Do you think that it is bad luck to walk under a ladder or break a mirror? Do you think that black cats and the number 13 are unlucky? The three men in the picture don’t. Every Friday the 13th they walk under ladders, break mirrors, and open umbrellas indoors. They want to prove that they aren’t at all superstitious. They may be the only people in the world who aren’t. There are over one million superstitions, and most people believe at least one or two of them.
Many people are superstitious about numbers. They think that there are lucky numbers and unlucky numbers. The number 13 is often considered unlucky. In some parts of the world, buildings have no 13th floor and streets have no houses with the number 13. In Japan, 4 is considered unlucky because in Japanese the word “four” is pronounced the same as the word “death.” Japanese never give gifts of four knives, four napkins, or four of anything. What are the lucky numbers? Seven is a lucky number in many places, and 8 is considered lucky in Japan and China. In China, businesses often open on August 8(8-8), and many couples register to get married at eight past eight on August 8.
Superstitions about numbers are so widespread that some people──called numerologists——make a living by giving advice about numbers. In 1937, when the Toyoda family of Japan wanted to form a car company, they asked a numerologist if “Toyoda” would be a good name for the company. The numerologists said it would not be. He explained that “Toyoda” took ten strokes of the pen to write, and 10 was not a lucky number. “Toyota,” however, took eight strokes to write, and eight was a very lucky number. The numerologist recommended “Toyota” as a better name for the company. The family took his advice. As a result, millions of people drive “Toyotas” and not “Toyodas.”
In addition to superstitions about numbers, there are many other kinds of superstitions. There are superstitions about eating, sleeping, sneezing, and itching. There are superstitions about animals and holidays and horseshoes. There are even superstitions about superstitions. Those superstitions tell people how to reverse bad luck. For example, in many parts of the world spilling salt is bad luck. Throwing salt, however, is good luck. So, people who spill salt throw a little of the spilled salt over their left shoulder. Throwing the spilled salt reverses the bad luck. When the Japanese bump heads, they immediately bump heads again. According to a Japanese superstition, the first bump means their parents will die, but the second bump “erases” the first bump. To reverse bad luck in general, people turn around three times, turn their pockets inside out, or put their hats on backward. In the United States, baseball players sometimes wear their caps backwards when their team is losing. It looks silly, but the baseball players don’t mind if it helps them win the game.
Because there are so many superstitions, it is not surprising that some of them are contradictory. In Germany, it is good luck when the left eyes twitches and bad luck when the right eye twitches. In Malaysia, it is exactly the opposite: a twitching right eye means good luck, and a twitching left eye means bad luck. Accidentally putting on clothes inside out brings good luck in Pakistan but bad luck in Costa Rica. In Chile, unmarried people won’t take the last piece of food on the plate because it means they will never marry. In Thailand, unmarried people take the last piece because it means they will marry someone good-looking.
Some superstitions have been with us for so long that they have become customs. In many parts of the world it is polite to say “Health” or “God bless you” when someone sneezes. People used to think that the soul could escape from the body during a sneeze. They said “God bless you” to protect people from losing their souls. Today we no longer believe that people who sneeze are in danger of losing their souls, but we say “God bless you” anyway. We say it not because we are superstitious, but because we are polite.
Even people who say they aren’t superstitious would probably not do what the men in the picture do——intentionally walk under ladders and break mirrors. Almost everyone is at least a little superstitious. One woman says that when she got married, her aunt gave her white bath towels. “Never buy purple towels,” her aunt said. “If you use purple towels, your marriage will end.” Does the woman believe that superstition? “No, of course not,” she says. “It’s silly.” Does she use purple towels? “Well, no,” she answers. “Why take chances?”
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