SUPERSTITIONS

                             ~ To have good health throughout the next year, eat
                             an apple on Christmas Eve.

                         ~  Eat plum pudding on Christmas and avoid losing a
                             friend before next Christmas.

                         ~ On Chrismas Eve all animals can speak. However,
                             it is bad luck to test this superstition.

                         ~ The child born on Christmas Day will have a
                             special fortune.

                         ~ Wearing new shoes on Christmas Day will bring
                             bad luck.

                         ~ In Ireland it is believed the gates of Heaven open
                            at midnight on Christmas Eve.  Those who die then
                            go straight to Heaven.

                         ~ If you refuse a mince pie at Christmas dinner, you
                            will have bad luck for the coming day.

                         ~ If you eat a raw egg before eating anything else on
                            Christmas morning, you will be able to carry heavy
                            weights.

                         ~ Snow on Christmas means Easter will be green.

                         ~ Good luck will come to the home where a fire is
                            kept burning throughout the Christmas season.

                         ~ Place shoes by side on Christmas Eve to prevent
                            a quarreling family.

                         ~ A clear star-filled sky on Christmas Eve will bring
                            good crops in the summer.

                         ~ A blowing wind on Christmas Day brings good
                            luck.

                          ~ In Greece, some people burn their old shoes
                             during the Christmas season to prevent
                             misfortunes in the coming year.

                           ~ In the Swedish countryside, from cock crow to
                             daybreak on Christmas morning the trolls (wicked
                             elves) roam about.

                           ~ In Devonshire, England, a girl raps at the
                              henhouse door on Christmas Eve. If a rooster
                              crows, she will marry within the year.

                            ~ You will have as many happy months in the
                               coming year, as the number of houses you eat
                               mince pie in during Christmastime.

                            ~ Shout 'Christmas Gift' to the first person
                               knocking on your door on Christmas Day and
                               expect to receive a gift from the visitor.

 
~Just for fun~
                             * A three year old once gave this reaction to her
                               Christmas dinner:  "I don't like the turkey, but I
                               like the bread he ate."