Friday the 13th: do you know about these home superstitions?

Friday the 13th has long been associated with bad luck, and the origins of this superstitious day are muddled in many theories that you can read more about here. But when it comes to our home, did you know there are a number of ancient beliefs and superstitions surrounding bad luck?

Whether you believe these superstitions or not, here are a list of ones that pertain to the home:

• Gifting knives: apparently, giving knives as a housewarming gift is said to symbolize the cutting of a friendship. Considering how popular of a gift this is, certainly many don’t know of its symbolism!
• Paint the porch blue: in Southern states, painting a porch blue is believed to ward off negative spirits, because they confuse the hue with water.
• Breaking a mirror: this is one of the most well-known superstitions out there, that if you break a mirror you will find yourself with seven years of bad luck.
• Bad numbers: it is believed to be bad luck to buy homes with numbers in the address that are bad luck (whether on the house or street). Thirteen is an obvious one, but the number four sounds like ‘death’ in Chinese culture as well. This is also why sometimes resale homes are priced lower when they contain “bad luck numbers”.
• Don’t walk under a ladder: this is also a popular superstition that has been around for a long time. Ladders are said to represent gallows and walking under one would represent you planning your own execution. It sounds very dark, did you know of its dark origin or did you just always understand it to be bad luck?
• Sweeping at night: in West African culture, sweeping the home at night is believed to also sweep away your good fortune.
• Garden hoes inside: if you bring a garden hoe inside the home, it can bring you bad luck. There are probably few circumstances when you would ever bring garden tools in your home, so you may be safe on that one!

Were any of these superstitions new to you? Did you know of the stories behind these common bad luck beliefs? Please feel free to connect with us on social media to keep this conversation going.