Juju or Lucky Charm!?!

Everyone has some superstition, what's yours?

Lexis 
prevalent (adj): رایج، متداول
bribe (v): رشوه دادن
wisdom (n) - insight (n): تفکر، دانایی
vain (adj): بی فایده، پوچ
idol (n): بت
improper (adj): نادرست
forcefully (adv): از روی اجبار، مجبورا


Transcript File Link
superstition.transcript

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
[Music]

(00:10):
Welcome everyone!
To another episode of EnglinGo, so today I think we're going to discuss something quite challenging
Let me start with a question
Ah, okay, go on
Tell me about the last time you got lucky or unlucky

(00:31):
You know, that's a good question because I'm a person who, let's say, clearly doesn't believe in luck
But I don't say that it doesn't exist, it clearly does
But the last time I got, let's say, lucky was, here was last night when I was driving home late night
I merely had a dreadful accident

(00:55):
But you know, I don't know, out of where, out of nowhere I just managed to survive
So now, today that I checked my car, it was okay, not even ... some scratches
That would be quite, let's say, that would be a lot, let's say, different if I wouldn't be lucky here
So yeah, that was last night for me and...

(01:17):
Okay, that was the time that you got lucky, yeah, alright, and what about unlucky, anything specific in mind?
Look, I think that I am a particular unlucky person
I don't know why, I don't really like to think that way, but it is what it is

(01:39):
I cannot do anything about it, yeah, alright
But you don't believe in luck?
No, I don't believe in it, alright
Which leads me to the next question, superstition, perfect
So, do you have any examples of superstitions in cultures and people's behavior?
How can a person become superstitious?

(02:02):
Or what does a person do that we call him or her superstition?
that's a good question
I think the thing that is so prevalent, yeah, everyone does
You know, something that is crossing their fingers, yeah, in order to, I don't know, bring luck
And also, the one which is, let's say, I think that's the most famous one, knocking on the wood, yeah, in order to, I don't know

(02:27):
To let it go, to shoot it out, yeah, yeah, so we also have lots of other things, like, I don't know, the animal cat, yeah
Yeah, especially the black one, especially
So, yeah, as you said, it has different examples
Now, what I find surprising is that, as you said, in some cultures they are the same, like in Iranian, they knock on the wood

(02:52):
And also, so, does the British people
And about China, okay?
Anything special about babies' feet, you've got anything about that?
Yeah, I hear something, but I'm not sure that it's a mere superstition
I heard that, let's say, the beauty standard of the Chinese women is, let's say, directly related to them, let's say, their size of their, let's say, foot

(03:21):
Yeah
And so, should it be bigger or smaller?
Should be as small as possible, the smallest size, which would be looked upon as, let's say, the mere beauty
And to do so, to achieve such thing, they don't let babies, they don't let, let's say, the size to grow

(03:42):
Yeah
But, I don't know, by putting them in so tight shoes, that's just cruelty
Yeah
But, again, that is what it is
And, you know, there is something, I remember, I think it was in Spain, I'm not quite sure
That in Spain, whenever a new baby is born, the parents, relatives, family,

(04:06):
wear yellow clothes and the jump over the baby, and they believe that this will give the baby, I don't know, a beautiful appearance and also luck
Yeah
And, again, I think it was in China, that they said that then they get married
And man should carry a woman to a special temple or to a special place through some stairs

(04:33):
Oh Jesus
And, the idea behind that is that when a woman becomes pregnant, she will suffer less pain during the time of pregnancy
And my question was always that, why should the man carry, yeah, but okay
So, let's not just go to China, yeah, let's not judge them

(04:56):
So, another famous example of superstition, which is, I think, international, is evil eye
Exactly, or we can also call it the thing which is clearly in our own culture and also in Arabic culture is Nizar
Nizar eye, which is evil eye
It comes from the Arabic world
Yeah
So, what color of evil eye is popular?

(05:19):
Let's say the most eminent one is the blue one, which helps you in order to prevent, I don't know, bad happenings
And also, simply to protect for protection
And the next one would be, yeah, the next one, the next color I think is red in order
You know, before you go through it, actually, I didn't know that evil eye has different colors

(05:40):
I thought it's international blue, you know?
Okay, what are different colors?
Yeah, as I said, we have the blue color, which is for protection, the red color, which is for, let's say, carriage, bravery, heroism
And we also have the pink color, would you believe it?
And can you guess what it's used for?
It should be related to emotions

(06:02):
Exactly, the strongest one, the love, not the lust
Okay, thanks
And also, if you have, let's say, the thing which we call it, wisdom
sage or something, which is conveyed by the color purple, I don't know why
But it is so, and also, you have the gray color, the gray evil eye, which is believed to, I don't know, bring some insights

(06:27):
So let me ask you a ... out of the context question, if you have to choose between them to hang one on up your wall, which one would you choose?
I'm not sure, as I already said, I don't believe in lots, it means I'm not superstitious, but look, that's going to be beautiful, let's accept it

(06:50):
to have such such thing
But I like, I like the gray one
Not because of its connotation, but of the color gray, not because of the insight
Because of the gray color?
Yeah
And what about you?
Probably the red one, courage one
Yeah, but we all feel dangered, that's why we hang up here

(07:15):
Yeah, we got to do it, yeah
So, yeah, this is the evil eye, I didn't know actually, it had different colors
Now, there is an essay on superstition, it's a famous essay, yeah, I don't remember actually the name of the writer
And David, Robert Davis, I think, I think it's not important, yeah

(07:37):
But actually, it classified the superstition into four different groups
So, would you like to start with that?
Yeah, before that that would be a really good essay source for you to get deeply into it
Let's say, topic, I think the first one was something we would like to call it vain observance

(08:02):
Which clearly means, okay, vain first means that something is baseless
You do something, we have the e-mail vein, which means that something is done based on no reasons
It is baseless, it is, I don't know, few times
And observance means, okay, let's say you do something, you do something, you do some actions that they are baseless

(08:30):
For no reason
Exactly, and if you ask the people who do such things, they cannot really give any compelling reasons
Yeah, for example, walking under a ladder is, let's say, clearly forbidden because of thought because we don't know, but it is forbidden

(08:51):
It is said to be, I don't know, it's said to be something dangerous
Or I think another example would be that, even in America, it's the same thing
People would avoid the black cat
Exactly, not looking at it, not walking around it, whatever
Because it is supposed to bring bad luck, however no reason, no scientific explanation for the poor black cat

(09:16):
But those, those, I think they are the most beautiful, the black cats
Okay, next one, next type
The next one, such a lucky one, it is divination
Which means, which means, I don't know, something like prophecy
And the people who, let's say, who follow this, let's say, state of this category, even with other, let's say, they are so likely to, I don't know, go to people like consultants, to resort to oracles in order, you know, to something like, to forecast the future

(09:55):
To fortune tellers
So here is a word, I think, for guys, if they want to learn ... oracle, a person that gives you the future, tells you the future, usually it has a religious connotation
a religious context
Okay, I think the male one is the oracle
I don't know, the female one is the oracle

(10:16):
Have you seen the movie Matrix
No, actually in the movie Matrix, that Keanu Reeves acts in, there is an oracle
Yeah, and that one is a girl, that one is a woman
I hope you see
I don't know about the sex or sexuality, let's just not dump in that, yeah
Let's go to the next life
Yeah, so after divination, we have something which is called idolatry

(10:42):
Distributed in the idolatry
So first, let me ask you a question, what's the number of idols in the religious context?
Yeah, idol is a piece of stone, a rock that people use to worship or pray as a god
Exactly
So here talking about the thing idolatry, it means okay, you got an object

(11:04):
No, I don't know, it can be a very luxurious one, it can be a baseless, I don't know, stupid one
But the thing is, that's, let's say, that object, you believe that it's, so let's say, I don't know
It's so special, yeah, and it brings, I don't know, luck, it brings happiness
Or we have one word which we call it, witchcraft, amulets or there was another word

(11:30):
You know, that was so funny, I think
Yeah, I mean, even when you hear it in force, it comes funnier
Yeah, I were talking about juju
Exactly, that's juju
And you gotta accept the pronunciation, juju
Yeah
Yeah, it means, again, something like witchcraft
Something that doesn't have any meaning or use
But it is believed that it bring some luck

(11:54):
That's idolatry
Such a nice word, you know
Yeah
Okay, and the last one, it says, improper worship of a god
Actually, I want you to talk about this as an example
I didn't know that people can bribe god
Well, I do believe that even now we can't

(12:15):
But I don't know how is it possible to talk to something, to someone, not something
To talk to someone that you clearly can see
Yeah, that's right
Yeah, that's just worse
So first let's not talk about, you know, those kind of ideas
Yeah
But what example does the essay give about, yeah, it said that some people, when they want to achieve something like their goals

(12:40):
They resort to the gods
And in order to do it, let's say more forcefully
They pay, they pay the god
Yeah, they offer some, I don't know, but there's money
Yeah
And I've seen these scenes in movies that, for example, they go to, I don't know, chapel or something
I don't know, cathedral
And they tuck the money, they push the money beneath the candle

(13:04):
Yeah
And does it have to be a lot of money or...
I don't know, I think the more the merrier here, yeah
But that's just baseless, that's completely baseless, you know, bribe
So next time if you want to achieve something from God, hide some money under the carpet or something
Yeah
Okay, all right
And just be careful and make sure no one...

(13:27):
Yeah, no one sees that, yeah
Now, let's wrap it up
You know, we've talked about it
And the funny thing is that still in the 21st century, many successful people are still superstitious
I think that a famous example would be CR7, you know

(13:48):
Even the athletes, yeah
I don't remember what he said, but I do remember that he talked about one of his superstitions
Oh yeah, now I remember
He said that he always would walk to the pitch
Step on it, yeah
Yeah, with the right foot from the starting with the right foot
Yeah
And so, let me just ask it from you and the audience

(14:15):
What do you think is the source of superstition?
Look, the thing is...
I'm not trying to just repeat myself, but I have to
I just said that it's baseless
And we all know that it's baseless
It comes from somewhere, it should come from somewhere, don't you think?
Yeah, I just read some, let's say, passages articles regarding this topic

(14:37):
And it would say there are no, let's say, thick scientific reasons
But it has this topic superstition, I don't know
Luck and blah, blah, blah
They have some physical and also let's say, I don't know, we can say spiritual
Metaphysical
And also, yeah, metaphysical effects

(14:59):
And the most, let's say, the most, let's say, bold one
Or the boldest one is that you can increase your self-confidence
And if you think, look, for example, there's an exam here, I don't know, which is a very important one
And I have this pen, which is a lucky one
I don't know if you're lucky, but...
My lucky pen

(15:20):
And if I go, if I, I don't know, participate in this exam, this, let's say with this pen
I would be successful
Yeah, you'll pass it with flying colors
Exactly, so you know, it's, I don't know, that's not, I don't know, that's not...
It's not, a UFO, something like that
That's just a pen
But it's you who are, I don't know, giving those strong passions and emotions, yeah

(15:46):
And because of that, because of that, you're going to, you're going to think that way that
I don't know, it's going to end well
And I think...
I don't believe in it, but sometimes, I don't know, I just follow the habits, you know, habits die hard
So maybe the gap between you and CR7 is a superstition


(16:09):
From now on, wherever you go, start with your right foot, you know
That, even to the WC, haven't you?
Okay, nice chatting
Yeah, nice chatting, thank you, that was a pleasure
Yeah, I think we should ask our, let's say, Englingoers, comments, their ideas, or other, any, comments
Yeah, the next episode
For example, what is the most common, or let's say, what is the most surprising superstition that they have seen?

(16:37):

Or even, do they believe in superstition
Do you believe in superstition or not? So, yeah, until the next episode, peace out, stay safe