According to Wikipedia, superstition is defined as “a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason, knowledge, or experience.” Plenty of people believe in different superstitions, or at least know of them, whether they realize it or not. The most common superstitions in history are the most likely followed. Whether it’s based on folklore, religion, or psychology, the range of superstitions is vast. They include anything from a witchy black cat to stepping on cracks to ringing or itching ears. We will try to cover as many as possible.
Some of the most common:
-Unlucky number 13
-Lucky number 7
-Friday the 13th
-Lucky rabbit’s foot
-Knock on wood
-Lucky 4-leaf clover
-Don’t walk under a ladder
-Unlucky black cat
-7 years of bad luck after breaking a mirror
-Don’t open an umbrella inside
-Lucky horseshoe
-Step on a crack, break your mother’s back
-Garlic prevents evil spirits
-Toads cause warts
-Lock of hair for good luck
-Ringing/itching ears means someone’s talking about you
-Lucky heads-up penny
-Shivers means someone is walking on your grave
-Spilling salt is bad luck
Okay so those are some of the most common superstitions that most people will have heard about. Where did they originate? One site’s literature gives some insight as to the possible explanations of some of these traditions.
“Knocking on wood for luck may well come from times when people believed that trees served as the homes for protective spirits or gods. Since trees are so firmly rooted in the earth, knocking wood may have had the additional aspect of intensifying a wish,” (http://www.catalogs.com/info/history/common-superstitions.html).
Picking up a penny for good luck could have originated back when “a penny bought a loaf of bread, a sack of grain or a pitcher of ale.”
Incurring 7 years of bad luck after breaking a mirror could possibly have originated from old times when “glass in any form was handmade, expensive and precious. Coating the back of a glass with silver to create a reflection increased the cost. A poor family might save for years to own a mirror.”
An interesting explanation for the origin of the superstition that spilling salt is bad luck is that “salt was precious long ago and used to preserve and season food. Wasting something precious might be regarded as a sin of carelessness. That’s why bad luck is neutralized by throwing a pinch of salt over the shoulder and into the devil’s eyes. The devil is said to stand behind the left shoulder, which is a reflection of ancient and varied superstitions about right and left body parts,” (http://www.catalogs.com/info/history/common-superstitions.html).
Okay so why is the number 13 unlucky? One funny comment mentioned how if the number 13 was to be considered unlucky then 26 should be doubly unlucky, and 52 four-times as much. Thirteen is known by some as “The Devil’s Dozen”. Keep in mind though that it’s also a Baker’s Dozen. There were 13 people sitting around the table at The Last Supper. Since this was right before Jesus Christ was betrayed, it might have been the origin of unlucky 13. According to some, it’s unlucky for 13 people to sit around a table for dinner as it signals that they will perish within the year.
Why the ever-so-famously spooky Friday the 13th? Here are some interesting facts that date back: “Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, Noah’s flood started on a Friday, and Christ was crucified on a Friday. Christians also noted that twelve witches plus one devil are present at Satanic ceremonies,” (http://www2.islandnet.com/~luree/silly.html).
As for the unlucky path crossing with black cats, wisegeek.com states that “evidence suggests that the theory that a black cat crossing your path is unlucky does not come from Early America. The superstition is most active in India, and in several Eastern European nations that weren’t much involved in the Crusades, particularly Romania. In other parts of Europe and in Japan, a black cat crossing your path is good luck, and in Ireland, killing a cat of any color was thought to bring seventeen years of bad luck. Scotland is most generous to the kitty; a black feline at your doorstep meant prosperity was coming your way,” (http://www.wisegeek.com/why-is-it-considered-bad-luck-to-see-a-black-cat.htm).
In summary, for the common superstitions I think it’s more based on your culture than anything else. Different people will learn superstitions based on the traditions of their area, as do they learn everything else.
Funny thing that I find, so many different superstitions mention bad luck for 7 years. So, perhaps “lucky 7” isn’t so luck at all! Maybe 13 is the lucky number, and 7 is the trouble-maker. All this time we’ve been accusing the wrong digit!
The number 7 has its history as well. One source states its history began in Solomon Empire times, or B.C. It took 7 years to build the temple in Jerusalem. The Torah states that the Sabbatical, holy year, occurs every 7 years. It also followed through to the New Testament. In addition, the ancient Greeks thought the number 7 to be lucky. More cultures adopted the lucky number into their culture, beliefs, and traditions including the Arabs (building 7 holy temples), Goths (worshipping 7 deities), Japanese (7 gods) and the Scottish masons (who wore 7 tassels). Talk about a powerful number.
But what about the Seven Deadly Sins? (even though it originated as 8). I wouldn’t consider that lucky at all. That’s another topic in entirety, we shouldn’t, and won’t go there for the sake of this blog entry.
So some different ones:
-Don’t sit at the corner of a table. Supposedly this will delay you getting married for (surprise, surprise) 7 years.
-It’s bad luck to light 3 cigarettes with the same match. (I would think this was just being efficient!)
-If lightning strikes a tree and you witness it, someone you know will die. (Too harsh).
-When someone is leaving, turn away before they’re out of sight, or you will never see them again.
Of course everyone’s heard about professional athlete’s superstitions… some are actually health hazards such as not cleaning their jockstraps or wearing the same socks all season (gross). Along the same note are students partaking in “good luck” superstitious rituals for exams and what not. It’s been heard of for some students to use the same pen/pencil for all of their exams or for the semester. Someone told me once their friend did not cut their hair for all of their college experience, in hopes to maintain good grades throughout their educational career.
Every person has their own quirky beliefs and traditions, some just have more or more strange ones than others. If more of these interesting factoids come my way, I will be sure to post them and ponder the ever-so-interesting human mind. On one last note, after listing the aforementioned ludicrous superstitions, I feel comfortable mentioning my own. I used to follow that using someone else’s white lighter was imminent bad luck. I’ve since then stopped that ridiculous tradition, and have been fine. I am however a fan of numbers. I have a slight obsession with the number 22, and also 11. I also tend to be haunted by the number 222, and have been for the last several years. Okay, I’ve made my confession.
PS- On a very strange note, as I ended my blog with that last sentence, the word count was 1,222. Coincidence? Yeah right!
