The Mammoth Book of Superstition: From Rabbits' Feet to Friday the 13th - Softcover

Bainton, Roy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1472137485 ISBN 13: 9781472137487

Publisher: Constable & Robinson, 2016

Synopsis

Rather than providing a dictionary of superstitions, of which there are already numerous excellent, exhaustive and, in many cases, academic works which list superstitions from A to Z, Bainton gives us an entertaining flight over the terrain, landing from time to time in more thought-provoking areas. He offers an overview of humanity's often illogical and irrational persistence in seeking good luck and avoiding misfortune.


While Steve Roud's two excellent books - The Penguin Dictionary of Superstitions and his Pocket Guide - and Philippa Waring's 1970 Dictionary concentrate on the British Isles, Bainton casts his net much wider. There are many origins which warrant the full back story, such as Friday the thirteenth and the Knights Templar, or the demonisation of the domestic cat resulting in 'cat holocausts' throughout Europe led by the Popes and the Inquisition.
The whole is presented as a comprehensive, entertaining narrative flow, though it is, of course, a book that could be dipped into, and includes a thorough bibliography.

Schoenberg, who developed the twelve-tone technique in music, was a notorious triskaidekaphobe. When the title of his opera Moses und Aaron resulted in a title with thirteen letters, he renamed it Moses und Aron. He believed he would die in his seventy-sixth year (7 + 6 = 13) and he was correct; he also died on Friday the thirteenth at thirteen minutes before midnight.


As Sigmund Freud wrote, 'Superstition is in large part the expectation of trouble; and a person who has harboured frequent evil wishes against others, but has been brought up to be good and has therefore repressed such wishes into the unconscious, will be especially ready to expect punishment for his unconscious wickedness in the form of trouble threatening him from without.'

About this title

About the Author

Roy Bainton author of Honoured By Strangers, The Mammoth Book of Unexplained Phenomena and A Brief History of 1917: Russia's Year of Revolution travelled the world in the Merchant Navy. He has written extensively for radio, TV, magazines and newspapers.

From the Back Cover

'The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses'

Sir Francis Bacon

Superstitions are weird, comical and frequently inexplicable. Rather than an exhaustive A to Z, this is an entertaining excursion through the dark domain of bizarre beliefs, often uncovering sinister and intriguing roots.

Why do we fear walking under a ladder? Is the number thirteen really unlucky? Why did the Inquisition condemn millions of domestic cats to death? Did actor Peter Sellers really fear purple as 'the colour of death'? Why is there no row thirteen on some airplanes?

For anyone who has ever knocked on wood, pulled a wishbone, feared a broken mirror or been scared to open an umbrella indoors, this book strips down superstitions from old wives' tales and omens to bizarre mating and marriage customs; from friggatriskaidekaphobia to Thailand's lucky penis; and examines the roots of superstitious festivals, from Up Helly Aa to Dwile Flonking, Cheese Rolling and the Nutters' Dance.

Edition details

• Publisher: Constable & Robinson
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1472137485
• ISBN 13: 9781472137487
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 401