What do you do if something you need is missing, or perhaps misplaced due to your own personal negligence?
Stick out your right hand. Spit in it. Smack the spit pooling in your hand with the index and middle finger of your left hand. Now carefully watch where the spit flies. That is the direction of where your misplaced item is located. Happy Findings!
This is some quick and quirky old Basotho culture that even the Basotho now know to laugh at. I learned about this when hanging out with a few friends in village, and they began to further satisfy my enquiries into the quirky olden rural legends. Just how we Americans never pick up pennies tail side up, Basotho also have their own unique superstitions.
For instance, what if you did something wrong? Maybe you got a C- on your history paper. Or you took your parent’s car without telling them?
According to Basotho rural legend, there is only one foolproof way to avoid the yelling and the beatings. Pluck an eyelash, and throw it into the bush. Then angrily threaten at the bush-eyelash complex, saying things like, “You have been very bad hair on my eye, if I am punished, I will burn the bush in which you reside.” Done and Done.
Hmm, but what if that actually didn’t do the trick. Maybe you do start getting yelled at. Well the next step to at least not get beaten has a bit more basis. When someone is mad at you and yelling, the worst thing to do is to speak back and infuriate the over-reactant. When Basotho women in olden days did something wrong and wanted to avoid getting beaten, they would hold water in their mouth but not swallow. This would ensure that they wouldn’t react to what the man would say, and let him yell out his thoughts until he was tired enough to forget why he was angry.
I think we all enjoy being odd...
