Would you hesistate before planning an important event on friday the 13th? Would you be nervous if you broke a mirror? Do you feel a sense of dread when a black cat crosses your path? Even though most modern people know that such superstitious beliefs and practices are irrational, it is surprising how much we still follow these ideas in our everyday lives.
Most superstitions originated hundreds or even thousands of year ago. In those times, people came up with superstitions to explain things they could not understand, like the forces of nature or life and death. They believed that invisible spirits were responsible for both good and bad fortune. They created superstitions in order to protect themselves against these spirit. Superstitions gave people a sense that they could control uncontrollable things.
One thing many people are still superstitious about is numbers. For example, the belief that the number 13 brings bad luck is pervasive in many western cultures. In fact, the fear of the number 13 is so common, there is even a word for it:triskaidekaphobia! This fear is so widespread that many hotels and apartments either only have 12 floors or the 13th floor lable is omitted, and the floor after 12 is labeled 14. Many airports don't have a 13th gate, snd many airplanes don't have a 13th row. In some cultures, the date of Friday the 13th is considered especially unlucky. There are many theories about why 13 is considered unlucky. One is that the ancient Egyptians believed that the number 13 representted death.
Not all cultures have the same superstitions. For example, unlike Westerners, neither Chinese nor Japanese people have bad associations with the number 13. However, they have their own superstitions about the number 4. The word for death. As a result, buildings in China and Japan usually do not list a 4th floor. This superstition even affects how products are packaged in Japan. Even though there are 4 people in the average Japanese family, most products, like chopsticks and dishes, are sold in packs of either three or five.
Have you ever blessed or given good wishes to someone who has sneezed? People say bless you so frequently, it is now though of more as good etiquette than as a superstitious practice. But this bit of etiquette actually started as a superstitious. Before people understood how germs work, they believed that evil spirits were responsible for sickness. In the 6th century, people believed that the soul flew out of the body briefly when a person sneezed. They believed that saying bless you would protect the person from being entered by evil spirits while the soul was gone. This practice actually became law in europe in the 1300s during the Great Plague. During this time of the deadly infectious disease, the pope made it a requirement for prople to bless anyone who sneezed. The reason is that sneezing was a sign of having caught the plague, so a sneezing person was likely to be in danger of dying from the plague.
A common superstition about attracting misfortune involves breaking a mirror. In ancient times, it was believed that a mirror was a reflecting of the soul. If you broke the mirror, it was believed to do damage to your soul. Unless you took the mirror outside and buried it in the moonlight, you would have seven years of bad luck.
A number of other superstitions relate not to behavior, but to objects. Simply having or seeing a certain object is thought to bring bad or good luck. For example, in the Middle Ages it was believed that witches kept black cats as companions. Because of this, a superstition developed in which it was bad luck to see a black cat cross you path. Napoleon Bonaparte, the most famous military leader in French history, thought nothing of conquering nations, but he was terrified of black cats. However, other objects are thought to be a source of good luck. For example, for thousands of years horseshoes have been considered to bring luck, and four-leaf clovers have too.
There are dozens of superstitions that are probably a part of your everyday life. So the next time you shy away from a black cat or bless someone when they sneeze, take a moment and think about the superstitions be hind your actions. You know that your actions are superstitious, yet you probably won't be able to stop yourself from doing them!