Superstitious …

Part of the journey in life, we travel around the world and meet many people as well as encounter many cultures and perhaps hear a bit of superstitious stories behind each culture …

And Today’s BlogFest is brought to you by The Monkey Heart Discourses, where she has listed many superstitious and their origins ...

It is very interesting to know the story behind the superstitious but when I was growing up, a lot of times, I couldn’t understand for the life of me why we believed certain things and every time when I asked ‘why’ – the answer was always, “just because … “ To be fair, I don’t think my parents knew the reason behind, they were simply following the passed down traditions.

My grandma passed away when I was in elementary school. I remembered my parents and all other relatives (uncles, aunts and you name it) were there surrounding my grandma’s unclosed coffin for three days or so. I remember they were saying that they couldn’t let the coffin unattended simply because if a cat would have jumped over my grandma's body, she would be awaken from her long, and deep sleep. Of course, I had no idea why and I bet they didn’t either.  So, they took turn to stay up, the adults, accompanying my grandma’s corpse.

After three days, we were having the burial ceremony in the cemetery and off we went. At the cemetery, before placing the coffin down, they would close it permanently. Here is what my mom told us and with a special attention to me, YES ME :-), “Please don’t look at the coffin when they were about to close it. Because it would be the last time and the spirit inside grandma would want to escape and she may not be happy.”

One morning, I told my mom that I was having a nightmare the night before that my grandma was mad and chased after me. The unique part of the dream was, she was wearing the same gown that she wore on the day of the burial. My mom shook her head and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to look when they were closing the coffin?”

Was my grandma really mad and not happy like my mom said? I dunno ... and I did look at the coffin before it was closed forever while the rest of people looking down ...

Until next stop,

Journey of Life

Where did 'Make a Wish' Tradition Come From?

Have fun so far? If not, Make a Wish! --the third BlogFest's topic of the month by Tree Girly - http://treegirly.com/2012/10/03/make-a-wish-2/

 

Struck by the BlogFEST topic of the day, sitting here thinking about what wish would I want. Then this little mind of mine wondered off and thinking where this 'Make a wish' tradition came from. 

Have you asked yourself why would someone whisper a wish when they blow those birthday candles? Why would we throw coins into the wishing wells or ponds?

Now that you have asked ... blowing candles then make a wish was originated in the ancient Greek cultures where the Greeks baked a cake for the Artemis, the goddess of the moon and they believed the smoke would bring their wishes to the goddess. The tradition was also seen in Europe where candles were lit through out the night represented the birthday person's life and it was believed to ward off some evil spirits especially for the children who tend to be more vulnerable. Interesting so far?

How about the wishing wells? No one knows how the tradition was passed down but the historians found an ancient well that was used to make offerings to the Roman Britain and Celtic goddess Coventina, in the northeastern tip of England where it was filled with 16,000 coins ranging from the first and fifth centuries. Now you know ...

Wishing your dreams come true ...

Until next time,

Journey of Life

Quite a Distance Apart yet Similar Facts …

I was trying to put away some souvenirs that I purchased during our trip to Egypt –pyramids. Struggling to find some space from my crowded curio cabinet. I managed to locate one next to the pyramids that we bought from our trip to the Mexico  where –Aztez and Mayan civilizations once existed.

As you can imagine, Egypt and Mexico are thousands miles apart and in between they have Atlantic Ocean, but yet –lies some following amazing, and similar facts …

Sun God

Okay, there is one sun and regardless where you are  --though some myths revealed otherwise, still … The Egyptian built some temples to worship the sun god, in fact quite elaborate ones. They even believed that the pharaoh should take the sun god out on certain date and bathed the god before sending the god to the resting place for good night sleep. 

The Mayan civilizations believed in the sun god as well.  In fact, according to National Geographic, “In Maya culture the sun is closely associated with new beginnings and the sun god with kingship, Houston explained. So the presence of solar visages on a temple next to a royal tomb may signify that the person buried inside was the founder of a dynasty—El Zotz's first king.” -- Brown University archaeologist Stephen Houston, who announced the discovery of the new temple sometimes in July of 2012.

Pyramids

As we know, the Egyptians’ pyramids had long marked their fame around the world. When one murmurs the name of “Egypt,” pyramids come to mind. But, the Mayans also have their pyramids and yes, their pyramids were dedicated for the gods.  One of the the distinct differences between the Egyptian’s pyramid and the Mayans' ones is the Egyptian pyramids had pharaoh buried inside though later due to the number of looting, the burial had taken placed in the Valley of Kings instead --http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/valley-of-the-kings/

Having said that, they did find one pyramid in Mexico with its burial –Great ruler, Pakal, of Palenque. He was buried inside the Pyramid of the Temple of Inscriptions.  It was quite a controversial compared to the rest of the pyramids found in Mexico.

Calendar

When I heard that the Egyptians had long known the fact that in one year there are 365 days and a leap year in every four years and such. My mind traveled back to the time when I was in Mexico listening to the tour guide explaining how the Mayans had long known those facts. –How odd I thought but I was puzzled.

Now the question is, Are they related? How did two different civilizations from different era with quite a distance apart but yet shared some things in common.--Of course, there are many differences as well just like in any civilization.

Interesting isn’t it? I hope you enjoy visiting the Egyptian and Mayan civilizations. .

Until next stop,

Journey of Life

Open Your Home to Strangers—And See the World

Never invite strangers to your house. That what our mothers would say! Not anymore!

Have you heard about home exchange programs? Exchanging your own nests with someone’s  half way across the world. Interesting idea and perhaps a little bit unusual to some of us. –Unthinkable! I say.

courtesy of http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NX-AA252_EXCHAN_G_20120404122448.jpg

But, it is being done and in fact according to the author of the article in the Wall Street Journal, there are “… two networks, homeexchange.com and homelink.org. The former has 39,000 members in 146 countries; the latter has 13,000 members. We have done about half of our exchanges with each site.”  --cited from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204276304577263621466315472.html

The author has done it for thirty-two times since 2006. Here is how it works, you list your house up for exchange. Then find the right people in the right location to exchange. If you want to stay in London, and the people who live in London want to come to your location for vacation. Then you are in luck.

There are few detailed to be work out, according to the author:

Negotiable Demands

You would list your preference such as no pets, no children or perhaps limiting number of people and such. The stricter you are, the less chance you would find your criteria to be met.

A Month Is Good

The author preference is one month. I suppose you could put however long you want to be. But, the longer you let same strangers live the house. It is probably not desirable. But then, this is all about your preference and how you work out the details.

Small Worries

Last minutes cancellation due to financial difficulty, or medical conditions are often the reasons of things don’t work out the way it should be.  Another worry according to the author is the cleanliness of the house that you are exchanging with and the way they left your house behind. –Something to consider.

Another advantage of house exchange is you are saving your lodging fees which can be a lot.

Hope you enjoy this journey visiting the exchanging your very own nest to see the world. Now the question is, Are you ready to let strangers into your house? Living there like your own family? –I am not sure how I personally feel at this moment. Nevertheless, something to think about!

Until next stop,
Journey of Life

Arranged Marriage – A Decision in the Blink of the Eyes

I always find myself fascinated by the whole idea of arranged marriage. I work in the software field to be precise in the R&D where a lot of my coworkers are originated from India. For them arranged marriage is a quite common practice. I remember one time, one of our coworkers disappeared from work-place and came back with a wife. I still find it very intriguing. Simply awestruck.

--courtesy of kpastvova.com

For the longest time, I couldn't understand. I guess I always have this question in the back of my mind. How can you decide in the blink of the eyes? This is it! I am getting married. And another question that I finally have managed to ask couple of my coworkers was, “Do you ever fall in love?” –I know … I know … It sounded so silly, but I can’t hide my curiosity.

They all told me --of course, puppy loves. Somehow, they know someday they would be walking down the aisles with the arranged marriage in mind. –Isn’t this delightful? Then I asked them the ultimate question. -- Do you fall in love after marriage?

In fact, “Think arranged marriages are loveless? Not so, says psychologist Robert Epstein, a contributing editor for Scientific American MIND magazine.” –cited http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=arranged-marriages-can-be-real-love-10-03-11

The article mentioned that in the love marriages, love starts high then decreases over time. On the other hand, in arranged marriage, love starts low but increases over time and can be twice as strong in the next 5 – 10 years. And one thing I learned whether in love or arranged marriage, no one could escape the first love dilemma. In fact, one of the person that I know from arranged marriage still think about his first love. --I find this simply fascinating!

This article and my own interrogations have opened up my mind to the world of arranged marriages. In fact in the arranged marriage, divorce rate is extremely low, somewhere like 1.1 % compares to 50% in love marriage. –How come, you say …

Contradictory to what we believe, arranged marriages are not exactly marrying some unknown individuals. When the search for the perfect bride/groom begins, the parents would seek through their circle of friends for similar backgrounds (family, education and classes), beliefs, characters, and hobbies to name a few so both potentials are at most compatibles. In addition, they would have a chance to meet up to check out the chemistry, ask all the questions they have. –According to the author of the Blink –The Power of Thinking without Thinking, all it takes is the first two seconds. Here is what the author has to say, “… those two seconds, because I think those instant conclusions that we reach are really powerful and really important and, occasionally, really good.”  

Perhaps arranged marriages are about making our instant conclusions in the first two seconds. And Judging from the success rate. with the divorce rate of 1.1% compare to 50% in the love marriage. Perhaps, arranged marriage does have its own magic.

I hope you enjoy this journey of mine visiting the arranged marriage: decision in the blink of the eyes. Now that you know, would you ever walk down the aisle with the arranged marriage in mind? Tell me ya …

Until next stop,
Journey of Life