Superstions and their Origin

Definition of a Superstition
According to dictionary.com a superstition is a belief that is "not based on reason or knowledge." It
can also be an irrational fear.

Not all irrational fears are superstitions; for example the fear of heights, crowds, or the dark may not
be logical but they aren't usually superstitious. But some of them, such as the fear of the number 13,
can fall under superstitions.
Interestingly, many superstitions have a deep history that can extend as far back as ancient times.

Spilled Salt
If you spill salt you are supposed to throw a pinch of it over your shoulder to ward off bad luck, but
why is that?

While speculations that salt was a precious commodity may have some validity, there may be even
deeper, religious implications to the belief in spilling salt.

An examination of Leonardo Da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper, shows a canister of spilled salt by
the arm of Judas, the disciple that betrayed him and led to his crucifixion.

According to Mail Online by Ticky Hedley-Dent, salt then became a symbol of betrayal and evil.
Throwing the salt over your left shoulder (the side associated with evil) is supposed to blind the eyes
of the devil that is waiting there to confront you.

Other religious traditions hold that the devil hates salt and it can be used to ward him off.

So Da Vinci himself may be responsible for our modern fear of spilling salt.

Friday the 13th

Many don't like the number 13 and will avoid it in all parts of their lives. Hotels have even been
known to skip that number when they are numbering their floors, just to alleviate the fears of the
superstitious. But where do these fears come from?

Some trace the fear back to the above painting of the Last Supper when 13 came to dinner and the
outcome wasn't great for Jesus or Judas. But it turns out that, according to a 2009 Time magazine
article by Claire Suddath, suspicions and fears about the number 13 can be found as far back as the
code of Hammurabi. The number 13 is conspicuously absent from the code.

Another part of the superstition may have emerged in the middle ages.
During the crusades, according to History.com in an article by Jennie Cohen, King Philip had many
of the French members of the Knights Templar arrested and tortured on October 13, 1307. Some
hold that our fear of Friday the 13th stems from that day but modern references to Friday the 13th
fears don't really show up in literature and other sources until a bit later.
According to the Time magazine article, Friday the 13th superstitions in America began to gain
popularity after the publication of a 1907 book called Friday the 13th which featured a plot of a
business man trying to crash the stock market.

Another resurgent of the Friday the 13th superstition came about in the 80's with the creation of the
movie series of the same name featuring the mysterious and scary Jason who was born on, you
guessed it, Friday the 13th

Black Cats
Did you know that in some countries a black cat is considered good luck? In the United States
though, a black cat crossing your path is considered to be a bad omen.
According to Hartz.com, our American fear of black cats stems back to our early, Puritan roots. The
article "How Black Cats Came to Halloween," explains that in those times, black cats were
associated with witches and the devil.
As we know from the Salem Witch Trials, the Puritans took their witch hunts very seriously. They
even burned black cats on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) to rid the house of evil spirits.
Even though the witch hunts of the Puritan style are no more, the idea of black cats being associated
with evil has persisted as a lingering superstition from a darker time in our history.

However, in places like Japan and Great Britain, black cats are considered good luck.
This is one superstition that is harmful as black cats have a harder time getting adopted even though
they tend to have very friendly and loving personalities. Rescue organizations such as Black Cat
Rescue in Boston (http://blackcatrescue.com/) are working to change the image and harmful
superstitions surrounding black cats

Stepping on a Crack
This superstitions seems more muddled and there is more speculation than solid fact surrounding
the superstition of stepping on a crack and its relationship to your mother's back health.

According to Smart Aleck's Guides, the rhyme can be seen in 19th and 20th century children's
poems and may have just been a convenient rhyme for skipping or jumping rope.
Variations of the rhyme (including ones with a racial undercurrent) developed over the latter half of
the 20th century.
So a simple children's rhyme may have led to people walking awkwardly on the city sidewalk lest
their inadvertent step make their mother ill

Broken Mirrors
Mirrors are breakable items so it's only natural that one will get cracked or dropped and broken from
time to time. So why do some believe that it automatically sentences you to seven years of bad
luck?

It looks like we have the Romans to blame for that one.

According to Wisegeek.com the Romans actually invented the earliest mirrors.

Because it was such as strange creation, they believed that the reflection you saw not only
represented you, it was also you in a sense in that a portion of your soul was trapped in the mirror
world.
If the mirror were to break, your soul could possibly be trapped in this broken world and a broken
soul, of course, equals bad luck.

The Romans also believed that the body went through a renewal process every seven years so that
is why it would take seven years for your soul to heal from this tragedy

Crossing Your Fingers

Superstitious people cross their fingers for luck or to absolve themselves when they tell a lie, but
where does the idea of crossing your fingers come from
According to Woman's Day Magazine in an article by Kathleen Davis, crossing your fingers may date
back to pre-Christian times when people believed that the intersection of shapes were where spirits
resided so they would create that intersection by crossing fingers (one finger from each person).
It is also commonly known that archers would cross their fingers for luck during the 100 years war.

The most common thought about crossing your fingers derives from the earliest days of Christianity
when Christians were facing persecution. Fellow Christians would use the crossed fingers as a sign
of Christianity and solidarity. However, like its predecessor it was usually the crossing of one finger
from each hand and not the single person gesture that we use today.
Crossing fingers while lying's origin is not clear and may stem from the same sources, needing a bit
of luck to get away with the lie.

Walking Under a Ladder

While walking under a ladder might very well be a safety concern--after all it could fall or objects on
the ladder could fall off and hit a person walking under it---is there more than just safety at play
here? Is it also a superstition?
According to livescience.com, the belief that walking under a ladder would bring bad luck could be
traced back as far as ancient Egyptians.

Since a ladder leaning against a surface formed a triangle and triangles were sacred shapes to
them, walking through that triangle was a sign of disrespect to the gods.

Christians later associated ladders with bad luck since one was said to be leaning against the cross
during the crucifixion.

Cementing the belief in Europe was the practice of making those sentenced to death by hanging to
walk under a ladder on the way to their sentence.

Don’t open an umbrella indoors

There are two possible origins of this superstition. Some people believe that it
originated in Egyptian times when umbrellas were used to protect people from
the heat of the sun. To open an umbrella indoors was an insult to the God of the
Sun.
Other people believe that this superstition started in
18th century London when waterproof umbrellas with
large metal spokes began to be used. The umbrellas
were very large and difficult to open so often caused
an injury to someone or an object to be broken if
opened in the house.
The number 13 is unlucky

Also known as triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13 originates in Norse mythology

when 12 Gods were having a dinner and then Loki, the God of strife and evil, crashed
the party and ultimately caused the death of Balder, one of the Gods.

Wishing upon a shooting star

In the first century Ptolemy theorized that shooting stars resulted from gods peering
down on the Earth