5 Common Superstitions and How to Remedy Them

Superstitions are widely held but unprovable beliefs that certain actions have the power to create negative and dark consequences in your life. Most people, in some form or another, believe in at least one superstition to a varying degree. For centuries, superstitions have played an integral part in how people make their choices and how they navigate through their lives.

Fortunately, people have discovered remedies over the years that many believe hold the power to reverse the capabilities of a superstition. If you want to learn how to better protect your luck, here are 5 common superstitions and how to remedy them:

1. Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th has been around for centuries, and has been a popular topic of discussion in many novels and movies. According to European legend, the curse of Friday the 13 began when Judas (the disciple who betrayed Jesus) showed up as the 13th guest to the Last Supper – the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples before being crucified on a Friday.

Since the beginning of the Christian era, this belief has been passed down from generation to generation, reaching all corners of the world. However, this day doesn’t hold significance everywhere. In Greece and other Spanish speaking countries, Tuesday the 13th is considered the unluckiest day.

Despite the differences in culture, Friday the 13 evolved into a symbol of misfortune some time in the 19th century, and the superstition has stuck ever since. Today, people tend to avoid doing anything risky on this date in an attempt to avoid any bad luck.

Remedy: To change your fate on Friday the 13th, you must wake up on the right side of the bed. Others also believe in wearing the color red to increase their chances of good fate.

2. Breaking a Mirror

For many years, breaking a mirror has been interpreted as a terrible sign – or sometimes even  a warning. Famously, people have been known to say that breaking a mirror will bring you up to seven years of bad luck. The superstition continues to instill fear in people to this day.

The ancient Romans believed that the mirror was a reflection of one’s soul, and by breaking one, you were also wrecking your own soul. They claimed that it would take at least seven years for a person’s whole body to mend the broken pieces.

Remedy: To avoid seven years of bad luck, you must bury the broken pieces of the mirror in the moonlight.

3. Crossing Paths With a Black Cat

The stigma against black cats started with Norman and Germanic people who believed that crossing paths with a black cat represented death coming your way. Centuries ago, people believed that witches kept black cats as their companions, thus tying black cats to the idea of darkness in people’s minds forever. This superstition continues to be strongly held to this day.

Remedy: Once you cross paths with a black cat, you can reverse the bad luck by walking in a circle motion and going back across the path you crossed with the cat.

4. Walking Under a Ladder

I’m sure you’ve heard of the popular superstition that walking under a ladder equates to bad luck. Back in the 1600s, prisoners in England were forced to walk under a ladder on their way to the gallows. Ladders eventually became a symbol of negative energy and misfortune.

To many others, ladders became symbolic of betrayal, wickedness, and death because one rested against the crucifix.

Remedy: To reverse your bad luck, you must walk backwards under the ladder and take a different route.

5. Opening an Umbrella Indoors

Opening an umbrella indoors became intertwined with bad luck in eighteenth century London. In a book by Charles Panati called, Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, he wrote that when metal-spoked umbrellas became common, the stiff springs injured a countless number of children and adults when opened indoors. The action became connected to pain and bad luck naturally over time.

Remedy: If you have opened an umbrella indoors, you must leave it open to let it dry so you will not be inviting ill fate to rain on you.

Test Your Luck

If you’d like to test the strength of your beliefs, you may enjoy the thrill of a Nightly Spirits Ghost Tour. Available in 19 cities nationwide. It’s good to have a little reminder every now and then for why you believe the things you do, so join one of our awesome tours, visit the places where spirits linger, and test your luck today!