Does Google even work anymore???

Christina Websell wrote:
"Patok" wrote in message

If I can give you some advice? You would sit much better in the group if
you introduced yourself and shared about your cats. We welcome new members
who join in with the spirit of the group and are understandably suspicious
of how you presented.

Sure you can give advice, thanks. I'd certainly have done what you write, if
I was regularly here; unfortunately I don't have the time to post more often,
and just drop in from time to time. As to sharing about the cats - as I wrote
in another post, I'm wary of doing that, because I think it's bad luck. But
maybe I'll tell about Snickers, who passed away last year, when I have the
time. (It's safe for him now, and he was a remarkable cat.) Or maybe I'll tell
of a cat mystery that happened to me.

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
*
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.

Patok wrote:

Christina Websell wrote:
"Patok" wrote in message

If I can give you some advice? You would sit much better in the group if
you introduced yourself and shared about your cats. We welcome new members
who join in with the spirit of the group and are understandably suspicious
of how you presented.

Sure you can give advice, thanks. I'd certainly have done what you write, if
I was regularly here; unfortunately I don't have the time to post more often,
and just drop in from time to time. As to sharing about the cats - as I wrote
in another post, I'm wary of doing that, because I think it's bad luck. But
maybe I'll tell about Snickers, who passed away last year, when I have the
time. (It's safe for him now, and he was a remarkable cat.) Or maybe I'll tell
of a cat mystery that happened to me.

Why is it bad luck to talk about your (still-living) cats? This is the
first time I've heard that one.

Joyce


--
Beauty and music seduce us first; later, ashamed of our own
sensuality, we insist on meaning. -- Clive Barker

wrote:
Patok wrote:

As to sharing about the cats - as I wrote
in another post, I'm wary of doing that, because I think it's bad luck. But
maybe I'll tell about Snickers, who passed away last year, when I have the
time. (It's safe for him now, and he was a remarkable cat.) Or maybe I'll tell
of a cat mystery that happened to me.

Why is it bad luck to talk about your (still-living) cats? This is the
first time I've heard that one.

This is a common superstition in South-Eastern Europe, extension and merge
of evil eye and jinx. True, it is primarily about babies, but the kitties are
our babies, so it applies by extension. Or so I caution, just to be on the safe
side, From what I've seen and read, it seems to exist in the Orthodox
Christian countries. You're not supposed to brag, tell stories or show
pictures, because it will bring misfortune or death. It doesn't apply to
relatives, but outsiders are dangerous. When a co-worker, for ex, looks at a
baby/child picture or listens to stories, it is quite good manners and even
expected that she says the counter-formula "pooh, hope I don't hex him/her,
he/she is a pretty/smart etc. child". The "pooh" is imitation spitting (the way
"ha-ha" represents laughter).

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
*
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.

Patok wrote:

wrote:

Why is it bad luck to talk about your (still-living) cats? This is the
first time I've heard that one.

This is a common superstition in South-Eastern Europe, extension and merge
of evil eye and jinx.

Are you talking about Slavic countries such as Bulgaria, or do you mean
Greece, or all of the above? Oh, you said Christian Orthodox, so I guess
Greece would qualify. I don't know what churches are prevalent in the
southeast Balkans.

side, From what I've seen and read, it seems to exist in the Orthodox
Christian countries. You're not supposed to brag, tell stories or show
pictures, because it will bring misfortune or death. It doesn't apply to
relatives, but outsiders are dangerous. When a co-worker, for ex, looks at a
baby/child picture or listens to stories, it is quite good manners and even
expected that she says the counter-formula "pooh, hope I don't hex him/her,
he/she is a pretty/smart etc. child". The "pooh" is imitation spitting
(the way "ha-ha" represents laughter).

A friend told me that in Russia, if someone compliments your child, you're
supposed to downplay it or start talking about the kid's faults, even if
the child is standing right there. I don't know whether that's to ward off
the evil eye, or if it's just considered bad form to brag about your kid.
This friend had emigrated from Russia to the US with her family. I'll bet
it was a shock to them the first time they encountered people talking about
their kids in this country.

Joyce

--
The Internet is on computers now! -- Homer Simpson

Patok wrote:
You're not supposed to brag, tell stories or
show pictures, because it will bring misfortune or death.

Interesting...this is also a Jewish (particularly Eastern
European Jewish) custom...So not just Orthodox Christian.

Deborah
no current fur-babies

wrote:
Patok wrote:

wrote:

Why is it bad luck to talk about your (still-living) cats? This is the
first time I've heard that one.

This is a common superstition in South-Eastern Europe, extension and merge
of evil eye and jinx.

Are you talking about Slavic countries such as Bulgaria, or do you mean
Greece, or all of the above? Oh, you said Christian Orthodox, so I guess
Greece would qualify. I don't know what churches are prevalent in the
southeast Balkans.

Yes, all of them. All former Soviet states (except the Baltic and Muslim
ones) and the entire Balkans (including Greece and Romania) are primarily
Eastern Orthodox.

The blue on the map:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern...r_of_adherents

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
*
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.

Phoenix wrote:
Patok wrote:
You're not supposed to brag, tell stories or
show pictures, because it will bring misfortune or death.

Interesting...this is also a Jewish (particularly Eastern European
Jewish) custom...So not just Orthodox Christian.

Hah, I didn't know that. Interesting, but hardly surprising, given the
common living environment and history. I know the "evil eye" superstition
exists in Turkey and neighboring Muslim countries, but have no idea if this
particular variation does. Probably, (for the same reason as in E.E. Jews),
among the Balkan Muslims too.

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
*
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.