Superstitions

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Most superstitions have to do with luck. We all have the need to know "what will bring us luck?". What did we do to bring doom crashing on our heads? Was it something we did to bring it upon ourselves? All of the world is superstitious in one way or another...Some just don't admit it...

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SUPERSTITION A to C

ACORN
An acorn should be carried to bring luck and ensure a long life.
An acorn at the window will keep lightning out

AMBER
Amber beads, worn as a necklace, can protect against illness or cure colds.

APPLE
Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.

An apple a day
Keeps the doctor away.
If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.

BABY
To predict the sex of a baby: Suspend a wedding band held by a piece of thread over the palm of the pregnant girl. If the ring swings in an oval or circular motion the baby will be a girl. If the ring swings in a straight line the baby will be a boy.

BASEBALL BAT
Spit on a new bat before using it for the first time to make it lucky

BED
It's bad luck to put a hat on a bed.
If you make a bedspread, or a quilt, be sure to finish it or marriage will never come to you
Placing a bed facing north and south brings misfortune.
You must get out of bed on the same side that you get in or you will have bad luck.
When making the bed, don't interrupt your work, or you will spend a restless night in it.

BEE
If a bee enters your home, it's a sign that you will soon have a visitor. If you kill the bee, you will have bad luck, or the visitor will be unpleasant.
A swarm of bees settling on a roof is an omen that the house will burn down.

BELL
The sound of bells drives away demons because they're afraid of the loud noise.
When a bell rings, a new angel has received his wings.

BIRD
A bird in the house is a sign of a death.
If a robin flies into a room through a window, death will shortly follow.

BIRTH
Monday's child is fair of face;
Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is full of woe;
Thursday's child has far to go;
Friday's child is loving and giving;
Saturday's child works hard for a living.
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
is fair and wise, good and gay.

BIRTHDAY CAKE
If you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake with the first puff you will get your wish.

BLARNEY STONE
The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of persuasive eloquence (blarney.)

BLUE
To protect yourself from witches, wear a blue bead.
Touch blue
And your wish
Will come true.

BREAD
Before slicing a new loaf of bread, make the sign of the cross on it.
A loaf of bread should never be turned upside down after a slice has been cut from it.

BRIDGE
If you say good-bye to a friend on a bridge, you will never see each other again.

BROOM
Do not lean a broom against a bed. The evil spirits in the broom will cast a spell on the bed.
If you sweep trash out the door after dark, it will bring a stranger to visit.
If someone is sweeping the floor and sweeps over your feet, you'll never get married.
Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one.
To prevent an unwelcome guest from returning, sweep out the room they stayed in immediately after they leave.

BUTTERFLY
If the first butterfly you see in the year is white, you will have good luck all year.
Three butterflies together mean good luck.

CANDLE
If a candle lighted as part of a ceremony blows out, it is a sign that evil spirits are nearby.

CAT
If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.
Keep cats away from babies because they "suck the breath" of the child.
A cat onboard a ship is considered to bring luck.

CHEEKS
If your cheeks suddenly feel on fire, someone is talking about you.

CHILL
If you get a chill up your back or goosebumps, it means that someone is walking over your grave.

CHIMNEY SWEEP
It's very lucky to meet a chimney sweep by chance. Make a wish when sighting one, and the wish will come true.

CIGARETTES
It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same match.

CIRCLE
Evil spirits can't harm you when you stand inside a circle.

CLOCK
If a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family.

CLOVER
It's good luck to find a four-leaf clover.
Clover protects human beings and animals from the spell of magicians and the wiles of fairies, and brings good luck to those who keep it in the house.

COIN
It's bad luck to pick up a coin if it's tails side up. Good luck comes if it's heads up.

COMB
To drop a comb while you are combing your hair is a sign of a coming disappointment.

COW
Cows lifting their tails is a sure sign that rain is coming.

CRACK
Don't step on a crack on a sidewalk or walkway.
Step on a crack
Break your mother's back.

CRICKET
A cricket in the house brings good luck.

COUNTING CROWS
One's bad,
Two's luck,
Three's health,
Four's wealth,
Five's sickness,
Six is death

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SUPERSTITIONS D to H

DANDELION Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.

DOG
A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen.

DOOR
It's bad luck to leave a house through a different door than the one used to come into it.

DREAMS
If you dream of death it's a sign of a birth, if you dream of birth, it's a sign of death.
Dream of running: a sign of a big change in your life.
Dreams at night are a devil's delight
Dreams in the morning, heed the angels' warning.

EARS
If your right ear itches, someone is speaking well of you.
If your left ear itches, someone is speaking ill of you.
Left for love and right for spite:
Left or right, good at night.

EASTER
For good luck throughout the year, wear new clothes on Easter.

ELEPHANT Pictures of an elephant bring luck, but only if they face a door.

EYE
If your right eye twitches there will soon be a birth in the family. If the left eye twitches there will soon be a death in the family.
To cure a sty, stand at a crossroads and recite
Sty, sty, leave my eye
Take the next one coming by.

EYELASH
If an eyelash falls out, put it on the back of the hand, make a wish and throw it over your shoulder. If it flies off the hand the wish will be granted.

FOOT
If the bottom of your right foot itches, you are going to take a trip.

FINGERNAILS
It is bad luck to cut your fingernails on Friday or Sunday.
Fingernail cuttings should be saved, burned, or buried.

FISH
A fish should always be eaten from the head toward the tail.
Dream of fish: someone you know is pregnant.
If you count the number of fish you caught, you will catch no more that day.
It's bad luck to say the word "pig" while fishing at sea.

FLAG
It brings bad luck for a flag to touch the ground.

FLOWER
First Flower of Spring: The day you find the first flower of the season can be used as an omen:
Monday means good fortune,
Tuesday means greatest attempts will be successful,
Wednesday means marriage,
Thursday means warning of small profits,
Friday means wealth,
Saturday means misfortune,
Sunday means excellent luck for weeks.

FORK
To drop a fork means a man is coming to visit.

FRIDAY
A bed changed on Friday will bring bad dreams.
Any ship that sails on Friday will have bad luck.
You should never start a trip on Friday or you will meet misfortune.
Never start to make a garment on Friday unless you can finish it the same day.

FROG
A frog brings good luck to the house it enters.

GOOD FRIDAY
(The Friday before Easter)
A child born on Good Friday and baptized on Easter Sunday has a gift of healing. If a boy, he should go into the ministry.
Cut your hair on Good Friday to prevent headaches in the year to come
A person who dies on Good Friday will go right to heaven.
Shed no blood on Good Friday, work no wood, hammer no nail.

HAND
If the palm of your right hand itches it means you will soon be getting money.
If the palm of your left hand itches it means you will soon be paying out money.

HORSESHOE
A horseshoe, hung above the doorway, will bring good luck to a home. In most of Europe protective horseshoes are placed in a downward facing position, but in some parts of Ireland and Britain people believe that the shoes must be turned upward or "the luck will run out."
A horseshoe hung in the bedroom will keep nightmares away

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SUPERSTITIONS I to O


ITCH
If your nose itches you will soon be kissed by a fool.
If your nose itches
Your mouth is in danger.
You'll kiss a fool,
And meet a stranger.
Rub an itch to wood
It will come to good.

IVY
Ivy growing on a house protects the inhabitants from witchcraft and evil.

KNIFE
A knife as a gift from a lover means that the love will soon end.
A knife placed under the bed during childbirth will ease the pain of labor.
If a friend gives you a knife, you should give him a coin, or your friendship will soon be broken.
It will cause a quarrel if knives are crossed at the table.
It is bad luck to close a pocket knife unless you were the one who opened it.
Knife falls, gentleman calls;
Fork falls, lady calls;
Spoon falls, baby calls.

LADDER
It is bad luck to walk under a ladder.

LADYBUG
If a young girl catches a ladybug and then releases it, the direction in which it flies away will be the direction from which her future husband will come.
It is bad luck to kill a ladybug.
Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home.
Your house is on fire,
Your children all roam.

LEAF
If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.

LETTUCE
Lettuce is believed to have magical and healing properties, including the power to arouse love and counteract the effects of wine.
Lettuce promotes child bearing if eaten by young women, and certain types of salad can bring on labor in pregnant women.

LIE
Cross my heart and hope to die,
Cut my throat if I tell a lie.

LIZARD
To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have a secret enemy.

MANDRAKE
Mandrake is a mysterious plant believed to have powers of preventing sterility in men and animals, causing barren women to bear children, and compelling love.
Mandrake is thought to have aphrodisiac and fertilizing properties.
Clairvoyants use mandrake to increase their visions to enable them to see strange and wonderful things.

MILK
It's bad luck to let milk boil over.

MIRROR
To break a mirror means 7 years bad luck.
It is unlucky to see your face in a mirror by candlelight.
A mirror should be covered during a thunderstorm because it attracts lightning.
If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.

MISTLETOE
Mistletoe in the house protects it from thunder and lightning. It also cures many diseases, is an antidote to poison and brings good luck and fertility.
A girl standing under a mistletoe cannot refuse to be kissed by anyone who claims the privilege.

MOTH
A white moth inside the house or trying to enter the house means death.

NOSE
If your nose itches, someone is coming to see you. If it's the right nostril, the visitor will be a female, left nostril, male.

ONION
An onion cut in half and placed under the bed of a sick person will draw off fever and poisons.
A wish will come true if you make it while burning onions.

OPAL
Unless you were born in October, it's unlucky to wear opals.

OWL
It is bad luck to see an owl in the sunlight

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SUPERSTITIONS P to S


PENCIL
If you use the same pencil to take a test that you used for studying for the test, the pencil will remember the answers.

PEPPER
If you spill pepper you will have a serious argument with your best friend.

PHOTOGRAPH
If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first.

RABBIT'S FOOT
A rabbit's foot will bring luck and protect the owner from evil spirits if carried in the pocket.

RAINBOW
A rainbow in the Eastern sky,
The morrow will be fine and dry.
A rainbow in the West that gleams,
Rain tomorrow falls in streams.

RAVEN
To kill a raven is to harm the spirit of King Arthur who visits the world in the form of a raven.

RED
A red ribbon should be placed on a child who has been sick to keep the illness from returning.

ROBIN
A wish made upon seeing the first robin in spring will come true - but only if you complete the wish before the robin flies away.

ROCKING CHAIR
If you leave a rocking chair rocking when empty, it invites evil spirits to come into your house to sit in the rocking chair.

ROSEMARY
Rosemary planted by the doorstep will keep witches away.

SALT
Bad luck will follow the spilling of salt unless a pinch is thrown over the left shoulder into the face of the devil waiting there.
Put salt on the doorstep of a new house and no evil can enter.
Salty soup is a sign that the cook is in love.

SCISSORS
If you drop scissors, it means your lover is being unfaithful to you.

SEA GULL
Three seagulls flying together, directly overhead, are a warning of death soon to come.

SHOES
Do not place shoes upon a table, for this will bring bad luck for the day, cause trouble with your mate and you might even lose your job as a result.
It's bad luck to leave shoes upside down.

SLEEP
You sleep best with your head to the north and your feet to the south.

SNEEZE
Place a hand in front of your mouth when sneezing. Your soul may escape otherwise.
The devil can enter your body when you sneeze. Having someone say, "God bless you," drives the devil away.
If you sneeze on a Monday, you sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter;
Sneeze on a Thursday, something better;
Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow;
Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart tomorrow.
Sneeze on a Sunday, and the devil will have domination over you all week.
One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a letter
Four for a boy.
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told

SPARROW
Sparrows carry the souls of the dead, it's unlucky to kill one.

STARS
All wishes on shooting stars come true.
Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.

SWAN
A swan's feather, sewed into the husband's pillow, will ensure fidelity

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SUPERSTITIONS P to S

THIRTEEN
If 13 people sit down at a table to eat, one of them will die before the year is over.

TONGUE
If you bite your tongue while eating, it is because you have recently told a lie.

UMBRELLA
Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.
It's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house, especially if you put it over your head.

VALENTINE'S DAY
If a woman sees a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it means she will marry a sailor. If she sees a sparrow, she will marry a poor man and be very happy. If she sees a goldfinch, she will marry a millionaire.

VEIL
A bride's veil protects her from evil spirits who are jealous of happy people.

WATERMELON
A watermelon will grow in your stomach if you swallow a watermelon seed.

WEATHER
Red sky at night,
Sailor's delight.
Red sky at morning
Sailors take warning
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.
Rain on the green grass
Rain on the hillside,
But not on me.

WOOD
Knock three times on wood after mentioning good fortune so evil spirits won't ruin it.

WINDOW
All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.

WISH
If you make a wish while throwing a coin into a well or fountain, the wish will come true.
Wish I may,
Wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.
If you tell someone your wish, it won't come true.

WISHBONE
Two people pull apart the dried breastbone of a chicken or turkey until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the long half of the wishbone will have his or her wish come true.

X
The number of Xs in the palm of your right hand is the number of children you will have.

YAWN
A yawn is a sign that danger is near.
Cover your mouth when you yawn, or your soul can go out of your body along with the yawn

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WEDDING SUPERSTITIONS

WEDDING DAY

Certain days of the week, and certain months of the year are better than others for a wedding.
Monday for health,
Tuesday for wealth,
Wednesday best of all,
Thursday for losses,
Friday for crosses,
Saturday for no luck at all
Married when the year is new, he'll be loving, kind & true,
When February birds do mate, You wed nor dread your fate.
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you'll know.
Marry in April when you can, Joy for Maiden & for Man.
Marry in the month of May, and you'll surely rue the day.
Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you'll go.
Those who in July do wed, must labour for their daily bred.
Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see
Marry in September's shrine, your living will be rich and fine.
If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry.
If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember.
When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last.

FOR A LUCKY BRIDE

Something old,
Something new,
Something borrowed,
Something blue,
And a lucky sixpence
In her shoe.
Married in White, you have chosen right
Married in Grey, you will go far away,
Married in Black, you will wish yourself back,
Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
Married in Green, ashamed to be seen,
Married in Blue, you will always be true,
Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
Married in Brown, you will live in the town,
Married in Pink, you spirit will sink.

WEDDING DAY

Good Omens:
seeing a rainbow
having the sun shine
meeting a black cat
meeting a chimney sweep

WEDDING DAY

Bad Omens:
a pig, hare, or lizard running across the road
seeing an open grave
meeting a nun or a monk foretell barrenness

OTHER BELIEFS

If the groom drops the wedding band during the ceremony, the marriage is doomed.
The new bride must enter her home by the main door, and must not trip or fall - hence the custom of carrying the bride over the threshold.
The spouse who goes to sleep first on the wedding day will be the first to die.

WEDDING CAKE

If a single woman sleeps with a piece of wedding cake under her pillow, she will dream of her future husband.

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Christmas Superstitions

1) To have good health throughout the next year, eat an apple on Christmas Eve."

2) Eat plum pudding on Christmas and avoid losing a friend before next Christmas."

3) On Chrismas Eve all animals can speak. However, it is bad luck to test this superstition."

4) Wearing new shoes on Christmas Day will bring bad luck."

5) If you refuse a mince pie at Christmas dinner, you will have bad luck for the coming day.

6) If you eat a raw egg before eating anything else on Christmas morning, you will be able to carry heavy weights.

7)Snow on Christmas means Easter will be green."

8 ) Good luck will come to the home where a fire is kept burning throughout the Christmas season.

9) Place shoes by side on Christmas Eve to prevent a quarreling family."

10)A clear star-filled sky on Christmas Eve will bring good crops in the summer."

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Death SUPERSTITIONS

BIRD
A bird in the house is a sign of a death.
If a robin flies into a room through a window, death will shortly follow.

CANDLE
Light candles on the night after November 1. One for each deceased relative should be placed in the window in the room where death occurred.

CEMETERY
You must hold your breath while going past a cemetery or you will breathe in the spirit of someone who has recently died.

CLOCK
If a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family.
You will have bad luck if you do not stop the clock in the room where someone dies.

CORPSE
If a woman is buried in black, she will return to haunt the family.
If a dead person's eyes are left open, he'll find someone to take with him.
Mirrors in a house with a corpse should be covered or the person who sees himself will die next.

DOG
Dogs howling in the dark of night,
Howl for death before daylight.

DREAMS
If you dream of death it's a sign of a birth, if you dream of birth, it's a sign of death.
If you touch a loved one who has died, you won't have dreams about them

DYING
A person who dies on Good Friday will go right to heaven.
A person who dies at midnight on Christmas Eve will go straight to heaven because the gates of heaven are open at that time.
All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.
The soul of a dying person can't escape the body and go to heaven if any locks are locked in the house.

EYE
If the left eye twitches there will soon be a death in the family.
If a dead person's eyes are left open, he'll find someone to take with him.

FUNERAL
Funerals on Friday portend another death in the family during the year.
It's bad luck to count the cars in a funeral cortege.
It's bad luck to meet a funeral procession head on.
Thunder following a funeral means that the dead person's soul has reached heaven.
Nothing new should be worn to a funeral, especially new shoes.
Pointing at a funeral procession will cause you to die within the month
Pregnant women should not attend funerals.

GRAVE
If the person buried lived a good life, flowers will grow on the grave. If the person was evil, weeds will grow.

MIRROR
If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.

MOTH
A white moth inside the house or trying to enter the house means death.

PHOTOGRAPH
If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first.

THIRTEEN
If 13 people sit down at a table to eat, one of them will die before the year is over.

UMBRELLA
Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.

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Friday the 13th

If you ask 13 people whether or not Friday the 13th is unlucky, 6 will say yes, 6 will say no, and one won't be sure...Just make sure you don't take this poll over dinner, lunch, or breakfast!

By David Emery

I have before me the abstract of a study published in the British Medical Journal in 1993, entitled "Is Friday the 13th Bad for Your Health?" With the aim of examining "the relation between health, behaviour, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom," its authors compared the ratios of traffic volume to vehicular accidents on two different days, Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th, over a period of years.

Surprisingly, they found that in the region sampled, while consistently fewer people chose to drive on Friday the 13th, the number of hospital admissions due to accidents was significantly higher than on normal Fridays. Their conclusion:

Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended.
Paraskevidekatriaphobics – those afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th – are no doubt pricking up their ears just now, buoyed by evidence that their fears may not be so irrational after all. However, it's unwise to take solace in a single scientific study (the only one of its kind, so far as I know), especially one so peculiar. I suspect it has more to teach us about human psychology than it does about any particular date on the calendar.

The superstitious coupling of Friday the 13th with calamity is very old in western culture. The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations dating from ancient folklore; their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. Folklorists say it's probably the most widespread superstition in America (and no doubt other parts of the world, as well). Some people won't go to work on Friday the 13th. Some won't eat in restaurants. Many wouldn't think of setting a wedding on the date.

How many people at the turn of the millennium still suffer from this phobia? According to Dr. Donald Dossey, a therapist specializing in the treatment of phobias and credited with coining the term "paraskevidekatriaphobia," as many as 21 million do in the United States alone. If that's correct, something like eight percent of Americans are still in the grips of a very ancient superstition.

Exactly how ancient is difficult to say, because determining the origins of superstitions is an imprecise science at best. In fact, it's mostly guesswork.

It is said ... If 13 people sit down to dinner together, all will die within the year. The Turks so disliked the number 13 that it was practically expunged from their vocabulary (Brewer, 1894). Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor. If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names).

Oftentimes, explanations of the origins of folk beliefs come off sounding like fanciful folktales themselves.

It's said, for example, that fears surrounding the number 13 are as old as the act of counting. Primitive man had only his 10 fingers and two feet to represent units, so he could not count higher than 12. What lay beyond that – "13" – was an impenetrable, frightening mystery, thus a source of superstition.

...Which has a lovely, didactic ring to it, but one is left wondering: Did primitive man not have toes?

In any case, despite whatever terrors the numerical unknown held for their primitive forebears, ancient civilizations were not unanimous in their dread of 13. The Chinese regarded the number as lucky, historians say, as did Egyptians in the time of the pharaohs.

To the Egyptians, life was a quest for spiritual ascension which unfolded in stages – 12 in this life and a thirteenth beyond, thought to be the eternal afterlife. The number 13 therefore symbolized death – not in terms of dust and decay, but as a glorious and desirable transformation. Egyptian civilization perished, this explanation continues, but the symbolism of the number 13 lived on only to be corrupted by other cultures (the Romans, for example) and bound to a fear of death instead of a reverence for the afterlife. (In Tarot decks the "Death" card bears the number 13 but retains its original, positive meaning: transformation.)

Another explanation suggests the number 13 was purposely vilified by the priests of patriarchal religions because it represented femininity. Thirteen was revered in prehistoric goddess-worshipping cultures because it corresponded to the number of lunar (menstrual) cycles in a year (13 x 28 = 364 days). (The "Earth Mother of Laussel," a 27,000-year-old carving near the Lascaux caves in France, depicts a female figure holding a cresent-shaped horn bearing 13 notches.) As the solar calendar triumphed over the lunar with the rise of ancient civilization, so did the number 12 over the number 13.

One of the more concrete early taboos connected with the number 13 is said to have started with the Hindus, who believed (for reasons I haven't been able to ascertain) that it was always unlucky for 13 people to gather in one place – say, for dinner. Interestingly enough, exactly the same superstition has been attributed to the Vikings, though many scholars regard this and the accompanying mythological explanation as apocryphal. In any case, the story has been told as follows:

Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla. Loki, the Evil One, god of mischief, had been excluded from the guest list but chose to crash the party, bringing the total to 13. True to form, Loki raised hell by inciting Hod, the blind god of winter, to attack Balder the Good, who happened to be a favorite of the gods. Hod took a spear of mistletoe offered by Loki and hurled it at Balder, killing him instantly. All of Valhalla grieved. And although one might take the moral of this story to be "Beware of uninvited guests bearing mistletoe," the Norse themselves supposedly concluded that 13 people at a dinner party is just plain bad luck.

As if to prove the point, the Bible tells us that there were exactly 13 present at the Last Supper. One of the guests – er, apostles – went on to betray Jesus Christ, setting the stage for the crucifixion.

Did I mention the crucifixion took place on a Friday?

It is said ... Never change your bed on Friday; it will bring bad dreams. Don't start a trip on Friday or you will have misfortune. If you cut your nails on Friday, you cut them for sorrow. Ships that set sail on a Friday will have bad luck – as in the tale of H.M.S. Friday ... One hundred years ago, the British government sought to debunk the widespread superstition among seamen that sailing on Friday was unlucky. A special ship was commissioned, to be named "H.M.S. Friday." They laid her keel on a Friday, launched her on a Friday, selected the crew on a Friday and put her in command of Captain Jim Friday. Finally, H.M.S. Friday embarked on her maiden voyage – on a Friday – and was never seen or heard from again.

You could say Friday's bad reputation in western culture goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. It was on a Friday, supposedly, that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit. Adam bit, as we all know, and they were both ejected from Paradise. Tradition also holds that the Great Flood began on a Friday; God tongue-tied the builders of the Tower of Babel on a Friday; the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday; and Friday was the day of the week on which Christ was crucified. Traditionally, it is a day of penance for Christians.

But some sources say the pall over the sixth day of the week predates Christianity. In Rome, Friday was execution day (later Hangman's Day in Britain). In other pagan cultures Friday was the sabbath, a day of worship. Those who indulged in secular or self-interested activities on that day could not expect to receive blessings from the gods – which may explain the lingering taboo on embarking on journeys or starting important projects on Fridays.

To complicate matters, these pagan associations were not lost on the early Church, which went to great lengths to suppress them. If Friday was a holy day for heathens, it must not be so for Christians – thus it became known in the Middle Ages as the "Witches' Sabbath" – and thereby hangs another tale.

Friday got its name from a Norse deity worshipped on the sixth day – either Frigg (goddess of marriage and fertility) or Freya (goddess of sex and fertility) or both, the two having been confused with one another over time. (The etymology of "Friday" is given both ways.) Frigg and/or Freya correspond to Venus, goddess of love of the Romans, who called the sixth day of the week "dies Veneris."

Friday was considered very lucky by pre-Christian Teutonic peoples – especially as a day to get married, because of its associations with love and fertility. All that changed when Christianity came along. The goddess of the sixth day – most likely Freya in this context, given that the cat was her sacred animal – was recast in folklore as a witch, and her day became associated with evil doings.

Many legends developed in that vein, but one is of particular interest. As the story goes, the witches of the north used to observe their sabbath by gathering in a cemetery in the dark of the moon. On one such occasion the witch-goddess, Freya herself, came down from her sanctuary in the mountaintops and appeared before the group of witches – who numbered 12 at the time – and gave them one of her cats, making it ever afterward a coven of 13.

Needless to say, all this truly happened – and it happened on a Friday – which is why, boys and girls, Friday the 13th is the unluckiest day of the year.

Postscript:

Though it's clear that superstitions associating both Fridays and the number 13 with misfortune date back to ancient times, some sources pinpoint the origin of the black spot on Friday the 13th in a specific historical event: the rounding up of the Knights Templar for torture and execution by King Philip IV of France on Friday, October 13, 1307.

[_Nuts_]

Superstition can be unhealthy

Henry Gordon
special to the star

You woke up this morning. You went to the door and picked up your Toronto Star. You spotted the date: Friday the 13th. You immediately went back to bed and stayed there for the rest of the day. Safest place to be.

Well, maybe you followed that routine. Some superstitious people have been known to do that. Good for your health? Not really. Superstition can be bad for your health. As a matter of fact, health and superstition have been strongly linked over the years.

In ancient times, a multitude of magical charms were used to ward off disease. Some of them are probably still in use today in some societies. Feel a cold coming on? Catch a falling oak leaf before it hits the ground. Have an unsightly wart? Take a piece of steak and bury it where three roads meet. Have a headache? This one is easy: get the cast-off skin of a snake and tie it around your forehead. (Might be an idea for Halloween). Here's one that's useful if you get a toothache and your dentist is busy out on the golf course: hammer a nail into an oak tree. (But do make sure it's not part of your next-door neighbour's property). No, I'm not making these up. They're all part of our slowly developing culture.

A more up-to-date cure is the one for arthritis: a copper bracelet — still used by many people. No way does that work. Sorry about that if you're a believer, but there's absolutely no scientific evidence that such a cure exists.

So where did all this Friday the 13th nonsense begin? Well, Fridays have a bad reputation in history. The Flood started on a Friday, Solomon's Temple fell on a Friday, and Christ was crucified on a Friday. The fear of the number 13 — triskaidekaphobia — has been around for a long time. My only fear has been that I'll forget how to spell the damn word. The ancient Egyptians didn't hold this fear. Life, they believed, was symbolized by a ladder with 12 steps. Each step represented a path on the road to knowledge. The 13th step led to eternal life, an optimistic view compared to the modern one, that the tarot card of death is number 13, and a witchcraft coven consists of 13 witches or 12 witches and the devil. Scary stuff.

Thirty-two years ago, science and technology challenged superstition — and lost. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the 13th Apollo space mission at 13:13 central time, from pad 39 (3 times 13). The three first names of the astronauts were John, Fred and James. Add up the letters of their names. On April 13, the mission was aborted because of a serious problem with the craft's oxygen supply. A coincidence?

So, if you combine the negatives of the terms Friday and 13, you've got a potent combination.

There are some who consider 13 a lucky number. Years ago, I had a since-departed friend from California by the name of Jack Walsh. He had a strange fascination for the number 13. If he had to line up anywhere he always made sure he was 13th in line. He claimed to be the 13th of 13 children. He was born on the 13th day of the month, and always regretted there were only 12 months in the year. When he offered to join an organization, he had to be the 13th member or he wouldn't join. He loved to recount this unlikely tale to me: he always attended the horse races at Del Mar racetrack in California, and one day made a fateful bet. There were 13 horses in the 13th race that day. He stood 13th in line at the 13th wicket and laid down $1,300 on horse number 13, a long shot. And, would you believe it, the horse came in 13th!

And then, there was The Thirteen Club, founded in Glasgow, Scotland in 1891. Most of the activities would break all the rules of superstition. Members would enter the clubhouse under ladders, carrying open umbrellas. They would place their hats on a bed standing nearby. They took delight in smashing a few mirrors placed in strategic positions. They dined 13 to a table, accidentally spilled some salt, and were served dinner when the ancient clock standing in a corner struck 13. Their reason for existence? To combat superstition, prejudice and fear.

As philosopher Francis Bacon observed: "There is a superstition in avoiding superstition."

Henry Gordon is an author and freelance writer