Superstitions and omens. Do we believe in it?

What are superstitions?
Superstitions are beliefs or practices for which there appears to be no rational substance. It is a term designated to these beliefs that result from ignorance and fear of the unknown. Those who use the term imply that they have certain knowledge or superior evidence for their scientific, philosophical, or religious convictions.
An ambiguous word, it probably cannot be used ecxept subjectively. Ignorance of natural causes leads to the belief that certain striking phenomena express the will or the anger of some invisible overruling power, and the objects in which such phenomena appear are forthwith deified, as example, in Nature-worship. Conversely, many superstitious practices are due to an exaggerated notion or a false interpretation of natural events, so that effects are sought which are beyond the efficiency of physical causes. Curiosity also with regard to things that are hidden or are still in the future plays a considerable part, example, in the various kinds of divination. With this qualification in mind, superstitions may be classified roughly as religious, cultural and personal.
All religious beliefs and practices may seem superstitious to the person without religion.
Superstitions that belong to the cultural tradition are enormous in their variety. Nearly all persons, in nearly times, have held, seriously, irrational beliefs concerning methods of warding off ill or bringing good, foretelling the future, and healing and preventing sickness and accidents. A few specific folk traditions, such as beliefs in the evil eye or in the efficacy of amulets, have been found in most periods of history and in most parts of the world. Others may be limited to one country, region or village, to one family, or to one social or vocational group.
Finally, people develop personal superstitions: a student writes a good form of literary piece with a certain pen, and from that moment the pen is lucky; a horseplayer may be convinced that black horses run well for him.
Superstitions has been deeply influential in history. Even in so-called modern times, in a day when objective evidence is highly valued, there are few people who would not, if pressed, admit to cherishing secretly one or two irrational beliefs or superstitions. Such superstitious ideas persist not withstanding the evidence which oppose their validity.

Some polish superstitions:

1. If you see a black cat you will have bad luck.
2. If you pass under ladder you will have bad luck.
3. If you see chimney-sweeper you will have to catch your button and your dream will be satisfy.
4. If you drop your exercise-book you will have to trample it.
5. If today is thirteenth Friday you will have bad luck.
6. If you forget something from house and you must go back from this you will have to seat on chair.
7. If you break a mirror you will have seven years bad luck.
8. If you go married you will have to have something blue, old and borrow.
9. If you say something horrifying or will have to rap in no painting wood.
10. If you want that somebody have a luck you will have to hold thumbs behind him.
11. If you see nun when you go to school and you turn three time’s over right arm you will have good luck in school.
    

British superstitions:

1. Lucky to meet a black cat.
2. Lucky to touch wood. We touch; knock on wood, to make something come true.
3. Lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves.
4. White heather is lucky.
5. A horseshoe over the door brings good luck. But the horseshoe needs to be the right way up. The luck runs out of the horseshoe if it is upside down.
6. Horseshoes are generally a sign of good luck and feature on many good luck cards.
7. On the first day of the month it is lucky to say "white rabbits, white rabbits white rabbits," before uttering your first word of the day.
8. Catch falling leaves in Autumn and you will have good luck. Every leaf means a lucky month next year.
9. Cut your hair when the moon is waxing and you will have good luck.
10. Putting money in the pocket of new clothes brings good luck.

11. Unlucky to walk underneath a ladder.
12. Seven years bad luck to break a mirror. The superstition is supposed to have originated in ancient times, when mirrors were considered to be tools of the gods.
13. Unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc..
14. Unlucky to spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.
15. Unlucky to open an umbrella in doors.
16. The number thirteen is unlucky. Friday the thirteenth is a very unlucky day.
17. Unlucky to put new shoes on the table.

Omens

An omen is a sign that relates to a future event. It may or may not give a time frame as to when this event will occur.
Some omens are signs of good fortune while others are a sign of impending misfortune.

Death omens

Death Omens are found in many different cultures and in almost every part of the world. They can be as simple as watching a picture fall off the wall or as hard to understand as the cry of the banshee. The list of omens is quite long. Why is this? Why do people search for these clues? What is the obsession that humans have with death?The quick and simple answer to the questions above is that death is something most of us do not fully understand. We do not and cannot know with 100% certainty what if anything is on the other side. We wait until our time comes and it is our turn to find out what lies behind the dreaded word death.Some people turn to their faith and take comfort in what they are taught. Others try to learn as much as they can about the physical processes of death and dying. The problem with the latter is that you can learn about the physical aspects of death and dying, you can be shown and taught what to look for when the time is near, but once a person has died there is nothing to learn any further. In the end the results are always the same. No one knows what's on the other side until we get there. As humans the unknown and the inability to control things puts us on guard and makes us uneasy. So we continue our quest for understanding the unknown.

Simple Warnings that a death is about to happen:

1. A picture that falls of the wall for no apparent reason
2. A clock that stops
3. A clock that fails to chime or ring
4. A mirror that breaks while still on the wall
5. A cat that leave the home and will not re-enter it
6. A bird pecking at a window
7. An owl seen during the daytime
8. A dog that howls for no reason during the night

More complex warnings:

1. Hearing a mournful cry or howl
2. For Irish families this could be the warning cry of the banshee
3. Hearing horse hoofs or a carriage outside your home
4. Could be the sound of the Coach-a-Bower
5. Seeing a black dog with or without glowing eyes
6. Could be the black shuck or "death dog"
7. Death Visions

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