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Superstition 1:
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Item: “If a glass breaks, that means evil is leaving your house and good luck is on its way.”
General Information:
- Customary Folklore, Sign Superstition
- English
- Pakistan
Informant Data:
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Sheherzad is from Lahore, Pakistan. She spent the first 18 years of her life there before coming to Dartmouth College. She identifies as Punjabi.
Contextual Data:
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This is a sign superstition that is common in Pakistan. This superstition is followed whenever glass breaks in someone’s home.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript of Associated File:
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“A glass breaking in your house means good luck is coming your way. Obviously you can’t just break your glass it doesn’t work. If you break glass intentionally then it doesn’t work that way but if you accidentally break some glass that means evil is leaving your house and good luck is going to come.”
Informant’s Comments:
- When glass breaks, this signifies the leaving of evil spirits from the household.
Collector’s Comments:
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Given that breaking glass is usually a negative event, this is superstition is the opposite of what I expected. It would seem that glass breaking would symbolize bad luck, but her explanation is an interesting take on this event, and was corroborated by another informant.
Collector’s Name: Edric Wung
Tags/Keywords:
- Customary Superstition, Good Luck, Pakistani superstition
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Superstition 2:
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Item: “If you want good luck, give money to the poor.”
General Information:
- Customary Superstition, Magic Superstition
- English
- Pakistani
Informant Data:
- Saleha Irfan is from Lahore, Pakistan. She is Punjabi and has spent her entire life in Pakistan.
Contextual Data:
- Saleha believes superstitions are prevalent in Pakistan. Saleha considered herself a believer of superstitions growing up but does not currently subscribe to those superstitions. This superstition is like charm and it is followed at any time when an individual may want good luck in Pakistan.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript of Associated File:
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“For good luck there is this concept of basically you give donations and it increases your blessings because the more you give the more it multiplies.”
Informant’s Comments:
- By giving money to the poor, you increase your blessings. Essentially, if you do good things for others, good things will happen to you. The more you give, the more your blessings multiply.
Collector’s Comments:
- When you accumulate good karma, good things are more likely to happen to you. Philanthropy like this is common in all cultures and reflect the good-will of the donor.
Collector’s Name: Edric Wung
Tags/Keywords:
- Customary Superstition, Good luck, Pakistani superstition
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Superstition 3:
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Item: “If a bird poops on your head, you will have good luck.”
General Information:
- Customary Superstition, Sign Superstition
- English
- Pakistan
Informant Data:
- Heder Hayat is from Lahore, Pakistan. He has lived there all his life and identifies as Punjabi. He attends school at Dartmouth College and is an undergraduate student.
Contextual Data:
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Heder does not believe in the superstition but he explained this superstition is often said throughout Lahore. It is used after a good poops on someone’s head, and it is very uncommon. Culturally, it is prevalent in Pakistani and in Indian culture which is very interesting.
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Transcript of Associated File:
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“There’s also a thing back home that if a crow or any bird takes a dump and it hits the top of your head, that means good luck. I didn’t believe in it but that is something that is said around and talked about. I remember once I got hit in the head by crow poop and i didn’t know if i should be happy or not.”
Informant’s Comments:
- One time a raven pooped on Heder’s head, and his mom told him that it was good luck. Ever since this moment, he has believed in this superstition, but now Heder does not believe in the superstition. He explained this superstition is often said throughout Lahore. When the raven pooped on his head he didn’t know how to feel. Although it seemed like the event was unlucky, he remembered his mother’s words. Now, he doesn’t subscribe to it.
Collector’s Comments:
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This is very similar to the superstition my mom told me while I was growing up. Like Heder, a bird pooped on my head and my mom told me to buy a lottery ticket because good luck would come my way. This may be because the probability of a bird pooping on someone is so small that it must be a sign of good luck.
Collector’s Name: Edric Wung
Tags/Keywords:
- Customary Superstition, Good luck, Pakistani superstition
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Superstition 4:
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Item: “If your right palm is itchy, you are about to become rich.”
General Information:
- Customary Superstition, Sign Superstition
- English
- Pakistani
Informant Data:
- Sheherzad is from Lahore, Pakistan. She spent the first 18 years of her life there before coming to Dartmouth College. She identifies as Punjabi.
Contextual Data:
- Sheherzad believes that superstitions play a big role in Pakistan regardless of social class–even the educated, upper class is very superstitious. She also considers herself superstitious even though she understands they are illogical. This superstition can take place at any time one’s palm itches.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript of Associated File:
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“If your right palm or both of your palms are itchy that means you are going to have good luck in the sense you will be come very rich.”
Informant’s Comments:
- Sheherzad is unclear on why this superstition is true, but she believes it nonetheless. She doesn’t see any harm in believing in it.
Collector’s Comments:
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Again we see that the right side is usually preferred to the left side. Hindu culture seems to have penetrated many Pakistani superstitions, and is reasonable given India’s close proximity to India.
Collector’s Name: Edric Wung
Tags/Keywords:
- Customary Superstition, Good Luck, Pakistani Culture
thanks for sharing 🙂
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I was just in my kitchen wiping my sides clean then the ashtray broke in half please can you tell me what that means as am worried now thankyou
Thank you for putting this out there. I’m a coordinated person. It would be unusual for me to break 2 or 3 glasses a year. I am going through a major transition with emotional, legal, and financial challenges. All fine, my life is really good, but still big challenges. For the past 2 weeks I’ve broken 2-3 items per day. As I was about to clean up my first broken glass of the day, I thought I’ve got to look up what this means. Thank you for giving me a positive spin on this. I’m also happy to say that the individual who has created these challenges is leaving the country on Sunday morning. Thanks thank you for sharing this so I Put a positive spin and see it as … I’m cleaning up and clearing out evil. Find your site also brings back happy memories at Dartmouth.
How’s the glass breaking going?
i came here for the same reasons… not sure if i received the luck yet but it has definitely been a tough year and with the new year coming and a new decade approaching i had wonders as to whether the vase i broke this morning was only going to make 2020 another terrible year. because at this point in the month of december alone! i’ve unintentionally broken 4 glass pieces (from vases to bakeware) so reading this page definitely alleviated some of my anxiety. i don’t break glass often, so i was really worried when not 1, not 2 but 4 objects had broken in less than a month. i thought i had extended bad luck for another decade haha. i remind myself my situation is not completely terrible (it could be much worse) and i’m grateful that i’ve been able to overcome a lot of it. this archive has definitely given me hope because this has been a realllllly tough year, to be honest the last 2-3 year haven’t been all that great either but this year hit me a whole lot different, life really challenged me. i just want too say thank you to the creator of the archive and for some reason this comment complied me to comment my experience and gratitude towards this achive as well. i’ve not been to dartmouth or even know where it is. google is just magical like that lol. stay positive everyone, peace! <3
My Dutch great-grandmother, grandmother and mother always told me that if you’re right hand palm itched it meant you were going to meet someone new and shake their hand. But if the left one itched it means you were going to be getting some good luck and money right away. I like the way they do this
I’m so glad to here this I keep breaking mirrors and now I’m gonna sleep better understanding of the meaning which is a positive response so glad thank you
Breaking a mirror is not the same as breaking glass
Please help I just broke the class now, what is going to happen, I heard they said is bad luck, is it true or
I was looking for something else and found my wedding cake topper that is porcelain broken in a cabinet (from cleaning people) – groom’s Head is off. I was married in 2003 and that was the topper and then divorced in 2010 – have just been hanging on to it. Now, I’m considering the meaning. My father is Punjabi and from Lahore as well.
In my work place drinking glass broken from my table unknowingly. Please tell me it is bad or good. Any remedies is there please.
Breaking mirror by its own means someone gone die.
I was doing a clearing in my home (and welcoming in of new energy) and during my chanting the glass bowl that held my Sage smudge stick and Paulo Santo wood cracked and shattered on my alter. I got a bit of a fright, so happy to hear this news!
I was just doing the same thing and also reading about the hierarchy of Angel’s and glass shattered and exploded spontaneously in my kitchen
Nice to hear that it’s a lucky superstition. I was sitting on the couch on my phone and the glass cup next to me pops and cracks. It was empty and room temperature. Looked up the scientific explanation but also wanted to know the superstition. I quit my job recently and keep seeing patterned numbers like 11:11 so yes I am a bit superstitious and wanted to know if their could be a metaphysical reason behind this randomness. I’m satisfied that I am on the right path. I also had a job interview today which went very well.
My daughter has a plate in her hand and it fell from her hand and broke, i had a bottle of seasoning and it slipped from my hand and broke I know something was wrong.
Hopefully I will be rich will let you know.
Amazing post..keep writing
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I just finished eating why going to the kitchen to drop the plate and mistakenly the plane just fell off from my hand and broke into two pieces does it really mean anything please help me out
I just break a paraffin glass lamp i cleaning it not even hard but it breaks nicely on top.What does it mean. Do i keep the glass or throw away also is it good luck or bad.
Thank you
Some glass is not tempered it may have gotten too hot and cracked it that’s a common thing !!
I broke 3 glasses in one day and then won the lottery… It’s true
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