Superstitions Old Wives Tales Beliefs & Misconceptions M-Z

Superstitions:
old wives tales, folklore, bizarre beliefs,
taboos, omens, lucky & unlucky things

Superstitions M - Z

MANDRAKE

Mandrake is a mysterious plant believed to have powers of preventing sterility in men and animals, causing barren women to bear children, and compelling love.

Mandrake is thought to have aphrodisiac and fertilizing properties.

Clairvoyants use mandrake to increase their visions to enable them to see strange and wonderful things.

MARRIAGE

Wediing superstitions

MILK

It's bad luck to let milk boil over.

MIRROR

To break a mirror means 7 years bad luck.

It is unlucky to see your face in a mirror by candlelight.

A mirror should be covered during a thunderstorm because it attracts lightning.

If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.

MISTLETOE

Mistletoe in the house protects it from thunder and lightning. It also cures many diseases, is an antidote to poison and brings good luck and fertility.

A girl standing under a mistletoe cannot refuse to be kissed by anyone who claims the privilege.

MOTH

A white moth inside the house or trying to enter the house means death.

NOSE

If your nose itches, someone is coming to see you. If it's the right nostril, the visitor will be a female, left nostril, male.

NUMBERS

See each individual number alphabetically.

ONION

An onion cut in half and placed under the bed of a sick person will draw off fever and poisons.

A wish will come true if you make it while burning onions.

OPAL

Unless you were born in October, it's unlucky to wear opals.

OWL

It is bad luck to see an owl in the sunlight.

PENCIL

If you use the same pencil to take a test that you used for studying for the test, the pencil will remember the answers.

PEPPER

If you spill pepper you will have a serious argument with your best friend.

PHOTOGRAPH

If 3 people are photographed together, the one in the middle will die first.

RABBIT'S FOOT

A rabbit's foot will bring luck and protect the owner from evil spirits if carried in the pocket.

RAINBOW

A rainbow in the Eastern sky,
The morrow will be fine and dry.
A rainbow in the West that gleams,
Rain tomorrow falls in streams.

RAVEN

To kill a raven is to harm the spirit of King Arthur who visits the world in the form of a raven.

RED

A red ribbon should be placed on a child who has been sick to keep the illness from returning.

ROBIN

A wish made upon seeing the first robin in spring will come true - but only if you complete the wish before the robin flies away.

ROCKING CHAIR

If you leave a rocking chair rocking when empty, it invites evil spirits to come into your house to sit in the rocking chair.

ROSEMARY

Rosemary planted by the doorstep will keep witches away.

SALT

Bad luck will follow the spilling of salt unless a pinch is thrown over the left shoulder into the face of the devil waiting there.

Put salt on the doorstep of a new house and no evil can enter.

Salty soup is a sign that the cook is in love.

SCISSORS

If you drop scissors, it means your lover is being unfaithful to you.

SEA GULL

Three seagulls flying together, directly overhead, are a warning of death soon to come.

SEVEN

To break a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. The cure: to bury the pieces, or run them in a stream.

The seventh son of a seventh son has magic powers, according to Irish folklore, but is a vampire in Romanian legend.

SHOES

Do not place shoes upon a table, for this will bring bad luck for the day, cause trouble with your mate and you might even lose your job as a result.

It's bad luck to leave shoes upside down.

SINGING

If you sing before seven, you will cry before eleven.

SLEEP

You sleep best with your head to the north and your feet to the south.

SNEEZE

Place a hand in front of your mouth when sneezing. Your soul may escape otherwise.

The devil can enter your body when you sneeze. Having someone say, "God bless you," drives the devil away.

If you sneeze on a Monday, you sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for a letter;
Sneeze on a Thursday, something better;
Sneeze on a Friday, sneeze for sorrow;
Sneeze on a Saturday, see your sweetheart tomorrow.
Sneeze on a Sunday, and the devil will have domination over you all week.

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a letter
Four for a boy.
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told

SPARROW

Sparrows carry the souls of the dead, it's unlucky to kill one.

SPIDER

Seeing a spider run down a web in the afternoon means you'll take a trip.

A spider is a repellent against plague when worn around the neck in a walnut shell.

STARS

All wishes on shooting stars come true.

Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.

SWAN

A swan's feather, sewed into the husband's pillow, will ensure fidelity.

THIRTEEN

If 13 people sit down at a table to eat, one of them will die before the year is over.

FRIDAY THE 13TH - how is fear of the number thirteen demonstarted?

More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.

Many airports skip the 13th gate.

Airplanes have no 13th aisle.

Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.

On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.

Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue

In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.

If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names.

TONGUE

If you bite your tongue while eating, it is because you have recently told a lie.

UMBRELLA

Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.

It's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house, especially if you put it over your head.

VALENTINE'S
DAY

If a woman sees a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it means she will marry a sailor. If she sees a sparrow, she will marry a poor man and be very happy. If she sees a goldfinch, she will marry a millionaire.

VEIL

A bride's veil protects her from evil spirits who are jealous of happy people.

WATERMELON

A watermelon will grow in your stomach if you swallow a watermelon seed.

WEATHER

Red sky at night,
Sailor's delight.
Red sky at morning
Sailors take warning

Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.
Rain on the green grass
Rain on the hillside,
But not on me.

WEDDING

Wedding superstitions

WOOD

Knock three times on wood after mentioning good fortune so evil spirits won't ruin it.

WINDOW

All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.

WISH

If you make a wish while throwing a coin into a well or fountain, the wish will come true.

Wish I may,
Wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight.

If you tell someone your wish, it won't come true.

WISHBONE

Two people pull apart the dried breastbone of a chicken or turkey until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the long half of the wishbone will have his or her wish come true.

The number of Xs in the palm of your right hand is the number of children you will have.

YAWN

A yawn is a sign that danger is near.

Cover your mouth when you yawn, or your soul can go out of your body along with the yawn.