Book of Superstitious Stuff

Book of Superstitious Stuff PDF Author: Joanne O'Sullivan
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
ISBN: 1607345129
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
From the curse of the lottery winners to the good feng shui of a local restaurant, this quirky, wacky, weird, and wonderful collection of superstitions uncovers the truth about some of our most familiar beliefs, as well as others that are much stranger. It turns out that everywhere in the world, people still put their trust in luck, magic, and mystery. By the end of this look at the bizarre world of illogic it’s clear: superstition is alive and well...and really spellbinding!

Book of Superstitious Stuff

Book of Superstitious Stuff PDF Author: Joanne O'Sullivan
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
ISBN: 1607345129
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the curse of the lottery winners to the good feng shui of a local restaurant, this quirky, wacky, weird, and wonderful collection of superstitions uncovers the truth about some of our most familiar beliefs, as well as others that are much stranger. It turns out that everywhere in the world, people still put their trust in luck, magic, and mystery. By the end of this look at the bizarre world of illogic it’s clear: superstition is alive and well...and really spellbinding!

A Dictionary Of Omens And Superstitions

A Dictionary Of Omens And Superstitions PDF Author: Philippa Waring
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788129112989
Category : Omens
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Do you avoid anything connected with the number thirteen, think it lucky when a black cat crosses your path and unlucky to see the new moon through glass? Belief in superstitions links us with a time when everyday events and objects had magical significance. A treasure trove of fascinating information, A dictionary of Omens and Superstitions reveals the secrets of hundreds of ancient traditions. Do you know: What it means if a cat sits and washes itself in your doorway? Why women should have their hair cut only when the moon is waxing? Why people in Yorkshire throw caterpillars over their shoulders? What it means if you mistakenly recognize a perfect stranger as someone you know? Why Thursdays are the unluckiest days in Germany and 28 December ill-fated throughout Europe? And why it is universally believed unlucky to walk under ladders?

Superstitious

Superstitious PDF Author: R.L. Stine
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 9780446519533
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
On the small Pennsylvania college campus Liam O'Connor cuts a dashing, romantic figure. The Irish-born professor of folklore has good looks, a sweet charm, and a host of Old World superstitions - all of which dazzle beautiful graduate student Sara Morgan. Plunging headlong into a sudden love affair, Sara barely has time to notice the dark drama unfolding on the campus. Four murders have been committed, each more gruesomely horrifying than the one before it, each committed by someone, or something, with terrible fury and strength. Suddenly Sara is receiving crank phone calls, warning her to stay away from Liam ... fearing her ex-boyfriend Chip's next angry outburst ... wondering why Liam's unmarried sister, Margaret, is so suffocatingly close to them ... and trying to escape the lecherous stares of her boss, Milton Cohn, the dean of students and the owner of a murderous-looking knife collection. When Liam proposes marriage, Sara accepts, making love by the light of sixteen candles, one of Liam's superstitions. Somehow, that final step seals her fate. The police begin to close in on a killer, the death toll mounts, and Sara is caught in an ever-tightening web. At its center, behind the most innocent superstitions, waits the greatest terror of all...

Why People Believe Weird Things

Why People Believe Weird Things PDF Author: Michael Shermer
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 1429996765
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
"This sparkling book romps over the range of science and anti-science." --Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel Revised and Expanded Edition. In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing. In an entirely new chapter, "Why Smart People Believe in Weird Things," Michael Shermer takes on science luminaries like physicist Frank Tippler and others, who hide their spiritual beliefs behind the trappings of science. Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Strange Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.

Superstitions

Superstitions PDF Author: D.R. McElroy
Publisher: Wellfleet Press
ISBN: 1577151917
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Across all cultures and spanning centuries, superstitions rooted in cultural legends and myths have formed and influenced daily life. Superstitions: A Handbook of Folklore, Myths, and Legends from around the Worldâ?? explains how and why these legends and the associated behaviors behind them developed, accompanied by beautiful illustrations. In this definitive reference, you’ll learn the fascinating and often bizarre histories of a comprehensive range of superstitions from around the world. For example, the belief that one will have seven years' bad luck if you break a mirror is said to come from the Romans, who were the first to create glass mirrors. And in Japanese culture, cutting your nails at night is thought to lead to a quick death because the two phrases sound similar. You’ll also find out why some superstitions vary from culture to culture. For instance, the “unlucky” number 13 is considered a bad omen in some countries, like the US, and “lucky” in other countries, like Italy—where the number 17 is considered unlucky. The information is organized by country, so you can easily investigate the popular superstitions linked to your own or other specific ethnic heritage or cultural identity. Satisfy your burning curiosity with this complete guide to superstitions, folklore, and myths. The Mystical Handbook series from Wellfleet takes you on a magical journey through the wonderful world of spellcraft and spellcasting. Explore a new practice with each volume and learn how to incorporate spells, rituals, blessings, and cleansings into your daily routine. These portable companions feature beautiful foil-detail covers and color-saturated interiors on a premium paper blend. Other titles in the series include: Witchcraft, Love Spells, Moon Magic, Knot Magic, and House Magic.

Fearful Spirits, Reasoned Follies

Fearful Spirits, Reasoned Follies PDF Author: Michael D. Bailey
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801467306
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Superstitions are commonplace in the modern world. Mostly, however, they evoke innocuous images of people reading their horoscopes or avoiding black cats. Certain religious practices might also come to mind—praying to St. Christopher or lighting candles for the dead. Benign as they might seem today, such practices were not always perceived that way. In medieval Europe superstitions were considered serious offenses, violations of essential precepts of Christian doctrine or immutable natural laws. But how and why did this come to be? In Fearful Spirits, Reasoned Follies, Michael D. Bailey explores the thorny concept of superstition as it was understood and debated in the Middle Ages. Bailey begins by tracing Christian thinking about superstition from the patristic period through the early and high Middle Ages. He then turns to the later Middle Ages, a period that witnessed an outpouring of writings devoted to superstition—tracts and treatises with titles such as De superstitionibus and Contra vitia superstitionum. Most were written by theologians and other academics based in Europe’s universities and courts, men who were increasingly anxious about the proliferation of suspect beliefs and practices, from elite ritual magic to common healing charms, from astrological divination to the observance of signs and omens. As Bailey shows, however, authorities were far more sophisticated in their reasoning than one might suspect, using accusations of superstition in a calculated way to control the boundaries of legitimate religion and acceptable science. This in turn would lay the conceptual groundwork for future discussions of religion, science, and magic in the early modern world. Indeed, by revealing the extent to which early modern thinkers took up old questions about the operation of natural properties and forces using the vocabulary of science rather than of belief, Bailey exposes the powerful but in many ways false dichotomy between the "superstitious" Middle Ages and "rational" European modernity.

SuperSense

SuperSense PDF Author: Bruce M. Hood
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061867934
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
A neuroscientist examines the science behind humanity’s beliefs in the supernatural. The majority of the world’s population is religious or believes in supernatural phenomena. In the United States, nine out of every ten adults believe in God, and a recent Gallup poll found that about three out of four Americans believe in some form of telepathy, déjà vu, ghosts, or past lives. Where does such supernatural thinking come from? Are we indoctrinated by our parents, churches, and media, or do such beliefs originate somewhere else? In SuperSense, award-winning cognitive scientist Bruce M. Hood reveals the science behind our beliefs in the supernatural. Superstitions are common. Many of us cross our fingers, knock on wood, step around black cats, and avoid walking under ladders. John McEnroe refused to step on the white lines of a tennis court between points. Wade Boggs insisted on eating a chicken dinner before every Boston Red Sox game. President Barack Obama played a game of basketball the morning of his victory in the Iowa primary and continued the tradition on every subsequent election day. Supernatural thinking includes loftier beliefs as well, such as the sentimental value we place on photos of loved ones, wedding rings, and teddy bears. It also includes spiritual beliefs and the hope for an afterlife. But in this modern, scientific age, why do we hold on to these behaviors and beliefs? It turns out that belief in things beyond what is rational or natural is common to humans and appears very early in childhood. In fact, according to Hood, this “super sense” is something we're born with to develop and is essential to the way we learn to understand the world. We couldn’t live without it! Our minds are designed from the very start to think there are unseen patterns, forces, and essences inhabiting the world, and it is unlikely that any effort to get rid of supernatural beliefs, or the superstitious behaviors that accompany them, will be successful. These common beliefs and sacred values are essential in binding us together as a society because they help us to see ourselves connected to each other at a deeper level.

Omens

Omens PDF Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101624264
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 451

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Book Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Otherworld series and Hemlock Island, the first chilling novel in the Cainsville series. Olivia Taylor-Jones is shattered to learn that she’s adopted. Her biological parents? Notorious serial killers. On a quest to learn more about her past, Olivia lands in the small town of Cainsville, Illinois. As she draws on long-hidden abilities, Olivia begins to realize that there are dark secrets in Cainsville—and powers lurking in the shadows.

The Secret

The Secret PDF Author: Rhonda Byrne
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0731815297
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
The tenth-anniversary edition of the book that changed lives in profound ways, now with a new foreword and afterword. In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universe—The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller. Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it. In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.

Luck

Luck PDF Author: Barrie Dolnick
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0307405303
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Have you ever noticed that you talk about luck every day of your life? Luck is your silent companion, sometimes bringing awesome parking spaces, a chance meeting with a new love interest, or a small windfall. Most of the time you probably don’t even pay attention to luck. Chances are, you only really think about luck when you buy a lottery ticket or participate in a contest. Luck is so much more than that. If you take steps to live longer by eating right and exercising, why wouldn’t you also take similar steps to improve your good fortune? Barrie Dolnick and Anthony Davidson asked themselves this very question, and set out to study luck and decipher how it works. In this insightful and engaging book, they share the secrets they’ve uncovered so you can use luck more effectively in your day-to-day life. Where does luck originate? Does one need to be “born lucky” in order to be lucky? Answering these and many other pressing questions, Dolnick and Davidson investigate both ancient and scientific approaches to luck. From early man to famous rationalists, luck has been prayed for, played with, and courted. You’ll learn how ancient practices such as the I Ching, astrology, tarot, and numerology have been used to understand luck, and how great mathematicians studied luck–some guided by their own interest in gambling. Every- one wants to be lucky. Once you know the fundamentals of luck, the authors take you through your own Personal Luck Profile so that you can use this wisdom and try your luck. People do a lot of weird things to improve their luck–and now you can make smart choices and informed decisions about how to play with yours.