International superstitions! Boo Hoo!

Erasmus is all about international activities and living all together in a student residence makes it much more fun! So let me tell you about the evening we decided to watch a movie together. Before we knew it, the nice movie turned into a horror movie and the movie lead to a chit chat about spooky stories and...Superstitions!

It was interesting for me to find out about superstitions from all over Europe...I was mainly surprised about the fact that some that I've considered to be Romanian superstitions were actually present in more countries. Mainly this is what I've found out:

• Spilling salt - this is a Romanian superstition that is also a common belief in Bulgaria. It is said that if you spill salt, you will have a quarrel with somebody. In order to avoid that, you must throw some of that salt over your shoulder.
• Knocking on wood - this superstition is present in almost all Europe's countries and it is thus well known. People knock on wood in order to prevent bad luck.
• The black cat - another very popular superstition is the black cat. It is said that if a black cat crosses right in front of you, you will have bad luck. In Romania, in order toa void that, you must take 7 steps back to get your luck back. England is an exception of this superstition because in that country, the black cat actually brings good luck.
• The broken mirror - Romanians, English and some dutch people believe in this superstition. It is said that if you break a mirror you will have bad luck for 7 years and if you are a woman, you will not get married for 7 years.
• Sitting in the corner of the table - Dutch people believe that if a girl sits in the corner of the table she will never get married. This is a popular belief in Romania as well.
• Walking under a ladder - brings bad luck or danger almost in every country in Europe.

Now, I must say Germans have some creepy superstitions. Here are some that I've heard:

• Do not answer a witch's question, or else she can take something from you. 
• Old women often cut out a foot-long piece of sod that their enemy has just walked over, and hang it in the chimney. Then their enemy will waste away. 
• He who carries the tooth of a harrow found on the street will always recognize a witch.

So, my conclusion is that we all have our own superstitions. Some people believe in them, some don't. Personally I only believe in the good ones in order to feel better about my day. That's it. I don't get scared if I see a black cat and I sit in the corner of the table because from there I can get a perfect view of everybody. But the thing is, contrary to all paradigms that say that one nation is more realistic that the other or one is more spiritual or that only Eastern Europe people believe in this kind of stuff, every country has its own superstitions and it was actually pretty interesting to talk about them.