Superstitious

[kybearfuzz]

I come from a very superstitious lot. My dad would literally turn the car around if a black cat crossed the street in front of him and he once made me "un-walk" under a ladder that I had crept beneath. My mom would always say that misfortune occurs in threes and to this day finds the time "11:11" on her VCR as a portent of something unnerving that has yet to occur. My sister believes that an itchy palm is a sign of good luck coming and the bizarre pseduo-psychic antics of my older, identical twin brothers speak for themselves. And that's just the immediate family. Some members of my extended family are even worse. Growing up with such things left me with an unusual sensitivity to superstition. Logically, I know that they are not true, but in the back of my mind I have always wondered if it could be legit.

This week two coworkers in my branch have experienced tragedy. The first lost his father after a long illness on Monday. The other took his family's beloved pet cat into the vet Wednesday morning to be declawed and, for some yet unexplained reason, the cat died.

Wednesday night I had a disturbing dream in which bad things happened to a certain LJ-er friend of mine. It unnerved me to the point that I nearly sent him an IM yesterday to make sure he was okay. I wont say who, as I think he already believes me to be strange and I think relaying that I had a bad dream about him definitely would fuel that opinion. Needless to say, since he posted recently, I think he's doing alright.

Am I the only one who feels this way at times, or am I strange indeed?

Comments

What dreams may come ...

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

The older I get, the less I believe in superstitions and supernatural "stuff." But ya just have to wonder about DREAMS. Psychologists will tell us they are nothing more than the usual manifestations of our brains, but I hate when dreams are dismissed so casually, because I frequently have SPECTACULAR dreams. And I have also had dreams like the one you mention, dreams that made me want to contact someone to see if they are all right (and they invariably ARE!).

Six or seven years ago a good friend of mine died from a bee sting. He was at his home out in the country, he didn't have access to epinephrine, and that was that. A couple of years later I had a dream that I was at his house, and I saw him out in his backyard. I knew he was dead, I knew this was a spectre, and he was dressed in dusty brown leather gear as though he was "on the road," travelling on some spiritual plane. The very next day I wanted to drive out to his old house, because I just KNEW that if I sat out in the yard and put myself in just the right frame of mind, I would be able to maybe catch a glimpse of him. But I never did.

I say DREAMS are about the strangest, most genuinely supernatural phenomena we have regular experience with.

Re: What dreams may come ...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I do like how you put that. I had a dream about my maternal grandmother once and it was one of the warmest images of her I recall.

I've only had one other of those "OMG! Call him!" dreams before. It was my dad back when he was living, but still ill. I did call and he was doing fine, but the worry lingered.

[sweetjimmyto.livejournal.com]

Step on a crack ... break your momma's back.

That sort of stuff would get under my skin as well.

Not so much anymore. I think it's the lack of religion in my life.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Well, it is almost funny the little things we grow up that still hang on as adults.

[spatts5.livejournal.com]

My mom always said an itchy palm meant you were going to get some money (in my case an itchy palm means dry skin). I do avoid walking under ladders.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

That sounds like my sister. If my palm itches, she wants to high five me so it will "rub off" on her.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

How did he react to it? Or did you tell him?

I'm sure he was happy that you were checking on him.