Cassell's Dictionary of Superstitions

by David Pickering

People around the world and throughout history have always held arcane beliefs to try to gain understanding and control over a mysterious world. This entertaining and educational reference describes why actors shout "break a leg" to each other for good luck, and consider any word of encouragement before a performance to be a curse. The entry on baseball players explains why they never mention a no-hitter while it's in progress, and why they carefully place their gloves in the field for good luck. Other sections describe customs involving hundreds of animals and birds, rocks and plants, foods and occupations, sleeping and sexual activities, all believed to possess the power to bring doom or fortune. Besides the many entries about superstitions, taboos, and fears, there are sections on traditional rhymes and chants, as well as the uses of potions and rituals that are employed to avoid harm and master the future.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Paranormal, Mythology, Folklore, History, Dictionaries

604 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Terence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't actually "read" this tome. I picked it up today at one of my libraries for a dollar and already I've learned something:

molucca bean A kind of bean or nut, sometimes worn as an amulet in the Western Isles of Scotland....When witchcraft is threatened the beans turn black, warning of misfortune or death. They are particularly credited with assisting women in childbirth and with preventing death by drowning....

I look forward to acquiring many more superstitions in the months ahead.

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Book source ~ Home Library

Superstitions galore in an A-Z guide.

The research I imagine for this book makes my head spin. Not in an Exorcist kind of way, but as in, holy shit. The sheer volume will keep you entertained for a long, long time and the sheer stupidity of the majority of superstitions will have you questioning the genetics of the human race. How the fuck did we survive for so long with so many of these so-called cures out there?! It boggles the mind. All-in-all it’s an interesting read, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed, fascinating, and fun to get lost in. Not sourced, however, and that always annoys me when I want to study further.

[Lisa Proulx · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use it a lot in my horror writing! Good info! :)

[Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty interesting book of superstitions and old wives tales. I've had this one in my collection for quite a while.I can even remember carrying it around during my high school days. Quite useful if your a writer wanting to add some interest to your writing, just don't take everything in it too seriously.

[アレツクス コツト · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cool dictionary about superstitions. It is really nice to refer to when youre curious about something. I like all of the detailed explanations and some of the ways things mention what was done in the past. As humans it is really neat seeing how people saw things and thought were superstitious back then and even today.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is sort of a dictionary of fears and old wives' tales. It was interesting to read, although there is far too many things listed that no one would have ever imagined.

Not for the average reader.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extensive collection of mainly Western superstitions and folk cures. Remedies for whooping cough and warts abound! Witches beware though, the author portrays us as inherently evil, malevolent, nefarious etc, until you reach the 'witchcraft' entry, in which we suddenly become 'mostly benevolent'. In the authors defence, I suspect the superstitions involving witchcraft arose through fear of witchcraft and the witchcraft hysteria, hence the entries are written from that perspective. I deducted a star as there's no index, which would be helpful if you needed to dip into the book to search for something specific.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and interesting read of various superstitions, as the title implies. I found it a fun and entertaining read. It's interesting how some of these 'superstitions' continue into modern day society.

[Marie Sieloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. Would recommend this to anyone interested in the superstitions our ancestors believed in.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book full of detailed information about superstitions from around the world, starting from the earliest times of written history to present day.

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. Definitely worth a read.

[Cortney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot this book even existed until today. I read it so often when I was a kid that it literally fell apart.

[Jeannine Morin · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Pickering has composed a book with information that has been around for a very long time. He has done a beautiful job with the layout of his book, and with collecting the information that was required to fill his book. The book came out in in the 90's, so it is a nice rendition of superstitions from the beginning until that point. Superstitions interested me highly because I am always interested in history, beliefs, heritage and ancestry, and where we come from as a civilization. The beliefs they had were clearly orchestrated by demons playing, "Simon says," with the Victorian era, especially! It was outrageous what some of these people believed in, and I didn't need more evidence as a demonologist that demons existed, but it was nice to read this. The book, as I've said, is really well put together and fascinating to read. I think my favorite parts were the superstitions on Swans and how the only way a Swans egg could hatch was during a thunderstorm, because thunder was the only thing strong enough to break the egg. I also loved the myth of how to gain invisibility and how to earn such a power, you must trade shirts with a dead person who is buried. I had a Johnny cash t-shirt on at the time, and explained this process to my mother, and I had a friend in mind that I would do this ritual with, if only I could. And she said that they would be singing, "I fell into a burning ring of fire!" and we both laughed, because we know that my friend who is gone, would definitely sing that song! Even though he's the best angel that God has now. We laughed at some of the beliefs, and realized perhaps we shouldn't laugh because this is what all of our ancestors were like, but that just made us laugh harder. Again, beautiful, intelligent, and purposeful book that I highly recommend.

[Bernard Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

#BernardReads | BOOK REVIEW 📚

Cassell Dictionary of Superstitions by David Pickering 💀

My first non-fiction book for this year. It is what it says at the cover. Aside from its topic, I was mesmerized by its Vanitas painting cover. That's why I bought it in a sale.

It kinda leaned more on Western traditions. But this compilation is easy to read and had a lot of fun and unique information. It's easy to cross reference as well.

If you asked me if I can remember all entries, definitely no. Similarities are inevitable and my brain can't contain all of these enormously information though. I can sometimes caught myself just breezing through consecutive entries until I find something interesting.

There were thoughts formed in my mind while reading it: that many superstitions were based on prejudice for people with different appearance, skills, status, and even gender which made me thankful for the progress, albeit not that big, we have now as a society.

I recommend reading them for interest and don't be like me who tried reading them through from A to Z. Haha. It would be more enjoyable if you read them randomly or just out of curiosity.

#bookreview #bookrecommendations #superstitions #cassell

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book more stars. It’s very interesting and holds a lot of facts. I was expecting a more diversified dictionary than that based on a mostly English and some Scottish superstition. I was hoping to learn more about other countries and what they believe or maybe some indigenous peoples superstitions. It seems it was very Catholic based too. Lots of days and holidays I’ve never heard of.

[CA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference book I’ll definitely be using in the future. Favorite tidbit: a unibrow was considered a sign of lycanthropy. 😂

[Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stuff. I think it'd be more interesting if there were more dates, such as when certain superstitions were in their prime and that sort of thing. It often makes it sound like a lot of the superstitions are followed religiously by everyone in an entire country all the time, and I know for a fact that can't be true. There were also certain superstitions that could've been detailed a little more, I feel like.

But who knew so many things could be used to see a vision of your future lover.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodwill pick for the cool cover art. Like others, I thought this would be a great reference for writing. Entertaining, the kind of book of lists you can get lost in for hours. Check out the entry on curing bedwetting.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fascinating work helps to decode the hows and whys of superstitions. It's a very accessible work that has, sadly, been rendered rather pointless by the internet.

[Priscilla]

amazon.com

[Esequiel Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

entertaining...

[Andrew Collins]

A delightful reference for the occasional browser.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well researched book on all superstitions. It's amazing what some people used to (and still do) believe in.

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book! There were so many superstitions I'd never even heard of.

[Regina Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short and to the point, I liked that it has indication to origin. But this one is not unique, other than its cover and it had nice old books smell to it - book is from the library.

[Sonya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

[Nathan Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely interesting. You can harvest some ideas for fiction from these pages.

[Bee Watermeier]

Contains obvious superstitions, a good overall read and reference material. However it is not as extensive as I would have liked.

[Glenna Maynard · Rating 4 out of 5]

great introduction of superstitions.