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The number 13, believed to be unlucky, has been skipped over at a horse stable in Santa Anita Park

Superstition is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Superstition is a set of behaviors that are related to magical thinking, see Superstition. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2005x1371, 265 KB) Summary No number 13 wp:Santa Anita Park receiving barn showing superstition. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2005x1371, 265 KB) Summary No number 13 wp:Santa Anita Park receiving barn showing superstition. ... 13 (Thirteen) is the natural number following 12 and preceding 14. ... The Santa Anita track is set against the dramatic backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains. ...

Superstition indicates something standing above, or set up above. The earliest English uses of the word in the modern era refer critically to Catholic practices such as censing, rosaries, holy water and other practices that Protestants believed went beyond - or were set up above - their own interpretation of the New Testament practices of Christianity. From there the uses of the term expanded to include non-Christian religious practices, and beliefs that seemed unfounded or primitive in the light of modern knowledge.

Many extant superstitions arose before and during the time of the Black Plague that swept over Europe. During the time of the Black Plague, Pope Gregory I the Great passed a law requiring people to say "God bless you" when somebody sneezed; this was said to prevent the spread of the disease and to cure whoever already had it.^[1] This article concerns the epidemic of the mid-14th century. ... “Saint Gregory” redirects here. ... Bless you is a common English expression used to wish a person well after sneezing. ...

Superstition and folklore

In the academic discipline of folkloristics the term "superstition" is used to denote any are based on general, culturally variable beliefs in a supernatural "reality". Depending on a given culture's belief set, its superstitions may relate to things that are not fully understood or known, such as cemeteries, animals, demons, a devil, deceased ancestors, the weather, ripping one's sock, gambling, sports, food, holidays, occupations, excessive scrupulosity, death, luck, and spirits. Urban legends are also sometimes classed as superstition, especially if the moral of the legend is to justify fears about socially alien people or conditions. Folkloristics is the formal academic study of folklore such as fairy tales and folk mythology in oral or non-literary traditions. ... Look up Supernatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Castle Ashby Graveyard Northamptonshire A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... “Fiend” redirects here. ... This is an overview of the Devil. ... An ancestor is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i. ... For the geological process, see Weathering or Erosion. ... For other uses, see Sock (disambiguation). ... Caravaggio, The Cardsharps, c. ... In the United States, a holiday is a day set aside by a nation or culture (in some cases, multiple nations and cultures) typically for celebration but sometimes for some other kind of special culture-wide (or national) observation or activity. ... Scrupulosity is obsessive concern with ones personal sins, including sinful acts or thoughts usually considered minor or not sins at all within ones religious tradition. ... For other uses, see Death (disambiguation), Dead (disambiguation), Death (band) or Deceased (band). ... This article is about fortune. ... The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus (breath). // The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning breath (compare spiritus asper), but also soul, courage, vigor, ultimately from a PIE root *(s)peis- (to blow). In the Vulgate, the Latin word translates Greek (πνευμα), pneuma (Hebrew (רוח) ruah), as... An urban legend or urban myth is similar to a modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ... For other uses, see Fear (disambiguation). ...

In Western folklore, superstitions associated with bad luck include Friday the 13th and walking under a ladder. Beliefs about the number 13 are very recent in origin. This article is about good and bad fortune. ... For the series of slasher films, see Friday the 13th (series). ... For other uses, see Ladder (disambiguation). ...

An interesting superstition in the Indian subcontinent is that a pregnant woman should avoid going outside during an eclipse in order to prevent her baby being born with a facial birthmark.

Another interesting superstition in Korea is that a fan left running in a closed room will suffocate the occupants. Many people in South Korea believe that, when operated in closed rooms, electric fans do not bring heat relief but sudden death, suffocating victims by stealing their oxygen. ...

Some people also used to make the sign against the evil eye (a hand sign made with the index finger and the small finger extended) so that they would avert bad luck!

Superstition and religion

In keeping with the Latin etymology of the word, religious believers have often seen other religions as superstition. Likewise, atheists, agnostics, deists, and skeptics regard religious belief as superstition. (Edmund Burke, the Irish orator, once said, "Superstition is the religion of feeble minds.") From the broadest perspective, all religion is a form of superstition. “Atheist” redirects here. ... Agnosticism (from the Greek a, meaning without, and gnosticism or gnosis, meaning knowledge) is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims—particularly metaphysical claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of God, gods, deities, or even ultimate reality—is unknown or, depending on the form of agnosticism... For other uses, see Ceremonial Deism. ... Skepticism (Commonwealth spelling: Scepticism) can mean: Philosophical skepticism - a philosophical position in which people choose to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true, and whether or not one can ever be said to have absolutely true knowledge; or Scientific skepticism - a scientific, or practical... Religious belief refers to a faith or creed concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine. ... Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729[1] – July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ...

Religious practices are most likely to be labeled "superstitious" by outsiders when they include belief in extraordinary events (miracles), an afterlife, supernatural interventions, apparitions or the efficacy of prayer, charms, incantations, the meaningfulness of omens, and prognostications. Miracles may be: Miracles, a 1989 film starring and directed by Jackie Chan. ... For other uses, see Afterlife (disambiguation). ... Generally, an apparition is act or instance of appearing. ... For other uses, see Prayer (disambiguation). ... Look up charm in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An incantation is the words spoken during a ritual. ... Examples of omens from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493): natural phenomena and strange births. ... For other uses, see Prophecy (disambiguation). ...

Greek and Roman pagans, who modeled their relations with the gods on political and social terms scorned the man who constantly trembled with fear at the thought of the gods, as a slave feared a cruel and capricious master. "Such fear of the gods (deisidaimonia) was what the Romans meant by 'superstition' (Veyne 1987, p 211). For Christians just such fears might be worn proudly as a name: Desdemona. Fear of God, often abbreviated to F.O.G., is a Swiss grindcore band who were active in the mid-80s. ...

The Roman Catholic Church considers superstition to be sinful in the sense that it denotes a lack of trust in the divine providence of God and, as such, is a violation of the first of the Ten Commandments. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states superstition "in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion" (para. #2110). Catholic Church redirects here. ... For other uses, see Sin (disambiguation). ... Trust is the belief in the good character of one party, presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes, law and their previous promises. ... In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is the sovereignty, superintendence, or agency of God over events in peoples lives and throughout history. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... This article is about a list of ten religious commandments. ... The Catechism of the Catholic Church, or CCC, is an official exposition of the teachings of the Catholic Church, first published in French in 1992 by the authority of Pope John Paul II.[1] Subsequently, in 1997, a Latin text was issued which is now the official text of reference...

The Catechism clearly dispels commonly held preconceptions or misunderstandings about Catholic doctrine relating to superstitious practices: This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Superstition is a deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand is to fall into superstition. Cf. Matthew 23:16-22 (para. #2111)

Superstition and magic

Superstitions differ from magic spells in that the former are generally passive if/then constructs while the latter contain formulae, recipes, petitions, prayers, and love songs for effecting future outcomes by means of symbolic, and perhaps non-causal activities. People who otherwise accept scientific de-mystification of the supernal world and do not consider themselves to be occultists or practitioners of magic, still may consider that it is "better to be safe than sorry" and observe some or many of the superstitions. Not to be confused with Magic (illusion). ... For other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation). ...

Hunting superstitions

• When a person goes out to hunt animals, the people who stay at home may not touch oil or water with their hands during the absence of their friend; for if they did so, the hunters would all be "butter-fingered" and the prey would "slip through their fingers".

• In the forests of ancient China, when a Nivkhs hunter was pursuing game his children were forbidden to make drawings on wood or in sand; they feared that if the children did so, the paths in the forest would become as complicated as the lines in the drawings and that the hunter might lose his way and never return.^[2]

The belief that there is a magical bond between a wound and the weapon which caused it may be traced unaltered for thousands of years: The Nivkhs (also Nivkh or Gilyak; ethnonym: Nivxi; language, нивхгу - Nivxgu) are an indigenous people inhabiting the region of the region of the Amur River estuary and on nearby Sakhalin Island. ...

• A Melanesian beleived that if he obtains possession of the weapon which caused his wound, he should carefully keep it in a cool place so as to reduce the inflammation of the wound. But if the weapon is left in the enemy's possession, it will undoubtedly be hung up close to the fire, causing the wound to become hot and inflamed.^[3]

• Roman officer and encyclopedist Pliny (in his Natural History, Book xxviii, Chapter 7) tells us that "if you have wounded a man and are sorry for it, you have only to spit on the hand that gave the wound, and the pain of the sufferer will be instantly alleviated."^[4]

• Francis Bacon (in his Sylva Sylvarum, X, 998) mentions that "it is constantly received and avouched that the anointing of the weapon that maketh the wound will heal the wound itself".^[5] This superstition was still in practice in eastern England in the 20th century: At Norwich in June 1902 a woman named Matilda Henry accidentally ran a nail into her foot. Without examining the wound, or even removing her stocking, she asked her daughter to grease the nail, thinking that if this were done no harm would come of the injury. Within few days she died of lockjaw.^[6]

Melanesia (from Greek black islands) is a region extending from the west Pacific to the Arafura Sea, north and north-east of Australia. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19th Century portrait. ... Naturalis Historia, 1669 edition, title page. ... for the painter see Francis Bacon (painter) For other persons named Francis Bacon, see Francis Bacon (disambiguation). ... Norwich (pronounced IPA: ) is a city in East Anglia, in Eastern England. ... Year 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Tetanus is a medical condition that is characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. ...

Pregnancy and baby superstitions

There are many superstitions connected with fertility, pregnancy, labor and birth, and caring for the baby in its vital most vulnerable early years. Fertility is the natural capability of giving life. ... This article is about human pregnancy in biological females. ... Birth is the process in animals by which an offspring is expelled from the body of its mother. ... The term baby can refer to: an infant a very early computer—the Small-Scale Experimental Machine, nicknamed Baby a musician – Brian Williams – who performs under the name Baby. ...

• A broom sweeps away the bad luck and evil spells that cause infertility. (Voodoo)
• If a woman puts two spoons in her saucer, she'll have ginger twins. (UK)
• If children pile cabbage stalks around the doors and windows of the house on Halloween, the fairies will bring them a new brother or sister. (Scotland)
• The baby will be born with a fish-head if the mother doesn't give in to her craving to eat fish. (French Canada)
• If a mother wears high heels during pregnancy, her baby will become cross-eyed. (Guyana)
• A mother should throw salt three times behind herself shortly before her 'Due Date' in order to ease her labour. (UK)

broom A broom is a cleaning tool consisting of stiff fibres attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. ... Infertility primarily refers to the biological inability of a man or a woman to contribute to conception. ... Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ... This article is about the holiday. ... by Sophie Anderson A fairy, or faery, is a creature from stories and mythology, often portrayed in art and literature as a minuscule humanoid with wings. ... [1] An independent rock band based in the Seacoast New Hampshire region of New England. ... This article is about human pregnancy in biological females. ... Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned with each other. ... For other uses, see Salt (disambiguation). ...

Wedding superstitions

Lots of superstitions surround weddings and honeymoons, more because of the obvious connection to fertility, conception and childbirth than actual luck or love in the marriage which was of secondary importance when such a high percentage of women died in childbirth. Some examples -

• Never choose a redhead as your bridesmaid as she will steal your groom. Likewise, wearing red to a wedding signals disrespect for the bride.
• Saturday is a bad day for getting married as it is ruled by Saturn, an unlucky planet associated with negative energies like jealousy
• Never buy a wedding dress that was first set aside for a wedding that never actually happened as it is jinxed
• Always make sure the sun is shining without clouds in the way; the clouds symbolize trouble.
• Before getting married, it is bad luck to buy your significant other a watch, as it symbolizes that the time of the relationship is running out.
• Rose petals are thrown before the bride as she walks down the aisle to ward off the evil spirits that live beneath the ground from coming up at her
• Bridesmaids should not wash the dishes or they will fall out with the married couple
• reference:The Bride's Book of Wedding Superstitions by Rosalind Franklin, ISBN 978-1846857706)

Other superstitions

• One's mentioning of a no-hitter ball game will cause the pitcher to give up a hit.
• Having one's foot swept by a broom will result in bad luck. The only way to ward off the results (often thought to be arrest or imprisonment) is to spit on the offending broom.
• A single magpie is considered a sign of bad luck.^[7]
• A gambler may credit a winning streak in poker to a lucky rabbit's foot or to sitting in a certain chair, rather than to skill or to the law of averages.^{[citation needed]}
• Many believe that if all of the candles on a birthday cake are blown out with one breath, while making a silent wish, the wish will come true.^{[citation needed]}
• Tetraphobia is widespread in China, Japan, Korea, and Hawaii; the number's use is minimized or avoided where possible. This is because the Chinese word for 4, sì, sounds nearly the same as the word for death, sǐ （死）. Mobile telephone numbers with 4 in them sell for less and some buildings even skip level four, labeling it the 5th floor instead. One of the Japanese words for 4, shi, is also homonymous with the kanji in the word for death, shi or shin. (However, there is another word for four in Japan that does not sound like death: yon.) In Korea, number '4' is pronounced as sa (사 四) and is homonymous with 'death (사 死)'. Some, but not all, Korean buildings have the fourth floor written as 'F' floor. [1]
• Triskaidekaphobia--In many Western cultures the number 13 is perceived as unlucky; 12a is sometimes used as a substitute [2] and some buildings skip floor 13 completely.
• Many believe that the United States two-dollar bill brings bad luck. Gamblers sometimes call it a "deuce", a term for two which also means "devil." To "undo", one of the bill's corners must be torn off, forming a triangle, an ancient symbol of life. If you receive a bill with no corners left, it must be torn all up.
• Spilling salt may cause a fight or argument during this day. There are several options to "undo" this which seem to relate to various ways of acknowledging the fact that salt was spilled with others present at the scene. One way to revert this is tossing some salt over one's left shoulder.
• Once leaving a residence it is bad luck to return if something was forgotten. If so, to "undo" the superstition, look in a mirror. Some people also believe smiling at oneself or showing one's tongue to oneself through a mirror is necessary.^{[citation needed]}
• When a creature/witch's familiar crosses one's path, the hex or bad spell placed on the creature will be transferred to you unless a protective spell (or the sign of the cross) is immediately made to cancel out the hex. (South Carolina, USA)
• Yellow Underwear is good luck.
• At times, a horseshoe may be found above doorways. When positioned like a regular 'U' it supposedly collects luck. However, when it is positioned like an upside-down 'U' the luck supposedly drains.
• If someone leaves a residence, nothing can be cleaned until that person gets to the next immediate destination. If cleaning is done, something may happen on his/her way. There appears to be no way to "undo" this. Although very rarely do people believe in this.
• Breaking a mirror may bring bad luck for 7 years. To "undo" this, take the shards of glass and bury them underneath the moonlight. In ancient times, the mirror was said to be a window to the viewer's soul. If that mirror were to break, it would take time (or 7 years) for that 'cracked' soul to heal as 'time heals all wounds'.
• If a penny is found heads up, it will grant good luck, however, tails up will grant bad luck. This can be "undone " by then giving the penny to someone else heads-up.
• If one walks underneath an open ladder it brings bad luck.
• Stepping on a crack in the sidewalk is believed to result in one's mother breaking her back.
• It is considered bad luck to open an Umbrella indoors.
• In Western cultures, black cats are considered unlucky; however in the rest of the world black cats are considered good luck.
• Placing a hat on the bed is bad luck. (South Carolina, USA)
• Placing a hat on a table is bad luck.
• Placing keys on a table means bad luck. (Sweden)
• Leaving a dwelling from a door different from the one you entered is bad luck. (South Carolina, USA)
• If one has a realistic bad dream, the next morning breakfast must be eaten before the dream can be mentioned or discussed. Otherwise, the bad dream will come true. (South Carolina, USA)
• It is bad luck to put new shoes on a bed (or a table) (comes from the tradition of dressing a corpse in new clothes and shoes and laying them out so everyone can give their respects) - (UK / Scotland)
• It is good luck to eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day. (American South, USA)
• Touching a bride before a wedding is considered good luck.^[8] Seeing her in her wedding dress before the wedding is also considered bad luck and is believed to lead to an unhappy marriage.
• A shark pursuing a ship means bad luck, especially if there are sick people onboard.
• Ancient roman soldiers often observed ants. If the ants were fighting, it meant the enemy was near.
• Eat a raw herring and you will see your future spouse.
• Collect seven or nine different flowers on midsummer eve and place them under your pillow and you will dream of your future spouse. (Sweden)

In baseball and softball, a no-hit game (more commonly known as a no-hitter) refers to a contest in which one of the teams has prevented the other from getting an official hit during the entire length of the game, which must be at least 9 innings by the... This article is about the bird. ... For the domestic fireplace tool, see fireplace poker. ... An exceptionally lucky rabbit gets to keep all four of its feet. ... The law of averages is a lay term used to express the view that eventually, everything evens out. ... Birthday Cake The birthday cake has been an integral part of the birthday tradition in Western cultures since the middle of the 19th century. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the Korean peninsula and civilization. ... Official language(s) English, Hawaiian Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Area  Ranked 43rd  - Total 10,931 sq mi (29,311 km²)  - Width n/a miles (n/a km)  - Length 1,522 miles (2,450 km)  - % water 41. ... The stall numbers at the Santa Anita Park Triskaidekaphobia is a fear of the number 13. ... For this articles equivalent regarding the East, see Eastern culture. ... 13 (thirteen) is the natural number following 12 and preceding 14. ... Face of the Series 1995 $2 bill Back of the Series 1995 $2 bill The United States two-dollar bill ($2) is a current denomination of U.S. currency. ... For other uses, see Salt (disambiguation). ... Laughing Child Laughter is the biological reaction of humans to moments or occasions of humor: an outward expression of amusement. ... “Familiar” redirects here. ... Modern horseshoes are most commonly made of steel and nailed into the hoof wall. ... This article is about fortune. ... Moonlight has several meanings: Moonlight is the light that is perceived as coming from the moon. ... For other uses, see Soul (disambiguation). ... For the NBA basketball player with the nickname see Penny Hardaway A variety of low value coins, including an Irish 2p piece and many U.S. pennies. ... This article is about the umbrella or parasol. ... Bride Bride in formal dress North America. ... Species Clupea alba Clupea bentincki Clupea caspiopontica Clupea chrysotaenia Clupea elongata Clupea halec Clupea harengus Clupea inermis Clupea leachii Clupea lineolata Clupea minima Clupea mirabilis Clupea pallasii Clupea sardinacaroli Clupea sulcata Herrings are small oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Atlantic... Midsummer may refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice and the diverse celebrations of it around the world, but more often refers to European celebrations that accompany the summer solstice, or to Western festivals that take place in June and are usually related to Saint John...

Superstition and psychology

In 1948, behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner published an article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, in which he describes his pigeons exhibiting what appeared to be superstitious behavior. One pigeon was making turns in its cage, another would swing its head in a pendulum motion, while others also displayed a variety of other behaviors. Because these behaviors were all done ritualistically in an attempt to receive food from a dispenser, even though the dispenser had already been programmed to release food at set time intervals regardless of the pigeons' actions, Skinner believed that the pigeons were trying to influence their feeding schedule by performing these actions. He then extended this as a proposition regarding the nature of superstitious behavior in humans.^[9] Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 _ August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist and author. ...

Skinner's theory regarding superstition being the nature of the pigeons' behavior has been challenged by other psychologists such as Staddon and Simmelhag, who theorized an alternative explanation for the pigeons' behavior.^[10]

Despite challenges to Skinner's interpretation of the root of his pigeons' superstitious behavior, his conception of the reinforcement schedule has been used to explain superstitious behavior in humans. Originally, in Skinner's animal research, "some pigeons responded up to 10,000 times without reinforcement when they had originally been conditioned on an intermittent reinforcement basis."^[11] Compared to the other reinforcement schedules (e.g. fixed ratio, fixed interval), these behaviors were also the most resistant to extinction^[11]. This is called the partial reinforcement effect, and this has been used to explain superstitious behavior in humans. To be more precise, this effect means that, whenever an individual performs an action expecting a reinforcement, and none seems forthcoming, it actually creates a sense of persistence within the individual.^[12] This strongly parallels superstitious behavior in humans because the individual feels that, by continuing this action, reinforcement will happen; or that reinforcement has come at certain times in the past as a result of this action, although not all the time, but this may be one of those times. Extinction in psychology refers to extinction of conditional reflexes when a reinforcement is witheld. ...

See also

• Magic
• Magical thinking
• Religion
• Taboo
• Numbers in Chinese culture
• Luck

Not to be confused with Magic (illusion). ... In psychology and cognitive science, magical thinking is non-scientific causal reasoning (e. ... This article is about cultural prohibitions in general, for other uses, see Taboo (disambiguation). ... In Chinese culture, certain numbers are believed by some to be auspicious (吉利) or inauspicious (不利) based on the Chinese word that the number name sounds similar to. ... This article is about fortune. ...

References