Has anyone ever heard of this superstition?

Question

I picked up a folding knife that belonged to a guy working on my house and closed the blade, thenset it where some kids I was taking care of wouldn't get ahold of it and get cut, the guy it belonged to started yelling I'd brought bad luck on myself and to open the blade again to shake off the bad luck. I did it, just to appease him.

Weird. anybody ever heard of this one?

Addition: this guy is from Kentucky, USA, and is as white and American as they come. several other people have told me this is a common belief in some rural areas such as appalachia and parts of the southeastern USA.

For all you guys who carry knives: Please don't leave them where children can get at them, OK?

And for those who think I was wrong for handling the guy's stuff, I think he shouldn't have left the house for over an hour with an open hole in the floor big enough for a small child to crawl through and an electric drill and saw plugged in, tools lying around, and a large knife laying blade up in the middle of the floor. The kitchen has no door to close, and the kids were fascinated by all the things laying around.

Answer 1

I was raised in South Georgia down in what most people call a swamp. I HAVE heard of this superstitious belief as well as a whole host of others. The rule is that you cannot open or close somebody's blade. A man's knife in that part of the world is his tool for surviving in the world. If you shut it, you have to open it. In essence, he believes that you cursed him and also yourself by shutting his knife. Only he is supposed to be in charge of that, and by taking command of his blade you took command of his life source. I don't know if this man knows the background behind that belief or not, but it's a very common belief in rural parts of the South. A lot of times people down there act on superstitions because they were taught to by their parents, who were taught by their parents and so on...

Answer 2

Gosh, this is new. A clock fairy with a talent for numbers. But this can be more than superstition... It can be a fact! Try reading Carl Jung's work on synchronization. A woman, his client, went to his office and everytime she mentioned her father, a beetle (Paul, John, Ringo or George) would start beating against his window pane. EVERYTIME. So he associated her father with the bug. But one day she missed the session and still, the beetle came. Immediately Jung thought: the man died. And BINGO, that's what happened. So he started asking himself if the man died BECAUSE the beetle appeared or, instead, the beetle came BECAUSE the man died. After some days, he reasoned it was either the first neither the second. These events were synchronic. So, astrology or tarot could actually work! Next time you see the clock showing 11:11, please ask some common sense to the rulers of the world.

Answer 3

While there are a fair number of superstitions involving knives, I've only found a couple of mentions for the one you're asking about—unfortunately, the sites I found do not cite references. (The 2nd and 3rd URL references, below.)

Most of them date from the days when everyone carried one, and it was a very personal tool.

The mention I found for this particular superstition is still a little different, in that the bad luck is supposed to afflict the person who opened the knife, rather than the person who closed it—the workman, instead of you. This would necessitate your having to reopen the knife, to restore his luck. (The other way 'round puzzles me...)

If you encounter that workman again, ask him who was supposed to get the bad luck, to see if he has the idea of this superstition backwards or not. ;-)

Answer 4

There are so many types of superstitions. This guy must be relating your situation to a prior one that he had earlier in life. In his mind,if you didn't repeat the action of opening the blade then "something" similar (negative) will happen again. It is kind of like an obsessive -compulsive behavior like checking several times to make sure the stove really is turned off. The person needs to feel in control of a situation to prevent what they perceive as bad from happening.

Answer 5

From what you posted here, the workman wasn't worth a hoot, and he was out of line for yelling at you for putting a dangerous item out of reach when he'd just walked away and left his tools and knife where a kid could get his/her hands on them. I worked in the service business for 30 years and doing something like that would have gotten me 'dismissed with cause' for negligence and disrespect.

Answer 6

Yes, I have heard of this. You never shut a knife that belongs to someone else if they opened it. It is considered bad luck. But I understand why you did it.

Answer 7

Stop hiring illegals and the number of superstitions goes down dramatically. Maybe the guy was from one of those cultures that thinks it is bad luck for a woman to handle a man's tools or weapons.

Answer 8

I have never heard of this superstition, and I have been around for a while...
I also own several knives that fold up, and never has anybody ever said anything to me about folding away my blade...
Blessed Be.. )O(

Answer 9

i've never heard of it and maybe it is true maybe it isn't but that guy believed it. theres a lot of superstitions and they may not be all true, you can believe or you can not. in my opinion i dont really thin any of it is true, i mean how can closing the blade be bad luck, it'd more likely to cause bad luck when its opened. but then people have different beliefs so it may be bad lucky for him but that doesnt mean that its bad luck for everyone.

Answer 10

my father-in law had said the same thing to me about folding a knife that you didn't open yourself. of course hes from the south too.