One of the most common things in the world are superstitions. Superstitions can be found everywhere and in almost everyone. Some of them are cultural and some of them are unique to each person. Some of the most successful people in the world have superstitions, which they observe with rigid dedication. Learn more about superstitions and where they come from on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
I feel like I'm missing out because it seems like everyone is either starting a side hustle or becoming their own boss. And you know what they're hearing a lot? That's the sound of another sale on Shopify, the all-in-one commerce platform to start, run or grow your business. Shopify is the commerce platform revolutionizing millions of businesses worldwide. Whether you're selling books or...
bracelets or donuts or dresses. Shopify simplifies selling online and in person so you can successfully grow your business. Covering all your sales channels from a shopfront-ready POS system to its all-in-one e-commerce platform, Shopify even gets you selling across social media marketplaces like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Full of the industry-leading tools ready to ignite your growth, Shopify gives you complete control over your business and your brand without learning new skills in design or coding. We all have a moment where we revolutionize our business.
My name's Andrew Gold. I'm a British journalist and I only recently turned my podcast Heretics into a... thriving business recently and shopify is exactly the kind of thing that takes you from idea and concept into the land of success and entrepreneurship and a whole lot of Ka-ching. Remember that sound from the beginning? That's the sign your business is healthy. It's time to get serious about selling and get Shopify today. This is possibility.
powered by shopify sign up for a one pound per month trial period at shopify.co.uk slash glass box all lowercase. Go to shopify.co.uk slash glassbox to take your business to the next level today. shopify.co.uk slash glassbox. I'd like to introduce you to Story Pirates. the award-winning podcast where talented comedians and songwriters transform kids' stories into laugh-out-loud sketch comedy and catchy original songs.
Featuring crazy, wacky, clever tales straight from kids' imaginations, this show is a must-listen for children and grown-ups alike. Why will you love Story Pirates? First, all the stories are by kids, for kids. The performers are from such notable shows as SNL, Sesame Street, and The Tonight Show. You'll hear guest stars like Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kristen Bell, and Steph Curry. And it's been recognized by the Webby Awards and downloaded over 85 million times.
Ready to laugh, sing, and be inspired? Join the millions of listeners tuning in to Story Pirates. Listen to Story Pirates wherever you get your podcasts. There are an awful lot of superstitions in the world, so I'll start with one of the most common, black cats. The superstition that black cats bring bad luck has roots in medieval Europe, where they were often associated with witchcraft and the supernatural.
In many parts of Europe, black cats were believed to be the familiars or even the shape-shifting forms of witches, and spotting one was thought to indicate the presence of evil forces. During the Salem Witch Trials, black cats were used as evidence of witchcraft, further cementing their unlucky reputation.
Additionally, their nocturnal nature and dark color, which made them hard to see at night, contributed to the belief that they were mysterious and linked to bad omens. I should note that black cats were not always a negative superstition. Some people considered them positive superstitions. Black cats are considered good luck in Japan, parts of Scotland, Italy, and Latvia. Ship crews would often select black cats as their ship cat to catch any rats aboard a ship.
an item that many people consider lucky is horseshoes traditionally made of iron a material believed to ward off evil spirits horseshoes were thought to protect against malevolent forces Iron was considered magical because it could withstand fire and was used to forge weapons, tools, and protective items. The horseshoe's crescent shape resembled a crescent moon, a symbol of fertility and prosperity in many cultures.
This association with growth and renewal further enhanced its reputation as a bringer of good fortune. In medieval Christian lore, Saint Dunstan, a blacksmith, was said to have tricked the devil by nailing a horseshoe to his hoof. He agreed to remove it only if the devil promised to never enter a house with a horseshoe above the door. This story cemented the horseshoe's image as a talisman of protection. Horseshoes also typically have seven nail holes.
And the number seven is often considered lucky or sacred in many cultures, further contributing to the belief in their luck-bringing properties. Another popular lucky talisman is a rabbit's foot. Rabbits have been long associated with fertility and abundance due to their prolific breeding habits. In many cultures, carrying a part of a rabbit such as its foot was thought to transfer those qualities of prosperity and good fortune to the owner.
Specific conditions in the superstition state that the rabbit's foot must be the left hind foot, as it was believed to have the strongest magical properties. The animal was often supposed to have been captured in a cemetery under the light of a full moon, tying the tradition to occult practices and magical rituals. Many people consider the number 13 unlucky.
Many buildings will skip the 13th floor. If you look closely at the elevators in many buildings, they go right from 12 to 14. Furthermore, some people consider Friday the 13th an unlucky day. Many people, including Winston Churchill, considered having 13 guests at the same table to be unlucky. Fear of the number 13 is clinically known as Triskaidekaphobia, which was first recorded in 1911.
No one is really sure where the superstition about the number 13 comes from. One theory is that it comes from the Christian tradition. The Last Supper had 13 attendees, Jesus and his 12 disciples. Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, was the thirteenth guest, cementing the number's association with betrayal and misfortune. Another theory holds that in Norse mythology, Loki the trickster god was the uninvited 13th guest at a banquet in Valhalla.
His arrival led to chaos and the death of Balder, the beloved god, reinforcing the idea of 13 as unlucky. And yet another theory holds that in numerology, the number 12 is considered a symbol of completeness. because there are 12 months in a year, 12 signs in the zodiac, there were 12 apostles, etc. In addition to the fact that the number 12 is evenly divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.
Adding 1 to this complete number is thought to disrupt balance and harmony, thus making 13 seem irregular or ominous. As with other superstitions, some people consider 13 to be lucky. Some Italians consider 13 lucky, as does Taylor Swift. She used to draw the number 13 on the back of her hand before each performance.
and the reason has to do with the number 13 appearing fortuitously at many points in her life and her just leaning into it. I should also note that while Italians consider 13 lucky, they consider 17 unlucky. Many people believe that spilling salt will bring bad luck, and if you should happen to do it, you have to toss a pinch of it over your left shoulder. In ancient times, salt was a highly valuable and scarce resource.
sometimes used as currency, hence the origin of the word salary from the Latin salarium. Spilling it was seen as wasteful and disrespectful, potentially bringing bad fortune. Salt was also believed to have purifying and protective properties. Spilling it might symbolically break its protective barrier leaving one vulnerable to misfortune or evil.
The superstition gained traction in the Christian traditions due to Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper. In the painting, Judas Iscariot is depicted with a spilt salt shaker near his elbow. The association tied spilled salt to betrayal and bad luck. To counteract the bad luck of spilled salt, a common remedy involves tossing a pinch of the spilled salt over the left shoulder.
The left side is traditionally associated with evil or the devil in many cultures, and the act of throwing the salt is thought to blind or repel any malevolent forces that might be lurking there. Some speculate that the superstition may have been a way to emphasize the importance of carefully handling salt given its value and utility in preserving food. Another superstition is that when people are hoping for good luck, they will cross their fingers.
This is more of a superstition in the UK and former British colonies. In pre-Christian Europe, crossing fingers was a way to invoke spirits or deities to grant a wish or bring protection. The intersection of two fingers symbolized a cross or unity thought to trap positive energy and ward off evil. With the rise of Christianity, the gesture took on religious connotation.
The crossed fingers were seen as a subtle representation of the Christian cross, a symbol of faith, hope, and divine intervention. Early Christians often used the gesture in times of persecution to silently signal their faith and seek protection. Crossing fingers became associated with making wishes as it was thought to bring focus and divine favor to one's hopes. The gesture was often performed in secret, emphasizing its personal and mystical nature.
Cross fingers have a very different meaning in some countries, such as Vietnam, where it's considered rude. In some parts of continental Europe, the same idea is conveyed by holding your thumbs. Many of the superstitions I've mentioned so far are actually ones that are common in Western countries, but not necessarily all of them. Some superstitions are specific to certain countries. For example,
the number four is considered unlucky in China. The reason for this is very straightforward. The number four and the word for death are very similar to each other. The superstition regarding the number four manifests itself in many different ways. For example, many car owners in China avoid license plates that end in the number four.
In Beijing, they will restrict car usage based on the last number of the license plate. Two numbers are restricted each weekday to cut down on congestion and pollution. The days where 4 and 9 are restricted are the days with the highest congestion because so few cars have a license plate that ends in 4. One of the best examples of avoidance of the number four that I've personally seen is at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas. The Aria was built with the goal of catering to Chinese gamblers in mind.
As such, the hotel has no fourth floor, and also no floors in the 40s. In the elevator, the floor after floor 39 is floor 50. And just for good measure, it's also missing the 13th floor as well. One unique superstition to Britain is what you do when you see a single magpie without any others. Encountering a magpie by itself is considered bad luck.
So if you come across one, you're supposed to greet the magpie and say something like, good morning, Mr. Magpie, how is your family? Or good morning, Mr. Magpie, how is your lady wife today? Even tipping your hat or some other form of acknowledgement is necessary to ward away the bad luck. Some superstitions are specific to certain industries and communities.
One such group that has several notable superstitions is the theater world. The first notable superstition is that you are to never say the word Macbeth in a theater. If it is referenced, it's referred to as the Scottish play, the Bard's play, or something to that effect. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most intense and dark tragedies, featuring themes of ambition and murder in the supernatural.
The inclusion of witches in their incantations was controversial, as many people in the 17th century believed in the real power of witchcraft. Legend suggests that Shakespeare used actual spells in the witches' dialogue, angering real witches who cursed the play. Tales of accidents and misfortunes reinforced the superstition during early productions.
For example, in the first recorded performance in 1606, the actor playing Lady Macbeth reportedly died suddenly and subsequent productions were marred by injuries, accidents, and even fatalities. Numerous modern productions of Macbeth have had unfortunate incidents such as accidents, technical failures, and injuries perpetuating the superstition. Laurence Olivier narrowly avoided injury when a stage weight crashed during his 1937 performance.
And in 1942, during a production directed by John Gielgud, three actors died and the costume designer committed suicide. If someone accidentally says the name Macbeth, they are required to perform a cleansing ritual such as exiting the theater, spinning around three times, spitting, cursing, knocking on the door before re-entering, or quoting a line from another Shakespeare play.
Another theater superstition is avoiding saying good luck. In theater lore, saying good luck is thought to tempt fate or bring bad luck instead. By wishing for something undesirable like... breaking a leg, the hope is that the opposite will occur. No one's really sure where the superstition originated. One theory holds that breaking was another way of saying bending.
and that bending your leg was another way of saying taking a bow at the end of the show. Regardless of where and when it originated, its modern manifestation dates back to the early 1920s. And it might have come from understudies sarcastically telling actors with the main roles to break a leg so that they would get the part. Some people have their own personal superstitious idiosyncrasies.
Perhaps nobody was more superstitious than the Hall of Fame baseball player Wade Boggs. Boggs had a host of superstitions that dominated his life. Boggs was known as the Chicken Man. because he ate chicken before every game. This pre-game meal became such a staple of his routine that it even inspired a cookbook called Foul Tips featuring chicken recipes. He had an incredibly precise routine leading up to every game.
He took batting practice at exactly 5.17pm every day, and he ran sprints at precisely 7.17pm. This hyper-specific timing became a hallmark of his superstitious nature. During games, Boggs would write the Hebrew word chai, the word that means life, in the dirt before each at bat. He wasn't Jewish himself, he just believed that the practice had brought him good luck and positive energy.
Boggs always took the field at the same time during warm-ups, and he followed a meticulous process of putting on his uniform and preparing his gear, ensuring that everything was done the same way every time. Did any of this help? Well, he thought it did, and you can't really argue with the results. He won five batting titles, was a 12-time All-Star, and made it to the Hall of Fame. Superstitions play a role in providing psychological comfort.
structure and a sense of control in situations of uncertainty or stress they often arise from cultural traditions historical beliefs or personal rituals and serve as a way to cope with the unpredictability of life While they may lack any scientific basis whatsoever, their persistence highlights humanity's deep desire for meaning in a complex world.
The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Kiever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single day. And also, Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise is available to the top tier of supporters.
If you'd like to talk to other listeners of the show and members of the Completionist Club, you can join the Everything Everywhere daily Facebook group or Discord server. Links to everything are in the show notes.