Bath or kitchen towels are some of the most commonly used items in the home. In addition to the main task, harmoniously and skillfully selected, they can also perform a decorative function, decorating and complementing the interior of the bathroom and kitchen.
Knowing how often you have to change kitchen or bath towels, women stock up on them for the future and give them to friends and grandmothers and mothers for the holidays. However, there is an opinion that it is better not to use towels as a gift. Find out why.
Why a towel is a bad gift, signs
Despite the fact that on the street is the 21st century, many people still live “captive” at superstitions and accept signs that do not allow them to perform certain actions, as they can lead to bad consequences. However, in what their essence lies - practically no one knows.
History of Superstition
Most of the modern signs, traditions and rites originate from the time of Ancient Russia. So the signs associated with the use of towels have come down to our days, and almost all of them are gloomy.
Previously, they were presented as a gift to people who helped to lower the coffin with the deceased person into the funeral pit. The fabric was cut into pieces and distributed to the participants in the farewell ceremony.
Important! Nowadays, ordinary fabric (ropes) is used to carry and place in the coffin pit, which is dumped into the grave. Towels for these purposes are used extremely rarely and are not given to people. If someone is offered to pick them up in memory of the deceased, this is done with malicious intent.
In addition, the towels tied the door of the house in which someone died. A misfortune of this kind was also indicated by a white kitchen towel or napkin tied to a fence. Everyone who passed by and noticed a white cloth on the logs knew that there was a funeral home.
Previously, there was a custom in which women themselves embroidered large towels for their sons or husbands. They endowed them with sad events - if the one that prepared it was dying.
Remembering and knowing how and under what circumstances they used towels, people avoid giving or receiving them as a gift. This is especially true for used and non-factory packaging textiles.
Signs and old traditions
The following signs concerning towels have reached our days:
- If you step on the fabric that was used to carry the coffin, you can damage yourself.
- A towel or scarf given by a woman to a man and, conversely, brings the couple a separation.
- You can’t beat someone with a towel, even as a joke - this can provoke the development of illnesses and poor health.
- The fabric used in the baptismal ceremony (kryzhma) must not be discarded. After the rite, it must be stored in the form in which it is (even dirty) and used as necessary for treatment, to calm the child.
- Wedding towels (towels decorated with embroidery and various images), according to tradition, the girl should prepare herself. After the wedding and wedding ceremony, the towels are taken into the house and stored by the young: they are hung on the icons, transferred as a family heirloom. Reuse wedding towels can not.
- On a snow-white rushnyk, guests are brought out bread and salt, thereby showing that the owners are glad to see them.
As can be seen from the above signs, the use of towels not for their intended purpose is not always associated with something sad and bad. However, there is a type of people who holyly follow and revere ancient traditions, for whom bath or kitchen presented as a gift, they can become a kind of “black mark”. In this case, you can conclude a comic deal with the donee - to demand a symbolic cash payment for a gift. This can neutralize the negative impact.
Modern attitude to such a gift
No matter what superstitions the towels presented as a gift are wrapped in, in modern society it is not customary to give them according to the rules of etiquette. The fact is that they relate to personal hygiene items, as well as toothbrushes, combs or underwear. It is believed that such a gift, made even to the closest and dearest person, can put him in an awkward position.
Believing no sign of omens is a private matter for everyone. However, thinking about this or that superstition associated with gifts, it should be remembered that in the first place attention and even a towel given if it really comes in handy for the “hero of the occasion” is important, it can become a real pleasant surprise.
