Who Believes in Superstition?

We all have them, some are for luck and some are just our beliefs that have been passed down through the ages. These beliefs are known to us as superstitions and for some of us we believe these thoughts to be a normal way of living our lives.
Looking at these ideas over the generations, some superstitions of the past are still around today. You can find them anywhere; in the world of sports, in our daily routines, and pretty much anywhere in between. I set out on a mission to find out how people of different ages use these superstitions in their everyday lives.

First, I visited a person who has been around for over 80 years. She was around during our nation's proudest moments and also through some of our down times. Her name is Mary Worobec, better known as a woman of many superstitions. Being of an older generation, she uses superstitions that are both well-known and some that are only known to her family. While talking with her, she first mentioned some of the well-known superstitions that she used during her life such as her wedding. While preparing for her wedding, she followed two famous superstitions of the time; not allowing the groom to see her before the wedding and not setting the date for marriage on a Saturday. She was married in 1948 and during this time it was unlucky to do either one of these.

Worobec grew up on a farm where superstitions are of plenty. When asked of superstitions that occurred on the farm she replied, "Well, if you had an hour longer to sit with me, I could go on and on, but since we are limited on time, I can tell you a few. I remember a time when a bat flew into our house and my father became outraged saying that we will now have bad luck for the rest of the week and ever since then when I see a bat, that is how I feel. Also, if we heard a rooster crow during the night, the next day was going to be filled with bad luck."

Worobec was not through listing her many superstitions as she went on to talk about others such as if she sneezed three times before breakfast then good luck was with her for that day and contrary to the bat flying into the house, if a robin flew in, then you would have good luck.

Finally, I asked her if there was one superstition that she believed in more than others and of course there was. "I once had a friend, a special friend who was being sent away to fight in the war, so he asked to meet me on a bridge that ran through the center of our town before he left. In tears, I said goodbye to him and he replied, 'you never say goodbye on a bridge or we will never see each other again.' Since then, the thought of that day has always been with me."

Though I knew it would be hard to find someone who was as interesting as Mrs. Worobec was, my next subject was found through a girl of 20 years of age. The girl's name is Kelly Wall and she too has many superstitions since she is an athlete who grew up in a small town.

Wall currently attends Elizabethtown College in eastern Pennsylvania where she has now lived in the "Amish country" for the past three years. Already she has grown accustomed to the superstitions of the area as well as those that have come from her tennis team. She told me, "my first year out here, I had a roommate who loved dogs and she would tell certain superstitions of hers to me, such as if you see a dog eating grass, that means it is going to rain or if a dog is howling for no reason then there are spirits in the area as well as if he howls three times then there was a death. Now, every time I see a dog I wonder if there is something else