Superstitions, Old Wives Tales and old beliefs

In this advanced world of science and technology, and still many of us still cling to beliefs passed down from generation to generation.

Many beliefs abound regarding the sex of the baby. If you are carrying the baby high, it will be a boy, and if you are carrying low, it will be a girl. If you are carrying the baby in front, it will be a boy, if you are carrying the baby wide – if your belly expands from all over, it will be a girl.

An old European custom believes that Valentines Day begins the behaviors of birds choosing their mates. Another tale tells that a young girl will be able to tell what type of man she will marry based upon the first bird that she sees on Valentine's Day.

The bird associations, include:

Blackbird = clergyman or priest
Robin Redbreast = sailor or nautical man
Goldfinch (or any yellow bird) = rich man
Sparrow = farmer or country gentleman
Bluebird = happy man
Crossbill = argumentative man
Dove = good man
Woodpecker = no husband

Don't crack your knuckles — it causes arthritis.
"The 'cracking' is actually caused by the bursting of a bubble of nitrogen that forms inside the joint when the joint moves," says John Klippel, M.D., medical director of the Arthritis Foundation. "Popping your knuckles may be annoying to others, but it doesn't cause arthritis, enlarged joints or musculoskeletal problems."



If a bee enters your home, it's a sign that you will soon have a visitor. If you kill the bee, you will have bad luck, or the visitor will be unpleasant.

A bird in the house is a sign of a death.

If someone is sweeping the floor and sweeps over your feet, you'll never get married.

If a candle lighted as part of a ceremony blows out, it is a sign that evil spirits are nearby.

If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.

Keep cats away from babies because they "suck the breath" of the child.

Its bad luck to leave a house through a different door than the one used to come into it.

If your right ear itches, someone is speaking well of you. If your left ear itches, someone is speaking ill of you.

If a young girl catches a ladybug and then releases it, the direction in which it flies away will be the direction from which her future husband will come.

Ivy growing on a house protects the inhabitants from evil.

Feed a cold and starve a fever

The number of Xs in the palm of your right hand is the number of children you will have

Two people pull apart the dried breastbone of a chicken or turkey until it cracks and breaks, each one making a wish while doing so. The person who gets the long half of the wishbone will have his or her wish come true.

Knock three times on wood after mentioning good fortune so evil spirits won't ruin it.

All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.

Place a hand in front of your mouth when sneezing. Your soul may escape otherwise.

To break a mirror means 7 years bad luck.

FRIDAY THE 13TH - how is fear of the number thirteen demonstrated? More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
Many airports skip the 13th gate.
Airplanes have no 13th aisle.
Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13. I
Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue in France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.
Many triskaidekaphobia, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.
If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names.


Much of the wisdom women impart is based on some strange concatenation of superstition, folklore and myth ... all of it in the public domain and freely circulated and adapted to apply to almost any situation. Even when it's logic-free or contradictory.


There are so many different wives tales, what is you favorite?

I think the funniest one is the one my grandma told me over and over. If you look into a microwave while it’s cooking you will get cancer. I was so scared of microwaves when I was little.