The Origins of Popular Superstitions – T. Sharper Knowlson

In his fascinating introduction on the history of mankind’s more irrational fears and beliefs, author T. Sharper Knowlson recounts a few of the more surprising superstitions held by otherwise rational people. The normally sceptical Dr Johnson, for example, believed that bad luck and calamity would befall him unless he touched every post he passed along the street he happened to be walking down. And J. D. Rockefeller, once one of the world’s richest men, always carried a ribboned eagle stone as a lucky charm against disasters. To pass on his good fortune he would cut off a piece of the ribbon and give it to someone he favoured. The Origins of Popular Superstitions, first published in 1930, is a wide-ranging account of many of our most common superstitions ? many still surprisingly prevalent today. These include beliefs and customs surrounding the days and seasons of the year, popular marriage customs, dreams, the use palmistry, astrology, omens, and much else.The Origins of Popular Superstitions (Old And Rare) – t. Sharper Knowlson