Of course there are many more but I made a list of most famous ones that we always hear and come across.
#1. Black Cats
This is perhaps the most famous of them all and its almost universal. In Egyptian times, black cats were considered holy and worshiped. Things changed along the way and Black Cats unfortunately turned unlucky for some reason. I call it Racism!
Though there are many versions of the black cat omen, but the one I hear often is a Black Cat crossing your path.
I remember driving along one of the roads and this bike was trying to overtake me. Suddenly a black cat ran across the road. The biker suddenly braked the bike and waited. I looked at him and realized he was waiting for me to cross since the Black cat had just crossed the path and it is considered unlucky.
Since black cats seem to be friendly to me, I went ahead and was wondering how lucky that fellow really was since there were no heavy vehicles behind him or he would he found that waiting for the black cat crossing the road is more unlucky than crossing it.
#2. The number 13
We have already discussed this earlier in one of my posts.
#3. Broken Mirror
If you break a mirror its considered to be 7 years of rotten luck. If I had broken the mirror back home my father would have made my life miserable for 7 lives!
#4. Spilling Salt
If you spill salt its considered bad luck again. The quick remedy is to throw salt across your left shoulder to save yourself from the devil.
I wonder if facing the devil would have been better than my mother for dirtying her floor.
#5. Walking under a Ladder
This is an obvious bad luck charm. I mean why would someone do that, especially when we know what gravity does to things on top.
#6. Broom
I am not sure if this is famous enough...but I have heard this all my childhood. If a broom brushes your body while sweeping, you will grow sickly thin.
I think I just heard a few hundred ladies stampeding towards the housemaid!
#7. Itches
If your Right palm itches, then you are bound to get money one way or the other. I wonder if those poor beggars know about this. They will be scratching their palms sore and retire!
I also know that the itch on the left palm means you will be paying through your nose that day of the itch.
#8. Hiccups
This is an interesting wireless long distance technology that some superior power invented. If you get hiccups then someone close to you is missing you and thinking of you.
I wish they could come up with some better alert mechanism, or I wouldn't want to be remembered so often, since hiccups can be really irritating especially after your food
#9. Dog Howling
A dog howling at night near someone's house is considered to be a bad omen and somewhere related to death. I completely relate to this one.
When you are fast asleep and a bastard dog starts howling, just won't stop, then I guess it is a bad omen because you will inadvertently cause a death (of the dog) especially if you have a gun.
#10. Horse Shoe
A horse-shoe at the door or the entrance is considered to be a lucky charm.
I guess a horse shoe is definitely a luck charm as long as its on a door and not on your ass.
#11. Eyelashes
This is one of those childish stuff we have all done one point or the other. If you find one of your eyelashes then you have to place it on the back of your hand and blow it while wishing eyes closed. If it is gone when you open your eyes your wish will be granted.
If it does not blow away then you need to blow harder the next time and yet again because I am still waiting for a few wishes to be fulfilled.
#12.Touch Wood
It started off as Knocking wood 3 times when some thing good was said to ward off the evil eye. But I guess since more a more fairer sex started believing in this one, the knock (which could hurt the knuckles) was transformed to a gentle touch.
I have come to realize that there are more wooden heads than you can imagine because you will find many people touching their heads if they can find wood nearby.
#13. Sneeze
Last and the least, its the sneeze. If you sneeze someone around you must say 'God Bless you!' because it is believed that the Devil enters or exits (I forget the direction) your body when you sneeze. Just like the sneaky devil to wait for your sneeze all day and sometimes week.
So there you are....13 superstitions we have come across almost everyday.
Why only 13?
Because I was tired coming up with more. If you are interested in reading more of such interesting superstitions you can look up this site.
If you have a superstition that came true, you experienced, or felt was funny, then please leave your comment below.
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