Today I visited a modern farm/distillery.

It's a totally up-to-date modern business.

Every year when they bring in the harvest they make a corn dolly from the last sheaf of barley to be cut. The dolly is thought to contain the spirit of the harvest.

It is then kept beside the hearth throughout the winter and in spring is buried back in the field to return the spirit of the harvest back to the earth.

I thought this was a wonderful example of an ancient custom still being observed and wondered if there are any other examples of superstitions still carried out in business or at work.

Andy

Interesting. Is it an unbroken tradition from before the farm was modernised or a revived custom?

I can't think of anything physical like that but I do remember when I worked in a restaurant, well it's maybe a bit trivial and not what you're after...

Anyway, if was really quiet and we were all just sitting about waiting for the first customers to come in, if anyone said " God, it's really quiet today isn't it?.." It would be like "Doh..." and theyd get all sorts thrown at them because that meant we were going to be rushed off our feet within the quarter hour.
Of course later on when we were running our own business I'd walk about saying "Wow, it's really quiet today isn't it..." all the time.
Does that count?

A few years ago there was a TV programme in Scotland about modern-day witches (it was very good actually, wish I could find it again) and there's a farm near me (in the Central Belt of Scotland, so it's not like it's some remote place) where the farmer, every year, has a local witch come in and perform sympathetic magick to encourage his crops to grow. The farmer was very matter of fact about it, didn't take the piss or roll his eyes, just said that he relied on the witch to do his stuff and he was happy with the results. I'd love to know if he still did it.

Hmmmm... Work superstitions.

Well... We never "scud" ourselves by saying things like "today should be easy enough... " or "no worries we got everything sorted, or anything like that. (I work in a coach company and things tend to run a bit tight sometimes)

However and maybe this should be in the other "superstitions" thread, when it comes to my football team Im very superstitious. I dont talk to my players about 5 mins before the game. I make sure that the team flag is always at a home game and that it never touches the ground.... god.. I've jsut realised theres LOADS of them... my whole sunday on a game day is a series of rituals and nods and winks and do's and dont's.. lol

I suppose Chinese Restaurants still have their fish tanks etc. Not sure if that will have died out now with a new generation...