Frances VIDAKOVIC

If you are Croatian there is a good chance you have never (a) opened an umbrella inside the house out of fear of evil lurking round the corner, or (b) stepped over a person laying on the floor without jumping straight back in case that person really did (somehow) stop growing.

As ludicrous and irrational as they may seem, these are but a few of the many old wives' tales drummed into Croatians whilst growing up. Some are of course practically universal (for example the popular: to break a mirror means seven years bad luck with perhaps a less severe penalty for simply walking under a ladder). However for the most part Croatians have developed their own unique method of instilling fear into their youngsters.

Just peruse the following list and see how many of the following old wives' tales ring a bell for you:

* To predict the sex of a baby: Suspend a wedding band held by a piece of thread over the palm of the pregnant girl. If the ring swings in an oval or circular motion the baby will be a girl. If the ring swings in a straight line the baby will be a boy.

* Extra weight out front means a girl; weight around the hips and bottom indicates a boy. Also if a woman's carrying low, it's a boy; if a woman's carrying high, it's a girl.

* It is bad luck to cut your fingernails on Sunday.

* If you get a chill up your back or goose-bumps, it means that someone is talking about you.

* When speaking about an injury or illness that someone else has never ever touch that same body part or else you risk the illness coming to you.

* If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.

* If an eyelash falls out, put it on the back of the hand, make a wish and throw it over your shoulder. If it flies off the hand the wish will be granted.

* Do not place shoes upon a table, for it will bring bad luck for the day.

* Never leave your bag on the floor or you will never be rich and always poor.

* Eating carrots will improve your eyesight. Reading in dim light will damage your eyes.

* Never sit at a table whilst facing the corner or you once again risk never getting betrothed.

* Hiccups are a sign that you are being remembered by someone.

* It is bad luck to kill a ladybug.

* Cover your mouth when you yawn, or your soul can escape from your body along with the yawn.

* If you spill salt, bad luck will follow unless a pinch is thrown over the left shoulder into the face of the devil waiting there.

* Do not give knife or scissors for a present. It will cut your friendship.

* Knock on wood if you are talking good about someone, so their good luck would not change into bad.

* Don't light a cigarette on a candle - it will bring death to a sea-man. Nor shall you move the bones of your ancestors or your descendants will die young.

Originating long before paper and ink an old wives' tales is defined as a proverb and much like an urban legend they are generally passed down orally from one generation to the next. And when it comes to flow of old wives tales through Croatian society they have definitely survived stubbornly.

So why do we cling to such tales about common ailments and our health when we live in a world rich with medical expertise and proven treatments and cures? I honestly am not sure. Perhaps the answer is as simple as my mother's explanation: sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry. Or maybe the truth is stare bake aren't quite as crazy as they seem.

Whilst living in Croatia, I was blessed to have the priceless privilege of spending lots of time with the more aged members of our community. Stare bake and dide (as they are generally referred to) are a common sight over there, found either in congregations on the local park-bench or seated alone on a wooden chair outside their homes.

Always eager to have a chat, I would often stop to see what words of wisdom these elderly folk had to dispense and needless to say they never failed to amaze me. Some of them were of course slightly batty while others surprisingly held a golden key to some incredible stories about the mysterious past.

The latter folk would look at me with serenely wise eyes and mutter something along the lines of ''do you know how much you remind me of your mother and did you know your dad was quite cheeky when he was boy''?

The first time I heard a 'stara baka' say that it stopped me in my tracks. For it hit me there and then that here was a person that could provide me with invaluable information about my background... I had wrongly assumed that because most of my ancestors had already passed away their out-of-reach memories had passed away along with them too. But that was simply not the case.

All these frail elderly folk had grown up in the village alongside my relatives... some had even gone to school with my grandparents (oops what am I talking about - there was no school back then, more like working in the fields together). At the very least they had witnessed the transition of my parents from babies into young adults. They alone potentially held the answer to my every question; an untapped source of profound insight and wisdom.

And there was definitely some wisdom buried beneath the layers of old age and general mental and physical deterioration. I forget the number of times I heard an elderly person complain that they felt a change in the weather coming 'in their bones' only to see a sunny sky suddenly become blanketed in grey before the end of the day. They recommended a 'juha' a day way before 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' became a publishing phenomenon.

And as for avoiding sitting on anything cold (like stone) without cushioning underneath, the rationale behind this 'old wives tale' seemed to make sense. Why wouldn't a woman need to take precautions to take care of her ovaries? Then there was the much prevalent: staying out in the cold without a coat causes pneumonia.

Gosh I'm sure we have all heard variations on this one (don't run around barefoot or you will get sick, don't go outside with wet hair or you will get sick and the heartfelt pleas to avoid the 'propuh' (a term translated as draft, which is technically a current of air coming into an enclosed space like a room or vehicle or through the chimney).

Most old wives' tales are probably 'technically' false (or at least unable to be proven 100% true; used rather to discourage unwanted behaviour particularly in children).

Right or wrong, however, they have nonetheless survived throughout the ages because they offer comforting advice about experiences we all share (such as birth and sickness) but have little control over. They are also our last link to a past where things such as the television, mobiles, telephones, computers, fancy gadgets and the Internet did not exist.

Our ancestors didn't have the luxury of switching on the Foxtel Weather Channel to find out when the next lot of rain was going to come; they didn't have a 24 hour medical centre to whisk their child across to in times of emergency (especially in anything as fancy as a car). They were solely dependent on the wise advice of their elders, who learnt things the hard ways - by making their own mistakes and sometimes suffering a hundredfold as a consequence.

One of the biggest differences I've noted between the youth of Australia and those residing back in our homeland is that young Croats spend an enormous amount of time in the company of the elderly.

Most live with or nearby their grandparents, have conversations with numerous aged people over the course of the day and feel affiliated and comfortable with this relationship despite the huge age gap.

The same cannot be said for the youth of Australia who are estranged with this group through no fault of their own. After all you cannot spend time with people you don't see (and most of the old folk here have been scooted off to nursing homes frequented very rarely by strangers).

Over in Croatia an older person is not just a statistic, a weird blue-haired creature to shy away from - they are instead someone with a personality, a history, who has lived life to the fullest and has a few good stories to share as a result.

Ignorance breeds so many things: among them fear, arrogance, mistrust and contempt so it is no surprise that so many youth of Australia feel this way towards their elders. They simply don't know better because they have been robbed of this privilege: of spending time with people who could potentially pass on some great knowledge and spare them the pain of having to learn life's lessons the hard way (for if you don't learn from other people's mistakes you will need to make them yourself).

If you live here in Australia and have children I really recommend that you encourage them to build friendships with their elders, so that they see and understand firsthand that even though we may be differentiated by time and age as humans we are all the same. Young and old, if cut, we all bleed. When hurt, we all cry. When amused, we all laugh.

It has and always will be that way...

One of the biggest differences I've noted between the youth of Australia and those residing back in our homeland is that young Croats spend an enormous amount of time in the company of the elderly. Whilst living in Croatia, I was blessed to have the priceless privilege of spending lots of time with the more aged members of our community.