Some years ago, I was doing research for a book and come across a very old Taboo. Whistling. I do believe something like a calamity or catastrophic event gave rise to many of the superstitions.
According to the dictionary superstition is any belief or practice based upon one’s trust in luck or other irrational, unscientific, or supernatural forces. Often, it arises from ignorance, a misunderstanding of science or causality, a belief in fate or magic, or fear of that which is unknown. One superstition I found to be universal is whistling.
Cultural beliefs.
In many cultures, whistling or making whistling noises at night attracts bad luck, bad things, or evil spirits. In the UK there is a superstitious belief in the “Seven Whistlers” which are seven mysterious birds or spirits who call out to foretell death or a great calamity.
I’m not going to even asked…how would anyone know if there are seven of them out there or just one making several different sounds? However, I do believe something happened to give rise to these stories.
Why is it bad luck to whistle in a kitchen?
I have no idea. I assume… perhaps you may spray spittle in the food.
I have heard the myth that only men are to whistle. Good women do not whistle. A whistling woman and a crowing hen comes to no good end. [Their fate have moreso to do with their being females not so much because she whistled or the hen crowed.]
Whistling is usually considered to be bad luck with the possible exception of the needing call someone. It is said that to whistle otherwise is to challenge the wind itself, and that to do so will bring about a storm.
Why are you not supposed to whistle in the theater?
You should never whistle in a theatre. Sailors were often employed as stagehands in theatres because they knew how to raise and lower sails, let’s face it, there are a lot of ropes backstage and a lot on the deck of a ship. Whistling was used as a cue for the men to raise or lower ropes. Whistling at the wrong time could ruin the show.
Assyrians believed that Whistling at night calls or summoned demons. That only demons whistled at night. I found this belief to be quite common. How did it travel so many places with limited modes of transportation? I don’t know. So, perhaps there was once something evil roaming around whistling in the night.
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About unholypursuit
A. White, an award winning former librarian, who is also a long time member of Romantic Time and Publisher's Weekly. A. White has been writing for over fifteen years. She took classes in creative writing in college, specializing in ancient myths and legends. and later at a local community center while living in Chicago. In college she won the national contest to verbally list every country in the world, it's capital and ingenious language. Her works are mainly horror, fantasy, extreme, and sci-fi as well as, as some may says, "the truly strange predicament and puzzling." Books that I've written are "Clash with the Immortals, and eleven others which are part of the "Unholy Pursuit saga,". She has been working on the Chronicles since 2007. She wished to complete them all before introducing them to public so the readers wouldn't have to for the continuation to be written.
The ideas of the book come from classic literature such as whose work greatly influence the world world such as Homer, Sophocles, Herodotus, Euripides, Socrates, Hippocrates, Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle and many more. The "Book of Enoch" influenced the usage of Azazael as a main character and love interest. I created the primary main character from the Chronicle of Saints. I wanted to show them as real flesh and blood with thoughts, desires and yearning as any human. Not as they are so often depicted. So I created one of my own to show her as a real human that everyone can relate to.
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The Novel: UnHoly Pursuit: Devil on my Trail 
Very interesting article. I had no idea that whistling was considered bad luck. I often whistle when I’m walking down the stairs at night, I’m afraid to do that now haha
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Yes, it is considered bad luck to whistle in many parts of the world I seriously doubt there anything to fear in whistling at night. LOL! This is just a superstition. Come to think of it, the whistling at night may had been a group of burglaries signaling each other which house was safe to strike and which wasn’t.
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Haha yeah you’re probably right. I’ll carry on whistling at night then 😊
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I think it’s safe. 😀
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Never heard of the whistling at night thingy. Some whistle at night because they are scared.
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Nor had I heard of it until I researched common superstitions.
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Interesting collection of superstitions.
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I thought so too. Thanks for visiting.
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I have heard of this one. Most likely it’s an animal people heard whistling in the night. I can’t remember what animal mating call is a whistle.
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An Eastern USA Screech Owl sometimes whistles at night.
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It is bad people who cause bad circumstances not demons whispering in the night.
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Some of these I never heard of them.
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