Russians are superstitious people. In my first Russian textbook, there was an entire section on the, sometimes crazy, beliefs of everyday Russians. These superstitions run from the outlandish to the traditional. You must sit on your suitcases and have a moment of silence before going on a long trip. You never have baby showers or buy gifts for a child that is not yet born. If you have an important exam, you must never make you bed or cut your fingernails. You must cut bread with a knife and not with you hands. Whistling inside will bring that household misfortune. And, my personal favorite, if someone wishes you good luck on a test, “Ни пуха ни пера!” (“Neither fluff nor feathers!”), you must respond, “К чёрту!” (“Go to the Devil!”).
There is a whole other slew of superstitions when it comes to alcohol. If a bottle is opened, it must be finished completely and none must be wasted. It is not allowed to pour out alcohol while holding the bottle from below. It is not allowed to fill a glass while it is held in the air. It is considered bad luck to make a toast with an empty glass. Finally, it is considered bad luck to put an empty bottle back on the table when it is finished. Of course, there are hundreds of superstitions in America; however we Westerners are not as obsessed with them as Russians are.
When I first heard about all of these superstitions, I thought that mainly religious people would be believers since so many of them have to do with God of the Devil. I had also heard from one of my Russian professors that mainly older generations are informed on superstitious matters; however, my host mother is neither old nor particularly religious, and she is a strict adherent to many of these sayings. I probably hear one or two of them a day. More than anything, however, she thinks the Apocalypse is coming, any day now.
While Hurricane Sandy approached the East Coast, it was all over TV here. Every time the news was on, there was usually some report on the impending disaster which would destroy the cities located on the eastern half of the United States. Those reports were understandable. Although I was not a firsthand witness, I certainly do not find it strange that such a natural disaster was being reported throughout the world. Hurricane Sandy to me was simply another natural disaster, albeit a bad one that effected the lives of many people. To my host mother, however, the storm was a sign of the coming Apocalypse, and she did not hesitate to share her opinions on the topic at least once a day.
As it gets closer to December 21, 2012, the date of the Mayan Apocalypse prediction and, incidentally, the same day that I leave Petersburg, more and more occurrences provoke mentionings of the quickly approaching doomsday. These include: the advertisement for a new TV show that depicted an eclipse, a news article on the planet’s shifting magnetic fields, the conflict in Israel, Putin’s latest speech, and the newly released Twilight movie. It is hard to explain how all of these things connect to the Apocalypse, and I feel like any further description would not be able to truly convey the seriousness (of my host mother) or hilarity (for me) of these situations. Feel free to imagine, however.
Sadly, earlier this evening, Lubov’ Fedorovna stated that she will no longer be speaking about the impending Apocalypse since if she speaks about it any further, it will happen exactly as she has predicted. I do not know how long this will last, since it comes up quite frequently, but regardless of what she and I do or do not believe, I sincerely hope that no Apocalypse, Mayan or otherwise, occurs while I am flying home for Christmas. By typing that, according to Russian superstitions, I may have just locked my fate.
I hope they are wrong about that one.
