According to the definition of the online Duden dictionary, superstition is “a belief in the effectiveness of supernatural forces in certain people and things that are viewed as erroneous”. These include sayings, symbols, and rituals that are used in everyday life. The content differs depending on the culture, and even the region. By the tünews INTERNATIONAL’s editors, we have compiled the following examples from Afghanistan, Syria, and Germany:
Many sayings and divinations revolve around hospitality in Arabian and Persian-speaking countries. For example, if a Syrian’s eye blinks, then he hurries to tidy up the home because an important or dear guest will visit him. In Afghanistan, it depends on which eye blinks: if it’s on the left, you’re expecting a guest. If your right eye blinks, you will soon be invited. However, in Syria, there is still a belief that blinking the left eye means good news and blinking the right eye means bad news.
Unlike Germany, hosts in Afghanistan do not clean their houses immediately after the guests have left the house, but only the next day. Otherwise, there is a fear that something bad will happen to the guests on their way.
The following superstition has turned out to be a cliché of hospitality over time: In Syria, if an unexpected guest comes by unannounced and finds food at the host’s home, the host will say: “Your mother-in-law loves you.” That means the guest is lucky.
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Bewirtung für Gäste. Foto: tünews INTERNATIONAL / Rahima Abdelhafid.
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