Superstitions C - L

CANDLE	If a candle lighted as part of a ceremony blows out, it is a sign that evil spirits are nearby.
CALF	If the first calf born during the winter is white, the winter will be a bad one.
CAT	If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.
	Keep cats away from babies because they "suck the breath" of the child.
	A cat onboard a ship is considered to bring luck.
CHEEKS	If your cheeks suddenly feel on fire, someone is talking about you.
CHILL	If you get a chill up your back or goosebumps, it means that someone is walking over your grave.
CHIMNEY SWEEP	It's very lucky to meet a chimney sweep by chance. Make a wish when sighting one, and the wish will come true.
CIGARETTES	It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same match.
CIRCLE	Evil spirits can't harm you when you stand inside a circle.
CLOCK	If a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family.
CLOVER	It's good luck to find a four-leaf clover.
	Clover protects human beings and animals from the spell of magicians and the wiles of fairies, and brings good luck to those who keep it in the house.
COIN	It's bad luck to pick up a coin if it's tails side up. Good luck comes if it's heads up.
COMB	To drop a comb while you are combing your hair is a sign of a coming disappointment.
COUGH	To cure a cough: take a hair from the coughing person's head, put it between two slices of buttered bread, feed it to a dog, and say, "Eat well you hound, may you be sick and I be sound."
COW	Cows lifting their tails is a sure sign that rain is coming.
CRACK	Don't step on a crack on a sidewalk or walkway.
	Step on a crack Break your mother's back.
CRICKET	A cricket in the house brings good luck.
COUNTING CROWS	One's bad, Two's luck, Three's health, Four's wealth, Five's sickness, Six is death.

DANDELION	Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.
DEATH	Superstitions about death
DOG	A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen.
DOOR	It's bad luck to leave a house through a different door than the one used to come into it.
DREAMS	The meaning of dreams and dream superstitions
EARS	If your right ear itches, someone is speaking well of you.
	If your left ear itches, someone is speaking ill of you.
	Left for love and right for spite: Left or right, good at night.
EASTER	For good luck throughout the year, wear new clothes on Easter.
ELEPHANT	Pictures of an elephant bring luck, but only if they face a door.
EYE	If your right eye twitches there will soon be a birth in the family. If the left eye twitches there will soon be a death in the family.
	To cure a sty, stand at a crossroads and recite Sty, sty, leave my eye Take the next one coming by.
EYELASH	If an eyelash falls out, put it on the back of the hand, make a wish and throw it over your shoulder. If it flies off the hand the wish will be granted.
FINGERNAILS	It is bad luck to cut your fingernails on Friday or Sunday.
	Fingernail cuttings should be saved, burned, or buried.
FISH	A fish should always be eaten from the head toward the tail.
	Dream of fish: someone you know is pregnant.
FISHING	Throw back the first fish you catch then you'll be lucky the whole day fishing.
	If you count the number of fish you caught, you will catch no more that day.
	It's bad luck to say the word "pig" while fishing at sea.
FLAG	It brings bad luck for a flag to touch the ground.
FLOWER	First Flower of Spring: The day you find the first flower of the season can be used as an omen: Monday means good fortune, Tuesday means greatest attempts will be successful, Wednesday means marriage, Thursday means warning of small profits, Friday means wealth, Saturday means misfortune, Sunday means excellent luck for weeks.
FOOT	If the bottom of your right foot itches, you are going to take a trip.
FORK	To drop a fork means a man is coming to visit.

FRIDAY	A bed changed on Friday will bring bad dreams.
	Any ship that sails on Friday will have bad luck.
	You should never start a trip on Friday or you will meet misfortune.
	Never start to make a garment on Friday unless you can finish it the same day.
FRIDAY THE 13TH - how did Friday the thirteenth become such an unlucky day?
	fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities combine to make one super unlucky day.
	There is a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.
	There is a Biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.
	A particularly bad Friday the 13th occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.
	In ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.
	Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.
	It is traditionally believed that Eve tempted Adam with the apple on a Friday. Tradition also has it that the Flood in the Bible, the confusion at the Tower of Babel, and the death of Jesus Christ all took place on Friday.
	Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, 13's association with bad luck has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.
FRIDAY THE 13TH - how is fear of the number thirteen demonstarted?
	More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
	Many airports skip the 13th gate.
	Airplanes have no 13th aisle.
	Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
	Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
	On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
	Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue
	In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.
	Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.
	If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names.
FROG	A frog brings good luck to the house it enters.
	The dried body of a frog worn in a silk bag around the neck averts epilepsy and other fits.
GOOD FRIDAY (The Friday before Easter)	A child born on Good Friday and baptized on Easter Sunday has a gift of healing. If a boy, he should go into the ministry.
	Cut your hair on Good Friday to prevent headaches in the year to come
	A person who dies on Good Friday will go right to heaven.
	Shed no blood on Good Friday, work no wood, hammer no nail.
HAIR	Pulling out a gray or white hair will cause ten more to grow in its place.
HAND	If the palm of your right hand itches it means you will soon be getting money.
	If the palm of your left hand itches it means you will soon be paying out money.
HORSESHOE	A horseshoe, hung above the doorway, will bring good luck to a home. In most of Europe protective horseshoes are placed in a downward facing position, but in some parts of Ireland and Britain people believe that the shoes must be turned upward or "the luck will run out."
	A horseshoe hung in the bedroom will keep nightmares away.
ITCH	If your nose itches you will soon be kissed by a fool.
	If your nose itches Your mouth is in danger. You'll kiss a fool, And meet a stranger. Rub an itch to wood It will come to good.
IVY	Ivy growing on a house protects the inhabitants from witchcraft and evil.
KNIFE	A knife as a gift from a lover means that the love will soon end.
	A knife placed under the bed during childbirth will ease the pain of labor.
	If a friend gives you a knife, you should give him a coin, or your friendship will soon be broken.
	It will cause a quarrel if knives are crossed at the table.
	It is bad luck to close a pocket knife unless you were the one who opened it.
	Knife falls, gentleman calls; Fork falls, lady calls; Spoon falls, baby calls.
KNITTING	It's bad luck to leave a project unfinished. The intended recepient will get bad luck from the unfinished item.
	Stabbing your needles though your yarn balls brings bad luck to anyone who wears something made from that yarn.
	Don't knit a pair of socks for your boyfriend or he'll walk away from you.
	If you knit one of your own hairs into a garment, it will bind the recipient to you.
	Knitting for children you may have in the future, but before you are pregnant, is bad luck (it may prevent one from getting pregnant, or bring ill health to the baby).
LADDER	It is bad luck to walk under a ladder.
LADYBUG	If a young girl catches a ladybug and then releases it, the direction in which it flies away will be the direction from which her future husband will come.
	It is bad luck to kill a ladybug.
	Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home. Your house is on fire, Your children all roam.
LEAF	If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.
LETTUCE	Lettuce is believed to have magical and healing properties, including the power to arouse love and counteract the effects of wine.
	Lettuce promotes child bearing if eaten by young women, and certain types of salad can bring on labor in pregnant women.
LIE	Cross my heart and hope to die, Cut my throat if I tell a lie.
LIZARD	To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have a secret enemy.