Filipinos are no exception to this. In fact, a lot of Filipinos are extremely superstitious.
From the things that we do, the places that we go to, up to the people that we meet — Filipinos always have a corresponding superstition that you can either brush off or go along with just to be on the safe side.
Here are some examples:
1. A pregnant woman is believed to be very lucky, especially when it comes to gambling or playing games of chance. For some gamblers, simply having a pregnant woman beside them would be enough to give them a winning streak.
2. Anything suddenly falling without apparent reason, especially a glass breaking into pieces, is an omen that indicates or foretell serious trouble. In the worst case scenario, it could mean the death of a loved one.
3. According to old lore, girls who sing while cooking would end up marrying a man significantly older than they are.
4. Sweeping the floor at night allegedly causes bad luck. If you really must sweep the floor, make sure that the dirt won’t leave the house until morning as it supposedly drives good luck out of the house. This would be an even bigger no-no when someone from the family has just died as it will supposedly “wipe” the entire family away — meaning the remaining family members will die one by one.
5. Eating from a stack of plates or sitting on a stack of chairs will supposedly cause you to end up with multiple partners. This could either be because you’re going to be widowed or you will end up parting ways with your partner/s.
6. Trimming your fingernails or toenails at night is a big no-no. According to elders, it’s like cutting the life of your parents short.
7. If a utensil fell on the floor, it means a visitor is going to pay a visit soon. If it’s a spoon, the visitor would be a woman; if it’s a fork, the visitor would be a man.
8. Whatever you’re doing, do not rest your chin or cheeks on the palm your hand. It supposedly drives good luck away, probably because it makes you appear bored or indifferent, so even if someone has some good news to share with you, they might change their mind.
9. Sleeping with a book under your pillow is said to help make you smart because your head supposedly absorbs the information inside the book while you sleep. Because of this, students about to take an exam are told to do this the night before the test.
10. If you suddenly choke on your food (“nabulunan”) or the beverage that you are drinking (“nasamid”), it’s either because people are talking about you or someone is thinking about you.
To have an idea who that person is or who those people are, the person who choked on their food or their drink asks a number from the people surrounding them.
The number given would then be converted to its corresponding letter in the Latin alphabet (for example, 5 would be equivalent to the letter E; 16 would be equivalent to the letter P).
The letter, in turn, would correspond to the first letter of the person in question’s name. And that’s just the first batch. Next time, I’ll be sharing more. Please remember that these are just superstitions, though, so it’s completely up to you whether you’d believe them or not. ^_^
And that’s just the first batch. Next time, I’ll be sharing more. Please remember that these are just superstitions, though, so it’s completely up to you whether you’d believe them or not. ^_^
Until next time!
