Superstitions are all around us, some there to spook us and some there because we still believe them.
Whether you say “Morning Maggie” or refuse to stand in the mirror and echo the name of Bloody Mary three times, superstitions have always been around. In the beginning superstitions we’re there to stop you from upsetting spirits and Gods, now, it just seems as though we’ve watched Final Destination one too many times and don’t want to tempt fate.
As we try to avoid that unsteady ladder and continue saying “break a leg” to all our actor friends, here are 10 of the weirdest superstitions and beliefs from history.
10 – The Evil Spirits in Brussel Sprouts
Ah, Christmas; The most wonderful time of the year where we can sit, watch Netflix and eat without fear of judgement. If you’re like me and spend Christmas surrounded by a family who have been known to have the odd debate on whether or not we really need that much turkey or if buying Brussel Sprouts in bulk is really worth it, fear not as I have a superstition here that may put the debate to rest.
Cutting a cross in the stem of brussel sprouts may be one of the most annoying tasks of the Christmas routine and also one of the most pointless, the claim that it makes them taste better is wildly debated and most likely wrong, but nevertheless you carry on the tradition as it’s been passed down through the ages; however, the real reason we cut a cross in the sprouts dates back to medieval times, when evil spirits were believed to lurk in the leaves of lettuces, sprouts and cabbage. Eating a brussel sprout could lead to possession from a demon, who wants nothing more than to make you ill from daring to eat it’s home. So, our good ol’ medieval brothers and sisters decided that the only way of combatting this so called demon, was to cut a cross in each stalk to drive the evil spirits away!
9 – The Horse Meat Scandal
And no, I’m not talking about that horsemeat scandal. Just as Christianity and Catholicism was taking the world by storm after the death of Christ, the church attempted to wipe out a Viking celebration.
Every week, a communal feat was held for Odin mostly throughout Britain and Scandinavia and just like we are today, people were suckers for free food, so, joined the celebrations much to the dismay of the church. In 732AD Pope Gregory III made a rule forbidding the consumption of the meat, horsemeat to be exact.
How did he do this, you ask? Well, like most superstitions begin, he declared that horsemeat was the Devil’s meat and if you ate it, you were sacrificing to the Pagan Gods; instilling throughout the land that they would become violently ill or be struck with bad-luck for the remainder of their lives.
I’m not suggesting you go to the market and try to buy horse-meat, but, maybe this is why we’d rather stick to cows.
8 – Friday the 13th
Triskaidekaphobia is the fear that most Vikings held close to their heart. The fear of the number 13 has been around for thousands of years and stemmed originally from Norse mythology. Imagine this, you’re a God, sitting and having you’re Sunday lunch in Valhalla, surrounded by twelve of your best friends. Valkyries serving you drinks, the banquet hall full of fair maidens and… BOOM! Loki swoops in, raising the number to 13, and tries to kill you. Well, that’s exactly what happened according to this legend. Just after Loki Broke in, he killed a god called Balder, who was the favourite among them all, leaving people to believe if you have 13 people round a table, one must be killed.
Another instance of the fear of 13, comes from the old bible story of the 13 disciples that sat around the table for the Last Supper. Judas, the 13th member of the disciples, betrayed Jesus on a Friday.
7 – Beware of the… Red Head?
As well as being the most feared people to sail the seas, pirates had a long list of weird and damn right stupid superstitions, the most offensive belief probably being that too avoid ginger haired people at all costs.
There are a lot of different opinions on where this belief came from, some from the Irish’s ancient dislike for Danes when they came over as Vikings and settled in Ireland, others from Judas being depicted as having red-hair. It could also have come from the Greek belief that red-heads would turn into Vampires after they died, leading to the Melleus Maleficarum (the witch-hunters guide to the galaxy) also identifying witches as being red-haired with piercing green eyes.
Pirates and sailors were so superstitious of red-haired people, that they often postponed voyages or would combat the bad-luck by going over and speaking to the person in question before they spoke to said sailor first.
If a ginger person walked into your house on New Year’s Day, it was also believed you’d have a year of bad-luck, so, not much different from quarantine.
However, if you are ginger, just remember that everyone’s favourite Yeoman, Kelly Chambers and the wonderful Lutece twins don the red-head look; so, you guys are already the best!
6 – Why is She Giving Me the Evil’s?
Ever seen someone and immediately been worried that you have somehow upset by looking at them? You’re not the only one, your ancestors probably thought that too at one point.
Throughout history, we’ve always been scared of things we didn’t understand and when something bad happened after a woman looked at us funny – well, we put on our witch-hunters hat and began to look around for the culprit.
If you thought that your evil eye had been cast upon people, presenting them with misfortune, it was advised that when you first woke up, you should look at a tree or shrub so that it would die, instead of the unlucky postman who woke you up before your alarm. However, if you believe someone has been giving you ‘the evils’, to counteract it try, spitting, crossing your fingers, carrying iron, wearing a red thread, a blue bead, or carrying an image of an open palm.
Easy, right?
5 – A Kiss Under the Mistletoe
In Greek legends, two berries on a mistletoe were seen to be the… um… testicles of Uranus, which fell into the sea creating the blood and white foam which eventually went on to form Aphrodite, which, has made me rethink how I see both Aphrodite and mistletoe…
The European version hanging a mistletoe originally stems from one of two legends: one of which being that from an old Saxon superstition, in which a houseguest could rest assured knowing that he was safe from being brutally murdered by the host during big celebrations and feasts; this is because most Saxons were angrier than Oghren after drinking and would start a fight.
The second superstition being that mistletoe was dedicated Frigga, the Norse Goddess of love. One was meant to kiss under the mistletoe, removing a berry for each kiss, till no berries were left on the branch.
4 – Goat’s Beard
This is a myth that apparently people still believe; the myth that women will grow beards if they eat goat meat.
That’s it… I can’t elaborate further because it is such a silly superstition.
However, I’m still confused as to where mine came from…
3 – No Women Onboard
If you’ve ever seen an old pirate ship, you’ll notice the female figurehead that sits at the bow of the ship, however, taking an actual woman onboard during a voyage was seen as bad luck to many. It was believed that if you had a woman on board the ship, she would distract men from their duties and this would anger the seas, leading the spirits of the sea to bring storms and general bad luck. Ironically, naked women were seen as good luck and they calmed the sea, hence why the female figurehead sits staring out towards the sea.
2 – Dear Future Husband
If love hasn’t found you yet, there may be one superstition that can help. If you find yourself curious about your future husband, on Halloween, sit in front of the mirror late at night, light a candle and cut an apple into nine slices. When you’ve finished eating eight of the nine slices, throw the leftover slice at the mirror and there your future husband will be to catch the slice of apple.
Unfortunately, I tried this and failed.
1 – Bad Bananas
Remember the last time you played Mario Kart and you’d finally got into first place, you were cheering, celebrating, laughing in the face of your competitors and completely missed the banana peel in front of you, leaving you embarrassed and ashamed. Well, bananas have always been a sign of bad-luck, from tripping over the peel to bringing bad-luck to ships.
There’s a few theories about where this stemmed from, but in the 1700’s, a lot of cargo ships were ferrying bananas between the Caribbean and Spain, some of which had gone missing. Of course like everything in the 1700’s this became a wild superstition leading people to believe it was bad luck to carry bananas on board a vessel.
Another theory is that of the deadly spiders that are known to hide inside banana bunches. When a crewman died as a result of the spider-bite, the other crew members had no idea that what was killing them wasn’t a god smiting them, but a terrifying 8-legged monster. Assuming the bananas bad-omen was bringing death, they carried this superstition around with them, passing it on through the ages and in some places it’s still practiced today.
Return Of The Famous Dead 