Written by John Mark Adkison
We have all heard those old wives’ tales and ghost stories about superstitious beliefs.As children we sang morbid rhymes and did funny dances in the dark, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bloody Mary in the mirror. Here on Harding’s campus we all know about the power of the bell-tower: to fate any couple that walks under it to marry, or cause anyone who walks under it alone to live a life of perpetual singleness.There are those superstitions we all know about, even if we do not necessarily believe in them, that could decide whether fortune smiles upon us, or gives us the worst day of our lives.Many of us have those little superstitions we keep in our back pocket. For example, wearing a certain pair of dirty socks will win you the game, listening to a certain song will improve your writing, or the position of the stars and planets will affect your love life. We all have those popular, in-fashion superstitions – and even if we don’t believe in them we at least acknowledge them – such as Friday the 13th, not walking under ladders and, oddly enough, the utility of bridesmaids. But you might often wonder, How on earth did we develop these odd and far-fetched superstitions?Well, here is a list of how.Friday the 13thThis day is almost considered something of a holiday; it is even looked forward to by some people. Hollywood and its horror films definitely help in notarizing this day. The origin of Friday the 13th actually lies within the Gospels. At the last supper, Judas was the 13th person attending the Passover meal and Jesus was crucified on a Friday. A similar occurrence happened in Norse mythology when a feast of twelve gods took place, interrupted by a thirteenth god, Loki, who ended up killing one of the twelve. Other tales presume Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, the Floods from Noah’s Ark story came on a Friday and that a coven of witches were believed to be made of thirteen, twelve being actual witches and the thirteenth member being the devil.Walking under laddersOther than heavy objects falling from a high-up ladder step onto your head, it is odd to think that walking under a simple tool for work can cause misfortune. Ladders, in case you did not notice, create a triangle with the ground and the wall. The triangle symbolizes the Trinity, and walking through that triangle violates the Trinity or agitates the spirits “living” in the triangle. A simple way of repelling God’s or the spirit’s wrath is by crossing your fingers and making a sign of the cross as you walk under it-but since ladders aren’t all that big in width, you might not have enough time.Breaking a mirrorWe’ve all heard that breaking a mirror can cause seven years of bad luck. Well, here’s why it would be seven years. During the olden days of witch hunts and supernatural paranoia, people thought looking in a mirror was looking at a reflection of your soul. By breaking the mirror, you splintered your soul and it would take seven years for your soul to pull it-self back together. And with an injured soul, you would be easy targets for nasty spirits.BridesmaidsNever thought a wedding was superstitious? Well, think again. Superstition practically invented this blissfully romantic event. In the Medieval Ages, when just about every simple peasant feared the wrath of cantankerous, evil spirits who do not enjoy watching the living being happy. The spirits have a “It’s my birthday and I can cry if I want to” complex and enjoy making the living miserable. So, weddings, generally being festivities of happy occasion, are like magnets to this sort of ill-tempered ghost. To keep the ungrateful dead from ruining the grateful living from having a good time, the Middle Age contemporaries invented the bridesmaid, which believe it or not, is not there for the sole purpose of catching the bouquet. A bridesmaid is actually a decoy to distract the evil spirits from getting to the bride. Similarly, the groomsmen are responsible for keeping the spirits away from the groom. The bride’s veil is also supposed to hide the bride from the evil spirits. Hint to the evil spirits: Go for the one in the veil.Saying “Bless You”This piece of superstition has actually earned its way into our culture’s etiquette and good manners’ file. Back in the Dark Ages, simple minded peasants believed when you sneezed, you were expelling demons from your soul. After you sneezed, you were congratulated with a “Bless you” and everybody thought you were basically sanctified if you sneezed a lot. However, when the Black Plague came skipping through town, the Pope mandated Catholics to say “Bless you” in response to a sneeze. This was because excessive sneezing was a sure sign of a person contracting the plague. And once you had the plague, there was very little chance of you surviving it-so you got as many blessings as you could get.Black CatsThis superstition dates all the way back to Ancient Egyptian times, when cats were revered as gods, along with the dung beetle. The Egyptian goddess of magic, Bast, had the head of a black cat. The cat, known for its independent nature and eerie glare, was considered to be a magical animal by many cultures across Europe as well. In the Church’s mad dash to exterminate witchcraft from the world, they saw the black cat as an agent of witchy ways and dark deeds. The common superstition went that cats were witches or demons in disguise, bestowing misfortune on those who crossed their paths. Another superstition says that if a black cat were to walk towards you, it would bring good luck with it, but if it walked away, it was stealing your good luck away from you. I have natural tendency to be weary of cats, seeing how one walking towards me can cause my allergies to flare, which is terrible luck indeed.Even though we look back on the Medieval Ages as a time of ignorance, gruesome wars and a mass of dirty people living too close together, we have to hand it to them for creativity. Even if you’re not one to believe in old wives’ tales, superstitions do add a little supernatural spice to our daily, natural lives.
