Superstitions Everyone s future is in reality an

Superstitions

Everyone's future is, in reality, an urn full of unknown treasures from which all may draw unguessed prizes. Lord Dunsany

1. Are you a superstitious person? 2. Are your friends and family superstitious? 3. Does Friday the 13 th mean anything to you personally? Would you change your room if they gave you 13 th number in a hotel? 4. Do you often knock on wood, spit over your shoulder or finger your button? 5. What spheres of life are the most abundant with superstitions?

Word superstitious comes from Latin ‘super-stare’ meaning super-observe or watch too closely, pay too much attention. Another meaning it has is ‘surviving, old, obsolete’, This word was used to denote the pagan cults in Roman Empire which were outlawed and survived through the time. In particular it was used to name the Druid rites and rituals There is a thin line of distinction between the concept of superstition and religion though

Superstitious facts 1. The most superstitious people statistically are young women between 18 and 29. 23% of them believe in all superstitions. 2. 20% of men are not superstitious at all. 3. By the age of 50 years 25% men and only 10% women are not superstitious. 4. 25% of us are superstitious about knocking on wood, 5. 13% about a black cat crossing a path, 6. 12% about walking under a ladder, 7. 11% about breaking a mirror, 8. 9% about the number 13 9. 9% of respondents believed that speaking ill of a person makes it come true.

Louis XIV, (Le Roi Soleil) was presented with a beautiful neck scarf by one of his favorites. The girl warned if he took the scarf off he would lose the crown. It’s how the necktie was invented

Cosmonauts and pilots are the most superstitious people. One of the superstitions they have is to never make pictures before the flight. Firefighters are also very superstitious, they always clean their boots before their shift begins (or they will be called out to the fire). And when they come back after vacation they get soaked on water. Medics never exchange with the work shifts, because something bad always happens on the shift you take

In Plesetk, a Russian rocket city, there is a superstition to write ‘Tanya’ on every rocket they launch

British sailors prefer Cheshire cats to any other, they say they bring good luck, peace and health to the crew

Musicians believe on the day of concert they should stand up from the right foot and never make their bed, so the concert is a success

Your (left or right) eye is itchy //eye specific

If your left eye is itchy, something bad will happen. If your right eye is itchy you will soon meet your beloved.

Your elbow itches

If your elbow itches, it warns you that you will cry soon (unhappily)

Your neck itches

If your neck itches, it means you will soon have some fun time with friends

Two people yawn at the same time

If two people yawn at the same time, they will have some fun time together soon

Sneezing before dinner

Sneezing before dinner means you will soon receive good news

Whistling in premises

If you whistle in premises, the money will run away from you

Putting your hat on the table

Putting your hat on the table brings you bad luck and no money

Having a bad dream

If you have a bad dream and tell it before sunrise, it will come true

While walking, stepping in the footsteps of another person

If you walk in another person’s footsteps you steal his health and vigor

Fork, spoon or knife falls on the ground during dinner

If the spoon falls on the floor it means the woman guest will come If the knife falls on the floor it means the man guest will come There is no distinct fork superstition because forks were introduced to everyday life not too long ago

Leaving the bread crumbs and pieces on the table

Leaving the bread crumbs and pieces on the table after dinner is a bad luck since your happiness will always stay unfinished

Cleaning the bread crumbs with your hand after finishing meal

Cleaning the bread crumbs with your hand after the meal brings bad luck and lack of money

Sweeping floors after the guests have left

If you sweep the floors within three days after someone’s parting, This person will never come back to your place

Black cat crosses your road

Black cat crossing your road brings you bad luck

Breaking your mirror

Breaking your mirror usually brings a very bad luck for 7 years

Walking under a ladder

Walking under a ladder is considered a very bad luck

1. Do you think that there is truth behind some superstitions? 2. What superstitions do you believe in and what you consider silly? 3. What other superstitions do you know that weren’t mentioned? 4. Can you recall any strange or unexplained events in your life? 5. Do you have a lucky number? 6. Do you walk under ladders?

Presentation topics

Fortune tellers

Ghosts

Tarot cards

Palmistry

Zodiac

Onomancy

Numerology

Spirit Board

Runic Magic

Feng shui

Fantasy Magic and Spells

Magic

Magic

Luskan proverb If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he can always eat. If you give a man a fire, he's warm for a day. If you set a man on fire, he is warm for the rest of his life.

What is Magic ? What associations do you have with the word magic? Do you think magic is something good or dangerous?

Magic or sorcery is an attempt to understand use supernatural forces, using rituals, symbols, actions, gestures and language.

Observed since earliest stages of development of human society, Magic is considered an effect granted to a person for his prayer or sacrifice to supernatural power, able to make his wishes come true.

Most ancient beliefs in magic or the religious views of the modern tribal peoples of Australia and Africa do not distinguish between good and bad magic. The concepts of good and evil are alien to the gods.

Ancient Egyptians defined two kinds of magic: One was used to benefit people, alive or dead. Another was used to harm people and scheme against them.

The concept of magic as a category separate from religion was first widely recognized in Judaism, which defined as magic the practices of worship designed to appease and receive benefits from gods other than Yahweh. Basically, any religious act to please non-monotheistic god was claimed to be Magic

Egyptians believed that activation of their soul (Ka) brings them closer to the gods, which they share the same spiritual source with. The activator of the soul was called He-Ka, becoming a god Heka, ‘the one who activates Ka’ – the god of Magic.

In ancient Greece magic was involved in practice of religion, medicine, and divination. Hecate, the ancient Greek goddess of magic.

The practice of magic was banned in the Roman world. The word 'magic' was used widely in late antique texts as part of polemics against enemies (mostly pagan ones).

Christian Church rejected magic as a whole because it is viewed as a means of tampering with the natural world in a supernatural manner.

The Renaissance was the time of science, when happened the distinction of astronomy from astrology, and of chemistry from alchemy. At the same time it was the era of popularization of magic. The seven artes magicae or arts prohibited by canon law by Johannes Hartlieb in 1456 were: nigromancy (which included "black magic" and "demonology"), geomancy, hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, chiromancy, and scapulimancy Both bourgeoisie and nobility in the 15 th and 16 th century showed great fascination with forbidden arts.

Demonology is a study of demons - supernatural beings, who are not gods. The original sense of "demon", from the time of Homer onward, was a benevolent being, which later changed to manevolent.

Geomancy – this art comes from the Middle East – and means the divinations by using sand, earth or writing symbols on the ground. The most well known modern geomancy practice is Feng Shui

Hydromancy – or water divination – is a set of ancient rites connected to water magic. A custom of ancient Germanic tribes was to throw newborn children into the Rhine. The ones who swam were considered legitimate and free from evil spirits. Much later it became a part of the Baptism rite in Christianity. Throwing a coin into a fountain to return is also hydromancy ritual.

Aeromancy is an air divination, which is made by observing weather conditions and their development. In modern world some yoga practices connected to breathing and especially aromatherapy (and revelations made under inhaled drug substances) are connected with ancient aeromantic rituals

Pyromancy is divination by fire and ability to see the future in the sacred and ritual pyres and fires. The well-known romantic candle dinner is a pyromantic ritual, as well as burning candles in churches in someone’s memory

Chiromancy – well known now as one of the modern forms of fortune telling, remained much unchanged in the course of the years. Aristotle, Hippocrates and Alexander the Great popularized the laws and practice of palmistry. During the Middle Ages the art of palmistry was actively suppressed by the Catholic Church as pagan superstition.

Scapulimancy – telling the future by the shape and color of the oracle bone – scapula - of the killed sacrificial animal or a human. The scapula could also be heated on fire and watched the way it breaks from heat.

1. Does the destiny exist? Can you learn about it or change it through any divination? 2. Are there people in the world who can do real magic? Who are they? 3. What kinds of above mentioned magic do you practice yourself? 4. Have you ever had your fortune told? Has it come true? 5. What place does magic play in your life? Does it inspire you, or you are afraid of it, or you just don’t think about it? 6.

In-Game Magic

Schools of Magic

School of Illusion. Invisibility

School of Enchantment. Suggestion

School of Conjuration. Summoning

School of Abjuration. Protection from Evil

School of Necromancy. Animate dead

School of Envocation/Invocation. Fireball

School of Divination. Scrying

School of Alteration/Transmutation. Levitate

1. If you were a magician, what kind of magician would you be? What powers would you have? 2. Would you like a magic carpet? Where would you go on it? 3. Which did you believe in first; love, faith or magic? 4. Is there a magic formula to studying English? 5. Have you ever looked in the mirror and 'seen' a different face? 6. Have you ever felt that you knew someone the first time you met them?