30 SOMETHING SUPERSTITIONS AND THEIR ORIGINS

ROMANS, GREEK, EGYPTIANS and CELTS

HISTORICAL "TRUTHS"

BIBLICAL and CHRISTIAN

  1. 4-leaf clover (NOT a shamrock!)
    Supposedly, Eve brought a specimen as a reminder of the Paradise and a souvenir from the Garden of Eve
  1. Friday13
    Jesus had a supper with 12 disciples before Friday - the day when he was crusified
    NB: fear of number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia

ASIAN

  1. Lucky numbers: 7
    It is believed to be lucky as there are 7 Gods of Fortune in Japanese mythology
  1. Lucky numbers:
    7 - this is how many days the Creation of everything took (the Book of Genesis)
  1. 666
    It is considered to be connected with the Beast, but its roots go back to the Roman Emperor Nero and the numerical value of his name
  1. Walking under a ladder
    A ladder is thought to represent the Holy Trinity, and when you walk under it, you supposedly demonstrate your disrespect to it.
  1. Spilling salt
    It once used to be a very pricey item, so spilling it might have led to bad luck. Also you were supposed to throw it over your left shoulder - that was the place where the Devil was supposedly standing
  1. Number 3
    All things come in 3 (people even have 3 names!). In many cultures it is a number of great significance, Russia included
  1. Black cats
    Dislike towards these animals is attributed to their potential connection to witchcraft in the Middle Ages.
  1. Horse shoes
    Witches are supposed to be afraid of horses, hence their fear of horseshoes. Another tale says that a Devil came to the blacksmith to have his hoof done, but it was so painful that the Devil promised not to go into the house with the horseshoe
  1. A shooting star
    Ptolemy theorised that when you see a shooting star, you see God peering down on Earth
  1. Opening an umbrella inside
    Egyptians believed that since umbrellas protected people from the Sun, opening it inside will enrage the Gods.
  1. Holding one's breath while passing the cemetery
    Many religions believed breath to be connected with one's soul, so it made sense to hold one's breath when surrounded by the dead
  1. Throwing a coin into a fountain
    Typical for both Celtic and Roman cultures, this tradition may have something to do with worshipping the gods.
  1. Rabbit's foot
    Around 600 BC people already believed that a limb of this totem animal may bring fertility
  1. Lucky penny
    Metals were often considered as presents from gods
  1. Step on the crack, break your mother's back
    Apparently, there are several explanations to this one. A more racist version claims that it should be 'make your mother black' since inter-ratial marriages were frowned upon and a black baby in a white family was bad luck. On the brighter side, cracks are said to be pathways directly into the underworld.
  1. Break a leg! = Give birth to a bastard!
    (both are wishes of good luck to an actor)
    Could be traced back to both Shakespeare England and Ancient Greece, but the meaning of it was connected to the success of an actor who would either bow multiple times to the amazed audience or cause them to stopm their feet.
  1. Dandelions
    These flowers could cure diseases produced by faries and blowing one would protect you or heal you.
  1. Goose wish bone
    The wish bone could predict the weather, although many wishes could also come true with its help
  1. Breaking a mirror]
    Supposedly, a mirror was a reflection of your soul, and breaking one would mean 7 years of bad luck.
  1. Bless you
    This phrase may either be related to the fact that one's soul may be ejected when a person sneezed or the time of Black Death when sneezing was one of the symptoms.
  1. Knock on wood
    Since good spirits lived in trees, when a blessing or advice was needed, people knocked on wood to ask the Gods for assistance
  1. Hat on the bed
    Bad spirits were at some point of time believed to live in the hair, so putting a hat on the bed brought bad luck
  1. Crossing fingers
    It reminded people of the cross, which was supposed to protect one from all evil.
  1. Bird's pooping and ladybugs
    These are also associated with luck from the God since they all come from above and, therefore, are carriers of good news and miracles.
  1. Ladybug
    Brings good luck as it is associated with Virgin Mary (it is bad luck if you kill one).
  1. Birthday cake and candles
    The Romans baked the cake and decorated it with candles to make it look like the moon - a tribute to Artemis, the Goddess of the moon
  1. Chimney sweep
    One of the chimney sweeps saved a King who was about to be run over by a carriage - they are still considered lucky
  1. Carrying a bride over the threshold
    The groom was protecting her from the evil spirits that lived below + it was bad luck if a bride would trip over the entrance
  1. Wedding rituals
    From the bride not seeing the groom on the wedding day (she may get cold feet) to dropping a wedding ring (the person who drops it will die first) to needing something borrowed, something new and something old and something blue.