A cross-cultural phenomenon, signs and wards against prophecy are found in any culture with a strong belief in fate or predeterminism.
They differ from wards against curses or the 'evil eye' in that the fate being warded off is not the act of a malevolent entity but one that has, potentially, been spoken into existence.
Examples of warding gestures include:
- Holding or pinching fingers or thumb/s
- Snapping fingers
- Holding breath
- Reciting a word or phrase
- Biting or trapping tongue
- A silencing motion such as putting one or more fingers to lips (either the gesturer's own or, rarely, the person speaking)
- Touching wood
The reasons for the wide variety of warding gestures is that each addressed the method by which a culture believes the future is created.
In the Vehka culture family (Bjeria, Kanmaa, Kijarle), the future is viewed as a tapestry constantly being woven, and wards against prophecy focus on stilling the hands and fingers. Holding the thumb under the index finger of a loose fist is common Bjeria, while pressing the first two fingers to the thumb is the most common Kjarlean sign.
The cultures of Suntul and Northern Hrimar (principally Kjerforland) believe that reality is sung into being by a chorus of ancestors or gods, so wards against prophecy are breath-focused and include a person trapping their tongue in some fashion (between fngers, lips, or teeth) or holding their breath.
Majdasir and Urqayan cultures believe in a pre-ordained fate with a supreme deity in command, yet even they have a ward in the form of a small prayer that invokes their deity's name (___ willing, as ___ sees me/you, ___ keep me/you).
Of note to sociologists studying fatalist cultures is the compatibilist cultural family of Horlenau. Like its cultural-neighbours, Hrimar and Vehka, Horlenau cultures generally believe in a woven tapestry of fate, with the future informed by the past. However, they also believe that the actions of malevolent or puckish agents can foul the threads and force an unintended future. Horlenau wards focus on touching specific props such as wood (believed to either direct the wood spirits to counter the fouled threads, or to inkove a tree's ability to grow and adapt to hardship), knocking on a hard surface to warn the weavers, rubbing a lucky penny (invoking the protective elements of silver, iron, or steel), or drinking water or tasting salt (the former to wash the words away, the latter as lay purification).
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