39 Strangest Superstitions That Are Followed Around the Globe

In 1966, due to a superstition, number of births plummeted in Japan by nearly 25% compared to the previous year. The superstition states women born in the Year of the Fire and Horse are destined upon reaching adulthood to marry and then kill their husbands.

2. According to a Japanese superstition, if a butterfly enters your guest room and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you.

3. The Oscar love curse is a superstition that the woman who wins the Academy Award for Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress will have her boyfriend or husband cheat on her or divorce her soon after.

4. There is a Voodoo superstition that involves a woman putting her own menstrual blood in a man's food so that he will fall in love with her.

5. The superstition of the 13th floor in tall buildings is still alive and well. 85% of buildings installed with Otis elevators don't have a 13th floor.

A common superstition in Japan is that blood type is an indicator of a person's personality; similar to the Western belief in the signs of the zodiac.

7. The "Sweater Curse" is a superstition that hand-knitting a sweater for your significant other will lead to them breaking up with you.

8. "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is a superstition found in Britain and North America wherein a person says or repeats the words "rabbit", "rabbits" and/or "white rabbits" aloud upon waking on the first day of a month, to ensure good luck for the rest of it.

9. There was a long-held superstition that Medieval Irish bards were close to magicians, able to raise blisters on the faces of their victims by the power of their satire, and even 'rhyme rats to death.'

10. There is a superstition known as "The Superman Curse" which states that anyone associated with the franchise is jinxed. George Reeve's suicide, Christopher Reeve's paralysis, and the creators of Superman not gaining any of the profits have all been attributed to the curse.

The superstition of opening up an umbrella indoors stemmed as a health and safety hazard, as the first modern umbrellas were notoriously dangerous to open, with spring triggers and metal spokes. This could cause harm to people and damage to objects in the house, like jars or TVs.

12. Mandrakes plants are real. According to one superstition, people who pull up the root will be condemned to hell. The mandrake root would scream as it was pulled from the ground, killing anyone who heard it. In the past, people tied the roots to animals and then used the animals to pull the roots from the soil.

13. Lighting three matches is a purported superstition among soldiers. According to it, when the first soldier lights his cigarette, the enemy will see the light. When the second soldier lights his cigarette, the enemy would take aim and when the third soldier lights his cigarette, the enemy would fire and that soldier would be shot.

14. Korean superstition prevents students from eating seaweed soup before a test so that information doesn’t ‘slip’ from the mind.

15. Russian superstition considers it taboo to give a knife as a gift; however, the taboo can be broken if the recipient gives a coin in return, lest the relationship be severed.

The Number 4 is omitted from some Chinese buildings due to superstition of it meaning "Death."

17. The superstition that green brings bad luck to actors originates from the color famous playwright Molière was wearing at the time of his death.

18. According to Hawaiian superstition, it's considered bad luck to whistle at night because it mimics the sound of Night marchers, the ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors. If someone comes across a procession of the night marchers, crouch low to the ground on your stomachs and avoid eye contact.

19. The Japanese have a superstition which states, “if you rest just after eating, you will become a cow.”

20. The reason February is the shortest month is due to the Roman superstition that even numbers are unlucky and it was decided that February would be the month to honor the dead.

A popular superstition behind the name butterfly is that witches took on the shape of the ‘butterfly’ and then stole milk and butter.

22. In Bhutan, people paint large penises on their doors following an ancient superstition that it will drive evil away.

23. There is a superstition in the US Navy that toasting someone with water will doom them to a watery grave.

24. According to Russian superstition, if an unmarried girl sits at the corner seat of a table then she won't marry for at least 7 years.

25. In Taiwan, there is a superstition about "lucky" tampons and pads improving the chances of getting pregnant, which even materialized into a government-sanctioned donation program.