Parents light lamps at night, because evil spirits are thought to be afraid of fire and light. According to pre-Islamic ideas, the feeling existed that during his or her first 40 days of life, an infant must be protected from evil spirits that might replace the baby. It is believed little children are most frequently exposed to the evil eye, hence the tradition of “40 days after birth.”įor 40 days after a child is born, he or she is usually shown to no one except those closest to the family. Many superstitions in Kazakh culture are connected with the evil eye. Actually, all of my friends and relatives do the same,” said Sabina Smagulova, a 25-year-old accountant at a local construction company. “When a black cat crosses my way, I usually say ‘zholseniki, bakhytmeniki,’ which means ‘the road is yours, but happiness is mine.’ I don’t even know who taught me that I just remember always saying that whenever I see black cats. The animals were often scared and made sharp movements, causing the riders to fall and black cats became associated with evil spirits. Black cats are associated with bad luck and it is believed this myth came from the times when horseback riders met black cats on dark roads. Now that I have a little son, I don’t allow my husband to shoot him while he sleeps, because I remember my grandmother’s words and I think I believe that something bad could happen to my child,” said Fedorova.Īnother popular superstition involves a black cat crossing the road, a common sign of bad luck in many countries. “My grandmother used to tell me that it is bad to take a picture of a sleeping person. It was believed that during sleep, a person is most vulnerable to the evil eye. According to numerous resources, the idea that photographing sleeping people brought bad luck was spread in Europe in the 19th century, when there was a tradition of taking pictures of the dead as if they had just fallen asleep. Evgeniya Fedorova, a 27-year-old mother from Karaganda, follows this belief, though she does not know where the superstition arose. A lot of people here believe it is bad luck to take photographs of people while they are sleeping. Since Kazakhstan is located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, many of its superstitions come from far-flung regions of the world. Their roots are forgotten and people often believe and practice them without knowing how they originated or what they really mean. Most superstitions can be traced to ancient times and at some point became part of the culture. Some still believe in them, some think they are old and best left to history.įrom a young age, children are taught by their elders about signs of good or bad luck. ASTANA – Every nation has its superstitions, which people follow in different ways.
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