Old Wives Tales Regarding Conceiving

I was told that according to traditional Chinese belief, you shouldn't sweep under the bed if you're trying to get pregnant.

Aconite said:

According to the principles of feng shui, you shouldn't sweep under the bed if you're trying to get pregnant.

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Unless you have a real short broom

rtilryarms said:

Unless you have a real short broom

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:Smack:

Actually, I've always heard that the best way to get your wife pregnant is to ply her with alcohol for several hours before attempting fertilization.

Rob

Traditional Chinese Beliefs

Aconite said:

According to the principles of feng shui, you shouldn't sweep under the bed if you're trying to get pregnant.

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Ahem ... excuse me while I clamber up on this soapbox* ... ok, here we go:

"Feng shui" is a traditional Chinese belief system first and foremost focused on properly choosing grave sites so that one's ancestors are well-positioned to assist the following generations in securing wealth, health, etc.

Grave sites aside, Feng Shui (literally: "Wind Water," aka "geomancy") is supposed to assist one is bettering one's fortune by better aligning one's home with regard to the earth's forces of energy. So, you ideally want a home with a mountain at the back, and water in the front ... failing that, you can put a fishtank in your front room, break up the open straight line of access from your front and back doors with screens, hang mirrors to counteract "daggers" caused by inauspicious traffic flows in front of your house, etc.

Not sweeping under the bed in order to assist in conception may very well be a traditional Chinese belief, but it ain't 'feng shui.'

I imagine the logic is that 'Tai Shen," the Fetus God, wouldn't like to be disturbed by your broom if he happens to be hanging out around your bed (where he likes to lurk, I guess).

I'm afraid that I much better versed in post-conception traditional Chinese beliefs than pre-conception beliefs, e.g. taboos against the pregnant woman eating certain foods or performing certain actions. I only know about praying/making offerings to certain Taoist and/or Buddhist deities in order to conceive a child. If you would be interested in that info (their names), Allisinclair, go ahead an PM me.

*sorry for being so pedantic

smallthunder said:

Not sweeping under the bed in order to assist in conception may very well be a traditional Chinese belief, but it ain't 'feng shui.'

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smallthunder, thanks for the correction. I repeated what I was told, and I'm glad to have someone who knows more than I (and the person who told me!) set me straight.

Aconite said:

smallthunder, thanks for the correction. I repeated what I was told, and I'm glad to have someone who knows more than I (and the person who told me!) set me straight.

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Hi, Aconite -- I am glad to hear that you weren't offended by my long-winded correction. I feel like such a newbie here that I tend to get over-excited when I can actually contribute something!

smallthunder said:

Hi, Aconite -- I am glad to hear that you weren't offended by my long-winded correction.

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Good grief, no! I appreciate it when people take the time to educate me. I want to learn. Thanks for explaining.

One weird one that I've heard is that having sex while standing up can prevent pregnancy.

And, of course, the number one misconception has got to be:

"How can she be pregnant? We only did it once!"

Sleeping on the eye of the white horse (clay hill carving). Hard to sleep on it any more but you can still stand on it for a while

There are so many that I heard when I was pregnant

My mother always told us never to lift our arms over our heads or we could lose the baby.

My cousin said, if you stand on your head right after lovemaking, you will conceive a girl b/c it urges the little Ys to swim faster upstream, to keep in competition with the little Xs.

I was also told not to run or stand on a chair.

The most interesting thing that happened to me personally--sorry to share the details with everyone so if you don't want to hear a labour story, stop reading now!--my second child was born with the membranes still intact. Actually, the bag of waters bubbled at first, at which my sister said, 'what the heck is that?!' and then freaked me out further by saying, 'and what's THAT?' because after the bubble came out, the umbilical cord and then my daughter's head came out. And we were all the talk at the nurse's station b/c a child born after intact membranes is said to have telepathic abilities. Babies born with after the cowl (do a google search and you'll find scads of old wives tales) has a keen sense of intuition. And allegedly, they will never drown. And the tale continues to say that midwives used to keep the cowl in a bag on a string around their neck so that they, too, would never drown.

There are so many stories. If I think of more, I'll let you know.

kim

a pan of water under the bed will distill the spirits and prevent you from getting pregnant.

using the restroom right after sex will prevent pregnancy (oddly, doing that right after will help prevent/reduce urinary tract infections but not the baby factor).

jumping up and down after sex will prevent babies from coming.

sex during the day, with the lights on, and the windows open will prevent a baby (that one obviously came after electricity, and i have no idea where it came from).

masturbation will make you sterile.

there's more . . . i'll stop by later. you gotta admit these things are funny.

what doesn't work

Someone told me that having sex on your stomach would get you pregnant.
Didn't work for me.
Kathie Freeman

Or it could mean the childs a vampire. Just been reading some Eastern European folklore.

Kim Gogo said:

The most interesting thing that happened to me personally--sorry to share the details with everyone so if you don't want to hear a labour story, stop reading now!--my second child was born with the membranes still intact. Actually, the bag of waters bubbled at first, at which my sister said, 'what the heck is that?!' and then freaked me out further by saying, 'and what's THAT?' because after the bubble came out, the umbilical cord and then my daughter's head came out. And we were all the talk at the nurse's station b/c a child born after intact membranes is said to have telepathic abilities. Babies born with after the cowl (do a google search and you'll find scads of old wives tales) has a keen sense of intuition. And allegedly, they will never drown. And the tale continues to say that midwives used to keep the cowl in a bag on a string around their neck so that they, too, would never drown.

kim

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