Women cannot preserve food by canning while on their monthly. There is a scientific explanation. A chemical is released during menstruation and when you run your finger around the rim, will cause the lid to not seal.
I'm not a superstitious person but I remember an episode of M*A*S*H where bad luck and superstition was the focus of the show and at one point Radar was about to hang up a horseshoe above a door for luck and Colonel Potter told him not to hang it with the ends pointing down ∩ because if you do then all the luck will run out, so it needs to be hung with the "arms" pointing up U to catch all the luck.
On New Year's Eve, put money outside your door. Any denomination will do. Then after midnight, You bring the money back in. You will have a prosperous New Year. It hasn't worked for me yet, but I've never lost a large sum of money so I still do it. There are many others, but I was never given the reason for them. It's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house. Never put a hat on a bed. It's also bad luck to bring your old broom when moving to a new home. If you give a sharp gift to someone (scissors, knives, etc.) you must give a coin in the package, otherwise you sever the relationship. You make sure your head and feet are covered and dry is as important as washing your hands to ward off illness.
My Grandma was Sicilian my Grandfather was from Naples . And from them I learned you can catch a cold in every part of your body . Don't sit in a draft . And the evil eye was a real thing to them.
If you spill your entire bottle of olive oil in North America, you are already very unlucky because the prices of good olive oil are ridiculous expensive now. Your wallet will cry for days, LOL.
@@user-dq7xd9ol9u Yes, I didn't know that myself until about 5 years ago when I did a floral arrangement for a funeral that included horseshoes, and I put them in upside down.
We had a horse shoe hung the wrong way at our door into the house thru the basement , one day someone finally said ‘ Whoa ! That’s the wrong way , bad luck ‘ ! My dad fixed it right away !😜
Thank you! I was wondering about that. There are differing accounts as to what way is proper for good luck. I put mine up and just hoped for the best (right way up).
Growing up as a second generation Italian-American listening to Ava talk about the different superstitions brought back so many of my childhood memories. I carried many of these superstitions into my marriage and brought my kids up with them. My hubby who is Irish tends to still shake his head at some of them. (Even after 38 years of marriage) Thanks to this video I have clearly been validated! 🎉Thanks Ava😁 Love watching you two. Love from NC. ❤
There's at least one book about superstitions and omens of the Appalachians and Ozarks. About every paragraph has some disaster that will occur if you walk through a gate wrong, or sweep wrong. AND it's a couple of hundred pages. It's a wonder anything gets done. Also explains (besides the moonshine business) why strangers are not welcome. They break the rules constantly. Also their intimate territory starts at the property line and it's common in some areas to "hollar" from the street by the gate rather than go up to the front door. Another faux pas strangers do that irritate. You have to enter the gate properly too or disaster.... Probably a lot is no longer even thought about but at one time it was as good as the law.
These are all wonderful! My family is from Argentina, but my dad's grandparents were from Italy. A large number of Italians immigrated to Argentina in the 1800s, and incredibly, these customs and superstitions are a part of the Argentinean culture. My mother did not have italian relatives, however, she believed in "mal de ojo" and actually would cure it, and was so good at it. I'd call her up and say, "Ma, cortame!" which means, "Mom, cut me!" It was basically a short way to say, cut my stinkeye. My aunt did this as well, however, she had Albanian-Italian parents. My dad called my aunt "bruja" and she would laugh. She also cured colic in the most bizarre way--pulling the skin on the spine while saying some incantation. My aunt taught me the incantation for mal de ojo, and it could only be learned at midnight Christmas eve or Easter. It was an oral teaching. I always loved the no barefeet superstition, and the "wind." My mom would say, "abrigate!" Which means, bundle up. They used sulfur sticks on the back when you had "aire" or air on the neck or some other area, usually because of wind or air conditioning. The stick would break when the air would leave your body. I actually have sulfur sticks and use them whenever my 69 degree home causes me to have neck or back pain, and I actually think it works. So many of these cultural beliefs, they are so much fun. I recently became obsessed with finding out more about my dad's grandparents and found that I have long-lost relatives in four wonderful places in Cosenza (San Lucido, San Fili, Fiumefreddo Bruzio, and Falconara Albanese) dating back to the early 1700s. Can't wait to visit Calabria in the next few years. This video was so much fun to watch.
One more: one of my Italian aunts would dip her thumb in olive oil, rub it on your forehead in a cross patern while reciting a prayer against the evil eye. This was done to ward off any bad outcomes when going into situations such as a job interview, upcoming surgery, buying a house, you name it... that thumb and olive oil were always on call. 😅
It’s because chrism oil used by Catholic priests is olive oil. In some liturgical ceremonies, the priest makes a sign of the cross on the forehead. The oil is blessed and even exorcised!
True, but literally the only way the background plot in Pride and Prejudice actually makes sense is if you acknowledge the zombie invasion at the time.
Molocchio, the wet hair, the wind, and when a pregnant woman says something smells good, they have to eat some or the baby will be born with a birthmark in the shape of the food. This was my upbringing. This was such a fun show. Thanks for bringing memories of my Grandmother and Mother back. Father's family from Calabria, Mother's family from Sicily. I know all the superstitions. 😃
I’m from Virginia, USA. And we have the same superstitious. And my 83 yr old grandma has a birthday mark that looks like a strawberry and turns pinkish red (with the little seeds and all 🤯) in the spring and summer. Her mother wanted strawberries so bad when she was pregnant with my grandma and couldn’t get them 🤷🏽♀️.
dianemiller7994 my nonni, too - with the food. If you craved something when you were pregnant, you had to eat it, even if it meant sending hubby out for a cherry pie at 10 PM. 🤣
All of my daughters have birthmarks in the shape of the food I craved. One has a smashed strawberry (strawberry shortcake!), another has a bean and a few grains of rice (red beans and rice!) and one has a mark on her chin that looks like catsup, which people were always trying to wipe off her face!
Laughed so hard at some of these!!! I'm from Texas and my husband is Austrian and I've lived in Austria for 21 years now. A number of these ring true for people here as well. When I first came here I had a lovely woman who tutored me in German. It was the summer of 2003 - the first of the really brutal summers during which hundreds of people actually died in France because of the heat. Anyway, my tutor had just walked to my flat from the next town over - about 2 miles away and it was over 100 degrees F that day. When she got there I offered her some tea and she said that sounded lovely. I went to the fridge to get out my pitcher of homemade ice tea and the look of horror I saw on her face - she couldn't believe I would offer her something COLD on such a hot day after a long walk. Didn't I know that it would send her entire body into shock??? Of course, if you are in a 100 degree sauna and come out and plunge yourself into ice cold water, it's completely healthy, but stay as far away as possible from cold drinks on hot days! 🤣
Many deaths occur every year, mostly among the elderly, during heatwaves in Italy due to sheer ignorance and superstition regarding much needed air conditioning and fans. Attitudes of so called "caring" relatives around these deaths, which could have been avoided, are often cavalier and medieval. It's frightening. Basically it boils down to just not wanting to consume and having to pay an electric bill.
There are a lot of folk beliefs in different cultures about the effects of hot and cold drinks on the body, it seems to have something to do with the ancient concept of “the four humors” (blood, bile, phlegm, and “black bile”) and “the four elements” (earth, air, fire, and water) being influenced by “the four qualities” (hot, cold, wet, and dry). But, as a Texan myself, I’ve found that most Europeans are simply shocked at the idea of iced tea. They see tea as something to be drunk hot, not cold.
@@censusgary- well, in terms of medical fact, cold fluids are a little harder on your stomach because your body won't absorb anything until it's brought up to body temperature. So if you're trying to *hydrate* quickly, drink room-temp water. Cold drinks on a hot day do taste really refreshing though!
Many of these traditions come from centuries of people living through tried and true precautions…my mom and dad from German and Austria had many traditions as well! My mom always told me not to sit on the cement or ground outside, it will make your kidneys sick!
Having lived in Bulgaria for 4 years, I can vouch that this category of superstitions regarding the wind and wet hair are pretty much exactly the same across much of southern Europe. Especially if the wind hits your neck - you can pretty much blame that for everything that goes wrong in your life. As a Canadian, I can state categorically that wind and cold air does not make you sick. If that were the case, we would have all been dead a long time ago.
You're right about it being a superstition all over Europe. I remember a friend in England being flabbergasted when her doctor told her not to go out with wet hair or she would catch a cold.
I remember older people telling me not to go outside with my hair wet, or I’d catch a cold. But that was in winter. I don’t remember anyone saying it in summer. (We lived in Texas, by the way.
Well wet hair on a cold night is never good….lol. I was born in Canada….glad mom and dad moved to California….my mom said I cried in the snow…..lol. Canada oh Canada❤!
My wife and I are sore from laughing so much! We're both Australian born and partially raised in Italy as children. We now live in Italy as retirees. Having spent equal amounts of time in Italy and abroad, we understand both points of view on these superstitions. Our parents are in their 90s and still warn us of a "colpo d'aria" as they KNOW it could easily lead to death, or at best a grave illness 😂 Keep up the great work.
One of the origin of the bad luck of 17 is this: 17 in latin is written as XVII and you rearrange it as VIXI and vixi in latin means "I lived" as in "now I'm dead"....
There is that, and Friday is considered bad luck because that's supposedly the day Jesus died. So Friday is now also considered to be a day of penance. So Friday 17th is considered to be 2 bad luck symbols combined into 1 day.
I didn't know this about the number 17. A long time ago, my mother made a large batch of meatballs. We ate some for dinner, and I was putting the rest away for another day. Mom asked me to count the meatballs -- there were 17. She asked to me to eat one of them, so there would be 16 to put away (I was happy to do that). Now, I know why (at the time, I just thought it was something about prime numbers). 😄
In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, we are warned to beware the Ides of March, I.e. the 17th, which was the day Julius Caesar was assassinated. If this was based truly in history, the number 17 would be a concern!
This was so much fun to watch... I am from a Greek background and the wet hair, wind etc., ones are very similar.... we also have a version of the Malocchio... we call it the 'mati or matee'... which basically means the eye. You may have seen jewellery or decorations of a blue circle with a smaller white circle with a black dot in the center... this is an amulet against the evil eye. In the Greek tradition, you can be afflicted by the evil eye both for bad thoughts towards you... this is usually intentional... as well as praise, this is usually unintentional and if the person doing it catches themselves praising you, they will then try and remedy the situation by pretending to 'spit'... you may have seen this if you saw the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding... we usually say something like 'ptew ptew'... this is the idea of reversing the praise. Now, in my family, my mom was the 'strega' but we don't have a name for the person doing this. She 'stole' the prayer from her aunt who was the 'strega' of the village because my mom spent a lot of time with this aunt as a young girl, and as Eva says, the 'strega' mumbles the prayer under their breath... well, my mom's aunt was hard of hearing so her mumble was louder than most... and since she was often called on to get rid of the mati, my mom learned it from hearing it so often. My mom's mom, my yiayia also was a 'strega' and another way to share this is by teaching it to a young person of the opposite sex. She taught me when I was about 12. You can also learn it by being given the prayer on Thursday before Good Friday.... the latter being the weakest form, the senior to junior the standard version and the 'stolen' version the strongest form. When performing the prayer, and the 'strega' starts yawning enough to make the eyes water, that denotes the person has been zapped with the mati. The more intense the yawning/crying eyes, the stronger the hex. And woe is you if you fall asleep with the mati before you can get rid of it.
3:19 Quel sacchettino rosso non l’ho mai visto dalle mie parti (e non sono nato mica ieri !). Per quanto riguarda le superstizioni, c’è da tener presente che varie superstizioni vanno molto in base alla zona, non sono cose che possiamo generalizzare per tutta l’Italia. Giusto per fare un esempio, per queste cose tra Napoli e Milano o Bolzano c’è una grandissima differenza ! Ci sono cose raccontate in questo video che in molte zone d’Italia non sanno nemmeno cosa siano. Tra l’altro certe usanze, anche nella stessa zona, possono esserci in una famiglia e non in un’altra. Qui a volte spesso si parla di esperienze personali, di usanze in un determinato paesino, in qualche famiglia, e gli americani all’ascolto immaginano magari che tutta l’Italia e tutti gli italiani pensino ed agiscano allo stesso modo (e questo ovviamente per quanto riguarda varie cose, non solo per questo tema). Le esperienze di cui parla qui Harper, fatte nel paesino di Eva, molto probabilmente non le avrebbe fatte in una città del Nord Italia.
@@ally7329 Allora…. a parte il fatto che il titolo di questo video parla di “superstizioni italiane”, quindi già si generalizza nel titolo del video. Ma ti posso assicurare che alcune cose di cui parla Eva qui in questo video, dalle mie parti (ed anch’io provengo dal sud Italia !) non le ho mai sentite ! Ed io, come dicevo sopra, non sono nato ieri.
Infatti non solo valgono per praticamente tutto il Sud Italia (non certo solo Dasà o la Calabria, ma anche per Campania, Puglia e Sicilia, nel mio caso specifico, ma sicuramente altri aggiungeranno le loro località!), ma addirittura sono perlopiù validi anche x gli altri paesi del 'Sud-Europa', leggasi Spagna, Portogallo, Grecia, ecc.ecc...
@@SeVanSar-vz2ym. Leggi un po’ cosa ho risposto a “ally7329”. Ed io provengo da una zona, da un paesino, nel sud della Campania, quasi vicino alla Calabria.
In una città del Nord come Venezia, passare fra le due colonne in piazza S. Marco è qualcosa che un veneziano non farà mai. Ogni luogo ha le sue tradizioni, ma non si può negare che siamo un popolo superstizioso, in generale.
My late Jamaican grandmother always reminded me that walking around in bare feet would make me sick. Kingston, Jamaica in December never drops below 26°C!!
Walking barefoot can lead to stepping on insects, small animals, or just debris that could bite, sting, or pierce the skin causing poisoning or infection. And infection in a world without effective disinfectants and antibiotics was a bad client. In Greek myth, Philoctetes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philoctetes) was abandoned on an island to die by his mates because of a small infected wound to his foot.
@@alicetwain there’s a parasite that can enter through your heel. I can’t remember what country it happens in mostly, but it’s usually when people are walking barefoot on the beach.
I'm not a superstitious person but I remember an episode of M*A*S*H where bad luck and superstition was the focus of the show and at one point Radar was about to hang up a horseshoe above a door for luck and Colonel Potter told him not to hang it with the ends pointing down ∩ because if you do then all the luck will run out, so it needs to be hung with the "arms" pointing up U to catch all the luck.
It’s actually known in some places,to be hung upside down above a door so that the luck will pour out on you as you walk under it 🤷♀️ just depends on where you’re from.
Now in my 80’s, I grew up in a Hungarian/Romanian household. We have all those Italian superstitions plus loads more. But the one that my husband always laughed about was, if you get a wort, you loosely tie a thread around it, remove the looped thread, bury it beneath the ground where the water runs off the roof, when the string rots your wort will be gone. I saw my mother, great grandmother do this many times for friends and family. Power of positive thinking, if you believe that the superstition is true, than unexplained things can happen. Loved this episode.
My grandmother's family came from "the Old Country," which was called Bohemia at the time. Whenever someone dropped a knife, fork or spoon, she would say with utter confidence, "Company is coming!"
I wait to open the umbrella until I'm outside and close it before I enter. For me it's just a tradition rather than superstition. Plus, you want to shake the water off before you go in.
It's so interesting to know the culture. The things Italians believe would make you sick are the same with Chinese, except little difference with the air-con, Chinese believe air-con is ok, but blowing cold wind directly to your head or neck would make you sick.
Yes, extremely similar in Ireland too. We don't need air con for obvious reasons if you ever visited but the wet hair etc. all very much the same as here.
My father-in-law kept a small potato in his jacket pocket to ward off the bad fron windy Chicago days. He lived a long life, well into his 90s and a new small potato every day! He was never sick, and cheerful always.
As a nurse, I have had to become educated a little bit about old wives tales and how they occurred. Back in the day before people knew about germs, they had no idea how they got sick. However, they noticed that babies that were not thickly covered, people with wet hair, and children without coats became ill more often than others. This was because all of these actions can depress the immune response to germs and viruses by allowing the body to become chilled, causing stress to the body. Of course, you have to have wet hair AND contact with a disease to get sick, but they didn’t know that, and that was the best thing they could come up with.
I'm planning a trip to Italy and I'm not looking forward to being considered odd for not drying my hair before going out. I never dry my hair and don't own a hair dryer and while I get colds I've never noticed getting one due to wet hair.
Great video! I once visited Italy and traveled with my Italian friend. It was great. However, when I had to leave, I told her goodbye at the train. She asked me if I was dying and told me never to say goodbye to Italians. I thought it was great advice!
I Abruzzo i heard much made of "La Voglia". Basically if a pregnant woman sees some food that she then craves but is denied it, wherever she touches herself the baby will have a birthmark that resembles the denied food. So they try to satisfy all cravings and if they cannot the women will touch themselves somewhere that will not be seen and cause obvious disfiguration to her baby.
In Russia, there is a superstition that a knife can't be gifted. Only bought. So if you want to gift a knife to someone, you need accept a coin from the person receiving the knife. Russians are also particular about wet hair outside. Also, one is not supposed to sit on a stone outside (for some reason sitting on the stone is considered a risk to have kidney infection).
Yes...regarding knives, the same is true in italy...but also needles or pins or sharp objects in general. You have to pay them, symbolicaly but pay them. 😉
@@gabrielesantucci6189 In France you cannot offer someone a handkercief as a gift. You need to ask the receiver for a small coin. Otherwise you are provoking an occasion for tears.
The exchange of a coin for a knife is also an English superstition. My mother insisted that I give my aunt some coins for knives given to me as a wedding present.
I remember watching a video where someone (Kim Jong Il?) gave Vladimir Putin a sword as a gift on a state occasion. Putin looked startled and rummaged through his pockets to get some coins to give him. It was a very funny video!
Hello. I'm from Mexico, and after watching your vid on Italian superstitions I realized that we have very similar ones like wet hair, bare feet, sweeping someones feet. Thanks. I enjoy your vids every Sunday.
There are many similar beliefs in Lebanon snd Syria. My sister was told by her Lebanese Armenian mother-in-law that you never talk about how beautiful someone's baby is becausr that will draw the attention of the evil eye. We lived in Greece and Beirut during high school and college and there are so many similarities to Italian beliefs.
In the Abruzzi region, the horn is worn as protection AGAINST the maloccio (translation: The Evil Eye). The horn itself does not represent the evil eye.
So funny! I remember all these superstitions..I remember having to ride my bike with a newspaper stuffed in my chest to not get "un colpo d'aria"..totally enjoyed all the memories you brought back...grazie
Thanks for the great information on Italian superstitions!! Ava is definitely correct about AC being bad for some people.I spent the night in a hospital only to find out I am allergic to AC. Fortunately my doctor knew it because she is allergic to AC too.
The AC changes the humidity in the room, so if baking or cooking you have to adjust the amt of flour or liquids. But AC won't make you sick. Nor will having wet hair... If you spill salt then you throw salt over your shoulder, both my Italian and Irish grandmothers did this Bread the staff of life
There are things that have been passed down over the years from generation to generation. But it must be said that today's young people in Italy do not believe many of these things. In fact, when they hear them from their grandparents, they find certain things curious and even make them laugh. Today's young people are not as superstitious as perhaps their parents were or as their grandparents were.
Throwing away bread it's quite a crime in Italy, especially in the South, i didn't know about the kiss before throwing It in the trash, in Sicily we make bread crumbs from stale bread and think 1000 times before throwing It away
"Always hairing ...", how sweet ! 😂 It is, too, I 'my sure it' s related to her consumption of loads of healthy dairy, proper mineral and hormone intake...
I am not italian , but I am a superstitious person . I always carry with me in my purse a tiny silver sunflower 🌻 is my charm 💛 The sunflower is a simbol of hope, luck a healthy harvest . Also is my favorite flower . I love it . Thank you I enjoyed the video . Hugs from Utah . ✨️💕🌞🌻
For the ones interested, i would suggest to read Ernesto De Martino's "A theory from the South", which is an anthropological research about southern italy's superstitions, magics and esotherical traditions. Its language is obviously highly technical, but still very easy and enjoyable to read 😊
@@napoleonfeanor in Milan, traditionally you should keep a slice of panettone from Christmas to eat on 3rd February, St Blaise day. According to the legend, St Blaise saved a boy from chocking after ingesting a fish bone by giving him a piece of bread. He is therefore invoked when people have throat pain/diseases. So the idea is that by eating panettone on St Blaise's Day you keep throat issues away. It's however an old tradition (my grandparents followed it, my dad not really) and, as Milan has gotten more and more people from all over Italy, it's getting lost (very much like the dialect).
Wow!! What a great post. It brought back such great memories of my childhood. You made me cry. Grazie mille ciao franco. Sending you love and blessings from St.Croix U.S.V.I
and #13 is good luck. I have a necklace from my baptism almost 57 years ago and it has ALL ... the horseshoe, horn, MANO CORNUTO (another huge superstition in 2 ways, to give the horns or to prevent them when you turn your hand down), the 13 and then 2 religious charms (angel, sacred heart .. yep.. sent from Italy.
The Fear of AC/AirCon- in the strictest sense: yes, AC can make you sick, if you do not do regular maintenance, such as changing the filter on a regular basis. Yes, all artificially controlled temperature of your home, will change the humidity inside the home, that includes wood burning fire. In the old country, they learned how to control the humidity centuries ago, and don't understand, the same measures should be taken with the AC. I remember as a teen, I got a summer job working at a church child care center, where I was in charge of the older kids. We were put into the recreational building that had no AC. I would come home to the AC, and my sinuses couldn't handle the change in temperature and I'd spend all night fighting a sinus headache. After a week of this, I closed my AC vent, and my door at night, and slept with the windows open and a box fan.
The dehydrating effect of AC,- hence the pasta dow wreckage- is still soooo ill-managed, that when I worked in Paris CDG airport, back in my young student life, I knew, whether winter or summer-time, that I'd have to put up with chronic laryngitis for the whole length of my mission : I 'd walk in the premisses and lose half of my voice within 20 minutes, and sounded very successfully husky and seductive 😂, for the entire day, and would have this happen day in day out, with or without a scarf, jumper, jacket, YNI...! And I could drink myself sick, and try any trick, there was NO way I could ward it off ...
@@marie-suzankalogeropoulos9249 In my current part of Texas, the summer humidity is less than 10% anyway, so the AC isn't really changing anything. The Heat in the winter is problematic for us, because we get more precipitation in the colder months, and the heater strips it from the air. We keep pots of water simmering on the electric stove to help respiratory tissues not dry out too much.
In Finland we have the Hannunvaakuna, according to one view, the four loops of the coat of arms represent the spirits of the four air directions, which support the sky above the earth.
I wanted to read more about "colpo d'aria" and the first result was Google translate. It directly translates to English as "air stroke". 😂 Now, I know what you mean. If I fall asleep with the fan in the window, I will wake up with a stiff neck, joint aches, and sinus congestion. So I will call it "colpo d'aria" from here on out forever. ❤
It's curious since I used my air purifier as a fan as well, always have it on. I never get sick, whether the room is hot or cold. I hate stale unmoving air, but then again I rarely get sick.
@@jayc1139 I don't like still air either and it ONLY happens if I leave my window open overnight. We sleep with a/c on all summer. And a fan all winter. It has something to do with the outside overnight air coming in the window which is over my bed.
Interesting. All of my grandparents were Italian, and Portuguese, from Lisbon, Rome, Calabria and Piemonte. I am Very familiar with all the practices you describe and practice them, especially the last one you mentioned...water on a plate, drops of olive oil and the prayer..I learned it from my grandmother and I know how to do it. I do this ritual until today, on myself and others If they ask...and I still have the original prayer my grandma used to say, whispeing. I even bought a Very special olive oil for this purpose.
Thank you. Ya'll are so inspiring! To act locally, think globally. The economic/social culture reminds me of how my hometown in Appalachia is similar to the good folks of southern Italy.
Just ordered your book! Salt is an ancient cure to chase the devil and demons. Because the devil always approaches you from the left side, sinistra (sinister), salt is thrown over the left shoulder. The wine thing, I dunno...that is a very regional habit. About the corno: well, in Rome during the empire a large penis was a symbol of good luck, lol. And, why not, right? Love you guys. God bless and keep you.
Any kind of negative or bad spell, purify the house and salt the front and back doors, as well as the corners (north, south, east, west). Negative people have difficulty rousing the threshold of a salted door.
Pretty sure that Calabria is the most superstitious part of Italy... OK maybe it's a tie with Sicily. But for sure both of these regions still continue the tradition of following many old superstitions (or at least going through the motions) than the rest of Italy.
When we were travelling in India, we would be served chai (which translates "tea" FYI, so you don't need to say "chai tea"), and if it was hot, we would ask for a cold drink. (!) In a restaurant, servers would be super reluctant. A friend finally explained that drinking hot and cold drinks together will give you "squeezing stomach." I've heard that 13 is unlucky because that's how many people were at the last supper, and immediately after that Jesus was betrayed.
In Sicily, "Night air is bad" That's right. No matter how hot or stifling your bedroom is at night during the summer, don't you dare open up a window in case you let in the dreaded night air.
Sorry to Sicilians if I going full cliché, but I'm pretty sure that there are things you'd better not see/hear that happens at night in some places in Sicily. So that night air is indeed bad.
My grandparents have a superstition about taking the salt shaker from someone's hand. And they have added their own twist: they wont tell you what you're doing wrong. They just wont take it. They just stare at you waiting for you to get tired of waiting and put it down on the table. Oddly enough, the pepper mill doesn't have this same rule.
Most of the food based superstitions are based on Food being precious, and we must always respect and treasure food. To treat the loss of food cavalierly, is to insult the 'higher powers' that supplied that food [whichever religion and religious dieties was prevalent at the time]. The action to thwart the bad luck, was an act of contrition, to show they weren't disrespecting the diety, and they were willing to lose some food to prove it.
Toured Italy with my parents in 1974 at 16 after saving money for three years and had a great time, the food was great so was the wine and beer and the country is beautiful just like the women...I love your voice.
Once had a very brilliant Turkish doctor, but she turned completely Medieval if someone mentioned her beaded necklace that had special beads for warding off the evil eye.😅
Perfect timing! I just refilled a bottle of Olive oil and knocked it onto the tile floor. We were literally asking how Italians clean it up but this is more fun! Good to know about the wine too! Love this!
Red Ribbon, Evil eye! "Molocchio", Italian horn, the Cimuruta, "Rhue branch amulet'", Mano Corno, "Horned hand", Figa, Quadrofoglio "four-leaf clover", a new broom, And more.
My grandparents were from the Puglia region. People would come to my grandmother for her to remove the Malocchio. I remember her doing the prayers for my father and his headache miraculously went away. But she then had the headache and told me she had to take it from him because she was stronger and could fight it. She told me always to wear some metal - even a hair pin to ward off the evil eye.
Colpo D'Aria, that episode of the Sopranos where its windy and Tony is having trouble with his meds and hallucinates an Italian exchange student just took on a whole new meaning for me.
Let me tell you about a contorted face with a colpo d’aria!!! The air conditioner was blowing on my face and neck, and at the age of 20 I got Bells Palsy!!!!!! And yes, it was from a colpo d’aria from the air conditioner!!!! That was a contorted face!!! My maternal grandmother, Immacolata, was the remover of the malocchio in my family!!! She did the prayer over the water and the oil as Ava said, and usually three times, and the headache passed right away along with the malocchio!!!!! I’m so sorry I never paid full attention to learn the words to the prayer myself! This was a great video, it brought back a lot of memories!
I remember my grandfather doing this for me and my grandmother swore me to secrecy saying it was from the old country and they were not allowed to do that now. They are both long gone and all of their knowledge with them.😢
Have the same concept here in Greece, called Mati or Kako mati. Translated to "Evil eye". Usually something brought on by jealous individuals saying something or thinking evil thoughts about an individual. The individual afflicted by this let’s call it a "curse"if they are weak in spirit symptoms can range from mild uneasiness to feeling completely sick as if suffering from the flu. At this point most will call a friend or relative who has the ability to remove this curse. It involves saying a special prayer for the individual over a glass of water with olive oil. I do not have the prayer or how to use it but the prayer can not be told to you but is passed on anonymously from a person of the opposite sex and in writing with detailed instructions on how to preform the ritual. Now being a skeptic in the past I have seen first hand the results of the evil eye. There are charms made of blue glass that are made to look like eyes that will keep away the evil eye. This belief is also common in Turkey as well.
Bell’s Palsy is NOT caused by the AC or wind blowing on your neck. Bell’s Palsy is cause by the inflammation of the 7th Cranial nerve, and can usually be tracked back to some type of viral infection.
I LOOOVED this video so much! I learned a new one, the red pouch I’ve never heard of before. My mother was Calabrian so the rest I know. Bread to my mom was always the most precious. The body of Christ.
@10:00 - I have heard many stories from my Sicilian relatives about how the "wind" will make you sick. When my great-aunt was visiting she was super hot and opened a window, and was told she had to close it for fear of them getting sick
Spilling Salt as bad luck, toss some over your left shoulder. The only place I've seen that, was on Rachel Ray's cooking shows, and her mother's family are Scillian.
I have heard all of these my mother was half Sicilian her mother which is my grandma was full Sicilian I heard all of that's growing up wintertime summertime didn't matter they're all gone now into heaven I miss them everyday
Omg, kissing bread is also something we (Turkish people) do. When I was watching some of your videos, I noticed how much Eva respects food and I thought my late mother would have loved Eva to bits.
I love how she pronnounces hair "eeiirrrrr" its so cute ❤ you got to love italian people! Tanti saluti da Croazia! Siete meravigliosi a adoro il vostro canale!
Are these superstitions common in all of Italy or just in southern Italy? Calabria? Ancestors several thousand years ago came from the Aegean Islands. Did they bring these superstitions and customs with them? Bread? A sacred item in the Church, it represents the body of Christ. In the Orthodox Church bread is passed out to the people after the liturgy. It is given to those who had not prepared themselves to receive the sacrament of communion but if they have not eaten before the liturgy they may partake of it before eating after church otherwise it should be eaten the very next morning before having Drank or eaten anything. It’s interesting how these variations of superstition are shared by people of the eastern Mediterranean region. We have the same thing with the Evil Eye commonly called Tō Mati or Kakō Mati. Same as to how you get it and how it’s cured.
Oh boy does this bring back memories. I was pregnant and went to visit my mother. I made the mistake of mentioning how pretty the neighbours flowers were. My mom leaves the kitchen where I was sitting and then I look out the window to see my 60 year old mother with the ladder climbing to get me one of the flowers lolol. Apparently if you desire something when you are pregnant and don't get it, it will leave a beauty mark on your unborn child. Therefore, if you crave chocolate, etc and you don't have any you should touch the back of your leg and avoid your face.
When I was an alter boy, after the Sunday service, we would wash the crumbs from the Communion wafer tray and the drops in the wine chalice in a special sink with a drain that was not connected to the public waste water system, but had its own underground drain field entirely on sanctified, Church grounds.
@@johnburk6564 Yeah, considering that, in Catholic theology, the bread and wine are literally transformed into God, it would be sacrilegious to pour God down the drain and into the sewer!
I am a Eucharistic minister and we rinse the chalice and ciborium in one side of the sink, especially designed for consecrated bread and wine, the precious body and blood of Christ.
In Tibetan Buddhism, after food and flowers are offered on the shrine to the Buddhas during a ceremony, they are never thrown in the trash, but brought outside and placed in a clean, high place. It is believed the spirits and ghosts can receive those offering leftovers and that it benefits them.
Hello Harper & Ava. I Love Your Videos. Here's MY Opinion and Some Scientific Fact about Some of the Information in the Video. 1. Good Luck Charms - In a way I can Agree with that partly due to the Placebo Effect. If someone Believes that having whatever Good Luck Charm will Protect or Bring Good Luck to them, then Why Not. I have had for MANY Years a Gold Cornicello Pendant which was a Gift and I rarely ever take it off. 2. Wet Hair - Some Fact & Some Superstition. Leaving the Bathroom with Wet Hair is NOT gonna make You Sick. Going Outside on a warm to HOT day will NOT get You Sick. Going Outside in Cold to Freezing Temperatures with Wet Hair Can and Most likely get You Sick. due to Heat that escapes from Your Head will NOT be kept in or Protected due to the Hair being and staying Cold or Freezing which will then lower Your Body Temperature which Can cause You to get Sick. 3. Bare Feet - Sort of Yes in certain conditions but NO in most others. Bare Feet in a Warm environment like in a House or even Outside will NOT cause You to get sick. Standing on a Cold Floor or going Outside while it's Cold Can cause Your Body Temperature to lower due to Heat Loss through Your Feet. 4. Air Conditioning - Yes and No. No for a lot of the time. Yes for that when You have the Temperature Too Cold and You go Inside and Outside and keep having Temperature Changes, in a short period of time then Yes You Can get Sick. Having the Air Conditioner blowing directly on You can cause You to have Aches & Pains, Stiff Neck, get Sick if Your Immune System is low. As for the Pasta there's Scientific Fact that the Air Conditioner also draws the Moisture out of the Air. As an Example which Most People can Attest to is when You get into a Car with the Windows All Fogged Up on the Inside, You turn on the A/C even if You set the Temperature to Warm or even keep it on Cool, the Windows on the Inside will start to NOT be Fogged Up after a few minutes. 5. Wind - Yes and No. The Wind which lowers the Ambient Temperature below a certain Temperature, the Wind when it's Cold and Humid out especially in the Winter Can cause You to get Sick. I have been in more than a few conditions with Cold, Wind, Cold & Wind while Me being with Wet Hair and Dry Hair. I got Sick but NOT where I had the Flu. I have in over 50+ Years only had the Flu less than 5 times but Sick with a normal cold many times that had nothing to due with Wind, A/C, Wet Hair or being Bare Foot. 6. Spilling Olive Oil - Sort of could be Yes. Spill it and the Glass Bottle breaks. You could Cut Your Foot if You're Bare Foot, You could Slip & Fall due to it being Super Slippery. Ascfor throwing Salt, there could be some but small truth to it. The Salt will give You some Traction on the Spilled Olive Oil. 7. Spilling Wine Superstition - I just don't understand or get that one at all except for if there's Borken Glass and You could get Cut from it. 8. Kissing Bread - Don't fully understand this either. 9. The Number 17 - I can understand the Superstition Sort of but it's just that. 10. Single Ladies - Totally don't get it or Understand it. 11. Broom Sweeping - Accidentally having Feet Swept and Never being Married. Not True. I've seen it done to both Single Men and Single Women who have also later on have been Married. 12. Maloccio: The Evil Eye - Sort of understand this when it's given to Young Kids who are scared or intimidated by someone who Gives them the Evil Eye. Which will then Scare them or make them Cry. I've seen it happen many times growing up. Now as an Adult, No. I don't believe that. I've had quite a few times had people give Me the Evil Eye and had nothing negative happen to Me ever. Unfortunately a few of them who gave Me the Evil Eye, had something happen to them either shortly afterwards or Up to a few days later. Carma maybe on them? Who knows. Ava and Harper - I Wish Both of You a Lifetime of GOOD LUCK!
Now I know why my Italian Step Dad always insisted on feet being covered and that we had “warm feet”! Also the air con thing actually makes sense because the fluctuation of temperatures as you go in and out does put your body under stress and it is a way germs can be spread around easily.
My aunt in Avellino said when you enter a house you need to step across the threshold not on the threshold. She yelled at me when I did that telling me it's bad luck. My mom made a small pouch of salt when I was an infant and attached it to my diaper to keep the evil eye away. We also had the "Peperoncino Rosso" or horn made of plastic for good luck. Also mom told me if you are at someone's house and you feel like someone is giving you the evil eye I was to touch something made of iron to expel the evil eye immediately. On Christmas Eve we always had to leave some food in dishes for the Christ Child who's spirit would visit . My mom had a gold charm that was a number 13 for good luck. It's bad luck to give someone a sewing needle...that's a weird one from part of my family from Piemonte. It was really bad luck if the bread was placed upside down...it always had to be flat side down...my parents said it was disrespectful to Christ ( host is bread) still to this day of if I see a loaf of bread on its side or upside down I have to put it flat side down.
My Grandmother (not Italian) had the same reaction to shoes facing the opposite direction. I believe it was something about your soul splitting in two. Don't get me started on how much she would freak out if someone put a hat on a bed! :)
We have a similar thing, going back to my grandmother, who was romani. If you put shoes on a table, you have to throw them out. If I put brand new shoes on a table, not even worn, I am pretty sure my mother would put them in, as people would say in the US, the trash
@@jamesbowring9528actors have the shoe suspicion. There are tables back stage with costume pieces, ready for quick changes. Everything is on the table ready for the next act, but if you put 👟 on the table, cast or crew will immediately put them on the floor and warn you never to do so again
Got any fun superstitions-er, "LIFE HACKS"-to share?
Women cannot preserve food by canning while on their monthly.
There is a scientific explanation. A chemical is released during menstruation and when you run your finger around the rim, will cause the lid to not seal.
I'm not a superstitious person but I remember an episode of M*A*S*H where bad luck and superstition was the focus of the show and at one point Radar was about to hang up a horseshoe above a door for luck and Colonel Potter told him not to hang it with the ends pointing down ∩ because if you do then all the luck will run out, so it needs to be hung with the "arms" pointing up U to catch all the luck.
@@John_P._Buryiak That's true.
On New Year's Eve, put money outside your door. Any denomination will do. Then after midnight, You bring the money back in. You will have a prosperous New Year. It hasn't worked for me yet, but I've never lost a large sum of money so I still do it. There are many others, but I was never given the reason for them. It's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house. Never put a hat on a bed. It's also bad luck to bring your old broom when moving to a new home. If you give a sharp gift to someone (scissors, knives, etc.) you must give a coin in the package, otherwise you sever the relationship. You make sure your head and feet are covered and dry is as important as washing your hands to ward off illness.
My Grandma was Sicilian my Grandfather was from Naples . And from them I learned you can catch a cold in every part of your body . Don't sit in a draft . And the evil eye was a real thing to them.
I love the way Harper plays along with Eva's superstitions.....now that is a man that understands the importance of having a peaceful home
She's playing along too, though.
If you spill your entire bottle of olive oil in North America, you are already very unlucky because the prices of good olive oil are ridiculous expensive now. Your wallet will cry for days, LOL.
A lot of work goes into grow, pruning, harvesting, and taking them to be crushed. We have an olive farm. Weather permitting.
Yup. $79-90 for a 3.5L can of quality oil in Canada. Over twice the price of full synthetic engine oil.
Yep.
What is the best olive oil? I think the cheaper olive oil they sell in the U.S. has been (possibly) cut with something like engine oil.🤔
@@jeanneamato8278 -- A lot of work went into it two years ago as well. That doesn't explain why the price has more that doubled in two years.
OMG!!! Eva was holding the horseshoe UPSIDE DOWN. You have to hold it facing up, or all the good luck with run out of it.
@@user-dq7xd9ol9u Yes, I didn't know that myself until about 5 years ago when I did a floral arrangement for a funeral that included horseshoes, and I put them in upside down.
We had a horse shoe hung the wrong way at our door into the house thru the basement , one day someone finally said ‘ Whoa ! That’s the wrong way , bad luck ‘ ! My dad fixed it right away !😜
It’s funny March 17 that St. Patrick’s Day.🌱🌏❤️
Her literally shaking the luck out of it on camera gave me anxiety.
Thank you! I was wondering about that. There are differing accounts as to what way is proper for good luck. I put mine up and just hoped for the best (right way up).
Growing up as a second generation Italian-American listening to Ava talk about the different superstitions brought back so many of my childhood memories. I carried many of these superstitions into my marriage and brought my kids up with them. My hubby who is Irish tends to still shake his head at some of them. (Even after 38 years of marriage) Thanks to this video I have clearly been validated! 🎉Thanks Ava😁 Love watching you two. Love from NC. ❤
There's at least one book about superstitions and omens of the Appalachians and Ozarks. About every paragraph has some disaster that will occur if you walk through a gate wrong, or sweep wrong. AND it's a couple of hundred pages. It's a wonder anything gets done. Also explains (besides the moonshine business) why strangers are not welcome. They break the rules constantly. Also their intimate territory starts at the property line and it's common in some areas to "hollar" from the street by the gate rather than go up to the front door. Another faux pas strangers do that irritate. You have to enter the gate properly too or disaster.... Probably a lot is no longer even thought about but at one time it was as good as the law.
Eva! Not Ava!
Not validated. Simply in good company.🤗
These are all wonderful! My family is from Argentina, but my dad's grandparents were from Italy. A large number of Italians immigrated to Argentina in the 1800s, and incredibly, these customs and superstitions are a part of the Argentinean culture. My mother did not have italian relatives, however, she believed in "mal de ojo" and actually would cure it, and was so good at it. I'd call her up and say, "Ma, cortame!" which means, "Mom, cut me!" It was basically a short way to say, cut my stinkeye. My aunt did this as well, however, she had Albanian-Italian parents. My dad called my aunt "bruja" and she would laugh. She also cured colic in the most bizarre way--pulling the skin on the spine while saying some incantation. My aunt taught me the incantation for mal de ojo, and it could only be learned at midnight Christmas eve or Easter. It was an oral teaching. I always loved the no barefeet superstition, and the "wind." My mom would say, "abrigate!" Which means, bundle up. They used sulfur sticks on the back when you had "aire" or air on the neck or some other area, usually because of wind or air conditioning. The stick would break when the air would leave your body. I actually have sulfur sticks and use them whenever my 69 degree home causes me to have neck or back pain, and I actually think it works. So many of these cultural beliefs, they are so much fun. I recently became obsessed with finding out more about my dad's grandparents and found that I have long-lost relatives in four wonderful places in Cosenza (San Lucido, San Fili, Fiumefreddo Bruzio, and Falconara Albanese) dating back to the early 1700s. Can't wait to visit Calabria in the next few years. This video was so much fun to watch.
One more: one of my Italian aunts would dip her thumb in olive oil, rub it on your forehead in a cross patern while reciting a prayer against the evil eye. This was done to ward off any bad outcomes when going into situations such as a job interview, upcoming surgery, buying a house, you name it... that thumb and olive oil were always on call. 😅
It’s because chrism oil used by Catholic priests is olive oil. In some liturgical ceremonies, the priest makes a sign of the cross on the forehead. The oil is blessed and even exorcised!
It's a huge act of love.❤
How did that prayer go? Was it in Italian? Curious.
And how did turning up to a job interview with a shiny forehead work out? 🤣
It’s a cheap variation on actual myrrh oil, sold in all Christian churches!
The DaVinci code is as historically relevant and accurate as Abraham Lincoln's Vampire Hunting career.
It's a great book.
@@HansDelbruck53 yep, great fiction!
@@chiccachannel With lots of factual content as well.
True, but literally the only way the background plot in Pride and Prejudice actually makes sense is if you acknowledge the zombie invasion at the time.
Ahahahahahaha Top
Molocchio, the wet hair, the wind, and when a pregnant woman says something smells good, they have to eat some or the baby will be born with a birthmark in the shape of the food. This was my upbringing. This was such a fun show. Thanks for bringing memories of my Grandmother and Mother back. Father's family from Calabria, Mother's family from Sicily. I know all the superstitions. 😃
I’m from Virginia, USA. And we have the same superstitious. And my 83 yr old grandma has a birthday mark that looks like a strawberry and turns pinkish red (with the little seeds and all 🤯) in the spring and summer. Her mother wanted strawberries so bad when she was pregnant with my grandma and couldn’t get them 🤷🏽♀️.
My nonna told me not to look at anything ugly when I was pregnant, or the baby would be born ugly. 😂
mAlocchio, with A., not as Morocco (Marocco)
dianemiller7994 my nonni, too - with the food. If you craved something when you were pregnant, you had to eat it, even if
it meant sending hubby out for a cherry pie at 10 PM. 🤣
All of my daughters have birthmarks in the shape of the food I craved. One has a smashed strawberry (strawberry shortcake!), another has a bean and a few grains of rice (red beans and rice!) and one has a mark on her chin that looks like catsup, which people were always trying to wipe off her face!
Laughed so hard at some of these!!! I'm from Texas and my husband is Austrian and I've lived in Austria for 21 years now. A number of these ring true for people here as well. When I first came here I had a lovely woman who tutored me in German. It was the summer of 2003 - the first of the really brutal summers during which hundreds of people actually died in France because of the heat. Anyway, my tutor had just walked to my flat from the next town over - about 2 miles away and it was over 100 degrees F that day. When she got there I offered her some tea and she said that sounded lovely. I went to the fridge to get out my pitcher of homemade ice tea and the look of horror I saw on her face - she couldn't believe I would offer her something COLD on such a hot day after a long walk. Didn't I know that it would send her entire body into shock??? Of course, if you are in a 100 degree sauna and come out and plunge yourself into ice cold water, it's completely healthy, but stay as far away as possible from cold drinks on hot days! 🤣
Many deaths occur every year, mostly among the elderly, during heatwaves in Italy due to sheer ignorance and superstition regarding much needed air conditioning and fans. Attitudes of so called "caring" relatives around these deaths, which could have been avoided, are often cavalier and medieval. It's frightening. Basically it boils down to just not wanting to consume and having to pay an electric bill.
There are a lot of folk beliefs in different cultures about the effects of hot and cold drinks on the body, it seems to have something to do with the ancient concept of “the four humors” (blood, bile, phlegm, and “black bile”) and “the four elements” (earth, air, fire, and water) being influenced by “the four qualities” (hot, cold, wet, and dry).
But, as a Texan myself, I’ve found that most Europeans are simply shocked at the idea of iced tea. They see tea as something to be drunk hot, not cold.
@@censusgary- well, in terms of medical fact, cold fluids are a little harder on your stomach because your body won't absorb anything until it's brought up to body temperature. So if you're trying to *hydrate* quickly, drink room-temp water. Cold drinks on a hot day do taste really refreshing though!
@@bethb5915 In hot weather, though, cold drinks help cool the body’s core.
Many of these traditions come from centuries of people living through tried and true precautions…my mom and dad from German and Austria had many traditions as well! My mom always told me not to sit on the cement or ground outside, it will make your kidneys sick!
I love these videos on Italian culture as much as I love the cooking videos. I hope to see more.
This conversation between you two was a great show for me.
I love the cop just straight up eating a mysterious white powder found in someone's car
Well, his hair was dry, he was wearing shoes, and it wasn't windy, so he knew he wasn't going to get sick.
Having lived in Bulgaria for 4 years, I can vouch that this category of superstitions regarding the wind and wet hair are pretty much exactly the same across much of southern Europe. Especially if the wind hits your neck - you can pretty much blame that for everything that goes wrong in your life. As a Canadian, I can state categorically that wind and cold air does not make you sick. If that were the case, we would have all been dead a long time ago.
You're right about it being a superstition all over Europe. I remember a friend in England being flabbergasted when her doctor told her not to go out with wet hair or she would catch a cold.
I remember older people telling me not to go outside with my hair wet, or I’d catch a cold. But that was in winter. I don’t remember anyone saying it in summer. (We lived in Texas, by the way.
But it's true! I always get sick when the wind is going at me
@@robbymonaco3738Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.
Well wet hair on a cold night is never good….lol. I was born in Canada….glad mom and dad moved to California….my mom said I cried in the snow…..lol. Canada oh Canada❤!
My wife and I are sore from laughing so much! We're both Australian born and partially raised in Italy as children. We now live in Italy as retirees. Having spent equal amounts of time in Italy and abroad, we understand both points of view on these superstitions.
Our parents are in their 90s and still warn us of a "colpo d'aria" as they KNOW it could easily lead to death, or at best a grave illness 😂
Keep up the great work.
One of the origin of the bad luck of 17 is this: 17 in latin is written as XVII and you rearrange it as VIXI and vixi in latin means "I lived" as in "now I'm dead"....
But I used to live. I still do but I used to too.
There is that, and Friday is considered bad luck because that's supposedly the day Jesus died. So Friday is now also considered to be a day of penance. So Friday 17th is considered to be 2 bad luck symbols combined into 1 day.
I didn't know this about the number 17. A long time ago, my mother made a large batch of meatballs. We ate some for dinner, and I was putting the rest away for another day. Mom asked me to count the meatballs -- there were 17. She asked to me to eat one of them, so there would be 16 to put away (I was happy to do that). Now, I know why (at the time, I just thought it was something about prime numbers). 😄
In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, we are warned to beware the Ides of March, I.e. the 17th, which was the day Julius Caesar was assassinated. If this was based truly in history, the number 17 would be a concern!
@@janicestewart4347- except that refers to the 15th of March. Close though :)
This was so much fun to watch... I am from a Greek background and the wet hair, wind etc., ones are very similar.... we also have a version of the Malocchio... we call it the 'mati or matee'... which basically means the eye. You may have seen jewellery or decorations of a blue circle with a smaller white circle with a black dot in the center... this is an amulet against the evil eye. In the Greek tradition, you can be afflicted by the evil eye both for bad thoughts towards you... this is usually intentional... as well as praise, this is usually unintentional and if the person doing it catches themselves praising you, they will then try and remedy the situation by pretending to 'spit'... you may have seen this if you saw the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding... we usually say something like 'ptew ptew'... this is the idea of reversing the praise.
Now, in my family, my mom was the 'strega' but we don't have a name for the person doing this. She 'stole' the prayer from her aunt who was the 'strega' of the village because my mom spent a lot of time with this aunt as a young girl, and as Eva says, the 'strega' mumbles the prayer under their breath... well, my mom's aunt was hard of hearing so her mumble was louder than most... and since she was often called on to get rid of the mati, my mom learned it from hearing it so often. My mom's mom, my yiayia also was a 'strega' and another way to share this is by teaching it to a young person of the opposite sex. She taught me when I was about 12. You can also learn it by being given the prayer on Thursday before Good Friday.... the latter being the weakest form, the senior to junior the standard version and the 'stolen' version the strongest form. When performing the prayer, and the 'strega' starts yawning enough to make the eyes water, that denotes the person has been zapped with the mati. The more intense the yawning/crying eyes, the stronger the hex. And woe is you if you fall asleep with the mati before you can get rid of it.
Kinda like saving a room of evil?
@@claudettep212 I don't understand this comment.... please clarify....
3:19 Quel sacchettino rosso non l’ho mai visto dalle mie parti (e non sono nato mica ieri !). Per quanto riguarda le superstizioni, c’è da tener presente che varie superstizioni vanno molto in base alla zona, non sono cose che possiamo generalizzare per tutta l’Italia. Giusto per fare un esempio, per queste cose tra Napoli e Milano o Bolzano c’è una grandissima differenza ! Ci sono cose raccontate in questo video che in molte zone d’Italia non sanno nemmeno cosa siano. Tra l’altro certe usanze, anche nella stessa zona, possono esserci in una famiglia e non in un’altra. Qui a volte spesso si parla di esperienze personali, di usanze in un determinato paesino, in qualche famiglia, e gli americani all’ascolto immaginano magari che tutta l’Italia e tutti gli italiani pensino ed agiscano allo stesso modo (e questo ovviamente per quanto riguarda varie cose, non solo per questo tema). Le esperienze di cui parla qui Harper, fatte nel paesino di Eva, molto probabilmente non le avrebbe fatte in una città del Nord Italia.
Ma infatti Eva specifica sempre nel sud italia.
@@ally7329 Allora…. a parte il fatto che il titolo di questo video parla di “superstizioni italiane”, quindi già si generalizza nel titolo del video. Ma ti posso assicurare che alcune cose di cui parla Eva qui in questo video, dalle mie parti (ed anch’io provengo dal sud Italia !) non le ho mai sentite ! Ed io, come dicevo sopra, non sono nato ieri.
Infatti non solo valgono per praticamente tutto il Sud Italia (non certo solo Dasà o la Calabria, ma anche per Campania, Puglia e Sicilia, nel mio caso specifico, ma sicuramente altri aggiungeranno le loro località!), ma addirittura sono perlopiù validi anche x gli altri paesi del 'Sud-Europa', leggasi Spagna, Portogallo, Grecia, ecc.ecc...
@@SeVanSar-vz2ym. Leggi un po’ cosa ho risposto a “ally7329”. Ed io provengo da una zona, da un paesino, nel sud della Campania, quasi vicino alla Calabria.
In una città del Nord come Venezia, passare fra le due colonne in piazza S. Marco è qualcosa che un veneziano non farà mai. Ogni luogo ha le sue tradizioni, ma non si può negare che siamo un popolo superstizioso, in generale.
My late Jamaican grandmother always reminded me that walking around in bare feet would make me sick. Kingston, Jamaica in December never drops below 26°C!!
Walking barefoot can lead to stepping on insects, small animals, or just debris that could bite, sting, or pierce the skin causing poisoning or infection. And infection in a world without effective disinfectants and antibiotics was a bad client. In Greek myth, Philoctetes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philoctetes) was abandoned on an island to die by his mates because of a small infected wound to his foot.
@@alicetwain You can even get parasites walking around on bare feet, so it definitely isn't entirely meritless advice.
@@alicetwain there’s a parasite that can enter through your heel. I can’t remember what country it happens in mostly, but it’s usually when people are walking barefoot on the beach.
My mother still gets on me about this. Born and raised near Half Way Tree, so...
@@Itsabeautifulday3201 you might be thinking of hookworm. It's contracted by skin contact with excrement contaminated soil.
I'm not a superstitious person but I remember an episode of M*A*S*H where bad luck and superstition was the focus of the show and at one point Radar was about to hang up a horseshoe above a door for luck and Colonel Potter told him not to hang it with the ends pointing down ∩ because if you do then all the luck will run out, so it needs to be hung with the "arms" pointing up U to catch all the luck.
Yes, everyone knows the points of the horseshoe are tacked up
Right, that's where I got that! Thanks for reminding me 👍
It’s actually known in some places,to be hung upside down above a door so that the luck will pour out on you as you walk under it 🤷♀️ just depends on where you’re from.
@@abou8963 "Everybody knows"... 😂
Eva's smile and obvious affection for Harper are even more wonderful here than usual
Now in my 80’s, I grew up in a Hungarian/Romanian household. We have all those Italian superstitions plus loads more. But the one that my husband always laughed about was, if you get a wort, you loosely tie a thread around it, remove the looped thread, bury it beneath the ground where the water runs off the roof, when the string rots your wort will be gone. I saw my mother, great grandmother do this many times for friends and family. Power of positive thinking, if you believe that the superstition is true, than unexplained things can happen. Loved this episode.
Most types of warts eventually go away on their own.
My grandmother's family came from "the Old Country," which was called Bohemia at the time. Whenever someone dropped a knife, fork or spoon, she would say with utter confidence, "Company is coming!"
Yea, same in my family
Knife on the floor, stranger at the door :)
same in russia
I like that
Don’t open an umbrella in the house! 😂
This I think applies a little bit everywhere. 😀
I'm under one right now. We'll see how that goes I guess.
No shoes on the table… even if they were new and in the shoebox.
I wait to open the umbrella until I'm outside and close it before I enter. For me it's just a tradition rather than superstition. Plus, you want to shake the water off before you go in.
It's so interesting to know the culture. The things Italians believe would make you sick are the same with Chinese, except little difference with the air-con, Chinese believe air-con is ok, but blowing cold wind directly to your head or neck would make you sick.
Yes, extremely similar in Ireland too. We don't need air con for obvious reasons if you ever visited but the wet hair etc. all very much the same as here.
Don't go outside with wet hair or you'll get sick.
My father-in-law kept a small potato in his jacket pocket to ward off the bad fron windy Chicago days. He lived a long life, well into his 90s and a new small potato every day! He was never sick, and cheerful always.
Did he eat the potatoes?
My mom's cousin does this!!! Almost 90 yo
As a nurse, I have had to become educated a little bit about old wives tales and how they occurred. Back in the day before people knew about germs, they had no idea how they got sick. However, they noticed that babies that were not thickly covered, people with wet hair, and children without coats became ill more often than others. This was because all of these actions can depress the immune response to germs and viruses by allowing the body to become chilled, causing stress to the body. Of course, you have to have wet hair AND contact with a disease to get sick, but they didn’t know that, and that was the best thing they could come up with.
It bothers me so much that people still believe in “catching a cold”.
That being said : ACs often carry diseases and allergens, so this one is justified (cold + pathogens, or allergic reactions)
I'm planning a trip to Italy and I'm not looking forward to being considered odd for not drying my hair before going out. I never dry my hair and don't own a hair dryer and while I get colds I've never noticed getting one due to wet hair.
@@saulemaroussault6343 Since the alleged pandemic my ideas about sickness and medicine have radically changed.
@@saulemaroussault6343ikr!
Great video! I once visited Italy and traveled with my Italian friend. It was great. However, when I had to leave, I told her goodbye at the train. She asked me if I was dying and told me never to say goodbye to Italians. I thought it was great advice!
I Abruzzo i heard much made of "La Voglia". Basically if a pregnant woman sees some food that she then craves but is denied it, wherever she touches herself the baby will have a birthmark that resembles the denied food. So they try to satisfy all cravings and if they cannot the women will touch themselves somewhere that will not be seen and cause obvious disfiguration to her baby.
In Russia, there is a superstition that a knife can't be gifted. Only bought. So if you want to gift a knife to someone, you need accept a coin from the person receiving the knife.
Russians are also particular about wet hair outside. Also, one is not supposed to sit on a stone outside (for some reason sitting on the stone is considered a risk to have kidney infection).
Yes...regarding knives, the same is true in italy...but also needles or pins or sharp objects in general. You have to pay them, symbolicaly but pay them. 😉
@@gabrielesantucci6189 In France you cannot offer someone a handkercief as a gift. You need to ask the receiver for a small coin. Otherwise you are provoking an occasion for tears.
The exchange of a coin for a knife is also an English superstition. My mother insisted that I give my aunt some coins for knives given to me as a wedding present.
This is also a tradition in my family.
I remember watching a video where someone (Kim Jong Il?) gave Vladimir Putin a sword as a gift on a state occasion. Putin looked startled and rummaged through his pockets to get some coins to give him. It was a very funny video!
Hello. I'm from Mexico, and after watching your vid on Italian superstitions I realized that we have very similar ones like wet hair, bare feet, sweeping someones feet. Thanks. I enjoy your vids every Sunday.
There are many similar beliefs in Lebanon snd Syria. My sister was told by her Lebanese Armenian mother-in-law that you never talk about how beautiful someone's baby is becausr that will draw the attention of the evil eye. We lived in Greece and Beirut during high school and college and there are so many similarities to Italian beliefs.
My wife is Italian… I can confirm just about everything. I’m living here in Italy for about 13 years…
In the Abruzzi region, the horn is worn as protection AGAINST the maloccio (translation: The Evil Eye). The horn itself does not represent the evil eye.
In Napoli too
So funny! I remember all these superstitions..I remember having to ride my bike with a newspaper stuffed in my chest to not get "un colpo d'aria"..totally enjoyed all the memories you brought back...grazie
Thanks for the great information on Italian superstitions!! Ava is definitely correct about AC being bad for some people.I spent the night in a hospital only to find out I am allergic to AC. Fortunately my doctor knew it because she is allergic to AC too.
The AC changes the humidity in the room, so if baking or cooking you have to adjust the amt of flour or liquids.
But AC won't make you sick. Nor will having wet hair...
If you spill salt then you throw salt over your shoulder, both my Italian and Irish grandmothers did this
Bread the staff of life
I really love how deeply ingrained the old ways are in Italian culture :)
This has been fascinating :) Thank you :)
There are things that have been passed down over the years from generation to generation. But it must be said that today's young people in Italy do not believe many of these things. In fact, when they hear them from their grandparents, they find certain things curious and even make them laugh. Today's young people are not as superstitious as perhaps their parents were or as their grandparents were.
Throwing away bread it's quite a crime in Italy, especially in the South, i didn't know about the kiss before throwing It in the trash, in Sicily we make bread crumbs from stale bread and think 1000 times before throwing It away
Love your videos. Even if Eve isn't cooking. Love to hear the banter. And Eva's hair is ALWAYS hairing!!!!!! AMAZING!
"Always hairing ...", how sweet ! 😂
It is, too, I 'my sure it' s related to her consumption of loads of healthy dairy, proper mineral and hormone intake...
Very interesting program guys. Thanks for sharing this with the audience. BTW, Portugal has almost the exact same superstitutions!
I am not italian , but I am a superstitious person .
I always carry with me in my purse a tiny silver sunflower 🌻 is my charm 💛
The sunflower is a simbol of hope, luck a healthy harvest .
Also is my favorite flower .
I love it .
Thank you I enjoyed the video .
Hugs from Utah . ✨️💕🌞🌻
For the ones interested, i would suggest to read Ernesto De Martino's "A theory from the South", which is an anthropological research about southern italy's superstitions, magics and esotherical traditions. Its language is obviously highly technical, but still very easy and enjoyable to read 😊
Is there anything that is only believed in the North or Center?
@@napoleonfeanorMost likely, but many Italian superstitions go deeper than regional, some are unique to villages and historically went no farther.
@@napoleonfeanor in Milan, traditionally you should keep a slice of panettone from Christmas to eat on 3rd February, St Blaise day. According to the legend, St Blaise saved a boy from chocking after ingesting a fish bone by giving him a piece of bread. He is therefore invoked when people have throat pain/diseases. So the idea is that by eating panettone on St Blaise's Day you keep throat issues away. It's however an old tradition (my grandparents followed it, my dad not really) and, as Milan has gotten more and more people from all over Italy, it's getting lost (very much like the dialect).
Wow!! What a great post. It brought back such great memories of my childhood. You made me cry. Grazie mille ciao franco. Sending you love and blessings from St.Croix U.S.V.I
and #13 is good luck. I have a necklace from my baptism almost 57 years ago and it has ALL ... the horseshoe, horn, MANO CORNUTO (another huge superstition in 2 ways, to give the horns or to prevent them when you turn your hand down), the 13 and then 2 religious charms (angel, sacred heart .. yep.. sent from Italy.
This was a very enjoyable idea for one of your episodes. I found it so interesting and entertaining. Grazie 🙏
Loved this episode!! Happy that our smiling chef had the week off!!🥰🥰
It's amazing that any Italian actually gets up in the morning, with all this to worry about.
not til 11 anyway lol
You have no idea. In America they insist on therapy
@calmeilles, we thrive on worry.. 🤣
You guys make me so happy.. Thank you for being you and sharing yourselves.
The Fear of AC/AirCon- in the strictest sense: yes, AC can make you sick, if you do not do regular maintenance, such as changing the filter on a regular basis.
Yes, all artificially controlled temperature of your home, will change the humidity inside the home, that includes wood burning fire. In the old country, they learned how to control the humidity centuries ago, and don't understand, the same measures should be taken with the AC.
I remember as a teen, I got a summer job working at a church child care center, where I was in charge of the older kids. We were put into the recreational building that had no AC. I would come home to the AC, and my sinuses couldn't handle the change in temperature and I'd spend all night fighting a sinus headache. After a week of this, I closed my AC vent, and my door at night, and slept with the windows open and a box fan.
The dehydrating effect of AC,- hence the pasta dow wreckage- is still soooo ill-managed, that when I worked in Paris CDG airport, back in my young student life, I knew, whether winter or summer-time, that I'd have to put up with chronic laryngitis for the whole length of my mission : I 'd walk in the premisses and lose half of my voice within 20 minutes, and sounded very successfully husky and seductive 😂, for the entire day, and would have this happen day in day out, with or without a scarf, jumper, jacket, YNI...! And I could drink myself sick, and try any trick, there was NO way I could ward it off ...
@@marie-suzankalogeropoulos9249 In my current part of Texas, the summer humidity is less than 10% anyway, so the AC isn't really changing anything. The Heat in the winter is problematic for us, because we get more precipitation in the colder months, and the heater strips it from the air. We keep pots of water simmering on the electric stove to help respiratory tissues not dry out too much.
In Finland we have the Hannunvaakuna, according to one view, the four loops of the coat of arms represent the spirits of the four air directions, which support the sky above the earth.
I wanted to read more about "colpo d'aria" and the first result was Google translate. It directly translates to English as "air stroke". 😂
Now, I know what you mean. If I fall asleep with the fan in the window, I will wake up with a stiff neck, joint aches, and sinus congestion. So I will call it "colpo d'aria" from here on out forever. ❤
It's even more crazy in Korea
@@napoleonfeanor where can I read about it? I'm certainly interested!!
It's curious since I used my air purifier as a fan as well, always have it on. I never get sick, whether the room is hot or cold. I hate stale unmoving air, but then again I rarely get sick.
@@jayc1139 I don't like still air either and it ONLY happens if I leave my window open overnight. We sleep with a/c on all summer. And a fan all winter. It has something to do with the outside overnight air coming in the window which is over my bed.
I also have a (Dyson) air cleaner with non-turbulence fan, and these nights I always keep it on full blast and my window open
I love Eva's tattoo ❤ at least if it's what I think it is. I'm so glad I get to witness your story continuing.
Mostly all Italians has tattoos. Hate it
Ava: “Eeef you buy a new brand car”….😂❤❤❤
But it was a brand car, not just any car 😉
Yup. This is one of my favorite videos from this channel; I grew up with or heard of many, if not most, of these.
Interesting. All of my grandparents were Italian, and Portuguese, from Lisbon, Rome, Calabria and Piemonte. I am Very familiar with all the practices you describe and practice them, especially the last one you mentioned...water on a plate, drops of olive oil and the prayer..I learned it from my grandmother and I know how to do it. I do this ritual until today, on myself and others If they ask...and I still have the original prayer my grandma used to say, whispeing. I even bought a Very special olive oil for this purpose.
I'm curious-- is the prayer a Christian prayer, or something different, older?
Thank you. Ya'll are so inspiring! To act locally, think globally. The economic/social culture reminds me of how my hometown in Appalachia is similar to the good folks of southern Italy.
Just ordered your book! Salt is an ancient cure to chase the devil and demons. Because the devil always approaches you from the left side, sinistra (sinister), salt is thrown over the left shoulder. The wine thing, I dunno...that is a very regional habit. About the corno: well, in Rome during the empire a large penis was a symbol of good luck, lol. And, why not, right? Love you guys. God bless and keep you.
I believe salt is still added to baptismal water to make it pure.
Any kind of negative or bad spell, purify the house and salt the front and back doors, as well as the corners (north, south, east, west). Negative people have difficulty rousing the threshold of a salted door.
Roman soldiers were payed in salt.
It was that precious.
The word "salary" is derived from "salt"
Pretty sure that Calabria is the most superstitious part of Italy... OK maybe it's a tie with Sicily.
But for sure both of these regions still continue the tradition of following many old superstitions (or at least going through the motions) than the rest of Italy.
Campania and Apulia are the worst ones.
Stuck in the past
@@tbirdparis are they the most Catholic? My mom had tons of these superstitions, and she was Catholic. Not Italian, but indigenous Canadian
When we were travelling in India, we would be served chai (which translates "tea" FYI, so you don't need to say "chai tea"), and if it was hot, we would ask for a cold drink. (!) In a restaurant, servers would be super reluctant. A friend finally explained that drinking hot and cold drinks together will give you "squeezing stomach."
I've heard that 13 is unlucky because that's how many people were at the last supper, and immediately after that Jesus was betrayed.
One of my favorites! Love Italian culture, and village life stories
In Sicily,
"Night air is bad"
That's right.
No matter how hot or stifling your bedroom is at night during the summer, don't you dare open up a window in case you let in the dreaded night air.
Sorry to Sicilians if I going full cliché, but I'm pretty sure that there are things you'd better not see/hear that happens at night in some places in Sicily.
So that night air is indeed bad.
I will wear a scarf around my neck in the summer in new york...you never know when you catch a wind around the corner...
This was once a common misbelief far outside of Italy. We all used to hear it as kids growing up in the 60s.
Night air will cause illness, is probably left over from when malaria was common in Italy. It is only a couple of generations ago.
Night air will cause illness is probably left over from when malaria was common in Italy. That is only a couple of generations ago.
Very similar superstitions in ex Yugoslav balkan countries. While wind can make us sick, the draft is deadly.
Really enjoyed the video, KR
My grandparents have a superstition about taking the salt shaker from someone's hand. And they have added their own twist: they wont tell you what you're doing wrong. They just wont take it. They just stare at you waiting for you to get tired of waiting and put it down on the table. Oddly enough, the pepper mill doesn't have this same rule.
Romanians have a similar belief about wind. We call it “curent” which I think really means draft. But either way it’s supposed to make you sick.
Most of the food based superstitions are based on Food being precious, and we must always respect and treasure food. To treat the loss of food cavalierly, is to insult the 'higher powers' that supplied that food [whichever religion and religious dieties was prevalent at the time].
The action to thwart the bad luck, was an act of contrition, to show they weren't disrespecting the diety, and they were willing to lose some food to prove it.
As far as I know, the earliest possible date for Good Friday is March 19, since Easter cannot be earlier than the equinox on the 21st
Happy Sunday Blessings!!! 🌞
Toured Italy with my parents in 1974 at 16 after saving money for three years and had a great time, the food was great so was the wine and beer and the country is beautiful just like the women...I love your voice.
Once had a very brilliant Turkish doctor, but she turned completely Medieval if someone mentioned her beaded necklace that had special beads for warding off the evil eye.😅
Being an ATLA fan I’m now convinced that the Italians would either be earth benders or fire benders
Pasta benders.
Perfect timing! I just refilled a bottle of Olive oil and knocked it onto the tile floor. We were literally asking how Italians clean it up but this is more fun! Good to know about the wine too! Love this!
Red Ribbon, Evil eye! "Molocchio", Italian horn, the Cimuruta, "Rhue branch amulet'", Mano Corno, "Horned hand", Figa, Quadrofoglio "four-leaf clover", a new broom, And more.
oh my...according to Eva I should be terminally ill....or dead at least LOL
My grandparents were from the Puglia region. People would come to my grandmother for her to remove the Malocchio. I remember her doing the prayers for my father and his headache miraculously went away. But she then had the headache and told me she had to take it from him because she was stronger and could fight it. She told me always to wear some metal - even a hair pin to ward off the evil eye.
We have some of the same superstitions here in Brazil.
Colpo D'Aria, that episode of the Sopranos where its windy and Tony is having trouble with his meds and hallucinates an Italian exchange student just took on a whole new meaning for me.
Let me tell you about a contorted face with a colpo d’aria!!! The air conditioner was blowing on my face and neck, and at the age of 20 I got Bells Palsy!!!!!! And yes, it was from a colpo d’aria from the air conditioner!!!! That was a contorted face!!! My maternal grandmother, Immacolata, was the remover of the malocchio in my family!!! She did the prayer over the water and the oil as Ava said, and usually three times, and the headache passed right away along with the malocchio!!!!! I’m so sorry I never paid full attention to learn the words to the prayer myself! This was a great video, it brought back a lot of memories!
I remember my grandfather doing this for me and my grandmother swore me to secrecy saying it was from the old country and they were not allowed to do that now. They are both long gone and all of their knowledge with them.😢
Have the same concept here in Greece, called Mati or Kako mati. Translated to "Evil eye". Usually something brought on by jealous individuals saying something or thinking evil thoughts about an individual. The individual afflicted by this let’s call it a "curse"if they are weak in spirit symptoms can range from mild uneasiness to feeling completely sick as if suffering from the flu. At this point most will call a friend or relative who has the ability to remove this curse. It involves saying a special prayer for the individual over a glass of water with olive oil. I do not have the prayer or how to use it but the prayer can not be told to you but is passed on anonymously from a person of the opposite sex and in writing with detailed instructions on how to preform the ritual. Now being a skeptic in the past I have seen first hand the results of the evil eye. There are charms made of blue glass that are made to look like eyes that will keep away the evil eye. This belief is also common in Turkey as well.
Blessings from Almighty God!
Bell’s Palsy is NOT caused by the AC or wind blowing on your neck. Bell’s Palsy is cause by the inflammation of the 7th Cranial nerve, and can usually be tracked back to some type of viral infection.
Ridiculous. Bell's Palsy is a virus. I got it after I had a reaction to the Salk Polio Vaccine.
I LOOOVED this video so much! I learned a new one, the red pouch I’ve never heard of before. My mother was Calabrian so the rest I know. Bread to my mom was always the most precious. The body of Christ.
Harper, don’t joke about’ colpo d’aria, we take it very seriously
@10:00 - I have heard many stories from my Sicilian relatives about how the "wind" will make you sick. When my great-aunt was visiting she was super hot and opened a window, and was told she had to close it for fear of them getting sick
Spilling Salt as bad luck, toss some over your left shoulder. The only place I've seen that, was on Rachel Ray's cooking shows, and her mother's family are Scillian.
Every day!
I got my cookbook and I love it and can't stop looking at it, it is so beautiful and great cover to cover❤
I have heard all of these my mother was half Sicilian her mother which is my grandma was full Sicilian I heard all of that's growing up wintertime summertime didn't matter they're all gone now into heaven I miss them everyday
Omg, kissing bread is also something we (Turkish people) do. When I was watching some of your videos, I noticed how much Eva respects food and I thought my late mother would have loved Eva to bits.
I love how she pronnounces hair "eeiirrrrr" its so cute ❤ you got to love italian people! Tanti saluti da Croazia! Siete meravigliosi a adoro il vostro canale!
I love Eva, she reminds me so much of my long passed Italian Aunts, but with a refreshing modern twist. ❤
First time I met my wifes parents in Uzbekistan, I whistled "inside" the house. That is a major nono! I was told, in no uncertain terms, to stop. 🙂
That's because it's annoying.
Not allowing arms to cross while shaking hands in a group. Same with clinking glasses after a toast. Wonderful show.
Are these superstitions common in all of Italy or just in southern Italy? Calabria? Ancestors several thousand years ago came from the Aegean Islands. Did they bring these superstitions and customs with them? Bread? A sacred item in the Church, it represents the body of Christ. In the Orthodox Church bread is passed out to the people after the liturgy. It is given to those who had not prepared themselves to receive the sacrament of communion but if they have not eaten before the liturgy they may partake of it before eating after church otherwise it should be eaten the very next morning before having Drank or eaten anything. It’s interesting how these variations of superstition are shared by people of the eastern Mediterranean region. We have the same thing with the Evil Eye commonly called Tō Mati or Kakō Mati. Same as to how you get it and how it’s cured.
They are common in most of the Southern part of Italy, but also in most part of the Southern countries of Europe, as Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc.
Oh boy does this bring back memories. I was pregnant and went to visit my mother. I made the mistake of mentioning how pretty the neighbours flowers were. My mom leaves the kitchen where I was sitting and then I look out the window to see my 60 year old mother with the ladder climbing to get me one of the flowers lolol. Apparently if you desire something when you are pregnant and don't get it, it will leave a beauty mark on your unborn child. Therefore, if you crave chocolate, etc and you don't have any you should touch the back of your leg and avoid your face.
When I was an alter boy, after the Sunday service, we would wash the crumbs from the Communion wafer tray and the drops in the wine chalice in a special sink with a drain that was not connected to the public waste water system, but had its own underground drain field entirely on sanctified, Church grounds.
That is NOT a superstition. Catholic Churches are still built with a special sink that drains into the holy ground.
@@jerikaylesneski - some Lutherans as well. And correct, not technically a “superstition;” an act of respect may be more correct.
@@johnburk6564 Yeah, considering that, in Catholic theology, the bread and wine are literally transformed into God, it would be sacrilegious to pour God down the drain and into the sewer!
I am a Eucharistic minister and we rinse the chalice and ciborium in one side of the sink, especially designed for consecrated bread and wine, the precious body and blood of Christ.
In Tibetan Buddhism, after food and flowers are offered on the shrine to the Buddhas during a ceremony, they are never thrown in the trash, but brought outside and placed in a clean, high place. It is believed the spirits and ghosts can receive those offering leftovers and that it benefits them.
My Aunt Toni told me when I road my new bicycle and a bird pooped on me it was good luck, she was very excited!
The best part is superstition is I don't believe in any!😂😂😂😂
Hello Harper & Ava.
I Love Your Videos.
Here's MY Opinion and Some Scientific Fact about Some of the Information in the Video.
1. Good Luck Charms - In a way I can Agree with that partly due to the Placebo Effect. If someone Believes that having whatever Good Luck Charm will Protect or Bring Good Luck to them, then Why Not. I have had for MANY Years a Gold Cornicello Pendant which was a Gift and I rarely ever take it off.
2. Wet Hair - Some Fact & Some Superstition. Leaving the Bathroom with Wet Hair is NOT gonna make You Sick. Going Outside on a warm to HOT day will NOT get You Sick. Going Outside in Cold to Freezing Temperatures with Wet Hair Can and Most likely get You Sick. due to Heat that escapes from Your Head will NOT be kept in or Protected due to the Hair being and staying Cold or Freezing which will then lower Your Body Temperature which Can cause You to get Sick.
3. Bare Feet - Sort of Yes in certain conditions but NO in most others. Bare Feet in a Warm environment like in a House or even Outside will NOT cause You to get sick. Standing on a Cold Floor or going Outside while it's Cold Can cause Your Body Temperature to lower due to Heat Loss through Your Feet.
4. Air Conditioning - Yes and No. No for a lot of the time. Yes for that when You have the Temperature Too Cold and You go Inside and Outside and keep having Temperature Changes, in a short period of time then Yes You Can get Sick. Having the Air Conditioner blowing directly on You can cause You to have Aches & Pains, Stiff Neck, get Sick if Your Immune System is low. As for the Pasta there's Scientific Fact that the Air Conditioner also draws the Moisture out of the Air. As an Example which Most People can Attest to is when You get into a Car with the Windows All Fogged Up on the Inside, You turn on the A/C even if You set the Temperature to Warm or even keep it on Cool, the Windows on the Inside will start to NOT be Fogged Up after a few minutes.
5. Wind - Yes and No. The Wind which lowers the Ambient Temperature below a certain Temperature, the Wind when it's Cold and Humid out especially in the Winter Can cause You to get Sick. I have been in more than a few conditions with Cold, Wind, Cold & Wind while Me being with Wet Hair and Dry Hair. I got Sick but NOT where I had the Flu. I have in over 50+ Years only had the Flu less than 5 times but Sick with a normal cold many times that had nothing to due with Wind, A/C, Wet Hair or being Bare Foot.
6. Spilling Olive Oil - Sort of could be Yes. Spill it and the Glass Bottle breaks. You could Cut Your Foot if You're Bare Foot, You could Slip & Fall due to it being Super Slippery. Ascfor throwing Salt, there could be some but small truth to it. The Salt will give You some Traction on the Spilled Olive Oil.
7. Spilling Wine Superstition - I just don't understand or get that one at all except for if there's Borken Glass and You could get Cut from it.
8. Kissing Bread - Don't fully understand this either.
9. The Number 17 - I can understand the Superstition Sort of but it's just that.
10. Single Ladies - Totally don't get it or Understand it.
11. Broom Sweeping - Accidentally having Feet Swept and Never being Married. Not True. I've seen it done to both Single Men and Single Women who have also later on have been Married.
12. Maloccio: The Evil Eye - Sort of understand this when it's given to Young Kids who are scared or intimidated by someone who Gives them the Evil Eye. Which will then Scare them or make them Cry. I've seen it happen many times growing up. Now as an Adult, No. I don't believe that. I've had quite a few times had people give Me the Evil Eye and had nothing negative happen to Me ever. Unfortunately a few of them who gave Me the Evil Eye, had something happen to them either shortly afterwards or Up to a few days later. Carma maybe on them? Who knows.
Ava and Harper - I Wish Both of You a Lifetime of GOOD LUCK!
2:38 Wow. That's funny. In Chinese culture, they give red envelopes filled with something as gifts during Lunar New Year.
Now I know why my Italian Step Dad always insisted on feet being covered and that we had “warm feet”!
Also the air con thing actually makes sense because the fluctuation of temperatures as you go in and out does put your body under stress and it is a way germs can be spread around easily.
My aunt in Avellino said when you enter a house you need to step across the threshold not on the threshold. She yelled at me when I did that telling me it's bad luck. My mom made a small pouch of salt when I was an infant and attached it to my diaper to keep the evil eye away. We also had the "Peperoncino Rosso" or horn made of plastic for good luck. Also mom told me if you are at someone's house and you feel like someone is giving you the evil eye I was to touch something made of iron to expel the evil eye immediately. On Christmas Eve we always had to leave some food in dishes for the Christ Child who's spirit would visit . My mom had a gold charm that was a number 13 for good luck. It's bad luck to give someone a sewing needle...that's a weird one from part of my family from Piemonte.
It was really bad luck if the bread was placed upside down...it always had to be flat side down...my parents said it was disrespectful to Christ ( host is bread) still to this day of if I see a loaf of bread on its side or upside down I have to put it flat side down.
I was told about that threshold thing in Turkey too!
@@donnalamb5830wow... we're all Mediterraneans.
I am from Georgia 🇬🇪 (country) and we have all the same superstitions except the 17 one. That’s so interesting
One day I saw my Sicilian father freak out when seeing his shoes on the floor facing the opposite direction.
My Grandmother (not Italian) had the same reaction to shoes facing the opposite direction. I believe it was something about your soul splitting in two. Don't get me started on how much she would freak out if someone put a hat on a bed! :)
We have a similar thing, going back to my grandmother, who was romani. If you put shoes on a table, you have to throw them out. If I put brand new shoes on a table, not even worn, I am pretty sure my mother would put them in, as people would say in the US, the trash
@@jamesbowring9528actors have the shoe suspicion. There are tables back stage with costume pieces, ready for quick changes. Everything is on the table ready for the next act, but if you put 👟 on the table, cast or crew will immediately put them on the floor and warn you never to do so again
Oh yes! No hats on beds or on tables!
Putting shoes on a table or wearing them on the bad is a sign of being poor. ...probable in the mind.
Fun, fun video!! My maternal grandmother was from Sicily and so many of these I grew up with! Thank you! For the memories!