What is your strangest superstition?
Today I was explaining some strange superstitions to someone from another country (who was wildly confused by them, for sure), and it made me think about what other strange superstitions are common in other parts of the United States and across the world.
For example, my grandmother taught me to never kill a spider at night because it would cause someone to die. Although I put no stock into it, I still won't kill spiders at night!
Here in Central New York, when our students want school to be canceled because of snow, they do any or all of the following: wear their pajamas inside-out and backwards, put a spoon in the freezer, sleep with cotton balls underneath their pillows, do a snow day dance, and my favorite...flush ice cubes down the toilet!
What strange superstitions do you or others follow in your area? The weirder the better!
15 Answers
My mom doesnt like any cat crossing in front of her when she is driving. She hates them, she rather run them over. She was born in a town where cats will drink your milk if unattended. Thats what she says.
I am actually not very superstitious about the usual things that people worry about like the number 13 or black cats running in front of me.
There is something I do though called "Smudging". When friends move to a new house I just have to Smudge it for them. I like to use sage or cedar. I just feel better knowing that the bad influences have been driven out! Besides, it smells really nice too!
I am not sure why I must do this, it just appeals to me and seems to make some sort of sense. link text
The place where I live is very backwards.. If you want it to be sunny all day, you are to pitch an egg behind your back . If the yellow is separated, it will be sunny. If not, take your chances outside. Ya I know, It's weird.
Someone I know wears something very similar to this....
Some folks around here believe if you weave while pregnant the baby will be born with the cord wrapped around its neck.
All of the hospitals in Japan don't use "4" or "9" for the room numbers.
Because "4" sounds the same as the word meaning death and "9" sounds suffering.
That is, the room No.3 is the next to No.5 and No.8 is the next to No.10.
I think that's non sense. You can't keep alive healthily only with avoiding these numbers, especially in hospital.
This reminds me of a film I saw in a college psych class. A chicken was put in a cage and given a food pellet at random times. Some time later they looked at the chicken and it had developed an elaborate "dance", head bobbing, turning in circles, flapping, it believed caused the food pellet to arrive.
It is also considered very bad luck if you do the word and picture of the day
within 30 minuets of a male person of the species "Homo sapiens " supposing
that you can find one standing after 8 PM.
A Chicago Superstition-------
In 1908 a restaurant owner was accostomed to taking his pet billy goat to the Chicago Cubs baseball game. He was finally told by the management that the goat couldn't come to watch the game any more, and with that, the man put a curse on the Cubs saying they would never win a World Series again......and they have not!!!!
Several attempts have been made to lift the curse.....some involving billy goats and some not....but for the past 102 years they have all been unsuccessful.....and the hapless Chicago Cubs continue to lose....and lose....and lose.
Never place a mirror directly in line with your front door , else the good luck
will enter and bounce out again. And have the path to the front door on
the side , so that the bad spirits cant find it ,apparantly the good spirits have
more sense . 
Many people believe that when a person is having troubles, to get rid of the "evil sprits", hold a mirror toward every window and door in the house. They believe this will "cast the evil spirit away as it sees itself in the mirror".
I thought of another while driving today!
I don't know where it originated, but many here hold their breath while driving past a cemetery and won't take a breath until after they pass it. Some believe they have to first pass a white house or a church before taking their next breath. It all has something to do with not taking in evil spirits.
Believing in superstitions brings bad luck, so I don't believe in them.
This reminds me of the (disputed) anecdote of Nobel prize winning physicist, Neils Bohr, and the horseshoe:
One scientist noticed that Bohr had a horseshoe nailed to the wall, which is supposed to bring good luck, so he said something like "Surely you don’t believe the horseshoe will bring you good luck, do you, Professor Bohr?" Bohr said that he didn't believe in such foolish nonsense, but he had been told that a horseshoe will bring you good luck whether you believe in it or not.
Whats up with friday the 13 in october? Oh yeah, whats up with a cat crossing under your ladder or something like that?
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