Black Cats and Evil Eyes: A Book of Old-Fashioned Superstitions was a light, enjoyable read, and informative. Most superstitions concern major life-events that people in earlier times has little or no control over: birth, pregnancy, death, marriage. Superstitions are often a mix of a pagan and religious beliefs. Here are some interesting ones.
- Moonlight: Ancient peoples didn't understand gravitational pull or the tides, but they did believe that the moon controlled all water on earth and bodily fluids. The word lunatic is derived from the Latin word Lunaticus which means moonstruck and was used to refer to people who seemed to be temporarily mad during the full moon. Later, neuroscience provided an explanation for disorders like epilepsy. It is still believed that all sorts of unusual things happen during a full moon, such as increased crime and hospital admissions.
- Black cats: I love all cats so this superstition doesn't really affect me. But, during the Middle Ages, black cats were portrayed as the familiar animal of witches. Puritans later associated them with the Devil and witchcraft. The attitude towards black cats depends on one's location. In Norse mythology, Freya, goddess of fertility and queen of the Valkyries, was said to have a chariot pulled by black cats. In Scotland, a black cat outside your home is a sign of prosperity. But in Germany a black cat who crosses your path from right to left is bad luck, but one who crosses from left to right is okay.
- Never kill a spider: spiders served a practical purpose in the country by killing other pests. It was therefore customary to allow a few cobwebs in the home than to risk having infected food. Christian fables also related how Jesus and David were hidden in caves and protected by spider webs. I prefer to kill spiders.
- Never give a knife or scissors as a gift: doing so cuts the ties between the giver and receiver. The only antidote is to give a coin in return, thus paying for the knife or scissors. So, take all the knife sets off your wedding registry.
- Never turn a loaf of bread upside down after slicing it: This one has several origins. For Christians, bread was sacred since Jesus has blessed it at the Last Supper. Bakers often marked bread with a cross and turning the bread over would be seen as sacrilegious. Bread was sacred for the ancient Greeks and Romans as well. Hesta (Greek) and Vespa (Roman) were the goddesses of the hearth, domesticity, and the family and the patrons of break-making. Some believed that turning a loaf upside down was an insult to these goddesses. Finally, in 18th-Century France each town had a public executioner whose life was full of superstitions. The executioner and his family were isolated from the rest of the community. The loaves of bread destined for the executioner were turned upside down by local bakers so no one else would mistakenly take them.
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