10/5/2006 - The Sneeze

I have not done one of these in a while and I thought it was time for a new one. Here is one that is perhaps one of the most well known and universally practiced of all supersitions. Something that perhaps we no longer even see as supersition anymore for it has been elevataed to a whole new level and is not considered to rank among simple polite manners. It is something I am sure all of us have done without even thinking about it, it has become such a natural act.

Yes I am talking about saying God bless you, God bless, bless you, Gazoontite when another person sneezes. How is it this act has earned some speical blessing when there certaintly nothing to say when soemone coughs or gets the case of the hiccups etc..

Well there are a couple different stories behind this little phenomen that has become so ingrained in society. Some say it is becasue people use to belive that when you sneezed it meant that your soul was trying to escape your body, and you had to bless them in order to make sure thier soul does not escape.

Another beleif is that it is said that during the time of the black death sneeizing was one of the first signs of the plauge and so people would say God bless when they heard someone sneeze becasue they figured that they were on the road to death and that only God could save them at that point.