How many of these superstitions have you done? I can pick out at least four which I have done. One I knew was iffy but I reasoned it away as being okay.

Do you know others which did not make this list?

• Never county the number of cars in a funeral procession.
• Never point at a funeral procession, its bad luck.
• Never take flowers from a grave.
• If you spill salt, immediately throw some over your left shoulder to keep the Devil at bay.
• An owl hooting outside of your window for three nights in a row foretells a death – yours of someone close to you.
• Here are some other death superstitions you may have heard.

Death superstitions involving nature:

• Flowers will grow on the grave of someone who lived a good line. Only weeds grow on the grave of someone who was evil.
• If a bird flies into your window, there has been a death.
• If you see an owl during the day, there will be a death close to you.
• An owl hooting outside of your window for three nights in a row foretells a death, yours of someone close to you.
• If lightening strikes near the house when someone is dying, the devil has come for their soul.
• If it rains in an open grave, it’s bad luck for the family.
• If there is a thunderstorm during a funeral, the deceased has gone to hell.
• If there is thunder following a burial then the deceased has reached heaven.

Physical death superstitions:

• Hold your breath when passing a graveyard so evil can’t enter.
• Another version is: If you don’t hold your breath when passing a cemetery, you will not be buried.
• If you have an involuntary shiver, someone has just walked over your grave.
• If you cast a headless shadow then you will die in the next year.
• If you lie down in a coffin you are taunting death to come and take you.
• Never whistle in a graveyard, you are summoning the Devil.
• Never wear anything new to a funeral. (Shoes seem to have particular significance.)
• Coins should be placed on the eyes of the deceased to pay the ferryman, Charon, to row the departed across the underworld river Styx.

Death superstitions in your home:

• Howling dogs in the night signify that someone ill in the house will die soon.
• If a picture suddenly falls off of the wall, someone you know has died.
• You should stop all clocks in the house where someone dies or it will bring bad luck.
• Open a window in the room when someone dies so that they can move on.
• Cover all mirrors after a death – so that the soul doesn’t get trapped in them.
• A casket must be carried out with the deceased’s feet first.

Death and the number 3:

• If you hear three knocks and no one is there, someone close to you has died.
• If only 3 candles are lit in a room, the person closest to the shortest candle will be the first to die.
• Death comes in threes.

Death superstitions about the graveyard:

• A metal cross on a grave will hold the spirit there.
• A body should be placed in the grave with its head to the west and feet to the east so that when it rises up it will face the sun. Never remove anything from a gravesite.
• It is bad luck to walk on graves.
• It is bad luck to trip when you’re in a cemetery.
• Being buried on the north side of the church is considered unlucky because of the lack of sun. That area is usually reserved for criminals and suicides.
• It is bad luck to go into a cemetery at night, or to be there at the stroke of midnight.

This list is from Joy Neighbors - A Grave Interest

Human babies can produce “Witch’s Milk” shortly after their birth. It odd, but true, and not something to be alarmed about.

While a baby develops in the womb he/she is exposed to a lot of estrogen. Estrogen causes the Mother's breasts to swell and get ready to produce milk for the baby. The baby, being directly attached to its Mother, also has estrogen in its body. Sometimes this causes the baby's breasts to swell and after birth they can leak what looks like milk. Its just short term, gone in a couple of weeks as the estrogen leaves the baby.

Of course, in the Middle Ages, people did not understand how or why this happened. It seemed to them witches must cause this. Intending to use the milk as a particular treat for their familiars, demons, or anything else that looked a little suspicious. Some parents created baby sized rag dolls to sleep in the crib with the baby, hoping to trick the Witches.

Which makes me wonder... were these the first rag dolls? It seems possible.

Are you superstitous? Don't deny it too quickly. There are sorts of little things we do without even considering them to be a superstition. Do you read horoscopes? How much credit do you give to them? Would you consider your day not as great if you have a poor horoscope? Kind of superstitious aren't you?

Wicca and Witchcraft are full of superstition though we might deny it. I think, Pagans in general, try to distance themselves from the occult and the superstitions which have all gotten a bad reputation.

It's funny cause the very stuff they deny is partly what their beliefs are based on. Occult was a word long before Wicca. Meanwhile, I expect superstitions have been around right from the first people on the planet.

Most people think about superstitions around weddings, births and deaths, the major life events. I think those are the times when we are most off balance, in need of some extra sign or guidance that everything will be ok. That's really what a superstition is. Just that extra assurance that you're going to be all right.

Of course, some superstitions are safety precautions. You should avoid walking under ladders, breaking mirrors and squishing spiders. Not because you fear having a run of bad luck but because it's less likely ladders will fall on your head, glass will cut your hand and spiders are needed for eating other bugs. It's all logical and reasonable.

So go ahead and avoid stepping on cracks, tossing salt over your shoulder and so on, guilt free. Superstitions might be soffed but they have their own purpose and history. As long as they harm none what's the harm in humouring your own superstitions?

Are superstitions rituals in disguise?

I have a superstition passed on from my Mother. Don't turn the calendar page before the first of the new month. So, I always wait till the first to look at the next page in the calendar. Why, I'm not sure. I don't think I believe I'll jinx the fresh month, but it doesn't hurt to be safe, right?

Could this habit, this superstition be based on a ritual? Yes, of course it is. Isn't it a pretty common ritual to buy a new calendar for each new year and flip the pages once a month? Sure, so that's a ritual. It may not include anything extravagant like being skyclad during the middle of a hailstorm, trying to keep all the pretty green candles from blowing out in the gale force winds... but it's a ritual all the same.

Think of other superstitions, you likely follow a few yourself. Do you avoid stepping on cracks, do you toss salt over your shoulder, do you always pick the inside copies of magazines on the bookstore shelf?

What makes one a ritual and the other a superstition? I think at some point every superstition was someone's ritual, we've just outgrown them. Some of them.

Get a book of superstitions next time you're at the library or bookstore. Take a look at some of the superstitions for every day things. I'm sure they all have a reasonable basis. Take into account that the people were not in the technology age and the church still held everyone caught in fear for their souls. Make note of some superstitions and think about how they could be added to your own magick rituals. Give fresh life to rituals from the past.

Are superstitions rituals in disguise?

I have a superstition passed on from my Mother. Don't turn the calendar page before the first of the new month. So, I always wait till the first to look at the next page in the calendar. Why, I'm not sure. I don't think I believe I'll jinx the fresh month, but it doesn't hurt to be safe, right?

Could this habit, this superstition be based on a ritual? Yes, of course it is. Isn't it a pretty common ritual to buy a new calendar for each new year and flip the pages once a month? Sure, so that's a ritual. It may not include anything extravagant like being skyclad during the middle of a hailstorm, trying to keep all the pretty green candles from blowing out in the gale force winds... but it's a ritual all the same.

Think of other superstitions, you likely follow a few yourself. Do you avoid stepping on cracks, do you toss salt over your shoulder, do you always pick the inside copies of magazines on the bookstore shelf?

What makes one a ritual and the other a superstition? I think at some point every superstition was someone's ritual, we've just outgrown them. Some of them.

Get a book of superstitions next time you're at the library or bookstore. Take a look at some of the superstitions for every day things. I'm sure they all have a reasonable basis. Take into account that the people were not in the technology age and the church still held everyone caught in fear for their souls. Make note of some superstitions and think about how they could be added to your own magick rituals. Give fresh life to rituals from the past.

Originally posted to 'BackWash: Where the Wild Things Are' newsletter, February, 2, 2003.