Superstitions in the Middle Ages.

We are currently up to the point in our world history that we have found ourselves back in the Middle Ages.  I love the history surrounding this time.  We have covered this topic a few times before so this will probably be the last time for a formal study.

I thought it would be fun to tackle a few of the superstitions that can be related back to the Medieval Times.  This is what we found out.


~Have you ever wondered why someone might say bless you after you sneeze?  It might be because

back in the day, sneezing, a.k.a. little death, was the first sign of the plague so if you blessed a sneezer it might save them which ultimately it did not since history has it that only a few people actually survived the plague.

~If you lived in the Middle Ages, you better shut your door.  It was believed that if you left your door opened, the bad spirits would come into your house.

~They believed that if a cat walks in front of you, you would have bad luck and if the cat just happened to be black, you would have extra, extra bad luck.

~A bat in the house was a sign of death.

~If a person experienced a great horror, their hair will turn white.

~Begin a witch back then was not favored.  If a woman was accused of begin a witch, she was weighted down and thrown into a lake or river.  The point was to see if the woman would sink or rise to the surface.  If the woman rose to the surface, that was considered to be proof that she was indeed a witch.  If she sank to the bottom, the woman would be considered not to be a witch but at that point it would be irrelevant since she would have drown anyway.  Oh well, so much for that theory.

~Avoid bad luck by only stirring your pot clockwise.

~If the flame of a candle turns blue, chances are there is a spirit in the room.

~Were you born on Halloween?  If so, you have the gift of communication with the dead.

~Steer clear of any ladders.  Apparently criminals were hung from the top rung of a ladder.  The spirit of the criminal was believed to be lingering there and by walking under the ladder would be breaking the triangle of the Holy Trinity and one does not simply break the Holy Trinity.

~During the Middle Ages salt was believed to have medicinal properties and was very expensive, so expensive that some could not afford to have it so spilling salt was a big, big deal, and if you spilled it, you are evil.  When salt was spilled, it was customary for the evil-salt-spilling-person to throw the salt over his/her left shoulder.  Why?  To ward off evil, of course!  It was thought that by throwing salt over your left shoulder, it would get into the eyes of the evil spirits lurking behind you.

~A broken mirror is bad luck because a mirror represents an image of your soul so if you break a mirror it is believed that your soul has gone astray from your body.  You must also wait seven hours before you pick up the pieces at which point you need to go to the backyard and bury them under the moonlight.  That makes sense, right?

~Do not itch an itchy palm.  If your palm is itching, it means money is on the way unless you itch it, then it will not come.  Note to self, never itch palm again!

~If you take off your hat, do not put it on a bed, you guessed it, bad luck.

~Ever felt a chill up your spine?  It might be because someone just walked over your future grave.

~Many superstitions are for the birds, literally!

~A bird flying through your house is an indication of important news, however, if the bird cannot get out and dies, the news will be death.

~If a bird flies towards you, bad luck is heading your way.

~Crows were viewed as bad omens and are associated with death.  If you hear a caw, death is near.

~Sparrows were thought to carry the souls of the dead and killing a sparrow was considered back luck.

~If you see an owl during the day or if an owl, for whatever reason, looks in your window, bad luck and death are heading your way.

Believer or not, it is very interesting how things like this came to be.  While this type of information might not help you score high on an SAT, I think these types of things are fun to know.  So next time someone sneezes you will know why you are blessing them.