Superstitions: Where They Come from and What They Mean

Exploring the unknown is fun. That is probably why I love researching myths; why I believe in ghosts and UFOs; and why I'm curious about the origins of words and phrases. I'm also curious "how" and "why" we believe in the superstitions that we do.

Why do we consider back cats bad luck? Why do we throw salt over our shoulder? Why is opening an umbrella in the house bad luck? These are fascinating questions to which I wanted to know the answers. I suspect you do too. So over the course of the next few articles, I intend to explore some of our most popular beliefs, where they came from, and what they mean.

My grandson and I have a common love of magic. He has recently taken to using the word abracadabra when he is doing one of his disappearing tricks. I wondered, however, where that word, along with hocus pocus, and presto, came from. The story is actually quite interesting.

Abracadabra is the oldest of the three words, but that is where agreement about its origin ends. Some believe that is was once used as a protective word on amulets and charms. Early Christians believed that it had the power to ward off evil spirits.

Others believe that it came from a combination of Hebrew words including ab, which means father; ben, which means son; and rauch acadosch, which means holy spirit. Others say it originated in a second century poem written by Quintus Serenus Sammonicus. Still more think is the derivative of the name of the Gnostic leader, Abraxas, which means God.

What is know, however, is that during the Middle Ages, people often wore the word on parchment around their neck to assure they that didn't contract illnesses and were not attacked by evil spirits. The word was written in its entirety on the first line and then with each subsequent line, the last letter of the word was dropped until nothing remained but the "A" at the beginning; forming an upside down pyramid.

It was believed that this "charm" could cure the plague, fever, toothache, and a variety of other ailments. The word abracadabra itself was believed to have magical power. Over time, magicians picked it up and used it primarily because of that belief.

Hocus pocus wasn't coined until the 17^th century. According to the Oxford Dictionary, it originated from a conjurer by that name who used it as part of his magic act. Other magicians picked it up from there and it was simply passed down through the ages.

Some believe presto came from the Italian word, which means "quickly." However, it is far more likely that it comes from the Latin words for "quick fingers" because it was used it to illustrate slight of hand magic tricks like pulling a rabbit out of a hat,

The phrase bless you, which is commonly used when someone sneezes, originated because it was once believed that a sneeze indicated that a person was possessed. The sneeze was supposedly the human's attempt to exorcise the spirit; a process helped along by offering a blessing.

The idea that carrots can improve eyesight originated from tests conducted in Great Britain during World War II. The government was hoping that the vegetable, which are heavy in vitamin A, might help pilots see better at nighttime to give them an edge over the Germans. While their tests proved to be totally inconclusive, it didn't stop rumors from circulating that the British were better flyers because they ate massive quantities of carrots.

Like many girls before me, when I was little, I pulled the petals off of flowers using an alternate saying of "he loves me" and "he loves me not" with each petal I pulled. I managed, of course, to somehow get the response I wanted each time by some mechanism; particularly when I grew older and had my boyfriend in mind while playing the game.

Many believe that the game originated specifically with daisies, which were believed to have grown where the Virgin Mary's tears fell after the death of her son, Jesus. The original game of "he loves me" or "he loves me not," therefore, was meant to determine if the woman in question had found favor with Christ.

According to superstition, the color of a person's hair can influence their temperament. Redheads have long been accused of fiery tempers because the color red was associated with fire. It was also the color of sin, which is why so many redheads were once believed to be witches.

People with blond hair were considered to be airheads, less intelligent, or simple-minded because the lack of pigment color in the hair supposedly indicated that certain types of nutrients and vitamins were missing from the brain. People with brown hair, on the other hand, had an abundance of that pigment and were considered smarter, more reliable, and for some reason braver.

Owls are considered wise because of the position, placement, and size of their eyes. Basically, they look intelligent and that, alone, caused the superstition to be cultivated. However, not all cultures liked owls. While the Greeks held them in high esteem, the Romans felt that they were suspicious animals. They, in fact, linked them with demons and even the devil himself.

Some Celtic groups believed that witches had the power to change themselves into owls, further mudding the poor bird's already questionable reputation. A Welsh saying said the hooting of an owl symbolized the loss of the virginity of a village maiden. On the flip side, however, many Native American tribes considered owls to be symbols of good luck, prosperity, and long life.

While it may seem funny that some of these ancient beliefs continue today, the fact is that they often do, albeit in a smaller, less stringent way. We continue to pass along the stories, beliefs, and feelings from generation to generation.