Holiday Superstitions

If you're looking for a particular holiday which is not on this lens, please do add it to the plexo at the bottom and I will include it on my next update if there is a superstition available for it :)

History: In 1564 the French instigated the creation of Jan 1st as the first day of the year. Originally it was March 25th which is now known as Lady Day.

Presents used to be given on 1st January but the Church postponed this tradition until the 1st April. The New Year was then moved back to January 1st and the French continued to pay visits to their friends on April 1st with the idea of fooling them that it was still the first day of the new year. So, April Fool's Day was born.

Pranks are to be performed before noon. Those done afterwards are supposed to bring bad luck to the perpetrator.

The victim is advised to endure the tricks with a smile on their face, exhibiting tolerance or amusement or they may suffer bad luck.

Candlemas is a Christian festival which is celebrated on the 2nd February. It is in honour of the Virgin Mary.

Candles are blessed during the festival to protect against witchcraft as well as illness and thunderstorms.

All decorations must be cleared from all Churches by Candlemas for any trace of berries and holly will bring death upon the congregation.

In several regions of the British Isles, good weather at Candlemas indicates a severe winter later in the year.

In the USA Candlemas is known as Groundhog Day. If the Groundhog sees its shadow when it pokes its head of the burrow, it will go back in and Winter will be continue for another 6 weeks.

In France, Candlemas is celebrated with Pancakes which must be eaten after 8pm.

Sailors are reluctant to set sail on Candlemas Day as any voyage begun then will surely end in disaster.

Decorations should not be put up until Christmas Eve.

Mistletoe should not be brought inside until New Year's Eve.

The door of the house must be opened at Midnight to allow evil spirits to leave. A Christmas candle should be placed in a window to burn all night long to ensure good luck for the household for another year. If, however, the candle went out before the family awoke, then this was a bad sign.

On Christmas Eve, young girls should walk backwards to a pear tree and then must walk around it 9 times to receive a future vision of their sweetheart.

The first person to open the door on Christmas Day is considered lucky and good fortune will befall the household if the visitor happens to be a dark man. The arrival of a red-head or a woman is considered bad luck.

Giving Easter Eggs goes back to the Egyptians and Romans whom both used egg-giving as a symbol of resurrection and continuing life.

Christianity later adopted the egg as an emblem of the Resurrection of Christ.

Infants were given hard-boiled eggs dyed red (the blood of Christ) to keep them healthy for the coming year.

Children born on Easter Day are considered fortunate.

Ancient German superstition states that Rabbits lay eggs on Easter Day hence the Easter Bunny.

Cutting your hair on Good Friday prevents headaches for the coming year.

A child born on Good Friday and then baptised on Easter Sunday has a gift of healing.

Try to arrange your affairs so that you die on Good Friday so that you are rewarded by going straight to heaven without spending any time in Purgatory.

No shedding of blood should take place and no work undertaken with hammer, nails or wood.

In Ireland if you hear footsteps behind you, do not look behind you, as it is the dead following you and you will surely join them if you turn around to look.

In America, if girls carry a lantern to a spring of water and gaze within they will surely see their future husband.

Children born on this day will enjoy lifelong protection from evil spirits.

The first man to cross the threshold of a house after midnight and who is dark-haired and carries a shovel of coal, will receive a year of good luck.

If the first person is a fair-haired man or a woman then bad luck will follow instead.

Empty pockets and empty cupboards foretell a year of poverty on New Year's Eve. In Britain and Europe, to let a fire go out on New Year's Eve is considered bad luck.

To drain the last dregs of drink on New Year's Eve will surely bring you good fortune :)

Valentine's Day is named after the patron saint of lovers, priest who was killed for defying an edict forbidding young men to marry.

In both Britain and America, a young girl can tell the type of man she will marry by what bird she first sees on St. Valentine's Day:

Blackbird - Clergyman or Priest
Robin - Sailor
Goldfinch or any yellow bird - a rich man
Sparrow - a farmer
Bluebird - a happy man
Crossbill - an argumentative man
Dove - a good man
Woodpecker - she will never marry.

The yellow crocus is the symbol of St. Valentine's Day and a girl should wear one in her buttonhole for the chance to meet her future partner.