- MOSCOW (AFP) - Students don't
wash their hair the day before exams, musicians take similar precautions
before a concert, and if you take your rubbish out after nightfall you
risk losing all your money.
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- Superstitions play a major part in Russian daily life
particularly in rural areas where people prefer to observe at times irrational
traditional beliefs rather than swallow the arguments of a more scientific
approach and chance their arm against fate.
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- Even in major urban areas, superstitions govern the lives
of many. "I always enter stage on my left foot," said an actress
with a major Moscow theatre company.
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- Passing the salt directly by hand to your dining partners
risks starting a quarrel. The same is true of soap and knives. They have
to be set down on the table instead. "Spilling salt at table brings
bad luck and to counteract it you have to throw a pinch of the spilt salt
over your left shoulder where the evil spirit is," explains Russian
language teacher Svetlana.
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- Once Russians have gone out, they avoid entering the
house again to pick up a forgotten object. If it is unavoidable, a return
to the house is possible but only if before leaving again, they look in
a mirror. "But I don't believe in the mirror. I never go back in,"
said Marina, a young woman from Saint Petersburg.
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- One shouldn't offer animals, handkerchiefs or watches
as presents to close friends and family as they can bring on a separation,
and for the same reason people do not not kiss in a doorway.
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- If a knife falls to the floor, it is a sign that someone
male will come to visit. Drop a fork or a spoon and someone female will
soon appear. "If you don't want them to come, you have to immediately
knock three times with the utensil on the table and say 'stay at home'"
said interpretor Mikhail Viktorovich.
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- Sitting at an angle to the table can bring seven years
without marriage, and breaking a mirror is a sign of oncoming death.
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- It is an ominous sign to meet a woman with an empty bucket
as you leave your house, as it is to see a black cat crossing the road.
In such cases it is advisable to pinch a button of your clothing between
thumb and index finger.
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- The poet Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) is supposed to
have returned home after seeing a black cat cross the road rather than
tempt fate.
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- When one moves house it is advisable to let a cat into
the new residence before moving in. The cat will then come into contact
with the spirit of the house, the "domovoi".
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- If you lose an object at home, put a sweet in a corner
for the domovoi. Once it has helped you to find the item, you must take
care to throw the sweet away.
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- Many rituals are linked to death. On the ninth and 40th
day after the death of a relative, the family leaves a small glass of vodka
and a piece of bread on the corner of the table, to help the soul's journey.
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- If someone is about to go on a trip, all the members
of their family should sit with them in a few seconds' silence before they
leave home.
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- Many of these superstitions are known in other parts
of the world, but in Russia they are very popular and part of the social
game.
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- A few months ago, the former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov,
when welcomed in the provinces, was offered a cutting instrument as a present.
Without delay he took a few rubles from his wallet, "so that friendship
would not be cut."
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