We all love a good superstition. And some of the oldest ones are still alive today, like throwing coins into fountains or refusing to walk under a ladder. Each superstition has an interesting origin that’s worth knowing about, so here are eight of them. Which one of these origins surprises you the most?
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.
Coins in fountains
Long before people made wishes at the mall fountain, ancient Romans left coins in sacred springs. Archaeologists have found more than 12,000 coins dating back to the 2nd–4th centuries CE in Bath, England. They believe the Romans threw them into waters dedicated to local goddesses, as a kind of offering.
Touch wood to ward off mischance
Kids in 1730s Britain played a chasing game where you were only safe when you touched wood. Sounds familiar? In fact, this game became so popular that adults picked up the habit, too. They used “touch wood” to avoid bad luck after bragging, which is why we say the same phrase when we want to avoid “jinxing” something.
Tossing spilled salt over your left shoulder
Once upon a time, people treated salt like treasure. As such, when they spilled it, it was a bad omen, so by the 1800s, advice books said you should throw a pinch over your left shoulder to cancel misfortune. Some writers took it a step further by saying it keeps evil spirits & the devil out of your blind spot.
Avoid walking under ladders
Leaning ladders sure are awkward. But they also form a triangle shape against the wall, and in Christian symbolism, that triangle was similar to the Holy Trinity. Breaking it was a bad idea. This led to English guides in the 19th century warning people to step around ladders to keep luck on their own side…as well as for their own safety.
Hang a horseshoe over the door
A horseshoe on the door does look rather rustic. Blacksmiths worked with fire & iron, which were materials people thought could scare away spirits. In fact, a 10th-century legend involves Saint Dunstan tricking the Devil by nailing a horseshoe to his hoof & only freeing him after he swore he’d never enter homes with one nailed above the door.
Breaking a mirror brings extended bad luck
Mirrors weren’t always made from glass. Back in the day, they were polished metal, which was expensive & fragile. People also thought it held part of the soul & that made breaking one a big deal. The idea of seven years of bad luck may have come from Roman ideas about the body renewing itself in seven-year cycles.
Don’t open an umbrella indoors
Surprisingly, the rule about umbrellas has less mystical origins and more practical ones. Early umbrellas were rather bulky, with wooden poles & steel ribs, so opening one in a cramped parlor in the 1800s would likely break something. You might also spook the oil lamps. These accidents turned into bad luck, so parents began warning kids not to open umbrellas indoors.
Blue “evil eye” beads to deflect envy
The belief that jealous stares could harm crops or babies goes back to Mesopotamian & Greek texts. In Ottoman Turkey, craftsmen began melting glass with cobalt. This was to mimic an eye that could watch back & people hung them everywhere. They believed they’d out-stare the curse.
The following sources were consulted in the preparation of this article:
- Votive Objects and Ritual Practice at the King’s Spring at Bath
- Why Do People Knock on Wood for Luck?
- Why Is Throwing Salt Over Your Shoulder Good Luck?
- Myths and Realities: How Different Forms of Superstitious Beliefs Create Good and Bad Luck for People in Pakistan through an Anthropological Lens
- The Folk-Lore Of The Horseshoe
- Mirrors in the funerary contexts of Moesia Superior – Roman hegemony, beauty and gender
- Customer Superstitions In the Accommodation Industry: A Demographic Analysis
- The economic origins of the evil eye belief
