Personally, I'm a pretty superstitious person; I knock on wood at least once everyday, although it doesn't seem to really do anything. Superstitions are a big part of our lives and it may interest you to know more about them and where some of the most common ones originated from.
Walking Under Ladders
In days long past, when criminals were tried and found guilty of a crime, the typical punishment was to hang them. This was before gallows came along, though, so an improvisation needed to be found. The solution was to hang the criminal from the top step of a ladder. It was said that their spirits lingered long after death, and as you may imagine over time quite a lot of these evil spirits built up, so that it was considered to be bad luck to walk beneath the ladder and so disturb them.
Another ladder myth states that this bad luck comes from walking beneath a ladder leaned against a wall. The ladder acts as part of a triangle, associated with the Holy Trinity and to break that triangle meant one was in league with Satan.
Stepping on Cracks
Believe it or not, the original myth of stepping on cracks didn't have to do with breaking a mother's back at all. Instead, it was more meaningful to children, as a warning of sorts. As to how effective this warning was, I can't say. It originated some time in the 20th century and went a little something like this: when children walked over the cracks in the sidewalk they would meet up with these bears on a street corner. Once met, the bears would commence eating the children alive.
Over time this superstition morphed into the rhyme we know today: “step on a crack, break your mother's back”. No one seems to agree on why it changed into this, perhaps just because it rhymed. Some say though, that in the last couple decades the superstition changed so that for every crack that was stepped on, it would correspond to the number of bones that would be broken in your mother's body.
Opening Umbrellas Indoors
This superstition dates back to the days when umbrellas were used more for sun protection than for shelter from rain. It makes some sense then, that opening an umbrella inside might act as an insult to the sun gods (particularly Ra). Being thus insulted the sun god would inflict his anger upon the entire house and everyone in it.
Some people claim that opening an umbrella inside isn't bad luck in and of itself; it's only bad luck if someone else gave the umbrella, if it has never been used outside before, and especially if there's already an ill or injured person inside the house.
Black Cats
The superstition of black cats bearing bad luck goes as far back as the witch trials in Salem. Back then, when people were still being burned on suspect of being witches, black cats were either considered to be accomplices or they were the witches themselves, in their more natural state. It has even been said that black cats are the devil in disguise.
Only more interpretations of the black cat superstition have been put forward today, and some of them apply only to certain areas of the world, making them difficult to keep straight. For example, some consider being passed by a black cat unlucky only if it's after nine in the evening. Others claim that when a black cat walks toward you, it's actually bringing luck, but if it walks away from you (which they so often do) it's bad luck. This superstition of black cats works opposite in Britain and Ireland, where having a black cat cross your path actually means that good luck is sure to follow.
Birds and Windows
In some superstitions, the mere sight of a certain bird, like a crow, is enough to bring bad luck. In others, birds are the bearers of souls, carrying them to the after world. But where birds and windows are concerned, nothing good can happen as a result.
Typically, if a bird were to fly through an open window, it means little more than bad luck. If a bird flies into a closed window, the bad luck is simply upped a little more. When a bird flies into a window and dies on contact, though, that's usually taken as a death omen, although little more than bad luck may result. The triple whammy of this superstition is when a Jackdaw flies into a window and dies on impact, meaning probable death and just all around bad luck besides that.
So whether you're merely interested in superstition or you obey the guidelines for good and bad luck like a fanatic, now you can be even more informed and know just what you're up against.
