Superstitions cont..

Sailors have a long tradition of superstition; looking for any edge they could find to give them comfort on stormy nights at sea. One of the longest standing superstitions – one that could also be classified as a bit of an urban myth – is that women on board a ship equalled bad luck.

Depending on the era and the nation, women were often forbidden from sailing on military vessels; as for merchant ships, that was up to the captain, or the company. Some say this is because women were considered bad luck, and that having a woman on board a ship when it was at sea would anger the sea gods, bringing on horrible weather and rough water. In some cases women who were on board ship were even tossed over board in order to attempt an appeasement of the gods.

Superstition Benefits

Superstitions abound in all walks of life, but the sea faring folk seem to have more than their fair share. There are so many facets the ancient sailor’s life that he has no control over—the sea, the weather, market prices, politics, health – that he seemed to seize control over any aspect he could. Some believe this was out of a need to have some hope, some control over his fate.

Keeping women off of a working ship was one of those ways, and like many superstitions in the work place comes from a very sensible origin. The fact is while in some cases there were rules against women on board ship (not passenger ships, however) it was more often due to the distracter factor than any superstition. A woman on board a ship full of men on a months-long voyage could bring on all sorts of headaches for the captain, not to mention the woman.

The Ironic Twist

While sailors would sometimes fight tooth and nail to keep women off of their ships, in many cases women were welcomed aboard. There are times when a wife would sail alongside her husband, and there is a reason that literature has examples of women disguising themselves as men to sail – it has a historical basis.

The most ironic twist to the “women on ship are bad luck” superstition was the flip side of the coin, a superstition that had women being good luck in connection with the ship. Women, despite in most cases not being allowed on board a working ship as crew, were sometimes considered better navigators than men. Put this together with the power of a bare chested woman to “shame nature” and keep the waves away, and you have the reason behind the popularity of topless women depicted as figureheads on many sailing ships.

Figureheads, or mastheads, are carved statues fixed to the prow of the ship, and sometimes are depicted as ancient creatures or warriors, but a very popular choice was a bare woman pointing the way to port.

Final Thoughts

The superstition of women being bad luck on board ship is wide spread, or at least, the awareness that the superstition exists. The reality that women were never allowed on board a merchant ship, however, falls more into the urban legend category.

Running late for an appointment is a young man dressed in a sharp suit and carrying an attaché. Weaving through the foot traffic the man checks his watch to make sure he will make his important meeting. His phone rings and he retrieves it from a pocket and says hello. Distracted, he walks right under a ladder leaning on a building; realizing what he did he freezes, wondering if what his grandmother always told him is true- that walking under ladders means bad luck.

The Walking Under a Ladder Superstition

To many walking under a ladder is bad luck, while to others it is simply unsafe. Some will go so far to say that walking under a ladder is akin to blaspheme, and in the old days being a blasphemer wasn’t very conducive to good health and long life, so accidentally walking under a ladder in a Christian land could be considered very bad luck, indeed. But is there anything to the superstition, and where did the idea that it would bring bad luck come from? And was there anything that could be done to break the bad luck before it settled to deeply on the offender?

The Origin of the Walking Under a Ladder Superstition

There are a couple of theories about where the “Walking Under a Ladder is Bad Luck” superstition came from. The one mentioned above- that walking under a ladder was akin to blaspheming- comes from the early days of Christianity. Many Christians are believers in the Trinity—that God is made up of three parts, the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit). Thus, the number three was somewhat sacred, and the triangle was by association also sacred with its three sides. A ladder leaning up against a building was seen as a triangle (the ladder itself making one side, the building wall making up a second side, and the ground connecting the two making the third side.) To walk through this triangle (by walking under the ladder) was seen as breaking the Trinity. The bible talks about the one unforgivable sin being blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, so someone who breaks the Trinity is seen to be in league with the Devil; and once again, being labeled such in the old days of Christianity was a quick way to invite the hangman and witch trials.

Another origin of the superstition was a bit less specific, and had to do withy the similarities between a ladder leaning against a wall and a gallows. Anything associated with a gallows was considered ill luck, so walking under one- or a ladder that looked like one- was not advisable. So what to do if you realize you’ve just walked under a ladder and want to ward off the bad luck? You spit. Either you spit three times through the rungs of the ladder, or you spit on your shoe. Make sure you don’t look at your shoe until the spit has dried, however. Failing these tactics, cross your fingers until you find a dog, or simply back out the way you came in and make a wish!

In some ancient cultures when a loved one died under extenuating circumstances- be it murder, a horrible accident or suffering from unrequited love- it was considered prudent to cover all the mirrors in the house. The belief was that the spirit of the dead would be hanging about, looking for a body to posses in order to resolve a few issues before moving on. This is just one of many superstitions involving mirrors.

Superstitions Involving Mirrors

The mirror is an interesting thing. It shows us what we look like- not what we imagine we look like, and not the image of ourselves we necessarily want to have, but what we actually look like. This can be an unsettling experience for some people, especially when catching an unexpected reflection and especially in ancient cultures where things like mirrors were not common place. Thus many superstitions and wives' tales have sprung up involving mirrors, ranging from the creepy to the mundane to the ones serving as preventative medicine—designed to protect a very reflective, very expensive investment.

Breaking a mirror is supposed to bring with it bad luck; and not just regular old bad luck, but the kind that persists for seven years.

One could just imagine the lady of a house cringing as her rambunctious brood careened down a hallway, bumping into an ornate mirror that represented more than the annual household income, and screeching a warning to the children of the woes that would dodge them for seven years should they actually cause the mirror’s destruction.

The Origin of Superstitions Involving Mirrors

As suggested above, there are two good sources for the origins of the superstitions involving mirrors. First, the supernatural links often attributed to things that people do not understand. Mirrors seemed to posses a power beyond the natural, a reflection of the truth, and so became a handy repository for many mystical and supernatural ideas. They did seem to be portals to another world at times, as one proved to be precisely in Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass.”

The other origin was simply as a scare tactic. Mirrors were not cheap, especially not high quality, defect-free mirrors that are taken for granted today. In olden times those mirrors came at a dear price, and it was a handy mechanism to attribute seven years of bad luck to their destruction. Perhaps the youth were impressed that their parents cared enough to help them avoid so much bad luck, or perhaps they were just left with the impression that if they busted the mirror they were in for a world of hurt—either way the idea caught on. But what does the luckless do if they accidentally break a mirror? The only way to avoid the curse is to take all the pieces of the mirror and bury them in the moonlight.

Final Thoughts On Mirrors

One interesting superstition involving mirrors is tied in with a famous myth- vampires. According to many stories about the nocturnal blood suckers, they can not cast a reflection in a mirror. This is yet another link to the ancient beliefs that mirrors can interact with a person’s soul.

Walking down the street your morning routine is interrupted by a flash of black and white wings. Settling down on the street in front of you is a largish blackbird with a few white spots -- a magpie! Not wanting to ruin what could be a great day, you tip your hat and say, "Good morning Mr. Magpie. How is your lady wife today?" Congratulations -- you've just ward off bad luck by saluting a magpie.

Saluting Magpies

Seems little strange, doesn't it, that saluting a bird could ward off bad luck? Yet in many parts of the United Kingdom spying a single magpie is considered an omen of bad fortune in saluting it is a way of showing the proper respect in hopes that the magpie won't pass on some of the misfortune follows it.

Animals and superstition have long gone hand-in-hand, but what is it about the magpie that people dread? It probably has to do with the bird's mischievous nature, and behaviour patterns that cause trouble for humans. These behaviours evolved into a general dislike of the bird, which in turn became links to superstition that magpies were "bad".

Bad behaviours

Magpies are often referred to as "thieving magpies" due to their fancy for shiny objects, such as jewellery in shiny coins. Certainly would be considered bad luck to have an expensive ring disappear from out of your house. Also magpies are not blessed with it pretty singing voice. Related to crows, the cries of the magpies are very similar.

Magpies will supplement their diet of insects by reading the nests of other birds and eating their eggs and young. When a gamekeeper is attempting to raise a family of songbirds and loses the next generation hungry magpies, one can easily see how the magpie's reputation would be tarnished in the eyes of the gamekeeper. To the gamekeeper, and to those like him, seeing the magpie anywhere near their breeding grounds would be bad luck indeed

Other Magpie Superstitions

Magpies are linked to superstition in other cultures as well. In Scotland a single magpie near the window of a house is not just bad luck, the sign of impending death; possibly because they were believed to carry a drop of the devil's blood under the tongue. Some believe that the reason the magpie is cursed is because it was the only bird that didn't sing and comfort Jesus when he was crucified on the cross. In German, Italian, French, and it Norwegian folklore and magpies are often depicted as thieves. Yet in China the name of the bird is translated as "happiness magpie" in spotting one is considered a sign of good luck.

Not All Bad

Yet they're also very clever birds and some can be taught to speak as parrots can. Likewise magpies meet for life; this, combined with me superstition that one magpie is bad luck, probably behind the origin of this rhyme that is related to the magpie:

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret never to be told.

With little else to do during the dull hours of the shift the desk clerk at one of Hawaii’s most prestigious hotels decided to go through the day’s mail. Addressed to the hotel itself were plenty of letters and bills, but one item caught the clerk’s eye. A smallish package wrapped in plain brown paper, which provided tough to open, revealed in it a lump of volcanic rock and a note. Scrawled on the note in a shake hand were the words; “I am returning this rock to the Island. I’m sorry I took it. Please forgive me.” As unusual as such a situation is, to the desk clerk it can be added to the mountain of similar packages, each containing missives seeking an end to the bad luck that comes from stealing rocks from Hawaii.

The Stealing Rocks from Hawaii Superstition

Some people may not be aware of this superstition, but the managers and desk clerks in Hawaii can tell you how very real it is. The Hawaii Islands are truly a wonder to behold; the year round temperate climate, the crystal blue waters, and the lush rain forests provide fantastic backdrops to the visits to dreamy beaches and active volcanoes. Hawaii remains a top destination spot for vacationers year round, and these visitors want to bring a piece of paradise back home with them- sometimes literally. Taking a small volcanic rock home in jacket pocket may not seem like much of a big deal—until the curse settles in. Then people report all manner of bad luck striking them; the death of family pets, the loss of a job, a sudden illness- all of it and more are linked back to a belief that the act of taking a rock from Hawaii is bad mojo.

The Origin of the Stealing Rocks from Hawaii Superstition

The Hawaiian volcano god, Pele, is a jealous god, and is very protective of her children. Being a volcanic god, her kids are the rocks that come from molten magma cooling off, and she wants them to stick around. This is the legend behind the superstition, and the reason why people who believe it are willing to send rocks back to the Islands. They often include notes detailing their misery and asking for forgiveness from the island.

It is thought that the superstition and legend originated with the Hawaii rangers, those stalwart protectors of nature, who were sick of seeing tourists making off with the landscape. Sure a small bottle of sand from a beach is no big deal…unless a million people walk off with the same.

Final Thoughts

In one episode of the 70’s show The Brady Bunch the gang had visited a shrine to Pele and removed a rock- but in this case it was a min statue. Without even leaving the island they were plagued with bad luck, from a giant spider crawling in their suitcase to a near-death wipe out while surfing, the Brady Bunch had to return the idol in order to lift the curse and return home safely to the Mainland.