{"id":2925,"date":"2023-06-01T17:19:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T17:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/?p=2925"},"modified":"2023-06-01T17:19:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T17:19:16","slug":"blog-may-25th-touch-wood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/?p=2925","title":{"rendered":"Blog May 25th \u201cTouch Wood\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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614-01819672
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Man touching tree bark<\/p><\/div>\n

So last blog I looked at the expression \u201cfingers crossed\u201d and found that its origins may be found in Christianity \u2013 so what about \u201ctouch wood\u201d?
\nWikipedia states that it is apotropaic or protective magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune. So touching wood, or merely stating that one is doing so is done to avoid “tempting fate” after making a statement you wish to come true. Interestingly in USA the expression is more likely to be \u201cKnocking on wood\u201d or \u201cknock on wood\u201d as in the Eddie Floyd classic soul song (Eddie, incidentally, is still alive aged 85)
\nSome believe the origin of the expression can be traced to ancient Celtic peoples, who believed it called on spirits or gods of the trees. Others believe that it comes from Christianity and relates to the wood of the cross of crucifixion. A more modern theory from folklore researcher Steve Roud suggests it derives from a form of tag called “Tiggy Touchwood” in which players are safe from being tagged if they are touching wood.
\nI personally avoid the expression as I am not a fan of anything that could be construed as superstitious, which leads me nicely (I hope) to next week\u2019s blog which focuses on fear. <\/p>\n

Quote of the week<\/strong>
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I Love You Lord (Laurie- Klein) featuring the Portsmouth Gospel Choir recorded and produced by Joffy James So last blog I looked at the expression \u201cfingers crossed\u201d and found that its origins may be found in Christianity \u2013 so what about \u201ctouch wood\u201d? Wikipedia states that it is apotropaic or protective magic intended to turn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ken-shearsmiths-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2929,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2925\/revisions\/2929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}