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Show Superstitions About Christmas 1 1 . . SIGNIFICANT meanings surround Christmas, according to superstitions believed in various parts of the world. C In Holstein, Mistletoe is not only supposed to be a cure for all green wounds, but will insure success in the chase and give strength to the wrestler. C Early Norsemen believed for centuries cen-turies that the Mistletoe would give protection .against both bodily ailments ail-ments and evil spirits. C A person who is born on Christmas Christ-mas will have power to see and command com-mand spirits, according to a Scottish belief. C. French peasants believe that babies born on Christmas have the gift of phophecy. C. If a baby is born at sermon time on Christmas Eve in Middle Europe, it portends that someone in the house will die within the year. C. Daughters born in the Vosges, France, on December 25 will be wise, witty and virtuous. C. A baby born on Christmas In j Silesia will become either a lawyer ; or a thief. C. Girls in the ancient Duchy of Swavia seldom missed the opportunity oppor-tunity offered by Christmas to look into the future at their future husbands. hus-bands. On Christmas Eve they would go to the woodpile to draw sticks. If a girl pulled a thick stick, her husband hus-band would be stout; if a long stick, he would be tall; if a crooked stick, he would be deformed. They would determine the business of their fu- I - ture husbands by dropping melted lead into a pan of cold water. The molten metal would form various shapes in cooling, and thus resemble the insignia of his occupation: hammer ham-mer shape, a carpenter; shoe shape, a cobbler. Every piece of lead resembled re-sembled some occupation to the old wives. C. A maiden in Switzerland who accepts ac-cepts a bunch of Edelweiss at Christmas Christ-mas also accepts the man who proffers prof-fers it. C. All animals in the German Alps can speak on Christmas Eve. C. It is believed in the Netherlands that nothing sown on Christmas Eve will perish. Even seed sown in the snow will live. C A Bohemian wife will die within a year if she burns a Christmas cake. C To insure an abundant harvest in Denmark, some of the bread baked on Christmas is kept until sowing time, when it is mixed with the seed. C. It is said that bread baked on Christmas in England never becomes be-comes moldy. C Ashes must not be thrown oul on Christmas day in some sections of Europe, for fear they might be thrown into the Savior's face. C Some families in Scandinavia place all their shoes together on Christmas. This will cause them to live in harmony throughout the year. |
