Breaking a mirror

Back in the glory days of TFI Friday, Chris Evans stuck two fingers up at superstition by obliterating a mirror with a bowling ball. And while we’ll never know if his subsequent years in the media wilderness were the price he paid for such folly/ bravery, there’s no doubt that a mirror breaking is seen by many as a portent of seven years’ bad luck (or at best a niggling feeling of dread). The Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Chinese all believed that when a person looked into a mirror, their soul would transfer into the reflection – and it followed that if the glass was broken as they looked into it, the soul within it would also be harmed. The cure: bury the pieces, or run them in a stream.

The superstition has evolved over time, and by the early 1800s a broken mirror was said to signify the death of a family member or friend. Thankfully, this was eventually downgraded and the first reference to someone smashing a mirror getting seven years’ bad luck dates from 1851.

Shoes on a table

Another of the superstitions in our list that is driven by mortal fear as opposed to good fortune, leaving shoes on a table is said to either a) invite death into the house or b) bring into the house the bad luck associated with an executed criminal. And given these two supposed possible outcomes it’s hardly surprising it remains in our national psyche as the ninth most common superstition in Britain (according to a 2010 survey). “People tend to hang on to superstitions when the ‘stakes’ are high,” says Dr Stephens, “and if it’s an outcome that they could have no possible control over.” Like death.

The back story is that after criminals were executed by hanging, the noose would be loosened, their bodies would lower and their boots would tap on to the wooden surface below. Thankfully, even if you do invoke the curse, it will be lifted when the person who placed the shoes on the table removes them.

Touching wood

According to a survey in 2010, touching wood is one of Britain’s most common superstitions and it’s one of a select few that have become an almost everyday habit (along with ‘making a wish’ and ‘crossing your fingers’).

Its origins, however, are unclear. According to some, it derives from a Pagan belief that malevolent spirits inhabited wood, and that if you talked about a hope for the future you should touch (or knock) the nearest piece of it to prevent the spirits from hearing – and subsequently scuppering your plans.

Others claim it harks back to a sect of monks who wore large wooden crosses which they tapped to ward away evil, while yet another scenario is that it’s a curious hangover of a 19th-century children’s game like ‘tag’, called Tiggy Touch Wood.

There’s an element of association with superstitions,” says Dr Stephens. “If it ‘works’ for you once, you’ll do it again.” So, even if we know realistically we’re not going to be plagued by bad luck if we walk under a ladder or open our brolly indoors, we’re certainly not going to start taking the risk.

Are you superstitious? Or are there any strange rituals you adhere to? Let us know in the comments section below

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