Sneezing When you Leave
My informant told me about a superstition in her family. She told me that when you sneeze right when you were about to leave, it is bad luck and you were supposed to stay where you are for a few minutes before you leave. This happened to me in real life once. I sneezed right when I was about to leave her room and she told me to stay. She said that her mom always did it when she was young. I asked her if you needed to leave real badly what would happen then? She said that her mom would give her a spoon full of sugar so the bad luck would go away. I asked what the sugar symbolized and she didnt have an answer to that. Her mother has held this superstition for a long time.
I believe that this superstition is very valid. When someone sneezes, I have always had a premonition that it is evil spirits inhabiting your body. So it is clear that when you sneeze when you leave evil spirits are there and are going to hamper your journey.
My informant also told me about many variations to her superstition. She said her mom used to tell her that when you sneeze early in the morning, it means that you are going to have good luck during the whole day. When you sneeze in the mid day you are going to get along well with everyone that day and when you sneeze late in the afternoon it is a sign of something bad. She has held these superstitions close to her. She said that one day she sneezed at night and she got a poor grade in her exams one night.
This superstition might be prevalent all over the world but this specific one is from India. People from India are very superstitious and credulous. I might say they are the most superstitious people in the world. Sometimes their superstitions might be hampering their culture and their lives but sometimes it is very true to believe in what they do. Religion dictates a lot of things with superstition. Hinduism is a very superstitious culture, so I think this has to do with a lot of what happens in that society.