What things labeled 'superstition' are actually true?

[FlyersFan]

What things that are labeled 'superstition' do you think are actually true?

Me ... I say ...

1 - Killing crickets is bad luck.  
2 - Don't whistle in the dark.  Brings spooks.
3 - Mirrors are gateways for other realms to come through.  So don't hang them on 'outside' walls in the house.
4 - Don't speak ill of the dead.  If you don't like your neighbor and he dies, don't speak ill of him after death.  For one it's bad manners, the guy can't defend himself.  But the other ... he's now free of his body restrictions and may be able to cause problems for you.

And I admit that I don't believe that spilling salt is bad luck, but when I've spilled salt I have quickly tossed some over my left shoulder to ward off bad luck.  So even though I say I don't believe it, I still don't take chances ... 

Yes I'm educated.  (BS in Psychology)
Yes I'm strong in the Catholic faith.  
Yes those things go against what I've been taught and against my religion.
But I still believe them.
What about you?

[IgnorantGod]

In my case, I believe they are both placebo effect and the environment reaction from it. In other words, I think it holds both a personal value (maybe origin) and an environmental value (surrounding reacts to your own stimuli of the surrounding stimuli).

It would have both an unreal and a real quality, akin to a sensory hallucination. I'd also add that the more 'believers' are within a 'same' environment (a town or something), the more 'supersitions' will have 'strength', or 'grasp', or 'real' qualities on said environment.

At the end of the day, my take is : whatever makes you sleep at night.

Cheers! 

[David64]

Mine seems to center around fishing
My lucky fishing hat. Despite fishing having it's good days and bad days no matter what you do, I still think I have better luck when I wear it. It's tattered, worn and stained, but I still wear it.

I have an old lure my Papaw gave me right before he died nearly 40 years ago and I never saw a day when he used it he didn't catch a fish.

I've never used it. I'm afraid if I lose it, all my luck will go with it.

Coming from the hills of Eastern Ky, you'd think I'd have a boatload, but I walk under ladders, we have 4 black cats, I've never thrown salt over my shoulder, etc.....

[ArMaP]

What things that are labeled 'superstition' do you think are actually true?

Me ... I say ...

1 - Killing crickets is bad luck.  
2 - Don't whistle in the dark.  Brings spooks.

Those two are new to me.

Some superstitions are true because they are general good ideas, like walking under a ladder possibly bringing bad luck, as something may fall.

[Oldcarpy2]

I always salute a magpie.  Only single ones.  With left hand if they on the left, right hand if on the right.

Negates the "one for sorrow", apparently.

Agree about ladders!  Common sense...

[IdeomotorPrisoner]

No ghost, ladder, broken mirror, or car wash rain generator here. 

But I have a superstition surrounding a zero sum balance point. Almost like a middle ground acknowledgement.

And I believe this is aligned with things that are constructive/destructive.

And you don't want to destroy more than you create. You don't want to hurt for than you save.

In basic form if you steal $100 you gotta give away $100 to balance it out, or it will take it anyway. For every person you retaliate against you need a heart and mind outreach so your net output is as non-inpactful or constructive as possible.

Though the best bet is to NOT do anything harmful to need to balance it in the first place, if you do, you need to get yourself back on the positive side of things to prevent greater chances of random bullshit. 

Like carbon offsets only with things you personally do.

Shit happens anyway, but it happens A HELL OF A LOT MORE to people way off in non-beneficial territory.  Like they've deliberately played themselves into a +25 count and will have less face cards to hit blackjack now available.

[Creaky]

Mine seems to center around fishing
My lucky fishing hat. Despite fishing having it's good days and bad days no matter what you do, I still think I have better luck when I wear it. It's tattered, worn and stained, but I still wear it.

I have an old lure my Papaw gave me right before he died nearly 40 years ago and I never saw a day when he used it he didn't catch a fish.

I've never used it. I'm afraid if I lose it, all my luck will go with it.

Coming from the hills of Eastern Ky, you'd think I'd have a boatload, but I walk under ladders, we have 4 black cats, I've never thrown salt over my shoulder, etc.....

Bananas on a boat, especially while fishing. 
A skipper on one trip through my partners bananas of the boat once, she then pulled up a 13 kg dhu fish. 
Not one into superstition outside of alcohol and poker seems to be indicative of me losing

[Sirius]

What things that are labeled 'superstition' do you think are actually true?

Me ... I say ...

1 - Killing crickets is bad luck.  
2 - Don't whistle in the dark.  Brings spooks.
3 - Mirrors are gateways for other realms to come through.  So don't hang them on 'outside' walls in the house.
4 - Don't speak ill of the dead.  If you don't like your neighbor and he dies, don't speak ill of him after death.  For one it's bad manners, the guy can't defend himself.  But the other ... he's now free of his body restrictions and may be able to cause problems for you.

But I still believe them.
What about you?

A good list, mirrors creeps me out and I choose just not to think about them....hmmm...what to pick? 

The grim reaper is a fun one, I wouldn't stress to much if I see one, just go to a doctor or gently nudge whoever it's hovering about to do so and generally keep an eye on events. Context depending obviously, remembering gratitude otherwise

I heard a guy on a podcast describe a series of events from history this morning as "this community held this belief and had so and so lives , such and such events occurred" all true things and then he finished the sentence by saying it was their 'superstition' of the time

Also animism...the first 30 seconds here is hilarious and makes a good point

[imitator]

And I admit that I don't believe that spilling salt is bad luck, but when I've spilled salt I have quickly tossed some over my left shoulder to ward off bad luck.  So even though I say I don't believe it, I still don't take chances ... 

Same here. That’s why I always draw a salt circle around myself before I accidently spill it... just in case.

Safety first. 

Then I knock on wood for extra coverage. 

[Tinkerpeach]

What things that are labeled 'superstition' do you think are actually true?

Me ... I say ...

1 - Killing crickets is bad luck.  
2 - Don't whistle in the dark.  Brings spooks.
3 - Mirrors are gateways for other realms to come through.  So don't hang them on 'outside' walls in the house.
4 - Don't speak ill of the dead.  If you don't like your neighbor and he dies, don't speak ill of him after death.  For one it's bad manners, the guy can't defend himself.  But the other ... he's now free of his body restrictions and may be able to cause problems for you.

And I admit that I don't believe that spilling salt is bad luck, but when I've spilled salt I have quickly tossed some over my left shoulder to ward off bad luck.  So even though I say I don't believe it, I still don't take chances ... 

Yes I'm educated.  (BS in Psychology)
Yes I'm strong in the Catholic faith.  
Yes those things go against what I've been taught and against my religion.
But I still believe them.
What about you?

The "whistling brings spooks" is actually true sometimes. 

I've used it myself on occassion. 

I've also used humming and clapping. 

From what I've seen it doesn't really matter the noise you make as long as you are expressing yourself in a way that shows you are trying to communicate. 

A softer tone will have a greater effect than running around a room yelling.