6 Things of Bad Luck

1. Black cat
The origin of superstitions surrounding black cats including why a black cat crossing your path is considered bad luck.

Black Cats weren’t always the butt of superstitions, feared, or even considered bad luck. In fact, in early Egyptian times, dating back as far as 3000 BC, cats (including black ones) were the rock stars of the animal world, held in high esteem; to kill one was considered a capital crime. It wasn’t until the middle-ages in Europe that the black cat’s rock star status started to go downhill as they began to be associated with so-called witches. The hysteria of witches practicing black magic had just hit Europe and alley cats were often cared for and fed by the poor lonely old ladies (funny how some things never change) later accused of witchery.

Their cat companions, some of which were black ones, were deemed guilty of witchery by association. This belief was taken up a notch when a folklore involving a father and son in Lincolnshire in the 1560′s started making the rounds. The pair were said to have been traveling one moonless night when a black cat crossed their path and dove into a crawl space. Naturally, they did what any guys would do, they threw rocks at the furry feline until the helpless injured creature scurried out into a woman’s house, who at the time was suspected of being a witch. The next day, the father and son came across the same woman and noticed she was limping and bruised and believed that to be more than just a coincidence. From that day on in Lincolnshire, it was thought that witches could turn into black cats at night.

The belief of witches transforming themselves into black cats in order to prowl streets unobserved became a central belief in America during the Salem witch hunts. Even today the association of black cats and witches holds strong during Halloween celebrations, despite the holiday’s religious beginnings. Thus, an animal once looked on with approbation became a symbol of evil omens in some parts of the World.

However, in some cultures, the black cat is still revered and a symbol of good luck even today. The Scottish believe that a strange black cat’s arrival to the home signifies prosperity, while Pirates of the 19th century believed if a black cat walks towards you, it’s a sign of bad luck, but it’s good luck if it walks away from you. In the English Midlands, a black cat as a wedding present is thought to bring good luck to the bride!

2. Spilling Salt

The widespread superstition that spilling salt brings bad luck is believed to have originated with the overturned salt cellar in front of Judas Iscariot at the Last Supper, an incident immortalized in Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting.

According to an old Norwegian superstition, a person will shed as many tears as will be necessary to dissolve the salt spilled. An old English belief has it that every grain of salt spilled represents future tears. The Germans believe that whoever spills salt arouses enmity, because it is thought to be the direct act of the devil, the peace disturber. The French throw a little spilled salt behind them in order to hit the devil in the eye, to temporarily prevent further mischief. In the United States, some people not only toss a pinch of spilled salt over the left shoulder, but crawl under the table and come out the opposite side.

3. Walking under the ladder
Superstitions are blind beliefs which may sound illogical but all the same permeate every aspect of life and may vary in their importance according to the beliefs of cultures and nations. Some of the common superstitious beliefs considered ill omens include shattering of glass, breaking a mirror, a black cat cutting your path, walking under a ladder, among many more. Basically a ladder that is made to rest against a wall forms a triangle which was traditionally symbolic of life. So walking under a ladder or through a triangle was like risking life and hence considered bad luck.

4. Broken mirror
A broken mirror reflecting a distorted image was indicative of a corrupt soul and people who saw their reflections in broken pieces thus called for misfortune. The superstition itself was a combination of two superstitions – Bizarro world and seven years of revival. People believed that breaking a mirror entrapped the soul in a Bizarro world (where people act in the way opposite to that on earth) that the mirror represented. This resulted in bad health and thus bad fortune. The Romans also believed that the physical body revived itself in seven years. Therefore, the time period for facing the consequences was seven years.

5. Stepping on a crack in a sidewalk
Most children know a simple nursery rhyme: if you step on a crack, you’ll break your mother’s back. They sing it to themselves while skipping rope or playing hopscotch, and never give much thought to its true ramifications. For if they did, they might exercise just a bit more caution when hurrying down the sidewalk to get to the ice cream truck. It’s frankly amazing that mothers everywhere aren’t confined to wheelchairs and hospital emergency rooms considering the number of cracks in the world.

This also presents a hidden danger: malicious children can use this form of bad luck to physically assault their parents. If a mother instructs her son to stop playing outside and do his chores, all the child has to do is locate a nearby crack and stamp on it thoroughly. The mother will be permanently crippled, and he will get to play happily for hours until social services comes to take him away. It’s therefore a good idea for parents to fill in any cracks on the sidewalk with spackle until proper moral values can be taught.

6.Opening an umbrella indoors
The most common stems from the days when umbrellas were used mainly as protection against the sun. To open one indoors would be to insult the local sun god (especially Ra) and invite his wrath on everyone in your household.

Another theory borrows from the idea of an umbrella as a protector against the storms of life. If you were to open one in your home, the household guardian spirits might think you felt their protection was insufficient, and then they'd leave in a huff. Once again, everyone in the house is cursed.

In truth, the superstition is probably coincidental.