So that’s why teenagers let their hair grow long…!
Yeah. Vanity makes more sense. It sounds like a lot of superstitions just got melded together over the years.
i always believed that if a baby had stupid parents that believed in superstitions and reprimanded their child because the child liked itself the baby would grow up to be stupid like its parents and have low self esteem :smack:
According to Lacan, it will cause the baby to develop an ego, and become alienated from him/herself.
:rolleyes:
Where in the world did people get superstitions before black cats were domesticated, sidewalks crafted, and mirrors, umbrellas and ladders were invented? I understand why we were prone to look for trouble when we didn’t quite understand meteorlogical, geological, and astronomical events, but why do some manufacture trouble from simple man made objects?
OP didn’t say if his in-laws were Thai, but that superstition sounds familiar. I know babies here aren’t supposed to smell flowers. To admire a baby you call it “ugly” not “cute.”
Tokay geckos are lucky if they sing out “tokay” seven or more times in a row, or if they live inside your house. We have both, but the inside tokays are smart enough not to attract attention by croaking “tokay.” I can’t even begin to keep track of all the superstitions (are dog litters lucky when even in number, and cats odd? Or is it vice versa?); fortunately foreigners are often exempt.
One superstition easy to remmeber is: At a funeral you must pick up the incense sticks with your own hand, don’t let anyone hand them to you. If, at a funeral you receive the incense sticks from the hand of another that means: You’re next! :smack: (On more than one occasion I’ve explained this to a fellow foreigner and watched their jaw drop open – their wife had been handing them the incense sticks!)
double zombie or no
you can’t let them see their reflection because they will cry. babies are very territorial. they are always reaching for stuff. gimme, gimme, gimme. if they see a rival for anything they will scram their heads off and not stop. you can’t hope to put them together until at least three years old and then they still are biting each other fighting for toys.
Use garlic. The mirror thing is too dangerous in case your baby wouldn’t be a vampire. Its soul could stay inside the mirror insuring a prompt death.
Assuming that this Thai superstition is the same as what is found in many other cultures, the reason is that positive statements might attract the envious interest of malevolent spirits. Some cultures even go as far as giving children derogatory names until they’ve grown up a bit.