For the millions of people who cross their fingers for luck or to avoid retribution for telling a lie, superstition exerts a strong grip. Like members of the earliest societies, who needed to control nature, they are seeking to ward off the random blows of fate.
Ancient peoples forged close links between superstition and religion. Crossing the fingers for luck resembles the sign of the Cross enacted by early Christians. Touching wood to prevent the thwarting of a plan, and holding a wooden crucifix when taking an oath, probably have a similar origin.
Many plants and animals, because they are free of human control, have often been credited with supernatural powers. In the USA and much of Europe the four-leaved clover, a rare form of the three-leaved variety, is thought to bring luck. Its properties were first recorded in the anonymous Gospelles of Dystaues of 1507, where it is said that 'he that findeth the trayfle (trefoil) with foure leues (leaves)...shall be ryche all his life'.
Hawthorn, used in herbal medicine, is said to protect houses from being struck by lightning. It was long regarded as a protection against the evil spirits believed to roam the Earth, especially on the eve of great festivals such as May Day. In the 17th century the English essayist Francis Bacon noted the general belief that the plague could be detected by 'the smell of a mellow apple and (as some say) of May flowers'. This may explain the superstition that hawthorn flowers, or May blossom, invite bad luck if taken inside the house.
Like the hawthorn, the raven has associations both good and bad. Because this largest member of the crow family is a carrion feeder with jet-black plumage, it is often thought to foretell death and disaster. But the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes relates in Don Quixote, published in 1605, that according to British tradition the legendary King Arthur had been transformed into a raven, 'for which cause it cannot be proved from that time to this, that any Englishman has ever killed a raven'.
In ancient Greek mythology the peacock was the sacred animal of the jealous goddess Hera. After the death of Argus, the guardian with the hundred eyes, Hera had his eyes transferred to the bird's tail so that they could witness the adulterous liaisons of her husband Zeus. In medieval Europe the bird's feathers were associated with a strong belief in the evil eye - the power of certain people or animals to bring bad luck to others simply by looking at them - and its feathers are still thought to attract misfortune if taken indoors.
Good fortune is assured, however, to those who greet the first day of the month by saying 'rabbits'. A 1979 survey revealed that about 5 million rabbits' foot talismans were sold in Europe each year. Hares have a long pedigree. In ancient Rome they were associated with fertility and lust, and uncaged at the spring fruit and vegetable festival of Floralia. Because the hare was once thought to reproduce without the male, in Christian art it sometimes symbolized the Virgin Birth. This could explain the connection of the hare with Easter.
The iron horseshoe, once vital in transport, agriculture and warfare, has evolved into a good-luck symbol. In 17th-century England and North America people hung up horseshoes as an antidote to witchcraft. It is even said that Admiral Nelson had one nailed to the mast of his flagship, HMS Victory.
Opening an umbrella in the house is said to attract ill fortune. The origins of both the object, named after ombrella, Italian for 'little shade', and the superstition lie in China, where umbrellas were first made around 1000 BC. To avoid insulting the Sun, which the Chinese worshipped, they were only opened outdoors.
Sneezes have been blessed since the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans. This is probably due to a primitive belief that such explosions from inside the head were signs from the gods - for either good or evil.
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