:

“When you go to bed place under your pillow a prayer book opened at the part of the matrimonial service which begins, ‘With this ring I thee wed,’ etc. Place a key on it, a ring, a flower, a sprig of willow, a small heart-shaped cake, a crust of bread and a pack of playing cards. Wrap these up in a thin handkerchief and, on getting into bed, cross your thumbs and say:

On New Year’s Day a Bible is laid on the table, in some parts of England, and each member of the family opens it at random and from the contents of the two open pages reads his destiny for the ensuing year.

The last chapter of the Book of Proverbs contains thirty-one verses, each of which is supposed to have reference to one day of a month. By consulting these for the day of the month on which you were born, you will have an indication as to which kind of occupation you will be most successful in. Thus, the twenty-fourth verse speaks of “fine linen,” which indicates that the person born on that day will be successful as a manufacturer or seller of linen.

PRECIOUS STONES

Precious stones are supposed in all countries to have a special province in inducing fortunate or unlucky occurrences. The proper stone is chosen according to the month of one’s birth, each month being governed by a different gem.

The following is the list of birth stones according to the generally accepted belief:

In the dictionary of “Phrase and Fable,” we find a different arrangement based on astrological lore. It is as follows:—

A ring presented to a person with his or her birthstone is sure to bring good fortune.

One’s birthstone in a charm or locket, worn about the neck, will bring luck in business or speculation.

COLOR SUPERSTITIONS

There has always been a disposition to connect one’s personality with colors. People are supposed not only to have a fortunate number but a lucky hue as well. Planets have a certain hue, and a person’s color chart agrees with that of his star.

Modern scientific research has proved the importance of color in a curative sense. No matter whether your native color is red or blue, it is a fact that the color of your wall paper may have a beneficial or harmful effect on you if you are ill. Color undoubtedly has an influence on mental conditions.

Infusoria and the lower forms of life develop faster under one kind of color than under another, red and yellow being most favorable. Flies, ants and other insects die under the effect of blue or violet light. Why then should color not also have its influence on man?

Insane people have been cured by placing them in a room that was flooded with light of a certain color that corresponded with their aura. Blue light was thought particularly efficacious for melancholy people.

The following beliefs are current in regard to colors:

Red governs love, affection or lust.
Scarlet rules emotion and anger.
Crimson is the color of animal passion.
Bright red gives courage and confidence.
Orange is the color of simplicity or ignorance.
Brown is the hue of worldly wisdom.
Yellow, of jealousy and silliness.

In the Bible, sin is supposed to be scarlet in color, hence that color is to be avoided by virtuous people.

The devil, as the incarnation of sin, is always represented as dressed in scarlet.

Yellow and gold, according to some philosophers, correspond to the intellectual, red to the sensual, and blue to the spiritual, moral and religious nature of man.

White is the color of innocence, hence brides dress in white.

Black is the color of mourning in European and American nations, but white is the mourning hue in oriental countries.

Purple was considered the color of royalty in ancient days, probably on account of its former scarcity and expensiveness. It is also used for second mourning, as being a compromise between black and gay colors.

There is a belief that every jealous person had green eyes. This idea no doubt was formed by the fact that some people’s eyes become phosphorescent under great emotion.