Breaking A Mirror
It is said that if you are to break a mirror you are due to have 7 years of bad luck.
The belief that you’ll have seven years' bad luck if you break a mirror is said to come from the Romans, who were the first to create glass mirrors. But long ago, many cultures, including Greek, Chinese, African and Indian, believed that a mirror had the power to confiscate part of the user’s soul. The thinking was that if the mirror was broken, then the person's soul would be trapped inside.
If you break a mirror, to counteract the bad luck, you are meant to:
1. Turn are 3 times counter-clockwise.
2. Throw a pinch of salt over your left shoulder. According to legends, the devil is always looking over your left shoulder, throwing salt in his eyes is meant to keep him causing mischief to you.
3. Bury the broken mirror in your back garden as soon as possible.
4. Keep one shard of the glass to press against a tombstone to pass the back luck on to someone who is dead and won't mind.
Opening An Umbrella Indoors
One explanation for this one comes from the days when umbrellas were used as protection from the sun; opening one inside was an insult to the sun god. Another theory: An umbrella protects you against the storms of life, so opening one in your house insults the guardian spirits of your home, causing them to leave you unprotected.
Walking Under A Ladder
An open ladder forms a triangle, and triangles were once considered a symbol of life, so walking through that shape was considered tempting your fate. It is also thought that because it has three sides, the triangle symbolizes the Holy Trinity, and “breaking” it by entering the triangle is bad luck.
Crossing Fingers
Crossing your fingers is a near-universal sign of wishing for something, but there are many theories about its origin. One is that when Christianity was illegal, crossing fingers was a secret way for Christians to recognize each other. Another is that during the Hundred Years' War, an archer would cross his fingers to pray for luck, before drawing back his longbow with those same fingers.
Knocking On Wood
Knocking on wood, or simply saying "knock on wood" after making a hopeful statement, is rooted in the idea that you’re tempting fate by acknowledging your good fortune. The expression comes from the ancient belief that good spirits lived in trees, so by knocking on something wooden, a person was calling on the spirits for protection.
Studio Brief 2: Lucky And Unlucky Actions
