Superstitions: Witch Marks, Touching Wood & Lucky Pants

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 18 August 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Many of them pre-date modern religions and defy what science tells us about the world - from saluting magpies, to wearing lucky pants. Yet why do superstitions still have such a strong hold on our lives?

Today we’re joined by Sally Coulthard, author of Superstition - the History of Common Folk Beliefs, to find out the origins and meaning behind some of our most common ritualistic behaviours.

Why do we touch wood? And what does crossing our fingers say about the crossover between superstition and religion? Let’s go Betwixt the Sheets to find out.

This episode was edited by Siobhan Dale, and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer Charlotte Long.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Everyone leaves a legacy.
0:02.2	But a legacy can change over time as new generations
0:05.6	re-examine old preputations.
0:07.6	From Wundery and Gohanger podcasts, I'm F4Hersh.
0:11.0	I'm Peter Frankapan, and in a brand new series,
0:14.0	we're exploring the lives of some of the biggest characters in history,
0:17.4	from Napoleon to Picasso.
0:19.2	And asking, what does their past tell us about our present?
0:23.4	This is legacy.
0:24.7	Follow now wherever you get your podcasts.
0:30.0	Hello, my lovely betricksters.
0:35.0	It's me, Kate Lister.
0:36.6	I am here to help you listen to this podcast safely,
0:41.8	because we're all about safety over here.
0:44.2	And to make sure that you aren't offended or upset or worried
0:48.8	about any of the content that is going to follow,
0:51.0	here is your fair dues warning.
0:54.1	This is an adult podcast spoken by adults to other adults
0:56.8	about a range of adulty subjects in quite an adulty way,
1:00.4	and you should be an adult too.
1:03.6	Right, now that we've got that little bit out the way,
1:06.3	if you're still here, if you still want to listen,
	...

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