We all have a few superstitions, no matter how irrational they are. Superstitions are essential to us because they contextualize the often randomness of luck and put us in control of our fate, whether it’s a lucky pair of pants or a fear of Friday the 13th. This section will look at the shocking cultural past behind some of the world’s most famous supernatural beliefs.
1. “Under a Ladder Walking” Egyptian, possibly European or Christian.
The superstition of not having to stand under a ladder has its origins in Christian symbolism; the “Holy Trinity” of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit led to the association of the number 3 with something sacred.
With its three sides, the triangle also became sacred; a ladder, of course, forms a triangle, so walking underneath that ladder will indeed destroy the holiness of the Trinity and thus incur consequence.
The ladder’s resemblance to a gallows didn’t help matters, nor did the fact that something could fall from it.
Eventually, the Egyptians avoided ladders because they were afraid of accidentally spotting a god going up or down them. It must not have been easy to construct all those tall pyramids.
2. European “Black Cats.”
Cats were linked to good luck and idolized as gods in Ancient Egypt; things took a wrong turn for the dark-colored feline in the Dark Ages when a papal bull issued by Pope Gregory IX in 1232 AD declared them an “incarnation of Satan.”
Things only got worse for black cats, with people in the middle ages combusting them in campfires on holy days like Shrove Tuesday, the first Sunday of Lent, and even Easter, and the Puritans in America linking them to witchcraft. The color black is traditionally linked with evil and death, which didn’t help our furry friends born with the unfortunate color of night.
3. “Night Chewing Gum” Turkey
If you’ve ever had an irrational fear of inadvertently eating dead flesh? In Turkey, it is believed that chewing gum magically transforms into the flesh of the dead after dark, very much like the mogwai in the film Gremlins, who turn into the titular beasts if they eat within a week of midnight.
4. “The Evil Eye’s Curse” The Mediterranean and the Middle East
For hundreds of years, people in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and South Asia have believed that achieving too much would invite the wrath of God.
It would then arouse the gods’ wrath, which would strike the unfortunate person with a turn of events. In response to the curse’s fear, people throughout the ancient Mediterranean began making amulets and beadwork with an image of an “evil eye,” sometimes alluded to as “nazars,” to help ward off that horrible, unlucky fate.
5. Russia, “Giving Yellow Flowers.”
Colors, like numbers, have frequently been delegated symbolic meaning, with black being associated with bad luck and red with passion. In particular, yellow flowers, in particular, are considered problematic in Russia because they are assumed to represent affairs, detachment, or even death!
6. China, “The Number of Four.”
As we’ve seen with thirteen and seven, numbers are frequently assigned different magical importance or status in society’s culture. The number “four” is due to its similar phonetics to a word for “death.”
7. “Fingers Crossed” Pagan and Christian Western Europe
The superstition of having crossed one’s fingers will bring good luck to the lucky “finger-crosser.” It dates back to pre-Christian, pagan occasions in Western Europe when trying to make a cross with your own and another person’s index finger focused on the troops of good spirits and seal a pact or a wish with the fellow crosser.
People eventually realized they could simply bless their desires by crossing their two index fingers, and later just the middle finger of one hand, as we do today.