superstition

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India Cowers Ahead of Total Solar Eclipse

(Newser) - Wednesday’s total solar eclipse is eliciting fear and speculation across the Indian subcontinent, AFP reports. A New Delhi gynecologist says caesarian sections scheduled for the day of the eclipse have been canceled. “This is a belief deeply rooted in Indian society,” he said. “Couples are willing...

Saudi Family Charges Genie With Harassment

(Newser) - A Saudi Arabian family has taken a genie to court and charged it with harassment and theft, the BBC reports. Family members say they were forced to abandon their home near Medina after the spirit made strange noises, threatened them, and stole their cell phones. A local court is looking...

'Vampire' Unearthed in Venice
 'Vampire' Unearthed in Venice 
Mar 14, 2009 2:04 AM CDT

'Vampire' Unearthed in Venice

Gravediggers took steps to stop corpse feasting on other plague victims

(Newser) - Italian archeologists have discovered evidence of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual in a 16th-century plague pit near Venice, the AP reports. A female skeleton was unearthed with a brick wedged between her jaws, in what experts believe was an attempt by superstitious gravediggers to stop the corpse from eating through its...

World's Oddest New Year Rituals

Grapes, bonfires, effigies are some nations' traditions for a lucky 2009

(Newser) - While much of the world indulges in the traditional New Year's Eve fare of glittery balls and fireworks, other countries have more unusual ways of shepherding in the next year, reports Travel and Leisure. For example: 
  • Spain: Gobbling a grape for each clock stroke is considered a fruity down
...

Lack of Control Breeds Superstition

(Newser) - Superstitions and conspiracy theories all boil down to control issues, a new study says. When subjects in a University of Texas test were made to feel out of control, they saw more patterns that did not exist—whether images in a fuzzy picture or links between unconnected actions. Which is...

Brit Brides Cheer Chimney Sweep Boom

English cleaning out their fireplaces as heating costs rise

(Newser) - High energy costs in the UK are proving to be a boon for chimney sweeps, Reuters reports. A national group says they’re getting a bigger than usual rush of fall business as homeowners look to their fireplaces as an inexpensive way to keep warm. That means more chimney sweeps...

Pre-Olympics Eclipse May Give Chinese Jitters

A solar eclipse shortly before the Olympics won't bring doom, 'experts' say

(Newser) - Eager to shake its reputation for being superstitious, China will be downplaying a total solar eclipse—once seen as a portent of disaster—Aug. 1, a week before the Beijing Olympics, AFP reports. Feng shui and astrology experts are predicting that the eclipse, visible in China but not Beijing, will...

Olympic Omens Worry Superstitious Chinese

An unfortunate 2008 has some talking of a 'curse of the Olympic mascots'

(Newser) - Superstitious beliefs the Communists once tried to stamp out have been making a comeback in China, the Christian Science Monitor reports, especially in this troubled Olympic year. The Games are set to begin on August 8, as 8 sounds like fortune in Mandarin, making 8/8/8 an especially lucky date, but...

Canadians Bully Burmese Junta With... Panties?

Women mail skivvies to embassy to spook superstitious tyrants

(Newser) - When international pressure fails, try… underwear? Canadian women think they can change the Myanmar junta’s ways by mailing a steady stream of panties to the Myanmar embassy in Ottawa, Sify reports. The military dictators apparently harbor a superstitious fear that touching a woman’s undergarment will “rob them...

Why Close the Markets Today?
 Why Close the Markets Today? 
Mar 21, 2008 3:10 PM CDT

Why Close the Markets Today?

Observing Good Friday one reason; superstition about 1907 panic another

(Newser) - The Big Board is closed today—but the reason is open to some debate, Bloomberg reports. The last time the markets opened on Good Friday was 101 years ago, when they saw one of two huge crashes that made up the Panic of 1907. Fear of repeating that catastrophe may...

Ooh, Scary: 33% of US Believes in Ghosts

New poll finds Americans very superstitious

(Newser) - Americans spook easily, with nearly a third of people admitting to believing in ghosts and nearly a quarter claiming to have seen or felt one, an AP-Ipsos poll finds. Nearly every other person believes in ESP, and 20% believe in witchcraft and spells. Singles, Catholics, and those who never attend...

Junta Cremates Protesters
Junta Cremates Protesters
Oct 7, 2007 5:05 PM CDT

Junta Cremates Protesters

Crackdown carries on, as soldiers arrest more activists and the wounded are refused treatment

(Newser) - Burma's army is burning the bodies of activists in secret cremations, hiding their true death count forever, the Sunday Times reports. Locals near Rangoon report trucks are driving by a crematorium at night as smoke rises constantly from its chimneys. Rumors of victims burnt alive have swept the city, but...

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