Webster define superstition as a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superstition) Superstitions originated centuries ago, our ancestors used them as a way to explain the unknown. Today we have more knowledge and understanding of these things, like mirrors and reflections. For people who still believe in these “old wives tales,” they are called superstitious. I am a very superstitious person, more superstitious than most. I think everyone has a little superstition in them. Have you ever picked a penny up only when it was heads side up? Avoid breaking mirrors at all cost? How about knocking on wood after saying something? All of these are superstitions, and most of us do at least one of them on a daily basis. Whether you are trying to achieve good luck, banish bad luck, or just curious superstitions have always come into play. I have compiled a list of the 13 most common superstitions, so let’s see what you believe.
13.Cutting bread uneven means you are telling lies
Okay so this one isn’t super common but I wanted to add it anyway, think of it as learning something new. I have been looking all over the place but cannot, for the life of me, find out the origin of this one, or why it came about for that matter.
12. How you start your year is how you will end it
When New Year’s comes you are supposed to be dressed nice, have money in your pocket and have your loved one close. This ensures that your year goes by the same.
11. Toss spilled salt over your left shoulder
This superstition may have stemmed from a couple of places. The first one is the last supper. During the last supper Judas is depicted as spilling the salt. Thanks to this, spilled salt is associated with treachery and lies. If you do spill salt, a pinch thrown over your left shoulder is supposed to blind the devil waiting there. The second comes from a time when salt was valued very highly. In fact, people were once paid in salt. So the spilling of salt was seen as a waste. Remember that if you do spill the salt you are supposed to pick it up with your right (good) hand and throw it over your left shoulder.
10. Putting shoes on the table is considered Bad Luck
This is considered a symbol of death. It all goes back to the 18th century for Men carrying out dangerous work (builders/miners). If a man died at work, his shoes were returned to his family and placed on the table. It was a symbol to show that the person had died. The reason his shoes were brought to his family were because shoes in those days were the one thing a man wore that could identify him clearly to his family without them having to see his body. This act died out in the early 20th century and soon after became a superstition. A shoe on the table was, and probably always will be associated with the death of a loved one.
A Sudden Itch on your palm is supposed to have something to do with money. The way that I heard it was that if your Left hand itches then it means you are going to lose money and if your right hand itches it means you are going to get money. Now as the superstition goes if your right hand does itch you are not supposed to scratch it because that will stop the money from coming in. If your left hand itches you can scratch away to try and stop the loss of your money. It is also said that if your left palm itches you should touch it to the wood as a transfer of energies and that is supposed to get the itching to stop and the money loss to stop as well. Researching this superstition however, I have found that in different parts of the world the hand changes. I have grown up with right-receive left- lose but some places are opposite.
Having a ringing in your ears is supposed to mean someone is talking about you. If you are having this problem, remember Left for love Right for spite. It is said that to stop the ringing you are supposed to say the name of that person and this will shut them up. Another way is said that you can list people, out loud, and once the ringing stops that is the person that was talking about you. You are then supposed to like your thumb and index finger and rub that ear, this it meant to make them bite there tongue.
07. Find a Penny Pick it up…
This is a common superstition that most kids were brought up on. As the saying goes find a penny pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck. The way I was raised the whole saying was find a penny pick it up all day long you’ll have good luck, find a penny upside down all day long you’ll wear a frown. Meaning that heads up was good luck tails up was bad luck. Looking into this superstition I have found a couple of origins to this very popular childhood saying. One is that metal was a gift from the gods and was supposed to protect man against evil, thus making it a good luck charm. The other one was that it originally was a pin. “Find a pin, pick it up all the day you’ll have good luck. See a pin let it lay, bad luck you’ll have all the day.” This is how the mother goose nursery rhyme goes. Some people think it came from a wiccan tradition were pins are used in good luck spells, so finding a pin made people hope that it too was used.Another idea was that back in the Middle Ages or medieval times pins were very valuable, for someone to find one was very good luck. As time went by the saying transferred from pin to penny and that’s how it came about for us today.
06. Knock on Wood
It is said to stop from jinxing yourself you are supposed to knock on wood. This comes up commonly on many everyday conversations (i.e. “I have never broken a bone, Knock on wood.)This superstition has many reasons it came about. The most common one had to do with the druids. They are said to have worshipped the trees. Whenever they were to say something they would knock on wood. This was said to perk up the spirits that lived in the trees so they would hear them and work in their favor. Another version says knocking on wood prevented demons from hearing them. This is another superstition that, depending on where in the world you are, changes in meaning and origin. Other ways of saying it is touch wood or touch iron.
The fear of Friday the 13th is termed paraskveidekatriaphobia. This is a very, very common phobia. With so many people afraid of the day you can’t help but wonder, how did this even come to be? Well from what I can see it’s not a single day that started this. This actually may have come from 2 different superstitions. Friday being a bad day and 13 being a bad number put that together and you get one really awful day right? Let’s take a look at it. Some say Friday’s bad reputation goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It was on a Friday that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit. Tradition also holds that the Great Flood began on a Friday; God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel on a Friday; the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday; and, of course, Friday was the day of the week on which Christ was crucified. All this led up to Friday being considered a Very bad day. The number 13 is considered bad for a couple reasons as well. It is said that at the last supper there were 13 people. One of whom was Judas, who betrayed Christ. In Norse mythology it is said that there were 12 people invited to Valhalla, Loki decided to crash the party and mayhem ensued. 13 people together is called a devils dozen. It is said that today if 13 people are to sit at a table one will die within the year. The other theory is that it is a bad luck day because of the decimation of the Knights Templar, Oct 13, 1307. Whatever the reason is, Friday the 13th is probably one of most used superstitions we have today.
04. Never Cross a Black Cats Path
It has always been a common thought that black cats were familiars to witches. In the Middle Ages people believed that witches had the power to turn themselves into black cats, so if one crossed your path, chances were good that a witch had her eye on you. It is also thought that black cats were just evil and brought power to their masters, witches.
Opening an Umbrella in the house is considered bad luck and many people believe this. In this superstition it is believed that doing so will cause anything from breaking things to a death in the family, but how did this come to be? There are 2 possible origins for this superstition one origin for today’s belief is the European umbrella that was popular in the eighteenth century. These umbrellas were larger than modern umbrellas and had hard metal spokes and spring triggers. The opening of these umbrellas could cause damage to objects or people that happened to be nearby. Therefore, it was considered bad luck to open an umbrella indoors, because of the many cases in which people broke something or injured someone with them. The other origin of this superstition was from ancient Egypt, long before the creation of eighteenth century umbrellas. In ancient Egypt, umbrellas were used to protect their users from the sun’s rays rather than from rain. It is believed that at this time, opening an umbrella inside was considered a sign of disrespect to the sun god.
Like I stated before, I am very superstitious. Not sure why, just the way I was growing up. I understand that these aren’t real, but why tempt it right. So with that being said I always follow this one. I never walk under a ladder, ever! Actually I won’t even walk under scaffolding either, but that’s completely different. Any who, if you are like me and refuse to walk under a ladder, you may be wondering where the idea came from. From my research I have found a couple different origins for this. One is that a ladder represents a trinity and breaking it (i.e. walking through it) would mean you don’t believe and you would then go to HELL. Another one is the ladders represent the gallows, A ladder would lean against the gallows to bring down a body after a hanging. So walking through one would bring ill Fate. The last one I could find is that in the old days they actually hung criminals from the 7th rung on the ladder and walking through one was considered bad because the spirits could still be lingering around
01. Breaking a Mirror gives you 7 years Bad Luck
This is probably the most common superstition I have heard. People are Scared to break mirrors in fear of bad luck. So where did this come from? Back before even mirrors people thought that reflections were actually glimpses into their souls. If they peered into a lake they saw themselves in the water, they also saw there soul. Once mirrors came about, that idea went with it. People could see there reflection, therefore see there soul. Breaking the mirror was thought to bring some bad mojo onto your soul. The Romans believed that the human body was physically rejuvenated every seven years, so that’s how long they figured it would take to get over breaking the mirror.
