{"id":15632,"date":"2016-05-26T09:12:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T14:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hcstx.org\/?p=15632"},"modified":"2016-05-26T09:12:34","modified_gmt":"2016-05-26T14:12:34","slug":"morning-laugh-15-historical-theories-on-how-to-be-lucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/26\/morning-laugh-15-historical-theories-on-how-to-be-lucky\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Laugh: 15 Historical Theories On How To Be Lucky"},"content":{"rendered":"

OK, Get Ready to Laugh. #2 Kills me..can you imagine going to the hospital to see a new friend’s baby and saying something like “Your baby looks like a dog fart”…and #3 is for real: \u00a0I actually have a relative who does carry’s a raccoons penis bone with him when he goes hunting. -SF<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"coon1\"<\/p>\n

Superstition is a fascinating thing. It tends to arise in times of turmoil or uncertainty, and it gives us a way to feel like we’re in control of a situation. But it can also be a great window into the way people think. Here are 15 surprising historical good-luck theories from around the world.<\/p>\n

1. WEAR YOUR UNDERPANTS INSIDE OUT.<\/h4>\n

If you want to guarantee yourself a good year, you\u2019ll need to do as Colombian people do and put on a pair of yellow underpants<\/a>, inside out, on December 31. At midnight, reverse your undies and sail smoothly on into a new year full of luck, love, and prosperity. A similar tradition exists in Spain, with one key difference: lucky underpants are red, not yellow.<\/p>\n

2. CALL YOUR BABY RUDE NAMES.<\/h4>\n

The first few years of life have historically been pretty risky, and babies really were lucky if they survived. This precarious time spawned all kinds of baby-protecting superstitions, many of which seem kind of counter-intuitive. In China, for example, it\u2019s best to shower a beloved baby with verbal abuse<\/a>, calling it names like \u201cdog fart\u201d and \u201cstinky pig.\u201d This performance tells any hovering malevolent spirits that the baby isn\u2019t wanted, which might make them lose interest.<\/p>\n

3. KEEP A RACCOON PENIS BONE IN YOUR POCKET.<\/h4>\n

Many male mammals have a bone called a baculum<\/a> in their penis. For reasons we have yet to understand, these penis bones have become popular lucky charms in the southern United States. People keep them in their pockets, wear them around their necks, and even incorporate them into bridal bouquets.<\/p>\n

4. MAKE A GROANING CHEESE.<\/h4>\n

During the super-perilous 16th century, expectant fathers would make a special \u201cgroaning cheese,\u201d named for their partners\u2019 labor pains. Once the child was born, a father\u2019s job was to cut the cheese (pretty sure we\u2019ve found the source of dad jokes!) from the center outward and distribute pieces to everyone in the house. The circular rind was saved for the baptism<\/a>, at which time the baby would be passed through the hoop as additional insurance against bad luck.<\/p>\n

5. GRAB YOUR PACKAGE.<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s common knowledge that bad luck is contagious. But if you\u2019re near someone who\u2019s been jinxed or cursed, what can you do? If you\u2019re an Argentinean or Uruguayan man, you grab your genitals<\/a>, specifically the left testicle. No testicles? Don\u2019t feel left out: touching your left boob<\/a>should have the same protective effect.<\/p>\n

Read the Remaining 10 Absolutely Hilarious (and Strange) Theories at Mental Floss<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OK, Get Ready to Laugh. #2 Kills me..can you imagine going to the hospital to see a new friend’s baby and saying something like “Your baby looks like a dog fart”…and #3 is for real: \u00a0I actually have a relative who does carry’s a raccoons penis bone with him when he goes hunting. -SF Superstition…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2382,5816],"tags":[3583],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15632\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetacticalhermit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}