VOL. V, NO. 6
DECEMBER 13, 1963
Afraid? This Is The 13th
By Ken Hempel
Have you ever thrown a pinch of salt over your shoulder after you had spilled it, or have you ever been afraid to get out of bed on a day like today, Friday the 13th?
If you have, you are one of many people who are superstitious, but really don't know the reason why. Superstitions are so old as the pyramids, and every country has its own.
In Rome, people believed gods lived in trees, and to appease the anger of the god they would knock on wood whenever they thought of the future. Thus the old "knock on wood" cliche was started.
Have you ever thrown a pinch of salt over your shoulder after you had spilled it, or have you ever been afraid to get out of bed on a day like today, Friday the 13th?
If you have, you are one of many people who are superstitious, but really don't know the reason why. Superstitions are so old as the pyramids, and every country has its own.
In Rome, people believed gods lived in trees, and to appease the anger of the god they would knock on wood whenever they thought of the future. Thus the old "knock on wood" cliche was started.
During the Golden Age of Greece, the "mysterious 13" and "unlucky 7" came into being. Mistletoe hanging at Christmas time had bad luck from breaking a mirror are forms of superstitions, as is the bride wearing something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.
Some superstitions have common sense behind them, like not walking under a ladder may prevent you from being hit with a paint bucket, but many which rose up during the Dark Ages, such as cats being mediators between here and the hereafter, are purely "old wives' tales."
Some superstitions have common sense behind them, like not walking under a ladder may prevent you from being hit with a paint bucket, but many which rose up during the Dark Ages, such as cats being mediators between here and the hereafter, are purely "old wives' tales."