Trick-or-treat
Smell my feet
Give me something good to eat!
Halloween is a time to dress up in crazy costumes and go trick-or-treating, a custom where children go door to door in search of candy. Halloween isn’t just all fun and games, however, but a time where your skin tingles at the thought of creepy witches, ghouls, and goblins sneaking around in the dark of night.
Get spooked easily? Avoid these 13 superstitions from around the world that harken ill-omens!
13. Around the world, Friday the 13th is an unlucky day where all sorts of bad things can happen. In the Christian tradition, Jesus was betrayed by the 13th man at the Last Supper, and Friday the 13th was the day of the mass murder of the Knights Templar. Continuing the creepy coincidence of bad luck associated with the number 13, the space mission Apollo 13 suffered an explosion mid-air that nearly doomed all on board.
12. In China, you don’t need to avoid the number 13 as much as the number 4, as the Chinese pronunciation of the number is nearly identical to their word for “death.”
11. In Germany, it is bad luck to clink water glasses and cheers your friends. To do so is to wish death upon them.
10. In Thailand, many homes have a spirit house in the backyard, a tiny dwelling built on a pedestal. Thai families place all sorts of gifts within the tiny house for, if a spirit accepts these gifts and takes up their residence in the spirit house, the family will be protected.
9. In France, don’t sing before breakfast or you’ll cry before night.
8. In the UK, do not break a mirror unless you want to endure 7 years of bad luck.
7. In the United States, especially in the state of Vermont, many old farmhouses have windows that are slanted at an angle. Called “witch windows,” these windows prevent witches from flying through the window on their brooms.
6. In Lithuania, do not whistle indoors. Whistling inside your home will summon the devil. In Turkey, feel free to whistle indoors, but don’t whistle at night!
5. In England, if you cut into a loaf of fresh-baked bread to find an empty space inside, one of your dinner guests will soon drop dead. That empty space resembles a coffin--the exact place where your soon-to-be-dead loved one is about to be buried.
4. In Siberia, the soul is thought to wander around through the body, taking up residence in different organs throughout the day. Before cutting their hair, for example, the Buryat people consult a doctor to ensure their soul has not recently taken up residence in their hair. You wouldn’t want to cut off your soul!
3. In Turkey, avoid chewing gum at night, unless you plan on blowing bubbles with the flesh of human cadavers.
2. In Japan, if a hearse passes you on the street, or you walk by a graveyard, you must hide your thumbs to protect your parents. The Japanese word for thumb literally translates as "parent-finger". By hiding your parent-fingers, the Japanese protect their parents.
1. In Korea, don’t sleep with the fan on during a hot night, otherwise you won’t wake up. In Korean culture, electric fans can suck the breath out of you, cause hypothermia, or otherwise steal away your life while you sleep.
Enjoyed these superstitions? Explore more superstitions and Halloween fun on Verbling. Treat yourself to a Halloween-themed English package!
Although, personally, I prefer to live in a healthy and freely way.
I´m a free woman supersticciones.
Happy All Saints Day!!
Anna.
