Even if you don’t consider yourself a superstitious person, you probably say “God bless you” when someone sneezes or find yourself knocking the wood when you want something good you said to be with you always. And, though superstitions are not logical, the idea of luck and magic can be comforting—especially when so many things are beyond our control so almost everybody falls prey to such temptations as we all think that by doing such stuffs maybe our life takes a serious turn and carry us somewhere else.Common superstitions still have a place in almost every house across the globe today, and many of us enjoy finding out the reasons behind the rituals to make sense of them. So, let us peep into the past and try to find out the origination of some common superstitions.

10) Black cats bring bad luck

Most people have heard the saying that if a black cat crosses your path its bad luck. This superstition finds it’s origin in the middles ages due to the misconstrued belief that single women who associated themselves with many cats where actually witches who could become cats themselves. Thus a black cat crossing your path could actually be a witch.

9) Horseshoe brings good luck

This belief stems from the fact that a horse shoe has seven holes, which is considered to be a lucky number, and is made of iron, so it can supposedly ward off evil spirits that may haunt you in your dreams. So, many people keep a horseshoe with them when they go to bed.

8) Seeping position greatly matters

In many countries it is bad luck to be sleeping with your head pointing towards north because this is the way the dead are buried so it symbolizes death that is why many people avoid sleeping with their head in northern direction.

7) Finding a four leaf clover is lucky

Finding a four leaf clove is considered to be lucky by many people. The reason behind it could be its rarity in nature and it originated because of a biblical story of Adam and eve according to which when eve was cast out of garden of Eden, she took a four leaf clover with her to remind her of the paradise.

6) Crossing your fingers for good luck

Crossing two fingers is a very common superstition. It is mainly done to ensure good luck and prosperity. The origin of this belief dates back to Christians again as according to them crosses symbolizes power and unity, because of their religious believes.

5) Say “god bless you” when someone sneezes

Many of us believe it to be a polite habit to say god bless you when someone sneezes but on the other hand there are many people in the world who believe that when we sneeze our soul leaves our body and we would die without a soul thus they say god bless you. This was believed by the early man because according to them breathing in was breathing in life.

4) Knock on the wood to prevent disappointment 

Whenever you say something good it is believed that you should knock on the wood.This superstition may have come into existence because of the christian belief according to which whenever they took oath they touched a crucifix which is an image of Jesus on the cross made up of wood thus people interpreted it as  just to touch the wood.

3) Do not go near the trees at night

It is believed that you should not go near trees at night because if you go near the tree at night, ghost will catch hold of you.But the basic reason behind this superstition which probably our ancestors thought was that at night plants, give out carbon dioxide so if you go near it, you will inhale that. Thus this superstition was made to prevent people from practicing it, but we interpreted it in an altogether different manner.

2) Broken mirror brings bad luck

The belief that you’ll have seven years of bad luck if you break a mirror is said to have come from the Romans, who were the first to create glass mirrors. It was believed by many that a mirror had the power to confiscate part of the user’s soul. The thinking was that if the mirror was broken, the person’s soul would be trapped inside. Therefore, one should handle mirrors with extreme care.

1) Friday the thirteen is not lucky

The belief that the number 13 is unlucky is said to be the most common superstition. This fear is so widespread that many apartments and hotels omit the 13th floor, and some planes have no 13th row. Avoiding the number 13 is thought to stem from Christianity as there were 13 guests at the Last Supper. Therefore this superstition is widely believed by all the Christians and also some believe that if you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil’s luck.

To some people, these superstitions  are just crazy beliefs,while to others, they are a matter of faith and tradition. What are they exactly? Are they rational? Are they based on reason? Or, are they just a creation of wandering minds? Nobody knows what exactly are superstitions.