Superstitions

If you’d like to know --- it’s bad luck to walk under a ladder or to cross paths with a black cat, read on for the back story to some of the most common superstitions...

Friday the 13th: Bad Luck

This superstition is--- widespread that many tall apartment buildings and hotels simply omit labeling their 13th floor. One version of the origin of this superstition is that Judas Iscariot was the 13th guest at the Last Supper and Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

Walking Under a Ladder: Bad Luck

The shape of an open ladder is a triangle, --- signifies life in some mythologies.

When you walk through the triangle, it’s ---- that you tempt the Fates. You also run the risk of awakening spirits that live within the triangle, including evil spirits.

Breaking a Mirror: Bad Luck

Many superstitious people say breaking a mirror sets you up for 7 years of bad luck. In a more superstitious time, mirrors were thought to be reflections of the soul. So breaking a mirror --- believed to be harmful to the soul.

Opening an Umbrella Inside: Bad Luck

One common superstition holds that because umbrellas shade us from the sun they’re somehow magical. --- the umbrella is opened inside, it may signify death or ill fortune for both the person who opened it and the people who live within the home.

Knock Twice on Wood: Reverse Bad Luck

The origin of this well-known superstition dates back --- a time when some cultures believed that gods lived in trees.

To ask the gods for a favor, people would lightly tap the bark of the tree. Then, to say thank you when the favor was granted, a person --- knock lightly again on the same tree.

Black Cats: Bad Luck

In the Middle Ages it was thought that witches kept black cats as companions. Powerful men like Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte may have ---- prepared to conquer nations, but both were terrified of a black cat.

Saying “God Bless You”: Good Luck

For some, it’s good manners, pure and simple; but blessing someone after he or she sneezes is actually a common superstition.

When the Black Plague hit Europe in 1665, the pope required everyone to be blessed --- they sneezed. He believed that a sneeze was a sign the person would likely die soon.

Common superstitions still have a place today. After all, you never know when a simple action to counteract bad luck will make you and those around you a little bit luckier.