Very superstitious....

Superstitions hold a special place in the minds of many paranormal writers - because a great deal of what we write is based on superstitions.

So for today's blog I'm going to talk about some commonly held superstitions here in the West and offer little insight into how they came about... and I think you'll be surprised.

 You're probably familiar with some superstitions like;

- it's bad luck to walk under a ladder...

-breaking a mirror will cause 7 years of bad luck...

-if you say and 'touch wood (English)' or 'knock on wood' (America), you're less likely to have something bad happen to you...

-you shouldn't speak ill of the dead...

-thirteen is an unlucky number...

-step on a crack and you'll break your back...

Where do these saying and superstitions originate?

 

Well first of all, lets look at the word itself;
A superstition is essentially a false belief or irrational belief in the supernatural.
The word superstition itself has an interesting etymology.

 

superstition (n.)

Early 13c., "false religious belief; irrational faith in supernatural powers," from Latin superstitionem (nominative superstition) "prophecy, soothsaying; dread of the supernatural, excessive fear of the gods, religious belief based on fear or ignorance and considered incompatible with truth or reason."

 

It means literally, "a standing over," noun of action from past participle stem of super & stare "stand on or over; survive," from super "above" + stare "to stand". 

 

There are many theories to explain the Latin sense development, but none has yet been generally accepted. Originally especially of religion; sense of "unreasonable notion" is from 1794.

(courtesy: Online Etymology Dictionary)

So why is it bad luck to walk under a ladder?

 This is an interesting superstition, because it is still a widely held belief today (I myself avoid walking under ladders). Most people believe that this is a very practical superstition - after-all, if you do walk underneath a ladder, there is a higher risk of something dropping on your head and hurting you. Yet, there are two other interesting theories of why it should be unlucky.

1.  The ladder you see, forms a sort of triangle. This triangle may represent the Holy Trinity (Christian docterine - The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit) and to walk through the Holy Trinity may be disrespectful to God and the Trinity itself.
2. Some suggest that due to the fact a ladder was used to take Jesus off the cross (following his crucifixion) and that ladders were used to take condemned criminals to the gallows - created a connection with imminent death. Thus the ladder may been seen an omen of death.

Breaking a mirror will cause 7 years of bad luck... 

This particular superstition is derived from the ancient myths and fears about ones own reflection. Thoughout mythology reflections were said to have magical powers and perhaps retain remnants of the individuals soul. Naturally then, if your mirror broke, or there were ripples in your reflection - something untoward may happen or be happening to your soul. Myths relating to reflections often are surrounded by fears of witchcraft and sorcery. Interestingly as well, mirrors were sometimes thought to hold the soul of the dead person who own the mirror, especially if the dead looked in the mirror whilst they were dying. Therefore breaking the mirror would disrupt the dead's soul and they punish the breaker with seven years of miserable luck.

So why seven years?

1. The most common theory relates to the importance of the number 7 in fundamental Christian belief systems. It is alleged that God created the earth in 7 days - thus in the Godly cycle of things it should then take 7 years (why not days? I don't know) to return to normal.
2. There is also allegedly an ancient pagan belief that cycles of life happen in seven year time spans. The the superstitious damage of breaking a mirror therefore would last seven years.

         There are, however remedies, to the seven years of bad luck;

1.  Bury the mirror shards in consecrated ground.
2. Throw them into a river.

Touch wood.

I am also guilty of doing this one.

Sometimes the expression 'touch wood' is spoken to counter a threat that a person may incur while speaking about something that may or may not happen. Often just the invocation of the phrase 'touch wood' is enough, though often, the individual will search for something wooden to touch whilst saying the words. If no wood can be found, they often might touch their own head (indicating their heads are wooden and they're fools) instead.
The reason behind 'touching wood' stems from an ancient belief of 'tempting fate'. That is tempting the gods to smite you for boasting, or speaking ill of something.
Thus 'touch wood' is a protective invocation.Why wood? I hear you ask.Well, there are few theories (naturally) about this.

1. People may seek protection from wood, as it was a wooden cross upon which Christ was hung and therefore wood is special.
2. The ancient pagan gods often were those of trees and wood, and so 'touching wood' may invoke their protection.
3. there was a 19th Century children's game 'tag-touch-wood', in which the child would only be safe in the game if they were touching a tree or something made of wood.  

You shouldn't speak ill of the dead...
 This belief dates back possibly to pre-history, but is most noticeable during Roman times - and again, this is a superstition that still holds true today.
It was thought that to speak ill (badly) of the dead would disrupt the soul's eternal rest and therefore bring them back as ghosts - angry ghosts!
To prevent this happening, you often still hear it said to day  'My darling Jim was a terrible grump in the morning, God rest him!'
Saying such as 'God rest him,' 'God bless his soul,' 'rest in peace' are often said when speaking of the dead - and this is done so, so as to not offend the dead and as a mark as respect.

Thirteen is an unlucky number...
The number thirteen is considered unlucky in the west, apparently stems from the fact their were 13 people at Jesus' Last Supper - because ultimately that last supper didn't bode particularly well for the host.
Therefore it is considered quite unlucky to host a dinner party with 13 guests.
Belief in this unlucky number  has really only become prevalent in the 19th Century. As a result, many skyscrapers and hotels do not have 13th Floors, or room 13's.

Friday the 13th is considered 'black Friday' and is said to be particularly unlucky. This is due to the fact that Jesus was crucified on Friday, that combined with his unlucky dinner with 13 guest makes Friday the 13th particularly inauspicious.

Step on a crack and you'll break your back...
Stepping on cracks in the pavement is said to be unlucky... Originally the saying was 'Step on a crack and you'll break your mother's back'.
Here are some theories about it;

1. If you do step on a crack, and it's a particularly deep one, you may well fall down and hurt yourself (maybe even break your back.)
2. If you do step on a crack, and hurt yourself, you may well break your mother's back as she bends down to tend and care for you until you heal.

 And here are some funny and interesting superstitions I've discovered in my reading;

1. Cross dressing confuses the devil. This was used primarily with children, cutting a pretty baby girl's hair to make her look like boy - would confuse devils / faeries so they wouldn't try and snatch the child.
2. Cats should never be left alone with corpses; If a dead member of a family was laid out in the house prior to the funeral it was imperative that the cats were kept away. If the cat jumped over the corpse the cat must be killed immediately as a cat jumping over a dead person was injurious to the deceased's soul. Cats were often kept in an overturned basket or bucket until funerary details were done. The origin of this superstition isn't particularly clear, but cats are often linked with witchery / sorcery and have been considered demonic creatures.
3. Telling the bees; According to old wives tales, the bees should be told about all formal family events such as births, deaths and marriages. Sometimes, the bees were even given a slice of wedding cake to help celebrate. This is likely to have come from Ancient Greek myth and the prophetic Thriae (part bee part human) and placating them, so that they bring good fortune instead of bad.
4. Spilling salt is unlucky; stems from the belief that ever grain of salt equals a tear shed. This superstition hails from a time when salt was in high demand and very sought after. Thus to spill salt indeed would have been a great waste. Incidently there is convergent superstition that says throwing salt over one's left shoulder sends the devil away. It was believed during the 16th Century that the devil perched on ones left shoulder and whispered wicked things in the ear. Thus throwing salt at him, would make him go away. Salt was then also used prior to a baby's christening to ward away evil.

And that, is all I have time for today. Have a magic week. 

Social Mores in Paranormal Romance

Social Mores: The accepted social, traditional and cultural customs and habits of a particular group of people.



 Every social group has its social mores and an author of paranormal romance can have a lot of fun with this.

In paranormal romance, it is important to understand the social mores of the time and place  from which your characters and mythical beings come.  Simply being aware of the social mores will add volumes to your tale.
For example, nose picking in most western societies is considered highly inappropriate in public, and few people do it (or if they do, they'll do it when they think no one is looking). Yet in other countries such as Thailand and Ghana, nose picking is completely fine to do in public.









Imagine then, you have a mythical being who heralds from some distant land from several centuries past; what social mores with they have?
I personally have a lot of fun imagining!



Of course, you often read that most 'age old vampires' etc in paranormal romance 'evolve' and 'adapt' to the new society in which they find themselves. While I agree with this, that yes, they must adapt to survive - I absolutely love it when a writer throws in a slight age old cultural habit or comment from the creatures time and place of origin. These little details help create the reality and engages the audience by titlating interest, tapping into humour, or giving a glimpse into the reasons behind their behaviour.

Having said all that, do remember (particularly with your hero) that if he is going revert to his original social mores, make sure they are heroic social mores. I'm not sure even I would dare try to pull off a nose picking hero in public...Or worse one breaking wind in the presence of a lady...



Yes, my humour verges on the edge of toilet and down-right wrong - but there you have it, I have no remorse.

And on that note, have a fabulous remainder of the week and remember; an understanding of the cultural and social traditions of your character's past is highly beneficial. The correct use of these facts adds enormously to the story, providing of course, that the writer uses them well.

Common Scents in Romance...

How's that for a play on words?

Today I'm talking about the common scents found in romance books.

For my research I went into my home library - so this is not exhaustive research. I literally pulled books from my own shelves and jotted down what references I could find to smells on a quick look.

I found something quite interesting, but perhaps not that unsurprising.

In general most novelists tend to forget about smells in their books. However, what references there were, tended to have a distinct theme and vary in number of references according to genre. Most notable was that there were very little reference to scents or smells in standard romance novels. The numbers increased somewhat more in erotic romance, and significantly more could be found more in paranormal romance.

Reasons? My guess is that when you're getting down and dirty in the erotic romance genre, scent becomes a more important sense - the more graphic the novel, the more gritty the scents. However, and possibly unsurprisingly, paranormal romance took the cake for the most references to smells generally. Probably because you're writing about magic, werewolves, vampires, shifters and other beasts that depend on there sense of smell more than the average human.

Anyway, below is a list of smells I found in the books you can judge for yourself which are found in what kind of book!

Sweat - Sweat is an interesting odour and there are three notable types of sweat smells used in writing.

Generally if the odour of sweat is being described in theis genre, it is described as rancid, sour, and unpleasant. Body odour is caused by 1) old sweat. This is when the human sweat mixes with the bacterial flora of the person's body and produces a particular smell. Depending on food, drink, age, chemical composition of individual sweat, and the type of bacterial flora on the individual  it can be vinegary, oniony or a cheesy smell.

There were a few occasions in the books when the smell of sweat was described as attractive and manly, as well it might. 2) Fresh sweat does not have the offensive odour of old sweat and some believe the scent contains pheromones that women find attractive. The smell of fresh sweat (untainted by deodorant or perfume) smells like the individual person. Every person has a unique scent signature, and without perfumes, deodorants and moisturizers, a clean person will actually smell like...themselves. Amazing! Describing that scent can be tricky, I've read it as a faint scent of vanilla, or 'sun-warmed skin' smell.

There is however another sweat scent that garners a mention in the genre and this is, 3) fear sweat.

A study by Stony Brook University in New York found people who are scared give off "pheromones" that subconsciously trigger parts of the brain associated with fear. They concluded that fear could be "contagious". The differences in odour between fresh sweat and fear sweat comes down to chemical make up. A frightened person pumps different hormones into their sweat when they are scared, where as a man who's been working-out may just smell like fresh sweat (himself). So what does fear sweat actually smell like? Well, again its up to the individual. Some state is as an almost metallic smell, others as sour and vinegary.
Experiment Time!
Want to really experience true fear sweat smell? Try this...
You can't always smell your own sweat, but you can try it on yourself or if you've got an indulgent male friend, husband boyfriend, get him to give it a go!
Step 1. Go have  a good shower, and wash well so you're squeaky clean, with a non-perfumed soap preferably.
Step 2. Go and watch a scary movie.
Step 3. Go and have a sniff of the arm pit and smell the true scent of fear - and let me know!

Blood - Yes this is primarily a paranormal thing. We all know what blood smells like and there are few variations. Generally speaking blood is described as smelling salty and metallic.  You may also get variations of  such as old blood, and the smell of death.
So what does metal, salt, old blood and death smell like? Good question!
Metal - the metallic scent often attributed to blood, usually refers to the iron in the blood, sometimes it's also referred to as a copper like scent.

Salt - Salt is a crystal, and will only smell if it actually has something on it. I believe when blood is described as smelling salty the author is trying to evoke the taste rather than smell, or perhaps  they are likening the scent  to salty ocean or briny estuary smell. I'm not sure.
Old blood - Old blood is blood that has been left out in the open. The iron in the blood oxidises in the air to give off a rusty metal scent this combined with decomposing biological matter (red/white blood cells, platelets and plasma) gives of a sickly sweet rotting smell.
Death - I suppose this can smell wildly different depending on what is being described. Humans often soil themselves upon death, so the fecal stench combined with old blood is probably one of the most widely used descriptions. The blanket "stench of death" description is used a lot in paranormal, and really the author is allowing the reader to make up their own mind on what that exactly smells like.

The scent of Summer/Winter/Spring/Autumn - seasonal scents also popular, particularly the scent of summer. Again it's a blanket description that allows the reader to make up their own mind. For some the scent of summer might be mowed lawns or smell of the beach, perhaps its the smell of summer fruits etc. The smell of the seasons is an individual thing.

Flowers - Be careful with this one, I once read  a book where the author described the scent of a flower which actually has no perfume at all. It was very off-putting. Be aware, that your readers may also be gardeners.

Perfume - This generally is related to the perfume a heroine wears. Most times the scent was merely referred to as "the scent of her perfume..." without any description of what that perfume actually smelled of. It is of course, perfectly fine to do that if you're want your reader to choose the scent of your heroine.  Otherwise maybe she smells of roses, gardenias, freesias whatever.

The scent of sex - this is probably the most popular scent that crops up in the erotic genre. This includes male ejaculate and natural female lubrication etc. I'm not really going to go into what exactly this smells like because I don't want an +18 rating put on my blog. So feel free to google it yourself - and I don't want to know if you choose to experiment on this one.

And that my friends is it. As I said, there wasn't a great range in smells described in books. However, I feel I must add that I do have one series of books in which the smell of magic is done wonderfully. In these book the you could smell rotten old magic, which was very evocative.

When I first started writing this blog, I wrote a post about smells which you can read HERE.

Do you have any other smells to add to my list? Smells that have cropped up in books you've read? I'd love to read about them.

Have a lovely week.