Superstitions of Luck Around the World

UnEarthed
Dec 17
3 min read

Written by: Ryan Cho Edited by: Rachel Chen

Do you cross your fingers before a test? Or maybe you knock on wood to prevent something bad from happening. These small habits that we all do are known as superstitions! Superstitions are the belief that small little actions that we perform can bring good or bad luck, even if the event that follows occurs by pure chance.

But you’re not the only one who does this! People all around the world have unique quirks of trying to get good luck.

Europe

In Italy, it’s believed that breaking a mirror can bring seven years of bad luck. Why? Long ago, people thought mirrors didn’t just show your face; they reflected your soul. So if you cracked a mirror while looking into it, they believed you might also be cracking your own spirit.

Another country in Europe, England, believes that walking under ladders will bring forth bad luck. Ladders leaning on walls create a triangular shape that can be used to symbolize important cultural symbols like the Holy Trinity in Christianity. Walking through this triangular shape is incredibly disrespectful toward the religion and will bring forth adverse luck.

Turkey

Most of us chew gum without thinking twice about it. But in Turkey, there’s a spooky superstition about it! People believe that if you chew gum at night, it turns into dead flesh, so chewing it after dark is like chewing something creepy!

China

You’ve probably seen a list of “lucky numbers” on a fortune cookie opened at a Chinese restaurant. You might be wondering, why do Chinese people care about numbers so much?

Well, Chinese people find lots of power and meaning from numbers in general. In particular, the number 8 sounds like the word “wealth” in Chinese, making it incredibly lucky. On the other hand, the number 4 sounds like the word “death” in Chinese, making it quite unlucky. In fact, some buildings in China skip the 4th floor in the elevators to avoid this bad luck!

India

In India, your luck is in your hands - literally.

Have you ever scratched your hand because it was really itchy? Well, people in India believe that if a man’s right palm itches, you’re about to earn a lot of money! Unfortunately, if your left palm itches, you’ll be losing money. This holds true for women vice versa.

So, the next time your hand starts itching, maybe check which one it is. It could be your lucky day...or maybe just time to save your allowance.

Japan

Japanese people never sleep facing north. Why? People lie down facing north during ceremonies like funerals. So, people in Japan avoid placing their beds in a direction pointing north so that they don’t sleep like the dead.

As crazy as some of these superstitions may seem, they provide a good sense of assurance to people that they have control over random events such as the weather or test score performance.

Even if superstitions may not be true, it’s a really fun avenue to understand how different cultures try to control their futures!

unEarthed