wonder of sneeze

comic credit to: DKRF@deviantart

A : ah-chuu~~~**rub rub nose**
B : bless you....
C : someone's missing you...

sounds familiar??
normal right this conversation or maybe only normal for me..because whenever people sneeze around me,i'll whisper 'bless you' or "good one" out of habit or whenever i sneezed, people will be telling me,someone is missing me..."wth?? who will miss me??" that is my reply....

out of curiosity i searched for the meaning of sneezing and also the blessing...

this is what i always heard from people :-

"you sneeze once someone is missing you and if you sneeze twice someone is thinking about you"

from research, in Japan :-

It says if you sneeze once, it means someone is praising you;
If you sneeze twice, it means someone is criticizing you/saying bad things about you;
If you sneeze three times, it means you are being scolded;
And if you sneeze four times or more, well, it means you have a cold.

and there is also :-

Once, a wish,
Twice a kiss,
Three times a letter,
Four times something better.

Here’s an English proverb about the day you sneeze on, and what that means…

If you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on Tuesday, you kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on Wednesday, you sneeze for a letter;
Sneeze on a Thursday, for something better;
Sneeze on a Friday, you sneeze for sorrow;
Sneeze on a Saturday, your sweetheart tomorrow;
Sneeze on a Sunday, your safety seek,
The devil will have you the whole of the week.

another proverbs about sneezing…

Sneeze before you eat,
See your sweetheart before you sleep.
Sneeze between twelve and one,
Sure sign somebody’ll come.
Sneeze between one and two,
Come to see you.
Sneeze between two and three,
Come to see me.
Sneeze between three and four,
Somebody’s at the door.

in chinese :-

" Yi Xiang, Er Ma, San Nian Dao."

which literally mean sneeze once= someone missing you, twice = someone scolding or cursing you and 3 times = someone is talking about you (in good way)...

and there is this "bless you" thing...Common among these explanations are:

"At one time people believed a man's soul could be inadvertently thrust from his body by an explosive sneeze, thus "Bless you!" was a protective oath uttered to safeguard the temporarily expelled and vulnerable soul from being snatched up by Satan (who was always lurking nearby). The purpose of the oath was to cast a temporary shield over the flung-out soul which would protect it just long enough to regain the protection of the corporeal body."

"Conversely, the sneeze itself was the expulsion of a demon or evil spirit which had taken up residence in a person. Therefore, although the "Bless you!" was again a protective charm meant to protect the sneezer from evil, in this version it was meant to ward off the re-entry of an evil spirit which a tormented soul had just rid itself of."

"The heart was believed to momentarily stop during a sneeze (it doesn't), thus the "Bless you!" was uttered either as a supplication for life to return or as a congratulation upon its successful restart."

"Others claim an association of the practice with particular dire diseases (most often the bubonic plague, or "Black Death," as it is sometimes known). They say an infected person's sneeze was sure sign he'd soon be pushing up daisies, thus the "Bless you!" was intended as a benediction to the nearly-departed, a way of commending his soul to the care of God now that he was beyond the help of anything in the mortal world."

"Yet other folks echo the theme of other superstitions about sneezes, that these expulsions are either in themselves lucky or foretell good fortune coming the sneezer's way. For them, the "Bless you!" is a recognition of incoming good luck, possibly even an attempt on the blesser's part to attract a bit of it to himself."

"Finally, some see the sneeze as a blessing bestowed by the sneezer upon the sneezed-upon. Answering a sneeze with "Bless you!" is seen as nothing more remarkable than replying "Good morning!" to the person who had just greeted you with the same phrase."

haha..this is interesting....

p/s: try uttered "bless you" or "good one" when a small kid sneezed...they will look at you and give you the sweetest smile ever that can melt you heart...i did it with my niece...and god, she freaking cute when she smile like that..but not when she is being naughty...