The Half-believer is someone who holds some sort of personal superstition or amulet.These "magical" objects or behaviours are not commonly shared with others. Most of the time these beliefs or rituals are exercised in private and sometimes so infrequently that we forget we have them. Many half-believers are reluctant to confess their beliefs for fear of the ridicule.

"Even if I dont believe in this rituals and charms what´s the harm in trying?" or "It is the only thing I really believe in!" are things a half-believer would say.

This blog is a journey through the intimate rituals of different half-believers from multiple parts of the world and it is part of my research for my masters degree project at Central Saint Martins in London.

If you feel you might be a Half-Believer please leave a comment with your ritual/ amulet or e-mail me at : i_pradilla@hotmail.com , the information will be posted as anonymous.

Behavioural Amulets

Behavioural Amulets are the rituals people create for different pourposes. Avoiding misfortune and seeking protection are common themes. I discovered that there are a lot of sleeptime-related behavioural amulets so I made a special section for them.






















Gender: female
Age: 34
Originally from: Barcelona, Spain
Current location: London, UK
"When I was younger I used to whistle all the time. When I first moved to London 12 years ago I had a really hard time; no money, no house , no job etc. One day I was walking around Victoria Station, whistleing as always and suddenly an old women shouted: Stop whistling it brings bad luck!
Since then I stopped whistleing and after all these years there is no chance I would do it again!"










Gender:female
Age:52
Originally from:Barranquilla, Colombia  
Current location:Sydney, Australia















"Before giving my clothes away to charity I always give them a blessing so my energies stay with me and no one can use them to hurt me"













Gender:male
Age: 27
Originally from: Barcelona,Spain Current location: Barcelona, Spain















"I once read long a go that some multi-millioner used to fold the bills he placed in his wallet in this way in order to make money las longer. When I am short of money at the end of the month I do the same to "strech them out"."


























Gender:female
Age:51
Originally from: Barranquilla, Colombia
Current location: Bogotá, Colombia
"Never let anyone else take your rings off your fingers, it will bring missfortune"









Gender:female
Age:30
Originally from:Cornwall,UK
Current location:London,UK
"If I let a knife fall on the floor, I never pick it up because if I do , I will loose the love of my life.Someone else has to pick it up without me telling him/her to do it"


























Gender:female
Age:39
Originally from:Bogota,Colombia
Current location:Bogota,Colombia
"I always wear my bag on the left hand side to keep money from disappearing and to attract it"















Gender:female
Age:24
Originally from:Bogota,Colombia
Current location: New York City, USA
"CHULO" is the name of this behavioural amulet. "I cross my legs , take one shoe off (the one in the upper leg) and think about something I want to avoid happening and start "shooting" with my legs in different directions  saying CHULO"




























Gender:female
Age:52
Originally from:Barranquilla,Colombia
Current location:Sydney,Australia
"I always sweep my house from the inside towards the outside to avoid brining someone elses bad luck and sorrows"



















Gender:female
Age:24
Originally from:Bogotá,Colombia
Current location:New York, USA
"Everytime I see a penny on the floor, I need to pick it up otherwise I ´ll have bad luck"








Gender:male

Age:34
Originally from:Cyprus
Current location: London,UK
"When I step in the crossing of four tiles (i see a number 4), I need to take seven more steps, counting by 4s until I reach 32.Otherwise I feel I would have bad luck"










Gender:Female

Age:25
Originally from:       ,UK
Current location:       ,UK
"Everytime I sneeze and someone says bless you I clap three times and whisper: I believe in everything"








Gender:female
Age:25
Originally from:Taipei, Taiwan
Current location:London,UK
"If you have lots of dolls in your bedroom and you are single you won´t find a boyfrien/girlfriend. They affect your love life. So what you should do is put them under your bed"







Gender:male

Age:59
Originally from:Outside London
Current location:London,UK
"If I see a magpie I say: Hello Mr Magpie (x3) ( greeting him with my hat) How´s your wife and children?. Seeing one magpie is bad luck but seeing two is good luck"











Gender:male
Age:40
Originally from:Bogotá, Colombia
Current location:Bogotá, Colombia
"When I have a scary thought or want to avoid something to happen , I knock on wood three times, but it has to be real wood"



Sleep-time related behavioural amulets















Gender:female
Age:18
Originally from:Bogotá,Colombia
Current location:Bogotá, Colombia
"I can´t sleep with my wardrobe door open or semi-open, I feel ghosts or spirits will come out of there"

























Gender:female
Age:25
Originally from:Taipei, Taiwan
Current location:London,UK
"If people come to my place, no one can seat on my slleping pillow. If they do I have to change bed linens, otherwise I will have bad dreams"

























Gender:female
Age:25
Originally from:Taipei, Taiwan
Current location:London,UK
"Before entering a hotel room or any other place that is not my own house and I am going to sleep in, I knock on the door before entering and place my shoes as you can see in the pictures while I sleep, I feel protected"


















Gender:female
Age:24
Originally from:Glasgow,UK
Current location:London,UK
"I switch my bedroom lights on and off before going to sleep,it became an unconcious thing , but it gives me calmness"
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