18 Superstitions from Around the World

1. “Knocking on Wood”
Indo-European, Celtic, or possibly British

Any list of superstitions would have to begin with arguably the most well-known and universal superstition: ‘to knock on wood.’

The actual origins, and even meanings, of the phrase are as varied as the cultures which use it, with some suggesting roots in the Indo-European or Celtic belief that spirits good and bad resided in trees who could be either called upon for protection or chased away by knocking on their home, and others (particularly Christians) linking the practice to the magical power of the wooden Crucifix. Most likely among the different theories, historians have attributed the superstition to a 19th-century British children’s game called “Tiggy Touchwood” in which young players claimed immunity from being tagged by touching the nearest piece of wood. Adults picked up on the habit and the phrase (the British still say “touch wood” today), and the rest is history.

As with many superstitions, there are subtle variations and sometimes not so subtle varying origins. Italians ‘touch steel’ rather than wood, perhaps more related to iron horseshoes; Poles and Russians touch unpainted wood, Turks knock twice, Latin American knock on wood with no legs (i.e. chairs). It’s best to memorize them all before traveling.

2. “Throwing Salt Over Your Shoulder”
European/Christian, ancient Roman

Perhaps the next most common superstition, at least in the West, involves tossing salt over one’s shoulder. Like ‘knocking on wood,’ this superstition also involves the idea of ‘warding off evil’ - in this case, the Devil himself. In Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Jesus’ betrayer, Judas Iscariot, is portrayed as having accidentally spilled salt. Since Judas was associated with doing something bad, the argument goes that, ipso facto, so was salt, and throwing it over your shoulder would blind the devil waiting there.

Since, in other versions of the superstition, “Old Scratch” was thought to reside just over your left shoulder, ready to tempt you, the salt was thrown to the left.

Still, others say that the sheer value of salt alone in ancient times led to the belief that to spill it was to incur bad fortune (like among Romans), requiring a corresponding ritual or act of penance to prevent worse loss from occurring.

3. “Walking Under a Ladder”
European/Christian, possibly Egyptian

The superstition of not wanting to walk under a ladder also has roots in Christian symbolism: the “Holy Trinity” of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit led to an association of the number three with something sacred. The triangle, with its three sides, came to be regarded as sacred as well, and a ladder of course forms a triangle, so, naturally, to walk under that ladder would be to destroy the sanctity of the Trinity and thus incur punishment.

The ladder’s resemblance to a gallows also didn’t help matters, nor did the fact of the obvious danger of something falling from it.

Finally, the Egyptians apparently thought that one might accidentally spot a god going up or down on a ladder and so avoided it. Must have made building all those tall pyramids difficult.

4. “Broken Mirror”
Ancient Greek/Roman, European, etc.

The belief that a broken mirror brings bad luck most likely has its origins in the simple fact that reflections of ourselves are uncanny and often unnerving (particularly on a “bad hair” day), so humans have long had bad associations with them. Take, for example, the Greek myth of Narcissus, or the idea that a crack in a mirror would somehow break its charm or trap one’s soul.

It was the ancient Romans, however, who contributed the notion that a broken mirror would bring seven years of bad luck, since it was believed that only poor health would cause a mirror to crack, and the number seven was seen by the Romans as the number of years required to complete a full life-cycle of sickness and renewal. As a result, a broken mirror meant you were headed toward a death-spiral that might take seven years to pull yourself out of! But, then, those same Romans felt you could prevent that horrible outcome by gathering the broken pieces of the mirror and burying them by moonlight, so should we really trust them about all the bad luck stuff?

7. “Lucky Horseshoe”
Ancient Roman, Celtic/British Isles, Europe

Another object commonly thought to be lucky is the horseshoe. Earliest origins of the horseshoe’s function as a good luck charm reside in its vulval shape (seen upside down) and the invocation of the pagan moon goddess Diana and her ‘sacred vulva’.

As with pennies, metal being seen as both valuable and magical, iron in particular was thought by early Europeans as something capable of warding off evil spirits. And, as with the Romans and the lucky number seven, horseshoes frequently featured seven nail holes.

The most famous story of a horseshoe bringing good luck, however, refers to the story of Saint Dunstan, who apparently worked as a blacksmith prior to attaining sainthood. The story goes that, one day, the Devil rode into Dunstan’s shop requesting new shoes for his horse. Dunstan, recognizing the Devil, played it off nonchalantly, and, rather than nailing the shoes to the horse, nailed one to the Devil's foot instead. In agony, the Devil agreed never to enter a house with a horseshoe nailed above the door if Dunstan would simply agree to remove the shoe.

10. “Fingers Crossed”
Western Europe, Pagan & Christian

The superstition of crossing one’s fingers bringing the lucky “finger-crosser” good luck comes from pre-Christian, Pagan times in Western Europe, when the practice of making a cross with your own and the index finger of another person was thought to concentrate the forces of good spirits and to seal a pact or a wish with the fellow-crosser.

Over time, people realized they could simply bless their own wishes by crossing first their two index fingers, and then later simply the index and middle fingers of one hand, which is what we do today.

Another narrative pins the practice on early Christians, who would greet and identify one another in secret with various symbols like crossing the index fingers, touching thumbs, etc., (though this explanation doesn’t have the virtue of accounting for the association with good luck).