Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Wednesday Wives Tales~Sweeping

I grew up hearing that you shouldn't let anyone sweep under the chair, over the feet of a single girl~else she might end up an 'old maid'.

There seems to be several more old wives tales about sweeping. For instance, you should never sweep your house on a Monday, else you might sweep away the family's 'money luck' for the entire week.

Be careful to never let a broom fall flat on the floor. And if it does, do NOT step over it~it will double your bad luck.

Never sweep the dirt out the front or back door at night, or you might sweep dirt into the faces of the ghosts and spirits that stand outside the cabin door in the dark. In fact, it seems to be bad luck to even sweep at night at all.

It is bad luck to stop sweeping a room before you finish it. And you should never burn the 'sweepings' in the fireplace or wood stove. They must be disposed of in some other way~like out the back door in the daytime.

In looking around the Internet, I also found this: When moving to a new house, if the broom is moved with the rest of the household furniture, you will not be successful. The broom should be burned while standing in the corner, being watched meanwhile, to prevent the house from taking fire. (I'm still puzzling over how one accomplishes this, LOL!)

Happy Sweeping!


10 comments:

  1. Here is another one. When you add a room to your house, you are supposed to lay a broom across where you cut out the door that goes into the new room. And here is one I get mixed up, if you sweep under a girls raised feet she either is getting married or will never get married. I can't remember which. I remember Mom telling me that one all the time, but I can't remember which way it goes.I had heard the one about getting a new broom when you move. This was a neat post.

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  2. Oh my! These are some interesting "facts" about brooming~ apparently I'm in trouble I already swept my house on Monday!

    Stay healthy!

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  3. I never heard of any of these, but they are interesting. I guess I know why I have bad luck sometimes now!

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  4. Another great post, Rose Mary. Several years ago, I told J the folkism (is that a word?) about sweeping/mopping under the feet of an unmarried girl. He always chuckles at these folk tales, I keep remembering from childhood. I tell him it's one of the advantages of marrying a girl from the hills and hollers.:-)

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  5. I've heard the one about not sweeping under a girl's feet, but not the others. My problem is I don't sweep ENOUGH!

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  6. Neat post-as usual. I've always heard the one about sweeping under your feet will result in no marriage. I wonder if that was a way of telling young ladies-you should be pushing the broom instead of sitting down while someone else pushed it : )

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  7. I agree...burning a broom IN THE HOUSE IS NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!!! Why but the house if your just gonna burn it down, lol!

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  8. wow, my son probably will never have good luck because he always stop sweeping and starts..ROFL

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  9. That last one sure is interesting, Rose Mary! I'm like you, I can't quite figure that one out!

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