The Dictionary of Omens & Superstitions [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION'No natural exhalation in the sky,No scape of nature, no distemper'd day, No common wind, no customed event,But they will pluck away his natural cause, And call them meteors, prodigies, and signs,Abortives, presages, and tongues of heaven, Plainly denouncing vengeance.'William Shakespeare King JohnDr Johnson, that most inquisitive and urbane of men, telis us in an entry in one of his journals that he was quite sure that something unlucky would happen to hím unless he touched every wooden post as he walked along a particular road. He could offer no reason why this was so - just that it was, and he had no intention of going against it.Superstition, for such it was, plays a part iri all our lives, and although many people would argue that reason should always triumph over instinct, the question is - does it? Let me quote you an example which will certainly put you in the kind of quandary that faces anyone who takes a firm line in such discussions. Suppose, for arguments sake, you stand behind a reinforced glass partition, and ask someone on the other side to