Weird traditions...?

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Zoser

Yes:
*Garlic , to drive away the vampires and the eveil spirits
garlic and onions were invoked as deities by the Egyptians at the taking of oaths.
Garlic has been regarded as a force for both good and evil. A Christian myth considers that after Satan left the Garden of Eden, garlic arose in his left footprint, and onion in the right. In Europe, many cultures have used garlic for protection or white magic, perhaps owing to its reputation as a potent preventative medicine. Central European folk beliefs considered garlic a powerful ward against demons, werewolves, and vampires. To ward off vampires, garlic could be worn, hung in windows or rubbed on chimneys and keyholes.

*Throwing nails : not to enable anyone to use them as Ather and do 3amal

*touching wood has been a superstitious action to ward off evil throughout history. Some believe it has to do with touching on the wooden cross. Another explanation for this practice is the pagan belief that spirits (dryads) lived in trees. By touching the wood of a tree while making some sort of a bold statement, the speaker could prevent the spirit from hearing him and stop the spirit from interfering.

*Spelling the food on the floor : not sure maybe to prove that the baby is not that big eater (does not finish all the food|) and protect him from the evil eye..
Of course i do not do any of that
EDIT : THAT was nice about his sister, yes Pharaohs beleived that each has a twin called Akht ,,, thanks
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Sahar: 3lashan ana asasn flah, people put garlic on the main entrance door of their appartment even in Naser city, for that reason , I saw that in dokki , zamalek too,,

ya sa3dyah : wallahi my best friends in Egypt in nasr city hang a circle of garlic on the entrance of their house,,,you can see that alot in Egypt and even in Europe ,and do not know, why, but i knew ,besides have not you see any movie of vampires? but you seems to be young, ask eldery people like me,,lol those high class of the internet oohhhh in addition Garlic is used to treat , allwaz, as it has lots of sulphate,,,,and good for the heart,,weh walalh balash,,,,,no for the stomache worms,,,hahahah,, i do not remember who said that when he came to Egypt, ( I wonder how the Egyptians could get sick and they have Orange, Onion and Garlic..)
Lol @moonrise , the electricity of the evil eye? did they know then what is electricity,,,,,(I am just joking with you,,do not be offended)
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Anyway, I wonder if someone knows why we do those other weird things: Like spitting in al( 3eb )when something good happens, the colored eggs /salted fish (feseekh)of sham al naseim (or the Easter) , the Christmas tree, (all those are not related to any religion) even the word Easter,is not christian..when we say (gatak nilah ( wishing nilah to someone)?? do any knows what it means??? hahahaha
@Rana;
Easter=3istar+diety of spring=Istar (in Babylon)=to celebrate the beginning of spring =Easter
*Christmas tree =Babylon, each raw of leafs (or leaf) of the tree present one year of our live .
*Colored egg=Pharaoh =egg present the start and renewal of life the spring
*Salted fish beseech =Pharaoh= the soul return like with in mummies and restart life in spring
*Nilah : You are right , the dark color (like the color of the Nile in flooding, mud from the Nile) , they used to put it on faces when they have a death ,in the family, it is like wishing the death of someone dear
*Spitting on the chest 3eb=Pharaoh+ spitting to the evil (deity Seth (Set) the evil Egyptian deity (Seth in Egyptian means the opposite =Satan=shet al bahr (opposite to land=shetan in Arabic =devil)who could be living with the twin (AKHT) with us
Thank you including who thumbs always my answer sdown,,,(my akht who is influenced by Set)

Arabian Dune

You guys are scaring me!

ØÙ„Ø§ÙŽÙ…Ø¨Ø±Ø§ hallambra

I dunno abt egyptians ranoush, but i have heard here that old women long years ago hang garlic in all the entrances of their homes to make devil run away.
Touching wood...here it has an additional thing...Some pple say......"to touch wood without legs" (means not wood touching the floor as a table for example)
About the nails and the food of a baby.......havent heard abt them before..
Waiting for your explanation

Samantha

lol...

garlic... they want to scare off the vampires?! :D just kidding... I don't know this one...

we were said to bury the bits of nails we cut... its one of the Sunnah...

I don't know the food... plz do tell...

To protect against the evil eye... knock on wood... everyone does it... :D

MoRmEx

Not just in Egypt, but mostly in all the Arabic world, you should see Morocco...i think it's very normal, as old as your culture is, people inherit traditions from generation to generation, but with time some of the details of those tradition and why they were created in the first place, gets lost
So we end up with a must do silly things, with no real explanation.

Sahar

i always thought we kept onions and garlic in the balcony so they don't spoil quickly, never heard about throwing nails down the toilet,
knocking on wood, that i know

there's also throwing rice during the zafa, wearing fanela inside out, banging el hon during soboo3 and placing the baby in a mankhol, i once read why we made the sugar 3aroosa and 7osan during mooled, but forgot,
for the muslim new year we plant 3ads and fool, etc, and something that would please many in the section, leileit el 7ena ! :) my sister is getting married after tomorrow, usually the bride dips her feet in water and lettuce (aiwa khas) during what we call leileit el 7ena, 3o2bal 3andoko gamee3an ye 3o2bal weladi, 2oolo ya rab :))))

n.b: ya fala7 !
tab mana se3edeya, ye ba3dein, i always win and you end up deleting your answers, ya3ni ya zoser, you must have read it somewhere, i don't think you ever at home heard them say let's hang the garlic in the balcony to keep away the evil spirits, tab here in alex, i keep them in the balcony, to keep away bad smell :))) i love garlic by the way, i put it on most everything i cook, one day i was getting black spells you know when you feel tired and as if you are going to faint ? turns out i had low blood pressure, while talking to my aunt, she simply says, don't eat garlic, and there was the cause

sure the vampire living under my bed hates garlic, i know about vampires and garlic, but never associated hanging garlic outside to demons, i'm not questioning what is being said, i just never thought that was the reason, and i don't have any lowaz, garlic is good for the heart and what ? garlic is good for your heart the more you eat the more you fart ? no, that's baked beans ! :)
and i don't think i'm that young, i don't know who outlandish are, i bet you do, so...eh eh eh...i win again :) got you ya fala7! now go to bed little father
( have you seen the movie ninotchka ? greta garbo says to stalin's picture go to bed little father, turning point in the movie and i guess in history aswell, they shortly after..the russians..all went to bed, allowing the demon to devour us, that's a thought, do you think garlic would work on mr. bush ? )

i thumbed you down, this is the second time i do it, the first was for an answer i don't recall too well but it had to do with women being 3anes, homa la2een, and this one here just for fun :) you have to be alert, the person who usually thumbs you down isn't around..notice his presence and thumbs down..aslak laza2t fel so2al dah
just a minute, i will thumb you down again, bos, watch ..
done.
hein....tani ? wala 7aramt ?

ahmad

we dont do any of that ,i have no tradition ? :O

Adham 1910

Touch Wood ya Rana lol

Kassandra

This is an interesting question but Zoser's answers interest me more. Hmmmm....

~ Noha ~

LooooooooooLz :D
i dunno any of these traditions :s :s
except that my grandma hang garlic in her balcony ...
but i don't know "why" either ....... hehehe

bettttttttttt.......ro7y el3aby be3eed :p

Balsam

Garlic keeps well for months when it is exposed to air.
Nails and hair should not be left to others, they can use it as atar or athar to make a spell or 3amal.
I do not know about spilling some of the food on the floor, but I have seen a lady American cook on TV throwing salt behind her shoulder for good luck. She is originally Italian.
Touching wood is international, it is done everywhere in the world and is called touch wood for good luck, just how it works I have no idea.

sabrina

we touch wood too and we throw salt over our shoulder if we spill any salt but not the otherthings.

becca9892003

the nails thing is so noone can get ahold of something from us to try to preform some kind of a spell, food on the floor while feeding i belive has something to do with keeping ill health away from the baby by offering some food as a gift to keep the illness away...

Ruby

lool I didn't know about or did any of these things. They're interesting to know though.

sistablu...Maat

Some of these traditions or cultural beliefs go right back to the pharaonic era.
It is really quite amazing how many of these "old wife's tales" have survived and been added to by succeeding cultures though out the generations.
I find it a fascinating subject and one well worth researching and putting down in written form as a compendium.

Gamal El Dean

I dont mean to be mean at all
but we dont do that
may be its just your family

Far Away ( Still Lost)

you forgot to mention when some women are cooking Molekheia they make a weird sound when they are mixing elta2leia with the green khaltabita

very weird

lucky 4 u

i dont know much about Egyptian but it really sound weired
we use to through nails bits in garbage
touch any wooden thing that is also kool and weired

mesho f

some kind of trash

Moonrise

i believe most of these traditions come from Mediterranean culture , because Greeks and Italians hang garlic ouside their doors. the smell will keep out evil spirits.
throwing bits of nails in the toilet doesnt give anyone the chance to practice black magic on us by using them.
spill some food on the floor may stop evil eyes from hurting the baby who apparently hasnt eaten up all the food .
we touch wood because wood stops electricity from damaging us. the electricity would be the evil eyes of envy .
finally, i would add that if we say, alahum ihvazna min kul shar wi kul zi shar, it would be the best way to ward off all evil.
by the way, greeks cause china plates to crash on the floor making a big sound right when the bride shows in front of the guests. this distracts their attention.
greeks also throw china plates at the feet of a female dancer.the more we admire her, the more plates we buy from the waiter to throw at her feet. tens of plates are broken and the waiter keeps gathering the broken pieces to allow more to be broken. this is to express admiration loudly .

No TiMe FoR LoVe

that is an old habbits

Liebe ist Schmerz

well Ranoush i dont know what do you mean of your question but i will tell you WHY some people do that ...
about hanging the garlic ... its ok with that because Egyptian families buy garlic when it is still Green ... so they hang it in the balacony in order to get Dry ...
and about throwing nails in the toilet it is a wrong way ... we have to burry it in the sand or something like that ... because it is treated as a human body part.
and about spill the food in the ground ... i dont know. :)
and about touching any wooden material .. its an old tradition to Avoid El 7asad ... (sorry i dont know the objective in English). ... and there is a qoute about that ... "Emseky El Khashab" ... you know ... :)

forgetten

you just talk about old people baby
there's nothing of that anymore

Well 3 out of 4 are bidah...you tell us why you do it.

Edit: Forgive me, I am wrong. Those are not bidah they are shirk. How wrong was I huh?

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