The Origins of the 13 Most Common Superstitions

This superstition has a few possible origins, but most likely, around 590 AD, Gregory the Great became Pope and the bubonic plague was reaching Rome. Sneezing was thought to be the one of the early symptoms, so Gregory ordered Christians to pray this blessing each time someone sneezed. 

Sneezing has also been a sign that God would answer your prayers, or an omen of good fortune or good luck. In this instance saying 'bless you' is a way of saying "way to go!" On the other hand, some ancient cultures thought sneezing allowed evil spirits to enter your body - so saying a blessing might keep them out.

This wedding chant became a popular mantra and symbol of good luck for marriages during the Victorian era. The full verse goes:

"Something old, something new
Something burrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe."

The old is to keep connected with the bride's past and her family. The new means optimism for the marriage. The burrowed thing usually comes from a friend who is in a good marriage as a charm for good luck. The reason for blue was that in Roman times, blue was the color of love and loyalty. Finally, the sixpence in the shoe was another good luck charm, this time for money.

What do you do if you say something out loud that you want to come true? You knock on wood. It's strange, but of all the superstitions on this list, this is one of the ones that is still most commonly done reflexively.

The reason that people knock on wood comes from the pagan belief that good spirits lived in the trees. In order to get something that you want, ask for protection, or show gratitude, you were to knock on the tree to communicate with the spirit. On the flip side, some people believed that you knock on wood to ward off bad spirits. Christians saw the wood as a symbol of Christ's cross.

Other people argue that the superstition goes back to a 19th century children's game where kids would knock on wood (a building, door, or tree) to keep themselves from being "caught" in tag.

While we all know that broken mirrors are a pain to clean up, it's the threat of the seven years of bad luck that keeps most of us from carelessly knocking them over.

Some people believe the reason breaking a mirror causes all those years of bad luck comes from an age when mirrors were considered luxury items and the cost of replacing a broken one would be equal to seven years of a peasant's salary. The superstition actually extends back quite a bit further back to the Romans.

In Roman times, a mirror was used to divine the future of whoever looked into it. If such a mirror broke, it meant the person would face tragedy or even sudden death. Romans also believed that the human body completely renewed itself every seven years, so if you broke a mirror, you would face seven years of bad health.

Spilling salt may have been more of a manners issue than a bad luck issue... and then the superstition became habit. Long ago, salt was an expensive commodity, and one that had many useful purposes. Wasting salt was frowned upon, and so it is suggested that people just started saying it was bad luck so they would be more careful with it.

So now you have this "throw salt over your shoulder" to undo the bad luck... but not just any shoulder you have to throw it over your left shoulder. Why left? You throw it over the left shoulder because some Christians believe the devil hangs about over the left side of the body, looking for an opportunity to invade.  

Another thought as to why spilling salt is bad is linked to the last supper. In Leonardo Da Vinci's painting Judas is seen spilling the salt, so if you spill the salt you might as well just go turn in your best friend so they can be executed.

Even though it's always tempting, everyone knows that walking under a ladder is cause for some very. very bad luck. The origin of this practical myth comes from a few different sources depending on who you believe.

When a ladder is placed against a wall it forms a triangle, one of the holiest Egyptian symbols. The thought was that if one walked underneath a ladder they would break the symbol and anger the gods. This concept was taken to later by the Christians, but instead of the triangle, they called it the Holy Trinity. However, the consequences were the same. In the middle ages, walking under a ladder also resembled the gallows, so people avoided doing it out of fear of summoning their own hanging.