Superstition

Superstition – “a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge...any blindly accepted belief or notion” (Dictionary).

Superstitions are everywhere. A lot of different people believe in a lot of different things. When it comes to the belief that certain actions bring with them bad luck, some people can seem to go completely overboard. Do you believe in superstitions?

My first encounter with this belief system goes back to when I was a little girl. I remember the first time my mother sang, don't step on a crack or you'll break your mother's back. A lot of kids hear this and start giggling, hopping over lines in the streets or sidewalks, singing along, oblivious to its true meaning. I was no different.

Throughout my childhood we owned a countless number of black cats. It is said that if a black cat crosses your path, it's a sign of terrible things to come. If one ever crossed my path, I never thought twice about it. I didn't freak out, thinking I was doomed to some sort of horrible occurrence, just because the direction of the litter-box forced one of the black cats to walk in front of me to get there.

I've been told that bad luck will follow me around if I should happen to walk under a ladder. My stepdad did a lot of outside work. Some of that work meant ladders leaned up against the house near or in front of outside doorways. If I had to carefully meander under, behind, or around one of those ladders to get out of the house, I did so. I felt no ominous cloud of despair following me around for the rest of the day.

Some superstitious people believe that the death of a family member or loved one is imminent if you enter through one door of a house and exit through another. I've personally gone into houses through the back door and left through the front, and vice versa. I seriously doubt that anything, spiritual or otherwise, is too concerned about my course of entry or departure.

I remember one evening, during dinner, my husband had knocked over the salt shaker. He quickly scooped it up, dumped a handful of salt into his right palm and immediately tossed it over his left shoulder. It seemed that I could hear every granule hit the kitchen floor as if it were the size of a marble. I jumped up, said a few choice words about the mess he'd made, then grabbed the broom and dustpan. He went on to tell me that he had to do it, or take a risk of having bad luck follow him around. Really?

Okay, where do these beliefs/fears come from? List 25 helps educate us about the top 25 superstitions.  For instance, did you know that the term knock on wood is derived from the belief that if you're boasting about something, you're “tempting fate by acknowledging your good fortune”? Were you aware that when someone sneezed, “saying 'God bless you' was a way of welcoming the person back to life”?  It's very interesting to find out how all of this bad luck stuff got its start.

Regardless of your superstitious beliefs, I hope that you don't let them become cumbersome. After all, I'm proof that it is possible to live with black cats, walk under ladders, knock over the salt shaker, and live to tell the tales.