Old Superstitions: Which Ones Do You Live By?

The day I am writing this it is Friday the 13th. I got to thinking about superstitions, where they started, and how many of us, whether we realize it or not, live by any of them. I can't imagine how many superstitions there must be spanning the globe.

A superstition is the belief that events are influenced by specific behaviors without having a casual relationship. Another way to define superstition is an irrational or nonscientific belief in the existence of certain powers operant in the world with positive or negative effects. How many of us avoid walking under a ladder? How many of us cross our fingers for good luck? Why is Friday the 13th unlucky? Dating back to ancient times, the sixth day of the week and the number 13 have had bad reputations. Put them together and we have the most widespread superstition in the U.S. People avoid doing all kinds of things on this day since they view it as unlucky. The Scandinavian's belief that the number 13 was unlucky was due to the mythological 12 demigods being joined by a 13th, an evil one, who brought misfortune to humans. It was also said that Christ was crucified on a Friday and the number of guests that attended the Last Supper was 13, with number 13 being Judas, the traitor.

For those who believe in luck, it's important to know what to avoid in order to steer clear of bad luck. Walking under a ladder is supposed to be bad luck. It's because a leaning ladder forms a triangle with the wall and ground. Triangles represent the Holy Trinity, and it's a direct violation of the Trinity if you walk through it. This would put you in league with the devil. If you walk under the ladder, you might not suffer bad luck if you had your fingers crossed while doing so.

The black cat superstition goes back to ancient Egypt. The Goddess Bast was a black cat. Since Christians wanted to rid society of all traces of other religions, they started telling people that black cats were demons in disguise and should be destroyed. Unfortunately, this led to women who owned and cared for black cats to be labeled witches and destroyed as well. Since these black cats were demons, one of them crossing your path would create a barrier of evil between you and God. This blocked the entrance to heaven. It's amazing to what extremes people will go to in order to control others!

This is one that I remember when I was a child. Every Easter, I remember my sister and me getting pretty new dresses and shiny new shoes. You see, it's bad luck if you don't wear new clothes on Easter.

Spilling salt has always been bad luck. A long time ago, salt was an expensive commodity mainly used for medicinal purposes. If salt was spilled and was unable to be administered, the next best way to help the patient was to throw it over your shoulder. Why? Well, because that's where the evil spirits were lurking. These evil spirits were standing there bringing sickness upon the patient, and it was beneficial to throw salt into those spirits eyes.

Other things to be cautious of due to bad luck are a bat flying into the house, red and white flowers together, an owl hooting three times, putting on a shirt inside out, three butterflies together, breaking a glass while proposing a toast, looking at the new moon over your left shoulder, a five-leaf clover, hearing a rooster crow at night, opening an umbrella indoors, cutting your nails on a Friday, singing before breakfast, putting a hat on a bed, a picture falling, getting out of bed left foot first, violets blooming out of season, giving away a wedding present, seeing an owl during daylight, stepping on cracks in the sidewalk, crossed knives, which is a sign that there will be an argument, and an itch inside your nose.

We all know the one that gives us seven years of bad luck. Don't break a mirror. You can avoid the bad luck if you take the shards of glass and other pieces outside and bury them in moonlight. If an undisturbed mirror suddenly falls and breaks, there will soon be a death.

Next time you pack up to go on vacation, keep this in mind. If you stumble when you leave your house at the beginning of your journey or stumble more than once during the course of your journey, you are advised to postpone the trip.

So what can we do to bring good luck into our lives? We've discussed crossing your fingers. Apparently this is the sign of the Christian faith, and evil spirits are prevented from destroying our chance at good fortune. Knocking on wood is believed to be calling on spirits who can protect us from misfortune. These spirits are believed to live in the trees and by knocking on anything made of wood, we call on them.

Saying 'God bless you' when somebody sneezes was a law passed by the Pope when the great plague swept Europe. People who suffered sneezed violently, and this was a sign of death. Covering the mouth and nose while sneezing was mainly to keep one's soul intact. Before the great plague, sneezing was believed to expel evil from the body. Sneezing was congratulated until the great plague when it turned into a bad thing.

Other signs of good luck are a robin flying into the house, meeting three sheep, sneezing three times before breakfast, cutting your hair during a storm, looking at the new moon over your right shoulder, picking up a pin, dropping a glove, a four-leaf clover, which means immense good luck, hearing crickets sing, spilling wine while proposing a toast, nine peas in a pod, putting a dress on inside out, scissors hanging on a hook, sleeping facing south, an itch on the top of your head, picking up a pencil on the street, avoiding cracks in the sidewalk, walking in the rain, and a ladybug on you. I'm guessing that sleeping on un-ironed sheets being good luck was invented by an exasperated woman who got sick and tired of ironing bed sheets only to have them wrinkly after one night.

If you are an avid golfer, some things to keep in mind in order to have a good luck outing are to set out for golfing on a rainy day and start your round with odd numbered clubs. Don't use golf balls numbered higher than four. It's bad luck for the golfer to borrow their partner's umbrella so don't do that.

I have to say, I do some of this stuff as habit because of my growing-up environment. I can't imagine my life being ruled by superstitions.