Onondaga Central
If you're someone who is superstitious, you'd know not to open an umbrella indoors or cross a black cat's path. Have you ever wondered why that is? Throughout history, people have believed things that others would deem as silly, but who decided that these superstitions are bad luck?
If someone spills salt, it is common to throw a pinch of it over your left shoulder. This is supposedly to prevent bad luck. Salt has always been a prized seasoning, especially before refrigeration. Salt was essential to everyone in order to add flavor and preserve food. Salt was so important that it influenced the word “salary” which comes from Latin translation of salt, which is “sal.” If the Sumerians, from 3500 BCE, spilled salt, they thought it was bad luck and would counteract that by tossing a pinch over their left shoulder. This tradition was spread to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Greeks. Did you know that black cats are the least adopted cats? This is because they are notorious for being unlucky. The first recorded instance of black cats being considered bad luck comes from the black plague. Somehow, black cats became associated with the devil, so much so that people began to kill them in large quantities. This ironically worsened the plague because there were significantly less cats to kill the rodents that spread the disease. In Scottish folklore, there is a black cat with a white spot on its chest. He is called the Cat Sith and is believed to steal the souls of the dead before the gods could collect them. This belief is what brought about the tradition of late wakes, which were meant to protect the dead before their burial. Black cats are also commonly associated with witchcraft, which has gained a bad reputation, as well, in sixteenth century Europe. Witches used to take in alley cats as companions. In Salem, the Puritans wanted to get rid of witches because it was believed that black cats were part of their lifestyles, and of course black cats were still associated with the devil from the black plague. Despite this history, many cultures have, and still do, believe that cats are actually good luck. This includes the Japanese, Russians, some areas of Great Britain, and Egyptians. In Ancient Egypt, cats were worshipped and it was a massive crime to kill one. The idea of never opening an umbrella inside is actually a fairly recent thing. It began in the 19th century when people would bring umbrellas indoors and an adult or child would get injured because of the spokes. It was also common for fragile objects to break because of them. The superstition actually arose as a safety precaution. If you break a mirror, you’ll have bad luck for seven years. In Ancient Greece, people went to psychics who used mirrors to tell fortunes. They would put a mirror into water and ask a sick person to look at their reflection. If they saw themselves as distorted, it was said that they would die. If their reflection was clear, they would get better. This changed in Ancient Rome. They believed that the body's health changed in cycles of seven years. The superstition morphed into seven years of bad luck and bad health from a distorted image from a broken mirror. The number thirteen has been an unlucky number for a very long time. It comes from Norse mythology when 12 gods were invited to dinner at Valhalla in the city of the gods. When Loki crashed the Dinner, making him the thirteenth person there, they tried to kick him out and Loki killed Balder (son of Odin). This spread in Europe and on Friday the 13th, 1307 when the king of France ordered knights to be arrested and they got tortured and killed. People were so afraid of the number thirteen they would skip it on elevators and people are scared of Friday the 13th. In conclusion, many superstitions originate from somewhere deep in history due to religion, misconception, or were just made up for safety. It is for you to judge whether or not you want to follow such superstitions, or if you’re willing to risk getting bad luck.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Tiger ProwlCurrent Editon Archives
October 2021
Categories |