The ides of March

Astrology has been a rampant theme in several Shakespearean plays, together with omens, folklores & superstitions. The soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar, “Beware the ides of March,”  has made today subconsciously linked with a sense of foreboding. Despite all science, the human mind can be trained to shun logic and stick to intuition. 

Here’s a collection of some rather whacky superstitions from around the world:

#1: Korea: Don’t wash your hair on an exam day. Apparently, people believed that when they washed their hair, their memories were cleaned by the water, making them forget the stuff they had studied.

#2: Mexico, America: Counting stars will make your eyes look like those of a fish, or cause corns on your feet.

#3: Korea: If you marry someone with a five years difference in age, you’ll fight with your spouse every day, but you won’t get divorced. If you marry someone six years older or younger than you, you and your spouse will live happily, but you will always be beggars. 

#4: Russia: If you look in a broken mirror, you’ll have bad luck. If you eat and look in a mirror at the same time, you will choke your luck. If you drink at the same moment you look in a mirror, you will improve your luck.

#5: Thailand: You will meet your soul mate soon if you dream that a snake is holding you tightly.

#6: Turkey: If you stand between two people whose names are the same, you should wish for something because your wish will come true.

#7: Venezuela: Never give a packet of handkerchiefs as a present because if you do, this can make the two people (the giver and the receiver) have a fight.

#8: Afghanistan: If you don’t cover your bald head, it will start raining.

#9: Bangladesh: If you eat an egg (especially a boiled egg) before appearing for an exam, it will make you get a result like an egg – a zero.

#10: Portugal: Find a penny, pick it up, all day long, you’ll have good luck.

Since we just passed Friday the 13th, I was tempted to read up on paraskevidekatriaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th, which primarily stems from the combination of Friday (considered unlucky in Nordic mythology) and the number 13. Its origins are vague, mostly passed down in oral tradition. 

Do you believe in superstitions? What superstitions did you grow up with?

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14 Comments

  1. Pingback: Daily Horoscopes on Sunday 15th of March 2009
  2. ha ha ha….

    #my home : Cover the mirrors at night …. coz if you see your reflection in the mirror after midnight … it can have adverse effects ….. lol

  3. Not to have a haircut on tuesdays:)

  4. 1. It’s good luck when a bird poops on your head (eeuch)
    2. The one for sorrow, two for joy rule when you see Mynahs or Ravens
    ..i’m sure there are more but i cant remember 🙁

  5. I didn’t have any! But i was forced to follow few things which I now feel were my parent’s superstitions 🙂

  6. Hey! The Bangladesh one persists in Bengal also!

    It’s a complete no no for us to have boiled egg before an exam & more so b4 a MATH exam! 😀

    Aanda khaya toh Aanda milega! 🙂

  7. Hi this blog is great I will be recommending it to friends.

  8. Where are Indian’s superstitions???
    We have zillions of them… 🙂
    Mine are that I dont blog on the 8th day of the week!! 😉

  9. LOL… 😀 😀
    Good collection of global nonsense! 😀

  10. I love breaking all the superstitions to see if they are true. 🙂
    Nothing has happened till now!

  11. docmitasha says:

    people are surprised to know im superstitious, but i am. i always knock on wood when i say something that may jinx good luck. i am careful with energy where i live. won’t go into more specifics but i dont do any crazy stuff 😉

    koreans are big on superstitions. really. almost as much as the chinese.

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