tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30512717.post2935127895392743218..comments2024-03-05T14:07:28.062-08:00Comments on Ask Sister Mary Martha: Knock Wood OverSister Mary Marthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00580244097177195453noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30512717.post-63371581162011848252008-09-10T09:22:00.000-07:002008-09-10T09:22:00.000-07:00I always heard it was to call upon the power of th...I always heard it was to call upon the power of the cross, which was wood.<BR/><BR/>And that might be why Jews don't do it (My Jewish friends tell me the same thing: Jews don't knock wood)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30512717.post-8945365749843760932008-09-07T19:28:00.000-07:002008-09-07T19:28:00.000-07:00I don't know about the Jews. Every Jewish person I...I don't know about the Jews. Every Jewish person I know tells me that you don't knock wood when you're Jewish.Shighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13931443064683608149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30512717.post-38050268972870636592008-09-05T21:02:00.000-07:002008-09-05T21:02:00.000-07:00I read somewhere, a while ago, that "knock wood" c...I read somewhere, a while ago, that "knock wood" came from a pagan belief that trees had spirits. When something lucky happened, or you talked about something good, you needed to acknowledge the tree spirits. Otherwise, they might think you were getting cocky and ignoring them, and they could be pretty vendictive when miffed. So knocking on a tree was a way of letting them know you respected their presence. The business about rosaries sounds, frankly, like an attempt to bend a Christian theme around a pagan practice people didn't want to give up. (Like Christmas, halloween, etc.) Sorry I can't give you any attestation for this. It's just some book I read when I was 10, and it debunked many superstitions. <BR/><BR/>MarthaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30512717.post-90516387308707262672008-09-05T20:04:00.000-07:002008-09-05T20:04:00.000-07:00This is Kevin Orlin Johnson, author of Rosary: My...This is Kevin Orlin Johnson, author of Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads. No such passage occurs in my book, to the best of my knowledge! Please either cite the page number or remove this false reference! Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com