SUPERSTITIONS: Some strange, some sinister, some simply silly Part One by Sara John
Talking to my oldest friend, Diane (it’s the ‘friendship’ that’s the ‘oldest’ not the friend!) on the phone last week we fell into conversation with the emphasis on ‘remembering’. We are the same age, lived in the same street, went to the same schools and, being only children with no siblings, we naturally spent a lot of our childhood time together sharing so much, - sums, swimming, pretending, exploring, playing brides, the list goes on. We enjoy our weekly catch-ups but tend to fall back on the past, shared memories, and try to fill in the details of events long ago by reminding each other of matters which meant much to us at the time. We talked about walking to junior school together avoiding the cracks in the paving without knowing why we were doing it. Bad luck was mentioned, but we were too young at the time to comprehend such an abstract concept. This led to a discussion of other superstitions, and questioning where had they come from? What did they really mean? And are any other readers of this magazine still avoiding the cracks in the pavement? Consulting ‘The Readers Digest Universal Dictionary’ cleared up my confusion regarding ‘superstition’. What did it mean? Where had it come from? This is what the Dictionary had to say of the word, Superstition:1. An unfounded belief that some action or circumstance completely unrelated to a course of events can influence the outcome. 2. Fear of the mysterious or the unknown. 3. Any belief, practice or rite unreasonably upheld by faith in magic, chance or dogma. 4. Fearful or abject dependence upon such beliefs. The Celtic Nations and many others have enjoyed listening to storytellers since, and likely before, the Romans arrived. The oral tradition continues to be very strong but perhaps today the later generations prefer small magic boxes with buttons to press? Personally, I think that words heard are words better 22 CARDIFF TIMES
remembered. This continuing tradition was evidenced some years ago when I was involved with a project which involved attending a serious, monthly meeting. All chaps around the table, as usual, so I was the only woman. At the end of one of the meetings, I was asked to read out an article I had written for The Mining Times. The article was an update and a plea for those responsible to hurry up and get on with it, the project that is. I had decided the safest way to write it was from the point of view of the colliery cat. The coffee was brought in, chairs were pushed back from the table edge, ties were very slightly loosened. I had a captive if not a captivated audience. A month later, as the next meeting was drawing to a close, the chairman leaned over to me and whispered to me, “We are all hoping for another story today?” Professor Anne Ross writes in ‘Folklore of Wales’ that in ‘Celtic storytelling both early and late the Druids passed on their learning by word of mouth, as did the early bards, and this tradition was also current amongst those who tilled the land and did not have the benefit of a fundamental education’. Throughout the Dark Ages the establishment of Llans or parishes, the growing monastic settlements and the topography of Wales created the landscape of Wales. That landscape changed little for centuries. Farms were spread out across the country not clustered around villages. There were no village greens, no village ponds, few signposts. However, events and there were probably very few of them, were clearly recalled, in particular, if they resulted in good fortune or disaster. There was also the tradition of travelling pedlars, drovers, and, wandering troubadours and minstrels. They carried Tales and spread any News that was to be had. Nothing was written down. Few people in remote areas were literate. The oral tradition reigned. I would therefore suggest, that storytelling folk are, traditionally, very knowledgeable about superstitions. Gradually over the decades belief systems established themselves. They only started to fall
