Superstition Facts

Two people breaking a wishbone is said to lead to good luck for the person with the larger piece.

When you speak of good or bad luck, many people knock on wood to ward off misfortune or preserve good fortune. While popular folklore attributes this to ancient Celtic beliefs in wood spirits, the practice most likely evolved from a 19th-century British children's game called 'tiggy touchwood,' where touching wood made players safe from being tagged.

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

Pirates and sailors believed that piercing their ears with precious metals like gold and silver would improve their eyesight. This superstition persisted for centuries despite having no medical basis.

Breaking a mirror is said to bring seven years of bad luck. According to superstition, you can reverse this curse by burying the broken shards under moonlight. This belief originated in ancient Rome, where mirrors were thought to reflect a person's soul, and the Romans believed life renewed itself every seven years.

According to widespread superstition, once a wedding ring has been placed on the finger, removing it brings bad luck to the marriage.

An acorn should be carried to bring luck and ensure a long life.

Before traveling a person should, apparently, sit on their luggage. (Russian)

Nokia never released phones in the 4xxx series (4000, 4100, etc.) because the number 4 is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures - it sounds similar to the word for 'death' in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. While Nokia models like the 3410 and 7650 contained the digit 4 in other positions, the company avoided using 4 as the leading digit until 2019, when they finally released the Nokia 4.2.

If one walks underneath an open ladder it is said to bring bad luck. Sometimes it is said that this can be undone by immediately walking backwards back underneath the ladder.

Opening an umbrella indoors is said to result in 21 days of bad luck. Some traditions hold that it is only bad luck if the umbrella is placed over the head of someone while indoors.

Some motorcycle enthusiasts hang a biker's bell from a portion of their bike to protect themselves from evil road spirits.

The superstitious symbolism of a black cat crossing one's path is dependent upon culture: some cultures consider this a sign of impending bad luck, while some cultures consider this a sign of impending good luck.

At times, a horseshoe may be found above doorways. When positioned like a regular 'U' it supposedly collects luck. However, when it is positioned like an upside-down 'U' the luck supposedly drains.

There are numerous sailors' superstitions, such as: it is considered bad luck for a ship to set sail on a Friday, to bring anything green aboard, to stick a knife into the deck, to leave a hatch cover upside-down, or to say the word "pig" aboard.

It is bad luck to put new shoes on a bed (or a table) (comes from the tradition of dressing a corpse in new clothes and shoes and laying them out so everyone can give their respects) - (UK)

Placing keys on a table is considered unlucky in Sweden, a superstition rooted in historical social contexts.

Placing a hat on the bed is, apparently, bad luck. (South Carolina)

A single magpie is considered a sign of bad luck. A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar recites an old proverb concerning the incidence of bad weather when magpies forage alone and a possible scientific explanation for this.

In Greek legend, mischievous goblin-like creatures called Kallikantzaroi emerge during the Twelve Days of Christmas to play troublesome pranks. To repel them, traditions include burning salt or an old shoe, as the pungent smoke and crackling sounds are believed to drive them away or at least discourage their mischief.

In 1910, as Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet, people bought "Anti-Comet Pills", special "comet umbrellas", and gas masks, because there was public hysteria that all life on Earth would be destroyed by gas - called cyanogen - that was detected in the tail.