Tag Archives: bad luck

Superstition: a Black Cat Crosses one’s Path

Text:

“When I was younger, especially in my trading days, whenever I saw a black cat cross my path, I could not help but feel uneasy. I think it’s just something that was ingrained in me as a kid, and I didn’t get over it until I retired.”

Context:

My informant heard this from his parents as a child growing up in Cleveland, and believed in it until he retired from trading and now interprets it as a trivial superstition. 

Analysis:

My informant’s superstition is an example of sign superstition, as, in the belief, an observed event leads to a certain outcome, in this case a black cat crossing one’s path leads to an uncertain amount of bad luck. My informant did not mention a way of negating the event. 

My informant’s origin in 1950’s Cleveland does not appear to bear specific relevance to the superstition, as it is widely held. However, his belief, and his parents’ choice to pass down the belief, could have been given breath by the western cultural association of the color black with the occult, death, or bad luck. For example, in many cultures, people wear black to mourn the dead. Also, in European tradition, cats have been associated with witchcraft and the devil, or other forms of supernatural evil. In addition, my informant is a lifelong Catholic, which could implicate Christian views of the color black as a symbol of death, sin, and evil. These facts of the black cat, coupled with the symbol of one’s walking path as one’s path in life, could explain the underlying factors that empower the superstition. 

My informant’s post-retirement detachment from the belief could be explained by a reduction in anxiety following a stressful road to a stressful career. Without as much pressure on his shoulders, perhaps he became less prone to attempting to control his surroundings through superstition. 

Navratras festival – not using sharp objects

Ritual:

There is a Hindu holiday, which occurs twice a year, called Navratras. It lasts 9 days. During these 9 days, people who fast do not use any sharp objects, except for a knife to cut food. People do not cut nails or hair or shave for 9 days. It is believed to bring bad luck if you use sharp objects.

Context:

JG is 59 years old and my mother. She grew up in India with a very religious Hindu family, before immigrating to the USA. She still practices Hinduism to this day, and follows all of the religion’s traditions, observes the festivals, and believes in its myths to this day. She tried to pass this on to me as a child, but her religious beliefs never really connected with me. She agreed to retell this celestial myth to me for this assignment.

Analysis:

The Navratras is a Hindu festival in which people worship Goddess Durga by fasting. Some people believe that Goddess Durga stood on the tip of a needle while fighting the evil forces – this is why sharp objects, like needles, are probably associated with bad luck. The festival has its origins in ancient Hindu texts and has been observed for centuries – this shows the great effort that many Indian cultures make to preserve their stories and traditions. This particular aspect of fasting is probably a form of making physical sacrifices, in the form of small changes in one’s everyday lifestyle, for the gods.

Russian Greeting Ritual: Never Shake Hands Through a Doorway

Original Text: “My family has a lot of different customs. And a big part of Russian culture is in the greeting. Basically, whenever you greet someone you have to shake hands and make eye contact. That’s specifically for men like they shake hands. If it’s a man and a woman, you shake hands but more gently. If it’s two women they kiss on the cheek three times. But for men shaking hands, basically, you have to make eye contact, but a really interesting rule is that you cant greet someone through a doorway. You have to invite the person in before you make a greeting cuz it’s seen as bad luck. I learned this from my family, anytime I tried to hug someone or greet someone through the door, they would be like ‘No you have to bring them in and welcome them’”

Context: The informant is an 18-year-old first year at USC. He is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, but his family is from Russia. He learned this Russian greeting custom from his close and extended Russian family and still practices it today. He is a male, so he has participated in the man-man and man-woman greetings. It is a way that he can “relate” to his Russian family and show his love for his heritage, and of course not bring bad luck upon his family.

Analysis: In Russian culture it is bad luck to shake hands through a doorway, and people will refuse to shake your hand if you attempt it, just as the informant described. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that the in-between space of the doorway, outside, and inside is a liminal space. A greeting cannot be properly given in a liminal space because of the magical bad luck that exists because of it. Shaking someone’s hand inside the home is a physical manifestation of the greeting due to the location of the handshake. Russian culture is patriarchal, therefore it makes sense that men would shake hands in a display of power versus kiss because shaking hands is not associated with sexuality or expressions of love. They also shake hands with women gently versus firmly because they are more fragile/dainty. Women kiss each other on the cheek, mirroring the emphasis on love and sexuality that permeates women’s lives as opposed to men. 

“Knock On Wood” — Bad Luck Protection

Context :

JF is a 22 year old college student at USC from Rhode Island. Growing up, his family would knock on wood to prevent bad luck.

Text :

“If I want something good to happen, and I speak it into existence, I always get a little nervous it might not come true because I vocalized it so I always knock on wood to counter it.”

Analysis :

It’s interesting that JF grew up hearing “knock on wood” from his family because he is Jewish, and some say that the phrase originates from Christians linking it to Christ’s crucifixion. However, it has spread throughout much of the United States and is now a common saying, despite the origins. For JF, he continues to perform the action because usually there is no bad luck associated with what he is speaking into existence. In a way, he is experiencing the placebo effect because he associates bad luck blocks with knocking on wood, and when he doesn’t knock on wood and something bad happens, that’s why.

Card Game Superstition

Text

“As long as I can remember, every time I play a card game of any kind, I always wait until everyone has their cards dealt to them before I touch my cards. Otherwise, I feel as if it’s bad luck to touch the cards, and I won’t win the game. It will curse me for that round of cards. 

“Everyone in my family does this, and if someone does touch their cards beforehand, it’s a taboo thing where everyone looks at you like, ‘What have you just done?’

“We’ve passed it along to some family friends, too. It’s like an introduction to our family, and a way for the people we’re closest to to become almost like extended family. Since we believe this and we care about them, we don’t want them to get the bad luck from it.”

Context

BD is a 20 year-old college student from Sacramento, California currently living in Los Angeles. This superstition is part of a card game that has been passed down from his grandparents. When learning the rules of the game, I was also taught this superstition.

BD said he doesn’t remember learning the superstition. “It’s just always been this way and I’ve always done it.”

Analysis

BD’s family sharing this superstition with their close friends as a way of making them part of the family reflects how folk belief can function to create group identities. For example, when reflecting on his family teaching the superstition to his girlfriend, BD said “she has become part of the family by knowing our ways.” Thus, the lore creates the folk.

Superstitions about luck are very common in the context of card games, which often depend on a combination of chance and skill to win. Believing that a certain action will give one good or bad luck for a game is a way to feel a degree of control over a larger, less predictable situation.


The belief that touching an object can give one good or bad luck is an example of contagious magic, as the cards are believed to contain the luck. One can avoid bad luck by abstaining from touching the cards until the proper time.