Superstition of the Week - Death Doors

DEATH DOORS

It was once thought to be dangerous to take a dead person out of a house through the same door that the living would walk through. People believed the sickness or death might rub off on the doorway. Some even built special doors in their houses for the dead. Such doors, in old Italy and Denmark, kept the regular doorway free from infection of the dead.

100th Blog Post

That's right, 100 posts of deliciously edible bright and shiny objects with no rhyme nor reason. Well, actually, I think a few did have reason, a little anyway, maybe.

Boy, if we get this excited about the 100th blog post, just think of the banner our little Raven friend will be flying when we reach our 100th fan on Facebook or our 500th follower on Twitter. If that curiosity is killing you or even if it isn't, we would love for you to be a fan on Facebook (All Us All the Time) or following along on Twitter (auatt).

If you already are a fan or follower, please help us spread the word that the Edible Raven magazine will be landing soon. THANKS!

Superstition of the Week - Red and White Flowers

RED & WHITE FLOWERS

There is a superstition that says you should avoid the combination of red and white flowers, especially when planning a wedding or bouquet for a hospital. They are thought to bring bad luck because their color symbolizes blood and bandages and are even thought to cause death. If your garden has red and white flowers together, you might be in danger of being injured somewhere in your house. Removing one or both of the flowers and throwing them over your shoulder is suppose to counter the bad luck.

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It

RAVEN-IN-THE-BOX GREETING CARD

Couldn't resist showing another one of our Valentine Ravens.

Superstition of the Week - Spilling Ink

SPILLING INK

It had been thought that it is not good to spill ink as it means bad things could happen to your property.

**Illustration from The Curious Curse, one of the featured stories in the debut issue of the Edible Raven, coming soon.

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It

Raven Heart Greeting CardCouldn't resist showing a few of our Valentine Ravens.

Superstition of the Week - Breaking a Mirror

BREAKING A MIRROR

There are two theories for why breaking a mirror brings 7 years bad luck. One is that the gods communicate through mirrors, and if it breaks, the gods don't want you to see the bad luck in your future.

The other theory is that breaking a mirror, in effect, shatters the soul. The Romans, along with the Greek, Chinese, African and Indian cultures, believed that a mirror had the power to confiscate part of the user's soul. If the user's reflected image became distorted in any way, this could mean a corruption of his or her soul. The first makers of glass mirrors, the Romans, believed that life was renewed every 7 years, like being born again. Thus after 7 years, your life is renewed and you get a new clean slate.

If you break a mirror, not all is lost, there are a few things you can do to keep the bad luck at bay.

• Grind the mirror shards into dust. This ensures no shattered or corrupted reflection can be seen.
• There are two thoughts about burying the broken pieces. One says to bury the pieces outside by moonlight after waiting 7 hours after the mirror is broke. The other says to bury the pieces under a tree during a full moon.
• African slaves working in America believed the bad luck could be washed away by placing the pieces in a river flowing in a southerly direction.

**Illustration from The Curious Curse, one of the featured stories in the debut issue of the Edible Raven, coming soon.

Cool Stuff We Found With Ravens On It

Edible Raven Magazine
The Edible Raven Magazine which we promise is coming soon...

Superstition of the Week - New Years

Did you toot those horns and shout out Happy New Year at Midnight? Hopefully you made as much noise as possible to ring in the new year. Not just to celebrate, but to scare away evil spirits. According to widespread superstition, evil spirits and the Devil himself hate loud noise. Thus folks celebrated by making as much noise as possible not only as an expression of joy for a new year, but also to make sure Old Scratch and his minions don't stick around. It is said that church bells are rung on a couple's wedding day for the same reason.


P.S. You should also not do laundry today as it is said at least one member of the family will be washed away in the upcoming months. I would not do any cleaning over the weekend, you know, just to play it safe.