Dreams and their meanings

ACORN
Dreaming of acorns predicts pleasant things & that much gain is to be expected.
For a woman to dream of eating acorns denotes that she will rise to a position of ease & pleasure.
To dream of shaking acorns from a tree means that you will rapidly attain your wishes in business or love.
AIRPORT
In a dream the sight of a busy airport represents the desire for freedom and/or travel.
If the airport is empty and deserted your own travel plans will be changed or delayed.
ALMONDS
If you see almonds in your dream you'll have a temporary sorrow.
If you ate and enjoyed them, you'll be lucky, but if they tasted bitter, you should delay any contemplated changes for as long as possible.
ANGELS
A favorable dream forecasting success, protection, happiness, and rewarding friendships.
BABY
To see a baby in your dream signifies innocence, warmth and new beginnings. A love affair may be blooming for you in your near future. You will also make new and fun friends.
If a woman dreams she is nursing a baby, she will be deceived by the one she trusts the most
BALLOON
Seeing balloons in your dream indicates a dashing of hope on any and all fronts, business or love, as well as a general falling off of all kinds of businesses you may be involved in.
If you are ascending in a balloon this is an omen of especially frustrating conditions in your life.
BEAR
To dream of killing a bear foretells liberation from entanglements.
BED
To dream of a clean, white bed denotes the end of worries.
If a woman dreams of making a bed, there will soon be a new lover in her life.
BICYCLE
To dream of riding a bicycle uphill signifies bright prospects.
To dream of riding downhill calls for care - misfortune is near.
BIRDS
Flying birds are a sign of prosperity to the dreamer.
BIRTH
If you dream of death it's a sign of a birth, if you dream of birth, it's a sign of death.
BUTTERFLY
To see a butterfly among flowers indicates prosperity.
To see butterflies flying around denotes news from absent friends by letter or from someone who has seen them.
CANDLES
To see candles burning with a clear and steady flame denotes the constancy of those around you and a well-grounded fortune.
CATS
Dreaming of a cat is a generally unfortunate omen and it shows treachery as well as a run of bad luck.
Cats attacking you represent enemies; if you succeed banishing them you will overcome great obstacles and rise in fortune and fame.
CROW
Seeing a crow in your dream means disappointment in everything, grief and misfortune.
CROWN
To dream of a crown predicts a change in your life. The dreamer will travel a long distance from home & form new relationships.
DEATH
If you dream of death it's a sign of a birth, if you dream of birth, it's a sign of death.
DANCING
To dream that you are dancing means that some unexpected good fortune will come to you.
DECEASED PERSON
If you should dream of a deceased person and this person speaks only to you, pay close attention to what the spirit is telling you as it could be very important to you.
To dream of seeing a deceased person is normally a dream of warning, and it tells you that the influences around you at this time do not bode well for your affairs, and you should not enter into any binding contracts or verbal agreements.
DIAMONDS
To dream of owning diamonds is a very promising dream signifying great honor and recognition from high places.
DOG
To dream about a dog indicates great gain and constant friends.
To hear the barking of dogs foretells news of depressing nature. Difficulties are more likely to follow.
DRAGONFLY
If you dream that a dragonfly lands on your body then you will have excellent news from someone far away from home.
If you see a dead dragonfly, then the news will be bad.
A dragonfly perched gracefully on some other object shows that you will soon be having guests that may be hard to get rid of.
DRIVING
If you dream that you are driving a vehicle it is a sign that you should be careful to take no chances with your money, such as gambling, in the next two weeks or so.
If someone else is doing the driving you will find yourself in luck, money wise.
FACE
To dream of a smiling face signifies pleasant new friends, experiences, and/or financial gains.
To dream of unpleasant or grotesque (unless amusingly so) faces portend loss.
To dream you are washing your face denotes a necessity to atone for some past indiscretion; better make amends!
To see the faces of strangers signifies an approaching change of residence.
FALLING
To dream of falling indicates a loss of emotional equilibrium or self-control. It may represent your insecurity, a lack of self-confidence, a fear of failure or an inability to cope with a situation.
If you fall a long distance in your dream and get hurt, be prepared for really hard times ahead; but if you fall and are not injured your upsets will be minor and temporary.
GANG
To dream that you are confronted or threatened by a gang signifies circumstances or situations in your waking life which are overwhelming and you feel have ganged up on you.
GARDEN
To see a vegetable garden in your dream symbolizes increased prosperity will come your way through diligence and care. It also suggests of stability and inner growth.
To see a flower garden in your dream foretells of tranquility, comfort, true love and happy home in your future.
To see a sparse, weed-infested garden denotes that you have neglected your spiritual needs.
GLOVES
To dream of gloves means that you will have a lawsuit or business troubles, but you will settle them in a manner that satisfies you.
To find a pair of gloves denotes a marriage or new love affair.
HAIR
Dreaming about hair means that you are careless in your personal affairs and will lose advancement by neglecting mental application.
HAIRDRESSER
For a woman to dream of going to a hairdresser shows she will soon be entangled in some family scandal concerning the morals of a member of her family. Should she have her hair dyed, she will narrowly escape imprisonment.
For a man to dream of a hairdresser will presage much gossip or a need to dominate a beautiful woman.
HAM
If you dream of eating ham then you will lose something that means a lot to you.
HONEY
To dream of eating honey foretells that you will attain wealth and love.
ICE
Sitting on ice in your dreams is a dream of the contrary.
ICE CREAM
Eating, making, selling or serving ice cream suggests that you are feeling contentment and satisfaction in your life.
JAIL
To dream that your lover is in jail signifies that this lover is deceitful and untrustworthy.
To dream that you are in jail signifies your feelings of confinement and suffocation.
JAM
If you dream of eating jam you will suffer embarrassment at the hands of a woman through no fault of your own.
KANGAROO
Seeing a kangaroo in your dreams foretells unexpected and exciting trips.
KEYS
To dream of keys denotes unexpected change. If the keys are lost, unpleasant adventures will affect you. To find keys means domestic peace and success in business.
KILLING
If you dreamed of killing someone, whether intentionally or by accident, it signifies a period of severe emotional stress during which you must make a heroic effort to control your temper.
LETTER
To dream of receiving a letter from a friend foretells their arrival or that you will hear from them soon.
LIGHTS
A light shining out of the dark, or a flashlight beam, shows that you will finally find the truth in a situation or the answer to a personal problem that you have been searching for. If the light is dim, you will only find part of the solution.
MAGIC
Any form of magic in a dream predicts unexpected changes.
To dream of being mystified and/or amused by a magician indicates a reunion with a long-lost friend or the rekindling of a past love affair.
MARRIAGE
Dreaming of a marriage, or a wedding, is the sign of a death in the family. If the marriage was between strangers, then the death pertains to a not too close acquaintance or friend.
MICE
Dreaming of mice foretells domestic troubles or that business affairs will assume a discouraging tone.
If you dream of a mouse jumping on you or getting in your clothing, then you will be involved in a scandal with a friend.
MONKEY
To dream of a monkey denotes that you have deceitful friends who will flatter you to advance their own interests.
NECK
A dream featuring the neck is a sign of approaching money, unless the dream concerned a broken neck, in which case it is a warning against mismanagement of your affairs.
NECKLACE
If you dream of losing a necklace you will soon be suffering bereavement of a loved one.
If you dream your loved one places a necklace around your neck or that you are wearing one, it shows an early marriage and a happy domestic life.
NEEDLE
To find a needle predicts that you will have friends who appreciate you.
To look for a needle foretells useless worries.
OAK TREE
To dream of an old, spreading oak means long life and prosperity. If it is filled with acorns you are due a promotion or some type of increase in your life.
If a newlywed sees many oak trees in a forest it foretells a long marriage and many children.
OCEAN
If you dream you are standing on shore and watching the waves foam up as they break over the beach foretells that you will have some narrow escape from an accidental injury.
If you are far out on the ocean and hear the waves as they lap against the hull of the ship, you will have setbacks in your business and a troubled domestic scene.
To sail on a calm ocean is always a good omen for all concerned.
OWL
To dream of an owl denotes a narrow escape from desperate illness or death.
RACCOON
To dream of a raccoon warns you to be on your guard.. To see a raccoon in your dream shows that people are presenting false faces to you in your everyday life.
To be chased by a raccoon shows that a person you thought a friend has turned on you and now works behind your back for your downfall.
RAPE
Take this dream as a warning. Take precautions, protect yourself emotionally and physically and don't engage in careless behaviors.
ROSE
If a woman dreams of receiving a rose and places it in her hair then will she be deceived by someone thought of as a good friend.
If she receives a bouquet of roses in the Springtime she will find true love but if it is winter her search will be fruitless.
To see a rose bush in full foliage denotes a wedding in the family.
RUNNING
Dream of running: a sign of a big change in your life.
SNAKES
To see a lone snake and feel threatened by it shows that you have a bad enemy that is working against you, it also a warning against bodily harm from an enemy.
To dream of many snakes in a pit is the foreboding of much bad luck in love or business.
Should you overcome and kill a threatening snake in your dream shows that you will overcome your adversary and win out.
SPIDERS
All spiders except tarantulas are omens of good luck. The larger the spider, the bigger the rewards.
If you see a spider climbing the wall you will have your dearest wish come true.
If you see a spider spinning a web you will have an increase in your income due to hard work.
TATTOOS
If you dream you are a tattoo artist and you are tattooing someone's body you will soon break with friends or family over strange practices.
If you dream you are the one being tattooed you will become the target for a strangers jealousy but if you see someone else with tattoos then you will take a long, hard journey from home.
TEA
To dream that you are thirsty for tea means that you will be surprised with uninvited guests.
TEETH
If you dream of having false teeth this indicates that you will have unexpected help on a problem.
To dream of rotten teeth shows that you have been telling someone a lie or using your smooth words for getting your own way.
If your teeth are rotten, crooked, and/or falling out this means that your lies are hurting someone very badly and that you will soon be found out.
If you dream you have swallowed a tooth you will soon have too 'eat your words'
UMBRELLA
Carrying a closed umbrella in the rain is highly unfortunate for the dreamer and his business plans.
To dream of carrying an open umbrella in the rain is a very fortunate sign that speaks of good luck in most endeavors.
A leaky umbrella denotes quarrels with loved ones.
WATER
Dreaming of clear water is a sign of great good luck and prosperity, a dream of muddy water foretells sadness or sorry for the dreamer through hearing of an illness or death of someone he/she knows well.
Dirty water warns of unscrupulous people who would bring you to ruin.
YARN
To dream of yarn shows you will soon become the wife of a wealthy man.

Superstitions

ACORN
An acorn should be carried to bring luck and ensure a long life.
An acorn at the window will keep lightning out

AMBER
Amber beads, worn as a necklace, can protect against illness or cure colds.

AMBULANCE
Seeing an ambulance is very unlucky unless you pinch your nose or hold your breath until you see a black or a brown dog.
Touch your toes
Touch your nose
Never go in one of those
Until you see a dog.

APPLE
Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.

BABY
To predict the sex of a baby: Suspend a wedding band held by a piece of thread over the palm of the pregnant girl. If the ring swings in an oval or circular motion the baby will be a girl. If the ring swings in a straight line the baby will be a boy.

BASEBALL BAT
Spit on a new bat before using it for the first time to make it lucky

BED
It's bad luck to put a hat on a bed.
If you make a bedspread, or a quilt, be sure to finish it or marriage will never come to you
Placing a bed facing north and south brings misfortune.
You must get out of bed on the same side that you get in or you will have bad luck.
When making the bed, don't interrupt your work, or you will spend a restless night in it.

BEE
If a bee enters your home, it's a sign that you will soon have a visitor. If you kill the bee, you will have bad luck, or the visitor will be unpleasant.
A swarm of bees settling on a roof is an omen that the house will burn down.

BELL
The sound of bells drives away demons because they're afraid of the loud noise.
When a bell rings, a new angel has received his wings.

BIRD
A bird in the house is a sign of a death.
If a robin flies into a room through a window, death will shortly follow.

BIRTH
Monday's child is fair of face;
Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is full of woe;
Thursday's child has far to go;
Friday's child is loving and giving;
Saturday's child works hard for a living.
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
is fair and wise, good and gay.

BIRTHDAY CAKE
If you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake with the first puff you will get your wish.

BLARNEY STONE
The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of persuasive eloquence (blarney.)

BLUE
To protect yourself from witches, wear a blue bead.
Touch blue
And your wish
Will come true.

BREAD
Before slicing a new loaf of bread, make the sign of the cross on it.
A loaf of bread should never be turned upside down after a slice has been cut from it.

BRIDGE
If you say good-bye to a friend on a bridge, you will never see each other again.

BROOM
Do not lean a broom against a bed. The evil spirits in the broom will cast a spell on the bed.
If you sweep trash out the door after dark, it will bring a stranger to visit.
If someone is sweeping the floor and sweeps over your feet, you'll never get married.
Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one.
To prevent an unwelcome guest from returning, sweep out the room they stayed in immediately after they leave.

BUTTERFLY
If the first butterfly you see in the year is white, you will have good luck all year.
Three butterflies together mean good luck.

CANDLE
If a candle lighted as part of a ceremony blows out, it is a sign that evil spirits are nearby.

CALF
If the first calf born during the winter is white, the winter will be a bad one.

CAT
If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.
Keep cats away from babies because they "suck the breath" of the child.
A cat onboard a ship is considered to bring luck.

CHEEKS
If your cheeks suddenly feel on fire, someone is talking about you.

CHILL
If you get a chill up your back or goose bumps, it means that someone is walking over your grave.

CHIMNEY SWEEP
It's very lucky to meet a chimney sweep by chance. Make a wish when sighting one and the wish will come true.

CIGARETTES
It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same match.

CIRCLE
Evil spirits can't harm you when you stand inside a circle.

CLOCK
If a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family.

CLOVER
It's good luck to find a four-leaf clover.
Clover protects human beings and animals from the spell of magicians and the wiles of fairies, and brings good luck to those who keep it in the house.

COIN
It's bad luck to pick up a coin if it's tails side up. Good luck comes if it's heads up.

COMB
To drop a comb while you are combing your hair is a sign of a coming disappointment.

COUGH
To cure a cough: take a hair from the coughing person's head, put it between two slices of buttered bread, feed it to a dog, and say, "Eat well you hound, may you be sick and I be sound."

COW
Cows lifting their tails are a sure sign that rain is coming.

CRACK
Don't step on a crack on a sidewalk or walkway.
Step on a crack
Break your mother's back.

CRICKET
A cricket in the house brings good luck.

COUNTING CROWS
One's bad,
Two's luck,
Three's health,
Four's wealth,
Five's sickness,
Six is death.

DANDELION
Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.

DOG
A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen.

DOOR
It's bad luck to leave a house through a different door than the one used to come into it.

EARS
If your right ear itches, someone is speaking well of you.
If your left ear itches, someone is speaking ill of you.
Left for love and right for spite:
Left or right, good at night.

EASTER
For good luck throughout the year, wear new clothes on Easter.

ELEPHANT
Pictures of an elephant bring luck, but only if they face a door.

EYE
If your right eye twitches there will soon be a birth in the family. If the left eye twitches there will soon be a death in the family.
To cure a sty, stand at a crossroads and recite
Sty, sty, leave my eye
Take the next one coming by.

EYELASH
If an eyelash falls out, put it on the back of the hand, make a wish and throw it over your shoulder. If it flies off the hand the wish will be granted.

FINGERNAILS
It is bad luck to cut your fingernails on Friday or Sunday.
Fingernail cuttings should be saved, burned, or buried.

FISH
A fish should always be eaten from the head toward the tail.
Dream of fish: someone you know is pregnant.

FISHING
Throw back the first fish you catch then you'll be lucky the whole day fishing.
If you count the number of fish you caught, you will catch no more that day.
It's bad luck to say the word "pig" while fishing at sea.

FLAG
It brings bad luck for a flag to touch the ground.

FLOWER
First Flower of Spring: The day you find the first flower of the season can be used as an omen:
Monday means good fortune,
Tuesday means greatest attempts will be successful,
Wednesday means marriage,
Thursday means warning of small profits,
Friday means wealth,
Saturday means misfortune,
Sunday means excellent luck for weeks.

FOOT
If the bottom of your right foot itches, you are going to take a trip.

FORK
To drop a fork means a man is coming to visit.

FRIDAY
A bed changed on Friday will bring bad dreams.
Any ship that sails on Friday will have bad luck.
You should never start a trip on Friday or you will meet misfortune.
Never start to make a garment on Friday unless you can finish it the same day.

FRIDAY THE 13TH
How did Friday the thirteenth become such an unlucky day?
Fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities combine to make one super unlucky day.
There is a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.
There is a Biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.
A particularly bad Friday the 13th occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.
In ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.
Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.
It is traditionally believed that Eve tempted Adam with the apple on a Friday. Tradition also has it that the Flood in the Bible, the confusion at the Tower of Babel, and the death of Jesus Christ all took place on Friday.
Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labours of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, 13's association with bad luck has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.
More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
Many airports skip the 13th gate.
Airplanes have no 13th aisle.
Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue
In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.
Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.
If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names.

FROG
A frog brings good luck to the house it enters.
The dried body of a frog worn in a silk bag around the neck averts epilepsy and other fits.

GOOD FRIDAY
(The Friday before Easter)A child born on Good Friday and baptized on Easter Sunday has a gift of healing. If a boy, he should go into the ministry.
Cut your hair on Good Friday to prevent headaches in the year to come
A person who dies on Good Friday will go right to heaven.
Shed no blood on Good Friday, work no wood, hammer no nail.

HAIR
Pulling out a grey or white hair will cause ten more to grow in its place.

HAND
If the palm of your right hand itches it means you will soon be getting money.
If the palm of your left hand itches it means you will soon be paying out money.

HORSESHOE
A horseshoe, hung above the doorway, will bring good luck to a home. In most of Europe protective horseshoes are placed in a downward facing position, but in some parts of Ireland and Britain people believe that the shoes must be turned upward or "the luck will run out."
A horseshoe hung in the bedroom will keep nightmares away.

ITCH
If your nose itches you will soon be kissed by a fool.
If your nose itches
Your mouth is in danger.
You'll kiss a fool,
And meet a stranger.
Rub an itch to wood
It will come to good.

IVY
Ivy growing on a house protects the inhabitants from witchcraft and evil.

KNIFE
A knife as a gift from a lover means that the love will soon end.
A knife placed under the bed during childbirth will ease the pain of labour.
If a friend gives you a knife, you should give him a coin, or your friendship will soon be broken.
It will cause a quarrel if knives are crossed at the table.
It is bad luck to close a pocket knife unless you were the one who opened it.
Knife falls, gentleman calls;
Fork falls, lady calls;
Spoon falls, baby calls.

KNITTING
It's bad luck to leave a project unfinished. The intended recipient will get bad luck from the unfinished item.
Stabbing your needles though your yarn balls brings bad luck to anyone who wears something made from that yarn.
Don't knit a pair of socks for your boyfriend or he'll walk away from you.
If you knit one of your own hairs into a garment, it will bind the recipient to you.
Knitting for children you may have in the future, but before you are pregnant, is bad luck (it may prevent one from getting pregnant, or bring ill health to the baby).

LADDER
It is bad luck to walk under a ladder.

LADYBUG
If a young girl catches a ladybug and then releases it, the direction in which it flies away will be the direction from which her future husband will come.
It is bad luck to kill a ladybug.
Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home.
Your house is on fire,
Your children all roam.

LEAF
If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.

LETTUCE
Lettuce is believed to have magical and healing properties, including the power to arouse love and counteract the effects of wine.
Lettuce promotes child bearing if eaten by young women, and certain types of salad can bring on labour in pregnant women.

LIE
Cross my heart and hope to die,
Cut my throat if I tell a lie.

LIZARD
To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have a secret enemy.

MANDRAKE
Mandrake is a mysterious plant believed to have powers of preventing sterility in men and animals, causing barren women to bear children, and compelling love.
Mandrake is thought to have aphrodisiac and fertilizing properties.
Clairvoyants use mandrake to increase their visions to enable them to see strange and wonderful things.

MILK
It's bad luck to let milk boil over.

MIRROR
To break a mirror means 7 years bad luck.
It is unlucky to see your face in a mirror by candlelight.
A mirror should be covered during a thunderstorm because it attracts lightning.
If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.

MISTLETOE
Mistletoe in the house protects it from thunder and lightning. It also cures many diseases, is an antidote to poison and brings good luck and fertility.
A girl standing under mistletoe cannot refuse to be kissed by anyone who claims the privilege.

MOTH
A white moth inside the house or trying to enter the house means death.

NOSE
If your nose itches, someone is coming to see you. If it's the right nostril, the visitor will be a female, left nostril, male.

ONION
An onion cut in half and placed under the bed of a sick person will draw off fever and poisons.
A wish will come true if you make it while burning onions.

OPAL
Unless you were born in October, it's unlucky to wear opals.

OWL
It is bad luck to see an owl in the sunlight.

PENCIL
If you use the same pencil to take a test that you used for studying for the test, the pencil will remember the answers.

PEPPER
If you spill pepper you will have a serious argument with your best friend.

PHOTOGRAPH
If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first.

RABBIT'S FOOT
A rabbit's foot will bring luck and protect the owner from evil spirits if carried in the pocket.

RAINBOW
A rainbow in the Eastern sky,
The morrow will be fine and dry.
A rainbow in the West that gleams,
Rain tomorrow falls in streams.

RAVEN
To kill a raven is to harm the spirit of King Arthur who visits the world in the form of a raven.

RED
A red ribbon should be placed on a child who has been sick to keep the illness from returning.

ROBIN
A wish made upon seeing the first robin in spring will come true - but only if you complete the wish before the robin flies away.

ROCKING CHAIR
If you leave a rocking chair rocking when empty, it invites evil spirits to come into your house to sit in the rocking chair.

ROSEMARY
Rosemary planted by the doorstep will keep witches away.

SALT
Bad luck will follow the spilling of salt unless a pinch is thrown over the left shoulder into the face of the devil waiting there.
Put salt on the doorstep of a new house and no evil can enter.
Salty soup is a sign that the cook is in love.

SCISSORS
If you drop scissors, it means your lover is being unfaithful to you.

SEA GULL
Three seagulls flying together, directly overhead, are a warning of death soon to come.

SEVEN
To break a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. The cure: to bury the pieces, or run them in a stream.
The seventh son of a seventh son has magic powers, according to Irish folklore, but is a vampire in Romanian legend.

SHOES
Do not place shoes upon a table, for this will bring bad luck for the day, cause trouble with your mate and you might even lose your job as a result.
It's bad luck to leave shoes upside down.

SINGING
If you sing before seven, you will cry before eleven.

SLEEP
You sleep best with your head to the north and your feet to the south.

SNEEZE
Place a hand in front of your mouth when sneezing. Your soul may escape otherwise.
The devil can enter your body when you sneeze. Having someone say, "God bless you," drives the devil away.
If you sneeze on a Monday, you sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter;
Sneeze on a Thursday, something better;
Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow;
Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart tomorrow.
Sneeze on a Sunday, and the devil will have domination over you all week.

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a letter
Four for a boy.
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told

SPARROW
Sparrows carry the souls of the dead; it's unlucky to kill one.

SPIDER
Seeing a spider run down a web in the afternoon means you'll take a trip.
A spider is a repellent against plague when worn around the neck in a walnut shell.

STARS
All wishes on shooting stars come true.
Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.

SWAN
A swan's feather, sewed into the husband's pillow, will ensure fidelity.

THIRTEEN
If 13 people sit down at a table to eat, one of them will die before the year is over.

TONGUE
If you bite your tongue while eating, it is because you have recently told a lie.

UMBRELLA
Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.
It's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house, especially if you put it over your head.

VALENTINE'S DAY
If a woman sees a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it means she will marry a sailor. If she sees a sparrow, she will marry a poor man and be very happy. If she sees a goldfinch, she will marry a millionaire.

VEIL
A bride's veil protects her from evil spirits who are jealous of happy people.

WATERMELON
A watermelon will grow in your stomach if you swallow a watermelon seed.

WEATHER
Red sky at night,
Sailor's delight.
Red sky at morning
Sailors take warning

Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.
Rain on the green grass
Rain on the hillside,
But not on me.

WOOD
Knock three times on wood after mentioning good fortune so evil spirits won't ruin it.

WINDOW
All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.

WISH
If you make a wish while throwing a coin into a well or fountain, the wish will come true.
Wish I may,
Wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.
If you tell someone your wish, it won't come true.

WISHBONE
Two people pull apart the dried breastbone of a chicken or turkey until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the long half of the wishbone will have his or her wish come true.

X
The number of Xs in the palm of your right hand is the number of children you will have.

YAWN
A yawn is a sign that danger is near.
Cover your mouth when you yawn, or your soul can go out of your body along with the yawn.

Naming Hurricans

Andrew, Klaus, Hugo, Betsy, Bob and Hilda... The list is as long as an oversized primary school class register.

But these little darlings never kissed you goodbye or demanded expensive trainers.

What do they have in common? Well, believe it or not, they are all retired hurricane names. Along with Gracie, Roxanne, Marilyn, Joan and Carmen, the likes of Hugo, Betsy and Bob have all in their day caused so much damage that the World's Meteorological Organisations have, forever, retired their names from official lists of hurricane and tropical storm names.

What am I talking about? Monsters of destruction, like Hurricane Andrew which hit the Florida Peninsula in August 1992, moved into the Gulf of Mexico and up through the Louisiana coast. Andrew was the most costly US storm on record...Andrew was the most costly US storm on record with total losses of $26.5 billion, $1 billion of which was in Louisiana while the rest was in Florida. Winds gusted at over 175mph and had sustained strengths of 145mph. At least 180,000 people were left homeless, 126,000 homes destroyed or damaged, over 50 people killed as a direct or indirect effect of the storm and at least 10,400 injured.

How does something with such monstrous potential acquire such an innocuous name?

Well, let’s go back to the beginning. Tropical cyclones, (or tropical storms) (wind speeds between 39mph and 74 mph) or hurricanes (wind speeds of 75mph and above) form within seven regions around the world called 'basins'.

As there can be 100 or so storms a year meteorologists need a means of identifying individual storms to avoid confusion, especially as one or more storms may be followed and charted by many meteorologists simultaneously.

Early naming strategies were informal and individualistic in their approach. For several hundred years in the Caribbean, hurricanes were named after the saints’ day on which they occurred. For example "Hurricane San Felipe" struck Puerto Rico on 13 September 1876. Later, latitude and longitude were used, but this was found to be complicated and more prone to error.

According to one report the first use of a proper name for a tropical storm was by an Australian forecaster in the early part of last century, who reputedly named his storms after politicians that he didn't like. Maybe that's an approach that deserves a come back!

During World War II however, it was loved ones who provided the inspiration for the name game. US Army Air Corp and Navy meteorologists affectionately christened storms with female names after their wives and loved ones - imagine, "Hurricane Hotlips hits Florida" or "Peaches has petered out in the Pacific"!

By 1950 the first formal name strategy was in place for North Atlantic cyclones. The storms took their names from the phonetic alphabet of the time (Able-Baker-Charlie-etc) and this continued until 1952. In 1953 the US Weather Bureau decided to switch to female first names and finally included male first names in the list in 1979. The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not used because few names begin with these letters.

There are six lists that are used in rotation; the list for each year is arranged in alphabetical order, with alternating male and female names. If more than 21 storms should occur in any season, then there is an 'unlikely' reserve list that uses the Greek alphabet. This gives the World Meteorological Organization 24 more names to work with, so additional seasonal storms can be named as Alpha, Beta, Gamma etc.

The naming of cyclones today continues in much the same vein. Each Basin or region has an agreed list of names - the applications of which vary slightly. For instance, cyclones in the Atlantic basin and in the Eastern Pacific give the first storm of each year an 'A' name. Whereas the year's first cyclone in the Central Pacific takes the next name on the list regardless of which letter it starts with. Of course, if a storm should wander from one basin region into another it will be rewarded with a new name from that region. There's no wonder some of these storms are angry - they could have huge identity crises.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_tropical_cyclone_names for hurricane names

20 Most Annoying Things

1.) Slow modems/ dial-up Internet

2.) Waiting in the doctor's office for what seems like hours (I guess that's why we're called "patients!")

3.) Pop-up advertisements on web pages.

4.) Infomercials (Just when you think they're over, the announcer says ("But wait, there's more!")

5.) Telemarketers, especially the ones who keep calling even after you've asked them to remove you from their calling list.

6.) Rude/inconsiderate/insensitive people.

7.) Having an itch on your back that wont go away or is just out of your reach.

8.) Bugs, spiders, and other ugly, slimy, multi-legged creatures.

9.) When someone is walking in front of you and they suddenly stop, or when someone is walking too closely behind you and they step on your heels.

10.) People that join in your conversations when you weren't talking to them.

11.) When someone is talking to you and they either have bad breath, they spit when they talk, or they talk so loud they're practically making you go deaf.

12.) Elderly drivers who look at the scenery and drive 30 km/h in front of you.

13.) People who pass you in a hurry and then slow down once they get in front of you.

14.) Being short, or as I like to call it, "vertically challenged," and not being able to reach things or see over people.

15.) People who lie or are two-faced.

16.) People who don't know when to stop talking, or interrupt you when you're talking.

17.) People who stare.

18.) People who pry or poke their nose into your private matters just because they feel that they have the right to know, or are "just curious."

19.) People who wont admit that they're wrong, especially after they've been proved wrong and still insist that they're right.

20.) How my dog always seems to have to go outside as soon as we sit down to dinner.

Darwin Awards - Laugh at ourselves

Most of these were found at Darwin.com






Bizarre Death
1994 Urban Legend

At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS, President Dr. Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story:

On March 23,1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten story building intending to commit suicide. He left a note to that effect, indicating his despondency. As he fell past the ninth floor his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window which killed him instantly.

Neither the shooter nor the descender was aware that a safety net had been installed just below at the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

"Ordinarily," Dr. Mills continued, "a person who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide."

That Mr. Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands. The room on the ninth floor, whence the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window, striking Mr. Opus.

When one intends to kill subject A but kills subject B in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject B. When confronted with the murder charge the old man and his wife were both adamant. They both said they thought the shotgun was unloaded. Thed old man said it was his long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her. Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother. The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist. Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window. The son had actually murdered himself so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

The Bricklayer
1998 Urban Legend
Accident Report

This one needs an introduction, so you won't be lost at the beginning. This man was in an accident at work, so he filled out an insurance claim. The insurance company contacted him and asked for more information. This was his response:

"I am writing in response to your request for additional information, for block number 3 of the accident reporting form. I put 'poor planning' as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully and I trust the following detail will be sufficient. I am an amateur radio operator and on the day of the accident, I was working alone on the top section of my new 80-foot tower. When I had completed my work, I discovered that I had, over the course of several trips up the tower, brought up about 300 pounds of tools and spare hardware. Rather than carry the now unneeded tools and material down by hand, I decided to lower the items down in a small barrel by using the pulley attached to the gin pole at the top of the tower. Securing the rope at ground level, I went to the top of the tower and loaded the tools and material into the barrel. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow decent of the 300 pounds of tools."

"You will note in block number 11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh only 155 pounds. Due to my surprise of being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate of speed up the side of the tower. In the vicinity of the 40-foot level, I met the barrel coming down. This explains my fractured skull and broken collarbone. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time, I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold onto the rope in spite of my pain. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of tools hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel."

"Devoid of the weight of the tools, the barrel now weighed approximately 20 pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the tower. In the vicinity of the 40-foot level, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, and the lacerations of my legs and lower body. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of tools and, fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the tools, in pain, unable to stand and watching the empty barrel 80 feet above me, I again lost my presence of mind. I let go of the rope..."

Stirring Up the Wasp Nest
A Personal Account

James, who works in a geology lab, and who can tell you the petrogenetic peculiarities of low-alkali tholeiitic basalt after hydrothermal alteration. But our hero James recently demonstrated that there is a significant difference between intelligence and common sense.

While casting about for ways to rid himself of a pesky wasp nest, his eye fell upon his trusty Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner. Armed with this fearsome weapon, James attacked the wasp nest. He sucked up all the wasps, who buzzed angrily as they struggled in vain against the wind-tunnel. The dustbag was soon alive with their buzzing.

James now found that he had a new problem: to wit, a vacuum cleaner bag full of live, disgruntled wasps. He had to find a way to kill them before he could safely turn off the vacuum. And while his previous idea was merely ill-considered, his next was a masterpiece of moronity.

He held the vacuum tube in one hand, a can of RAID in the other, and proceeded to spray the insecticide into the vacuum. What our smart young scientist failed to remember is that aerosols are flammable, and vacuum cleaner motors generate heat. The resulting explosion removed his facial hair, and scattered the dusty, angry contents of the Dirt Devil all over the vicinity.

Adding insult to injury, James was not the only one to survive with minor injuries. The wasps proceeded to vent their spleen upon the exposed (and slightly scorched) skin of the scientist, who referred to the episode as "an unfortunate lapse in calculation of consequences."

History of Cell Phone

April 3, 2003 marked the 30th anniversary of the first public telephone call placed on a portable cellular phone. Martin Cooper ( now chairman, CEO, and co-founder of ArrayComm Inc) placed that call on April 3, 1973, while general manager of Motorola's Communications Systems Division. It was the incarnation of his vision for personal wireless communications, distinct from cellular car phones. That first call, placed to Cooper's rival at AT&T's Bell Labs from the streets of New York City, caused a fundamental technology and communications market shift toward the person and away from the place.

"People want to talk to other people - not a house, or an office, or a car. Given a choice, people will demand the freedom to communicate wherever they are, unfettered by the infamous copper wire.

It is that freedom we sought to vividly demonstrate in 1973," said Martin Cooper.

Martin Cooperadded, "As I walked down the street while talking on the phone, sophisticated New Yorkers gaped at the sight of someone actually moving around while making a phone call. Remember that in 1973, there weren't cordless telephones, let alone cellular phones. I made numerous calls, including one where I crossed the street while talking to a New York radio reporter - probably one of the more dangerous things I have ever done in my life."

Following the April 3, 1973, public demonstration, using a "brick"-like 30-ounce phone, Cooper started the 10-year process of bringing the portable cell phone to market. Motorola introduced the 16-ounce "DynaTAC" phone into commercial service in 1983, with each phone costing the consumer $3,500. It took seven additional years before there were a million subscribers in the United States. Today, there are more cellular subscribers than wireline phone subscribers in the world, with mobile phones weighing as little as 3 ounces.

Martin Cooper Today

Martin Cooper's role in conceiving and developing the first portable cellular phone directly impacted his choice to found and lead ArrayComm, a wireless technology and systems company founded in 1992. ArrayComm's core adaptive antenna technology increases the capacity and coverage of any cellular system, while significantly lowering costs and making speech more reliable. This technology addresses what Cooper calls "the unfulfilled promise" of cellular, which should be, but still isn't as reliable or affordable as wired telephony.

ArrayComm has also used its adaptive antenna technology to make the Internet "personal" by creating the i-BURST Personal Broadband System, which delivers high-speed, mobile Internet access that consumers can afford.

"It's very exciting to be part of a movement toward making broadband available to people with the same freedom to be anywhere that they have for voice communications today," said Martin Cooper. "People rely heavily on the Internet for their work, entertainment and communication, but they need to be unleashed. We will look back at 2003 as the beginning of the era when the Internet became truly untethered."

History of Table Mountain Cable Way

Since the first person laid eyes on Table Mountain, it has exerted its powerful and charismatic pull, enchanting and drawing any and all who fall under its spell.

The way to the top has never been easy, and for many centuries only a handful of bold and enterprising people could say that they had climbed it.

By the late 1870's, several of Cape Town's more prominent (and possibly less fit) citizens had suggested the introduction of a railway line to the top.

Plans to implement a proposed rack railway got under way but the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war put a halt to the plans.

By 1912, with a strong desire to gain easy access to the top of Table Mountain, the Cape Town City Council commissioned an engineer to investigate the various options for public transport to the top.

The engineer, a Mr. H.M. Peter, suggested that a funicular railway running up from Oranjezicht through Platteklip gorge would be the most suitable option. A vote was held with the vast majority of Cape Town's residents voting in favour of the funicular. This, in spite of its cost, a staggering (in 1913) £100,000. The project was delayed yet again by war; this time the outbreak of the First World War (1914 - 1918).

The plan was resuscitated in 1926 after a Norwegian engineer, Trygve Stromsoe, presented plans for a cableway. The plan caught the collective eye of a group of eminent local businessmen. The idea that an easy route up would finally become a reality drew them together, forming the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company (TMACC) to finance the construction. Work began soon afterwards and the project was finished relatively quickly.

On the 4th of October 1929, the Mayor of Cape Town, Rev A J S Lewis, headed the official opening ceremony that was attended by over 200 other guests. Since it's opening, 75 years ago,over 15 million people have taken the trip to the top.

The cableway has since become something of a landmark in Cape Town, and has carried some of Cape Town's most illustrious visitors, including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, as well as Oprah Winfrey, Sting, Stefi Graf, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Magaret Thatcher, Prince Andrew, Micheal Schumacher, Brooke Shields, Micheal Buble, Tina Turner, Jackie Chan, Dolores O'Riordan, Skunk Anansie and Paul Oakenfold.

In 1993, Dennis Hennessy, the son of one of the founders of TMACC, sold the company.

The new directors immediately set about planning an upgrade to the existing infrastructure. Apart from upgrading the restaurants and machinery, new cars were purchased. Unlike their predecessors, the new cars, or Rotairs, have a revolving floor that allows passengers a 360-degree view of the city and mountain as they travel.

Work on the upgrade began in January of 1997 and, for several months cranes and the comings and goings of large helicopters carrying building materials dominated the mountain skyline.

The new cableway was officially opened on the 4th of October 1997, the anniversary of the original launch, almost 70 years previously.The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company celebrated its 75th anniversary in October 2004 and greeted its 16 millionth passenger in December of the same year. It remains the most popular tourist attraction in Cape Town.