I have been extremely superstitious since I was a little girl. It all stems back to my childhood in Spain being raised by my Grandmother. She would always tell me stories about the region of Spain we were from called Galicia and how it was known for being the land of witches and incantations.
Fast forward a few years to my maternal grandmother who was very superstitious and warned us about the bad luck that would befall us if we put our shoes on the table, opened an umbrella in the house, or walked past a black cat. I never fully understood why doing these things was considered bad but I definitely sensed the foreboding and fear in her eyes as she warned us against doing any of them.
Now, don’t go thinking that I’m a witch or anything because there is always that random reader who reads too much into posts and will go on a rant in the comments below about how they are unsubscribing because I have “wandered into the dark side.” Rest assured that this is not the case and that I am simply trying to establish a frame of reference for why I am so superstitious as an adult.
This evening, a superstitious person’s worst nightmare happened when my son dropped a beauty mirror of mine and it shattered on the floor. Immediately, my body froze up as I thought of the seven years of bad luck that are supposed to come from breaking a mirror. Of course, being the superstitious mom that I am, I Googled what one can do to reverse the bad luck that is associated with breaking mirrors and this is the list that I came up with:
- Turn around 3 times in a circle in a counter-clockwise motion immediately after breaking the mirror.
- Throw a pinch of salt over your left shoulder.
- Hold the broken mirror under running water or throw it in a body of water.
- Bury the pieces of the broken mirror under the moonlight in your yard.
- Bury a shard of the broken mirror in a cemetery.
Now, I’m not going to tell you that, as a college educated person, I listened to reason and disregarded all of this advice. I guess I am too set in my ways and my superstitious fears crept up on me because I did have my son turn around counter-clockwise 3 times and I told him to say a little prayer.
I’m sure some of you will comment below that I’m crazy and I shouldn’t be perpetuating my superstitious fears by teaching them to my kids. Others will agree with how I handled it because they are superstitious too and may even comment with suggestions for other ways to break the bad luck of breaking a mirror. In any case, we cannot deny the profound impact that the culture and beliefs that we were raised within have on how we live as adults. Don’t judge me…
Let’s Discuss: What are some beliefs or superstitions that you were raised to believe by your parents and grandparents?
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Witch! hahaah just kidding. Well, hmm..I’d say I’m fairly superstitious, as in I wouldn’t cross a black cat’s path or walk under a ladder, but I don’t go overboard with it. I remember breaking a mirror as a young adult & I’ve had quite a bit of bad luck since then, so who knows.. I’d save a piece until the next full moon on the 22nd (I believe?) and bury it just in case. Too bad I didn’t have google back when I broke mine lol. Did you know that American Indians sometimes believe if you cut your hair around the new moon that it will grow faster, and full moon for thickness.
Native Americans believe that because your body grows in cycles your hair is actually growing on approximately a 28 day cycle in which there are certain times that it is more likely to grow longer i.e. the full moon. that’s not superstition, that’s Science.
Greetings, I have a reply and which will lead to a question. First, Yes, it is true that if you cut your hair on a fulk moon it will grow faster.I set a length the first time full moon, it took 2 yrs. The 2d time, anytime, it took 3 yrs.
I was hanging a strip of wall paper once and was still hanging it 6 hrs later after I walked under the ladder with it.
Let us say that you have been aproached by strangers and asked if you were a good witch, by others a shaman indian, and obviously protected by Mother Nature herself. I mean I have had some exoeriences that I don’t want to tell anyone due to the fact they will turn me in.Who would you go to talk to, other than a shrink.
You can talk to me.
We don’t really believe in bad luck or superstitious belief. Things just happened coincidentally.
No bad luck with positive thinking 😉
My grandma was superstitious as well and would frequently see her throw salt over her shoulder. Even when you doubt it those types of teachings do weigh on your mind. My daughter, as a child, broke my mirror and I just told her I loved her more than I loved the mirror so not to worry about me being upset over the loss. Light (love) always counteracts darkness. 🙂
Light n Love is all the spiritual-powers you will ever need in life… Great answer for your daughter 🙂 😉
I didn’t know about not putting shoes on the table! I don’t allow it anyway, but now I can tell my family that it’s bad luck. 😉 I am superstitious in spite of my education and scientific analysis…or maybe because of them? We still have so much to learn about our own brains and the amazing things they can do, so I think it’s possible that if you believe in luck, good or bad, you will see evidence of it, and maybe even attract whichever you have in focus. So go on with your superstitions! They’re fun, anyway.
By the way, here’s one that I still do: On the first day of every month my first spoken words are “rabbit, rabbit”. Or at least I TRY to remember to say it!
Nope, I do not think your crazy. I’m superstitious! I’ve heard everything you listed and we don’t spilt a pole or step over our children.
My grandmother always said never split a pole(walking on either side instead of going around one together) would cause an argument between the 2 offenders. Lol her remedy was that both had to say “salt&pepper” as their next words after splitting the pole. Worked far as I know! Loved her with all my heart.
We have that same superstition in my family. It goes back many generations. To avoid the said perils (tongue in cheek), if we split a pole, one person says “bread and butter” to which the other must reply “Come to supper.” Whether there is any truth to the superstition remain to be seen. However I follow the tradition and think of it as a sweet way to remember and momentarily reconnect with my family both here and in heaven. Cheers!
No judging, nope, I certainly have my superstitions, too. It’s not like turning around and saying a prayer is a harmful practice regardless of the rational behind it. Might be good to do that every day to ward off the bad mojo 🙂
No judging, of course, but no one in my family was superstitious. As a matter of fact I own several black cats. I certainly don’t think saying prayers or turning around will hurt and, like Barb said, it might be good to do everyday anyway. 🙂
I am not superstitious, but I remember my great grandmother saying things about the rule of three, and I think she had a horse shoe above her door.
lol, I am really superstitious. My mom is insane about superstition, so I didn’t have a chance to be normal. 😉
hahah yup.. I remember ALL these, too… and yes.. I follow them…lol.. my poor kids 🙂
I come from a very superstitious family as well. My grandmother chose the names of my mom, aunts and uncles based on the calendar on the day they were born. We give all our babies the “mano de asabache” I still wear a gold one nearly all the time around my neck as it is supposed to protect from the evil eye as well as pregnancy and nursing moms. You’re not alone! 😉
i have never been a superstitious person but i remember all of this!
I’m not superstitious myself, but my mother was. Especially about ladders and mirrors. I remember the salt remedy very well!
What to do because I broke mirror 5 months ago?
That’s what I want to know! I’ve had 3 people die, work gone down the hill, money cut, car accidents, family issues. The only thing I can think of is my first car accident several months ago when my head broke my vanity mirror… Now I don’t know what to do.
Ok I’ve heard of throwing salt over your shoulder when you spill salt. I didn’t know it worked for broken mirrors though. I broke my mirrored closet door last night. It’s still intact but cracked right across. Will these still work even though I didn’t just do it now?
I dropped a small mirror a couple of months ago when I was cleaning. Didn’t mean to it was between some papers on my desk. Can I still do the salt over left shoulder to remove the bad luck?
I’m not really sure, Laura. The salt over the left shoulder is for taking away bad luck when you spill salt on the table, or so I’ve been told. Not sure if it is supposed to work for broken mirrors as well…
My mother told me that if you knocked I’ve the salt shaker you had to pick it up and put about a pinch of salt from the shaker in the palm of your right hand and then throw it over your left shoulder. By doing this it would word off unexpected or unwanted guests. We had more superstitions than rules growing up. I don’t think my mother ever told us don’t play with matches, but we had to hold our breath when going over a bridge, lift our feet when going over railroad tracks in a car, close our eyes going under an underpass, and shoes on the table and the cat and the latter there’s more but I don’t want to bore you all but the one thing she never told us was what to do about a broken mirror and I just broke one so I hope somebody can come up with something better than salt and a pryer……. Help
Did you ever find out?? Cause i just broke one ?
Okay my daughter was born last month on 22nd very odd that I break mirror after one month afterwards she is 2 months and I was drinking a beer earlier, but I could not catch mirror she was in my arms and had been crying worse than she was at pediatrician’s office because she got her shots today. I turned around wasted 2 tablespoon salt over my shoulder. I hope I’m okay, mainly her. I’m done drinking and drastically driving myself to deranged thoughts. I’ve had such a broken family, any advice or comments. Who can be psychic?! Wat does this mean? Are premonitions real? Used to have as kid not sure if sign of God or what, I’m skeptical. Starting fooling with guy I thought was overall good, but has his insecure and defaults. Should I put up with abusive flaws???
Someone enlighten me
My grandma said after you comb your hair take your hair out of a brush and burn it cuz people can take your hair and make you grow crazy also it’s bad luck to put your hat on the bed and then you know they’re the general ones like don’t split a pole don’t break a mirror I just go buy those. lol
You will never believe what happened to me after I broke my mirror. I lost a shoe, sprained my rist, stretched out my knee, and lost my earbuds. I also lost some of my makeup brushes. Like come on????
How can you bury the pieces of the broken mirror in your back yard AND bury a shard in a cemetery?
In 2012 I broke a mirror… a full length mirror.. of course I was freaking out and googled what to do. I found the info of how to break the 7 yr bad luck, said to bury the broken pieces under a tree on a full moon night. So, I waited for the full moon night and did just that. Apparently I did not do it right because for the last 4 yrs have been some of the worst in my entire life!! My entire life was blown apart and I am still having not so great luck. My cat started having serious health problems, my husband was carelessly riding his ATV while drinking and had a wreck breaking his collar bone causing him to lose his job. We had to uproot our life and move back to his hometown so he could work for much less pay. I started having health problems causing me to lose my job and still cant work. Eventually separated and now divorcing… and I still have 3 yrs of bad luck to go 🙁 Seriously, this superstition is VERY REAL!!
Finally! The full moon is here.
Going now to get my shovel for one of the final steps… bury it under the full moon.
Then, as wasn’t mentioned in this post of MANY I’ve read, incense through the house then burn the sage.
I Will admit this is l may Sean, oh…..a but extreme but I’m gong to admit and tell you, the worst stress in my 49 years of life started VERY SOON, after the mirror thing
A week or two ago. I broke a mirror. In addition to burying it in my yard during a bright full moon. I bless it with holy water. Burnt sage and smudged the broken glass with the smoke. And recited the lord’s prayer while I digging the hole and burring the broker mirror. May God show mercy on me and remove these seven years of bad luck from me.
I’m writing a book and in the introduction I touch on the subject of superstition so in my additional research I found this line of dialogue. I also find it to be interesting as to how strong the belief is in these superstitious stories which are all backed up by focus and intention rather than facts and Intelligence. Now I’m not knocking any of you for your beliefs however, to be quite open I’m nearing sixty myself, so yes I have a lot of the fear or high concern about certain tales that were told to me. I push pass them with an understanding that all influences are empowered by the one being influenced. What that means is you have always had the power to dispell any negative energy causing you bad luck, even without the additional activities that wise women made up just so that you can have an anchor to believe in because you didn’t believe in yourself enough to do it on your own.
Do you have to do all of them?
Do I have to do all of these things? Or just a majority?
Okay, so let me put this in perspective,I was raised to be superstitious my whole life and i really had some issues with it at first but If you have ever been to a scrap yard or landfill then you have seen a lot of carnage of mirrors being broken.Junk vehicles have at least 3 mirrors on each one “sometimes more” and they are destroyed every day.The scrap yard owners are usually pretty well off and have pretty good luck so don’t let this bother you anymore.
You should not remove bad luck because according to karma you will get the same amount of good luck.
I am superstitious and I just had a giant mirror fall off the wall and shattered everywhere. I turned around counter clockwise three times and also ran the largest shard of glass under running water. Not taking any chances!
I just broke my mirror and had a half hour mental breakdown thinking about the stuff that might happened compared to the things that I only just overcame. I’m not too too superstitious but I’m still careful about those things because magic has endless possibilities. I just recently started searching for my deity (I’m wiccan) and I just sat in front of the mirror and prayed for my deity to find me as soon as it could and it actually helped me ground myself a lot.
Hi
I too this evening broke a mirror. As soon as I heard the shatter I froze and my mind raced. I immediately ran to get my phone and find out if the is a way to reverse it. Thank you for this. Im going to try the salt thing.
Hello,
I have somewhat grown up with superstitions, and some that I just don’t do or believe. Yet, for reasons I can’t explain, I refuse to walk under a ladder. I don’t have a problem with a black cat crossing my path, as I have owned black cats. The broken mirror thing, not that I’m a believer of luck one way or the other or even coincidences. I have heard that once you break a mirror, that to reverse any “bad” luck that you should leave the broken pieces where they lie for 7 hours, without touching them. Then after 7 hours has passed, sweep up the pieces and just throw them away. Your 7 years of “bad” luck will be reversed. Hope this helps!