Wet Grinder Superstition

Superstitions in Madurai hinder dengue control measures

Beliefs and superstitions hinder the measures to control dengue. Unattended manually operable wet grinders in houses, filled with rain water, become breeding grounds for the mosquitoes. Turning a grinding stone upside down is considered inauspicious in Tamilnadu. Upturned grinder is believed to bring bad luck to houses. Government advises to upturn unused grinders, to control the rapidly spreading dengue fever. But some superstitious people are not cooperating.

In the race against time, the need of both husband and wife getting employed in the present economic situation, increasing in the number of nuclear families and to save time, people started depending more on electricity. Manual wet grinders made up of stone are abandoned. Now-a-days, due to erratic power supply with severe power cuts in Tamilnadu, a few started using their old manual grinders inevitably. 

Superstitions in Tamilnadu

Tamilians’ Superstitions

·        A bird’s nest in the house, where pregnant woman lives is not to be removed.

·        A girl born as a fifth child in a family will bring good luck and wealth.

·        A new vehicle is to be driven over lemons to start its journey.

·        A portrait of Kandhrishti Ganapathy, Kan Drishti Ganesha or Kandhrishti Vinayagar hung at the entrance of your house will destroy evil eye. 

·        A pregnant woman is not to walk in the dark for fear of attack by spirits.

·        A pregnant woman’s desire of eating any thing must be fulfilled, or else the baby will be born with ear problems.  

·        A toad should not fall on a pregnant woman, or else the baby would be weak.

·        Fruits like lemon, pumpkin and coconut can absorb negative energy.

·        If Non vegetarian food is to be carried at night, it must be taken with charcoal (aduppu kari).

·        If you suspect a person as the cause of evil eye, bring some sand or earth on which the person has set foot. Circle this thrice over the victim. Allow the victim to spit on this sand thrice. Add red chilies with this and throw in fire. This will eliminate evil eye.

·        Lemon with some chilies is tied and hung in front of the entrance of a house will shield the house from evil eyes. 

·        Salt and red chilies kept in the fist and circled thrice clockwise and thrice anti clockwise in front of a person and throwing them away through the backyard will clear all the evil eyes on that person.

·        Item like salt, needle, curd, soap nut powder, money etc is not to go out of house at night.

·        Taking of photograph will reduce the life of photographed person.

·        To remove negativity around a person, camphor is to be burnt and shown near that person (Dhristi Pariharam or thirusti sutruthal).

·        To ward off the evil eyes, a child is to be applied with a black colour mark called kan drishti pottu (dhristi pottu) on its cheek.

·        Wearing of a black thread brought from hanuman temple will chase away evil eyes.

Eye Twitching Superstitions

According to an old Chinese saying, "the twitching of the left eyelid indicates the coming of good fortune; while the right one is a warning about the coming bad luck." 

A twitching right eye is considered a bad omen which foretells of ill luck headed your way! In women the tables are turned as a twitching right eye signifies good luck while a twitching left one is considered a bad prognostic.

According to the Chinese, the twitching of the right eye in men signifies an important windfall or good luck, but a twitching left eye would signify ill luck.

A twitch in the lower left eyelid means you can expect to cry soon or someone is gossiping about you.

In India, a twitching right eye is definitely a good sign while the left eye twitching is considered inauspicious.  While left eye twitching is considered good for women it might be a bad sign for men.

In some parts of Africa, twitching in your lower eyelid signals that you will soon be shedding tears or when the upper eyelid twitches, it’s a sign you will meet someone unexpectedly.

In Hawaii, twitching left eye can signal the arrival of a stranger, or mourning in the offing.

In general, 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.”

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.

Superstitions on babies and birth

Superstitions on babies and birth

• A baby born from a red water sac is believed to have great powers and double sight.
• A baby born when the moon is rising will be a girl.
• A baby born with a large mouth will be a good singer.
• A baby born with big ears will be generous.
• A baby born with open hands and out-stretched fingers will be prosperous.
• A baby born with teeth could be a vampire.
• A baby that is born feet first will have healing abilities.
• A child born feet first or breech will be lamed in an accident.
• Babies born at midnight can see ghosts.
• Babies born at night will stay awake at night.
• Babies born on Sunday cannot be harmed by evil spirits.
• Birth is made easier if all the locks in the house are open and you keep an axe under the bed.
• Firstborn children are protected from witchcraft.
• Thursday has one lucky hour, just before sunrise, for birth.
• To hold a newborn baby while menstruating would cause the baby strain.

It is good luck to:

• Brush your baby with a rabbit’s foot.
• Carry a baby upstairs when first taking it out into the world.
• Give a new baby a gift of bread or salt.
• Have a baby born with a caul.
• Have a baby first clasp something using it’s right hand.
• Have a baby sneeze.
• Kiss a newborn baby.
• Put a string of coral beads around your baby’s neck.
• Rub a baby’s head with money.
• Spit on a newborn baby.

It is bad luck to:

• Carry a baby downstairs when first taking it into the world.
• Carry a child on the left side.
• Cut a baby’s nails before it is twelve months old.
• Dress a baby by putting clothes over its head instead of its feet.
• Dress a baby in black.
• Give away all a baby’s clothes when you have finished with them.
• Let a cat in the room of a newborn baby.
• Let babies see themselves in a mirror before they are six months old.
• Step over a crawling infant.
• Wash a baby’s hands before it is twelve months old.
• Watch a baby as it sleeps.
• Wean a baby in early spring.
• Weigh a newborn baby.

Death related superstitions

Death related superstitions

Birds

• 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. 
  
  
• If an owl looks into your window during the day, death will occur in your family.
  
  
• Death will come soon for anyone who kills a red bird or a blus bird.
  
  
• If you see a raven flying towards your house, the woman you love is doomed to die unless you can stop it from landing on the house.
  
  
  

Candles

• Light candles on the night after November 1. One for each deceased relative should be placed in the window in the room where death occurred.
  
  
  

Cemeteries

• You must hold your breath while going past a cemetery or you will breathe in the spirit of someone who has recently died. 
  
  
• Once you have left a cemetery, and forgotten something, do not go back to get it, for you will bring death back with you.
  
  
  

Clocks

• If a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family. 
  
  
• You will have bad luck if you do not stop the clock in the room where someone dies.
  
  
  

Corpses

• If a woman is buried in black, she will return to haunt the family. 
  
  
• If a dead person's eyes are left open, he'll find someone to take with him. 
  
  
• Mirrors in a house with a corpse should be covered or the person who sees himself will die next.
  
  
  

Cows

• If a cow moos after midnight-death is coming.
  
  

Dogs

• Dogs howling in the dark night howl for death before daylight. 
  
  
• If a dog howls at night and it's facing towards you, you will soon die.
  
  
  

Dreams

• If you dream of death it's a sign of a birth, if you dream of birth, it's a sign of death.

• If you touch a loved one who has died, you won't have dreams about them.
  
  

Dying

• A person who dies on Good Friday will go right to heaven. 
  
  
• A person who dies at midnight on Christmas Eve will go straight to heaven because the gates of heaven are open at that time. 
  
  
• All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave. 
  
  
• The soul of a dying person can't escape the body and go to heaven if any locks are locked in the house. 
  
  
• If a broom rests against a bed, the person who sleeps there will die soon.
  
  
  

Eyes

• If the left eye twitches there will soon be a death in the family. 
  
  
• If a dead person's eyes are left open, he'll find someone to take with him.
  
  
  

Flowers

• Having only red and white flowers together in a vase means a death will soon follow.
  
  
• If you prick your finger on the thorn of a red rose, and the puncture looks black, you will die.
  
  
• Bringing hawthorn blossoms into a house will be followed by the death of the mother of the house.
  
  

Funerals

·        Funerals on Friday portend another death in the family during the year. 

·        It's bad luck to count the cars in a funeral cortege. 

·        It's bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on. 

·        Thunder following a funeral means that the dead person's soul has reached heaven. 

·        Nothing new should be worn to a funeral, especially new shoes. 

·        Pointing at a funeral procession will cause you to die within the month.

·        Pregnant women should not attend funerals. 

·        If rain falls during a funeral procession, someone related to the deceased will die soon.

·        Seeing a white chicken on your way to a funeral brings bad luck.

·        If you see a hearse you must touch a button or you'll be the next one in it.

Graves

• If the person buried lived a good life, flowers will grow on the grave. If the person was evil, weeds will grow. 
  
  
• Rain falling into an open grave means bad luck for the family.
  
  
• If you take three steps backward when leaving a loved one's grave, you will die within three months.

Hats

• A hat on the bed means death in the family.
  
  
  

Mirrors

• If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon. 
  
  
• Mirrors in a house with a corpse should be covered, or the person who sees herself will die next.
  
  
• If you say the name ‘Mary’ worth 100 times into a mirror in a darkened room, and she appears in the mirror, you will soon die.

The moon

·        Look up at the moon, and if there is something red passing by it, someone close to you will die soon.

Moths

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

Photographs

• If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first.
  If you take pictures of someone in their casket you will bring death to your family very soon.
  
  
  

Shoes

• Leaving shoes on a table for a long time will bring sickness or death to your family.
  
  
• Never put your shoes on the table or you will die by hanging.
  
  
• Hanging a horse shoe over a door with the open side downward will spill out all the luck and a death in the family will soon occur.
  
  
  

Thirteen

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

Umbrellas

• Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.
  
  
  

Water

• Water in the grave means the deceased will be a restless spirit.

Good and bad omen

Sakunam / Shakunam / Sagunam (omen)

Before undertaking a journey, it is common in some parts if India to look through the path which is likely to be followed. In that process, certain things are seen and satisfied as good omens and others bad.  This is called shakunam paarththal or Sakunam nokkal.

Good Omens (nalla sakunam/nalla shakunangal):

• Overhearing a pleasant conversation, hearing of musical instruments.

• Seeing a good blaze of fire, an umbrella, fans, mirrors, a harp, diamonds, gold, weapons, fruit , flowers, bangles, Curd, raw rice, honey, cow’s ghee, lead, sulphur, metal filter, ringing sound of a bell, lamp, lotus, uncooked fish, meat, sweets, group of dancing girls or young women, elephant,  horse, bullock, corpse, two Brahmins (Brahmans), Sudra holding a stick, a cow with rope,  and many more.

• Hearing the braying of an ass from the east, south, north or north-east.

• Passing of a crow, parrot, stork, heron, or a jackal from left to right.

• Passing of a kite, hawk, owl, iguana, deer, musk-rat, dog, or mongoose from right to left.

• Crying of a lizard from right or from overhead.

• Dreaming a corpse, blaze of fire, flowers, or fruit.

Bad omens (Ketta sakunam / Ketta shagunangal):

• Seeing  a widow, new pot, whirlwind, drops of rain, bundle of firewood, single Brahmin, oil-monger, pariah, lame man, men quarrelling, men in suffering, buttermilk, oil, empty pots, grass, bones, bundle of dirty clothes, handicapped person , blind,  salt, donkey, pieces of rope, broken vessels, screaming sounds, deep yelling, sneezing, cursing, shivering, falling and many more.

• A black cat running or jumping across.

• Seeing an ass either to the west, the north-west, the south-west or the south-east with its head hanging down and braying.

• Seeing a crow, parrot, stork, heron, or a jackal pass from right to left.

• Dreaming red colour.

Gift a gift according to numerology

Present a suitable presentation

It is believed that life partner may be given gifts as suggested by numerology.

The suggestion:

Number 1:


Watch, painting, tie, jewel box, briefcase, cookware, space saver, slide projector, and tool set.

Number 2:


Tea-pot, hobby set, purse, perfume, radio, stationery, stoneware, sheets, calculator, and plants.

Number 3:


Clothing, dishes, CD, CD player, flatware, skillet, furniture, grill, and hair clipper.

Number 4:


Fruit bowl, VCR, computer, blanket, kitchen appliances, microwave, tool set, chess set, watch, mini-cam, and electronic games.

Number 5:


Travel kit, calculator, VCR, spice set, bath oil, book, skates, and skis.

Number 6:


Gloves, perfume, painting, decorative piece, bake-ware, silverware, furniture, copper, and comforter.

Number 7:


Teapot, stationery, hobby set, bracelet, robe, bedding, camera, jacket, silverware, book, painting, and reading lamp.

Number 8:


Gift certificate, step stool, toiletries, raincoat, bake-ware, scale, iron, radio, blouse, and flatware.

Number 9:


Clock, juicer, skates, crock pot, computer, rocker, towel set, humidifier, heater, and electronic gadgets.