How about horseshoes? Maybe you know the
anecdote told by Niels Bohr to Werner Heisenberg, who spread it
further:
"One of our neighbors in Tisvilde once
fixed a horseshoe over the door to his house. When a common friend asked
him, 'But are you really superstitious? Do you honestly believe that this
horseshoe will bring you luck?' he replied, 'Of course not; but they say it
works even if you don't believe in it.'"
This seems to be the original story, though
in secondary versions of the same anecdote it was Niels Bohr himself who nailed
a horseshoe to his sudy-room door, and when a shocked student asked him ...,
etc.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2001 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] Touch wood
I hadn't ever
heard of "touch iron" in this context, but there's a mass of European tradition
having to do with the fairies being warded off by the power of iron, even to the
extent of wearing iron amulets or hanging iron charms in
cradles.