18 replies to this topic

[minadrew]

Are there common superstitions in Turkey? I remember seeing the evil eye when I was there, what does the blue eye represent?

[Abi]

This well help you out telling you about the 'evil eye' Click here. Here is another link which lists a huge amount. It's interesting as a lot will be familiar.

[MutluKadin]

Same with saying, "Mashallah" all the time- wards off the evil eye.

Here are some more that I can think of. Some may be Turkish; others, Islamic. Obviously, there's a bleedover:

1. Pour a bucket of water at the back of a vehicle before a long trip.
2. Drink warm water after ice cream so you don't get sick.
3. Make sure to throw out nail and hair clippings (so you don't get a spell put on you).
4. Don't have pictures hanging around- again, that attracts the evil eye. Same with bragging. Of if you must talk about good things, you should say "Alhamduillah" (sp?) to bless it. And "Inshallah" whenever you talk about future plans.
5. Don't tell your dreams to people. If you MUST tell, say it to the water. (Dreams contain messages- some may be from Allah, others, from not so good places, so you don't want to put them into action.)
6. Don't say the three letter word that starts with a "J" and ends with "N" or you may attract them.

There are TONS more, but this should get the conversation rolling!

[Yellowcatt]

One that I was surprised to see was touching wood for good luck, just like in England.

[Aston]

There are several superstitions I have come across that are the same in Turkey and the UK.

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  If your left hand is itches, you will receive money. If your right hand itches you will spend money.

• To break a mirror brings bad luck
• Never hand knives or scissors directly to a person as you will argue

​Walking under ladders, black cats and the number 13 to name a few.

[sunny]

The superstition I like least is that when you buy something large, like a house or a car, or open a business, you should sacrifice a sheep or at least a chicken and smear the blood on the item. I'm afraid I wouldn't allow Mr Sunny to do this when we did any of those things and it didn't seem to bring disaster upon us.

[minadrew]

Thanks for the replies and the links! Great info, so interesting which superstitions are the same in the US - knock on wood, the # 13, broken mirrors and walking under ladders to name a few!

[sunny]

One at least is different. In the UK a black cat is considered lucky but the opposite is true here.

[Yellowcatt]

I tend to view not walking under ladders more as common sense than superstition.

[IstanbulWhiteboy]

I don't know if these qualify as "superstition," but here's a few more I've come across as a k12 teacher:

-drinking cold water (or adding ice to any drink) will make you sick (all the water coolers in the school were unplugged)
-if a kid gets sweaty, change his/her clothes ASAP (which is ridiculous if you consider the fact that the body sweats in order to cool it down when it gets too hot)
-fresh air in the building will make the kids sick (so keep all the windows and doors sealed up tight so that the germs are trapped inside!)
-if the thermometer drops below 20deg bundle them up in a heavy jacket, scarf and hat before letting them outside (okay 20deg is an exaggeration, but not by much)
and I just don't get this one at all: -white bread slathered with enormous amounts of chocolate spread (nutella et al) makes a healthy breakfast...

[sunny]

Unfortunately all these things are common/ normal beliefs here.

If you get a sore throat it's because you've eaten or drunk something cold but funnily enough this doesn't seem to apply to beer!

You missed out that if you swallow an animal hair it will also make you ill. (Human hair seems to be exempt from this)
I've hunted on the internet to find if there is any evidence to back up this idea but, other than someone who works in a fur factory, there doesn't seem to be anything to substantiate it.

[Meral]

A friend will not drink water unless sitting down -- says that is an Islamic tradition. Another friend once asked me to pass the scissors, but I had to put them down next to her because she refused to take them directly from my hand. If you do pass a knife or scissors, you mustn't point the sharp end towards the other person. Also, if you give a gift of a wallet, purse or handbag, it mustn't be empty but should contain a token amount of money (like a 5-lira note), which means you wish that person prosperity. :0

[Vic801]

Also cats give you tapeworm. I saw one day a very funny scene where our foreign friend and her foreign friend tried to persaude their cleaning woman that cats did not/could not give you tapeworm problems. Her cleaning woman smiled indulgently but stuck to her story, I saw it on the television, cats give you tenia. It was so funny to see the 2 foreign women trying deperately to explain to her that it was not possible, and she was looking like 'these yabanci people don't know anything about life" and nodding and smiling knowingly. Honestly after 4 years in Turkey I just do the nodding, smiling and "tabi" thing. As my friend Mehmet (not the Evil one of course) says, it doesn't make you richer or poorer so who cares!

In England, the tradition used to be that if you gave a knife or scissors to someone you should give at least a penny back to the person, lest the knife cuts your friendship. I remember that the Queen had a problem with this one many years ago as someone gave her a pair of scissors to cut a ribbon at a school or hospital and she had to ask her aide to hand her a penny since she never carries money.

[sunny]

I've never heard that one about the penny Vic although I've heard about not handing something sharp to anyone directly.
With the number of scissors the queen has used to cut ribbons you'd think she'd have a purseful handy!

[samanthaozkara]

The most annoying supersitition is the water after the ice cream it drives me crazy!! As a massive ice cream lover I am constantly being offered water after an ice cream then I recieve many bad looks when I refuse the water. I do try to explain to people that being from the UK a country that barely sees the sun I ate ice cream during the winter and the summer months and was never ill because I didnt drink water. x

[sunny]

I've never been offered water after ice-cream Sam. I won't ask anybody about it in case they start offering me some!

[clinky]

I had an ice cream at 11.30 last night...was I up at 3 writhing around clutching my stomach? Nope.

This morning I had some cold water from the jug in the fridge...am I on the floor wishing the dear lord to make it stop? Nope.

On a more serious (and worrying) note, my wife burnt her leg last week at a concert. She tripped over and fell on a spot lamp and suffered 2nd degree burns to her calf. Now she's been to three different doctors because she didn't trust any of their diagnoses but the fourth doctor she trusted because the doctor.....said hello to a cleaning lady. Also her mother (my MiL) is now making noises about the fact that all this happened because my wife gossiped about me to another lady (married to an English guy)....you couldn't make it up!

[sunny]

You'll never be able to change their mind set Clinky, believe me I've tried and failed miserably. Superstition are inbuilt in most of us.

Hope Mrs Clinky's leg is healing well.

[IstanbulWhiteboy]

tell her to rub some dirt on it, she'll be fine =]