Here are 10 things you do that you never knew made you superstitious

YOU might not care when you smash a mirror and be totally unfazed by black cats, but do you wear a wedding ring?

If the answer’s yes, you’re obviously pretty superstitious.

Not sure what we’re talking about? Then you need to read on, because according to author Max Cryer there are loads of everyday habits which are rooted in superstition.

1. Get clinking

Do you like to say ‘cheers’ whenever you have a tipple?

Bet you don’t know where it comes from.

Thousands of years ago people thought evil spirits were driven away by “nasty, sharp noises”, according to Max.

“So people clink their glasses to clear the room of evil spirits, then drink their toast,” he explained.

2. Happy New Year

Raucous countdown. Mass toast. Slurred singing turning to shouts of, “Happy New Year!” sound right?

Well it has to be, again to stop those nasty evil spirits bringing their negativity into the new year.

3. What about weddings?

These are a minefield… even your wedding ring is actually a superstition.

In ancient times people believed a vein of blood went from your wedding ring finger straight to your heart.

A ring — the symbol of eternity because it has no beginning or end — on that finger would carry that love straight up the vein to your heart.

On top of that, brides originally wore veils to make sure they were hidden from any upset suitors who might want to abduct them.

Bridesmaids were there to protect them too, and grooms walked their new wife on their left arm so their right was free in case they needed their sword.

4. Ladders

Most of us will have tried not to walk under a ladder at some point.

This is another old one – it’s linked to Christianity and the Holy Trinity.

The trinity is a triangle, and a ladder leaning against a wall is a triangle, so a Christian person would not walk through that triangle because it would be seen as showing disrespect.
“What people haven’t heard is the second half of the superstition, which says if you walk under a ladder keep walking and as soon as you see a dog, the spell will be broken,” Max added.

superstitions

5. Birthday cake

The cake honours the new moon and birth so it’s traditionally moon-shaped.
But the candles are the business end. Their light goes up, honouring the moon.

The smoke after you blow them out rises. That’s why you make a wish — ancient belief was the wishes would be borne by the smoke up to the moon.

The more smoke the better too, which is why you need to blow them all out

6. Sneezing

“The ancients believed it was when you sneezed that your soul was being spurted out of your body and was going to escape,” Max explained.

“A ‘bless you’ was said to put the soul back into the person’s body, and stop evil spirits coming into your body into the hole that was left empty when your mouth was open.”

7. Wood

There’s a theme emerging here… the habit of knocking on wood for good luck is all about spirits again.

People used to think there were special spirits living in all trees, so tapping the wood acknowledged them.

Once they heard you, they’d help you out of any jams you were in.

8. Black cats

People used to think black cats were actually witches.

Some were so convinced of this they wouldn’t talk about anything too personal if one was in the room.

There’s another superstition around cats as well, according to Max.

“If somebody in your house is ill, wash their body with a sponge, pour the water over the cat, and the cat will run away and take the illness with it,” he laughed.
“If you don’t have a cat, pluck a hair from the head of the sick person, put it in a sandwich and feed it to the dog, which will take on the illness.

9. Number 13

There is so much superstition around this number many hotels don’t even have a 13th floor.

In Norse mythology, 13 became unlucky when pagans worshipped a stack of gods who lived in Valhalla. One of the lead gods, Baldur had a party and invited 11 of the 12 other big-name gods.
He left Loki off the list. Big. Mistake.

Loki rocked up uninvited, killed Baldur with a bow and arrow and unleashed a thing called Ragnarok — the doom of the gods.

The fact only 12 people should have been at the party but 13 turned up meant that instead of a godawful hangover, Baldur was dead and 13 became very, very unlucky.

10. Basil

Forget garlic, basil is the one you really need to be worried about.

Why? Because according to superstition, if you sniff and eat the leaves a scorpion will grow inside you.

If you don’t want the scorpion to grow inside you put the basil leaves under a pot plant and the scorpion will grow there.