Superstitious Beliefs And Some Of Their Origins #1

Superstitions are beliefs that people have over certain matters in life. These beliefs either lead to good or bad luck.

Usually, these beliefs are irrational and stem from things that are beyond the person control. The most common beliefs are; black cats symbolizing bad luck, saying ‘bless you’ when someone sneezes.

Although these superstitions have become part of our everyday lives, we hardly get to know where these beliefs stem from. Here we run down a few of these beliefs and their meanings or origins.

#1 Friday The 13th

Many a day full of superstitions that are filled with bad luck. Some people take this day seriously that they won’t even go outside. Many of which have gotten the fear from the movie ‘Friday the 13th’.

There are a few theories surrounding the origin of the day. however, the most widely accepted is that on Friday, October 13th, 1307, King Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of Knights Templars (a military order). He tortured and killed them which gave a negative stigma on the day Friday the 13th.

#2 Saying ‘Bless you’ When someone Sneezes

When a person sneezes, it’s courtesy for the people around them to say ‘bless you’ or ‘God bless you’. Have you ever thought about why? Well, it was reported that during the plague of 590 AD, Pope Gregory ordered unceasing prayer and that anyone who sneezed was supposed to be blessed because sneezing was the first sign of contracting the disease.

Again, blessing people who sneeze is also believed to come from the spiritual belief that could escape during sneezing. Or that a person was susceptible to evil spirits entering their body.

Finally, some people believe that heart stops when you sneeze. So saying ‘God bless you’ was an encouragement for it to keep beating.

#3 A Black Cat Crossing Your Path

These days seeing a black cat is black luck on its own. Owning a black cat and all hell will break loose.

The origin for some stems from western history, where black cats were associated with witches and evil. People thought that witches could shapeshift into black cats and that they were connected to sorcery and sin.