Superstitions: Where They Come From Them and Why We Do Them

Superstitions are something that we have all heard of, believe in, or even practice in day to day life. They might seem random, but many hold a deeper meaning. For some people, they stem from religious or mystical beliefs, while some come from other places that might seem entirely random to outsiders. For students at Galloway, this is no different, with a multitude of people with differing backgrounds who hold differing beliefs. Over the past two weeks, I asked a couple students and two faculty members some superstitions they believe in. 

The first student I asked, Macabee Anderson ‘25, told me of an anecdote surrounding the “banana boat” superstition, and a sailing trip he went on. This “banana boat” superstition is the belief that if you have a banana on your boat you will not only not catch any fish, but also that your boat will sink the next time you sail. While this is a rather extreme superstition, it is not unfounded. Many boats that sank during the 1700’s (when the superstition was formed) were believed to be carrying bananas, and it is said that they can cause mechanical failures on even the best maintained ships. Bananas are naturally buoyant as well, so a common occurrence in shipwrecks was for bananas to float to the surface at the sight of a wreck, adding to sailors' superstitions around bananas. Bananas also release a gas called ethylene, which some believe is a natural repellent for fish, explaining the fishing part of the superstition. Nonetheless, it is still a very commonly held belief amongst sailors. This student who was sailing with his uncle, an avid sailor, had packed a lunch for the both of them, taking mostly fruits and small snacks as lunch for the day. While there is nothing wrong with packing fruits for lunch, this student had packed a banana, not knowing of the beliefs that surround them. So, after a while sailing, his uncle asked him to grab some fruit, and to his utter surprise, found himself staring at a banana. Immediately the uncle threw both the banana and the backpack that contained it into the sea, and started speeding back to the shore.

Another student, Nikolas Rojanets ‘24, told me of a widely held belief in the Russian community, which is that whistling indoors brings misfortune to yourself and your family. This belief is so universally accepted in the community that he himself was unable to whistle until he was around eleven years old due to how taboo it was to do inside. While this superstition has no ties to any specific historical event, a pattern in Russian superstitions is the focus around future misfortune or good fortune. Other common Russian superstitions are to not get babies gifts until after birth, as it brings misfortune to do otherwise, and to not to talk about future success until that success has passed, as misfortune is said to be brought about to those who boast. 

For the last student I ended up asking Macabee Anderson again about superstitions, where he told me of a commonly held belief in Jewish community surrounding the number eighteen, as they believe the number holds good luck. This belief constitutes that things like flowers should be given in groups of eighteen, donations should be made in amounts with only the number eighteen in it, to only carry eighteen dollars worth of change in your pocket and many other things. The reason that this superstition is so widely practiced in the Jewish community is due to the Hebrew alphabet. In the Hebrew alphabet, letters can correspond to numbers, meaning a number can have the dual meaning of a word. This form of numerology is called gematria. In gematria, the letters that make up the word for life add up to eighteen, so the number eighteen holds the dual meaning of life, causing many to believe that it holds good luck. 

The first faculty member I asked about this was Coach Beatty. He described to me a personal superstition. Upon leaving his bedroom, his bed has to be made and all lights in the room have to be off. The making of the bed represents, to him, a symbol of moving the day forward. Although there is most likely not a connection, a similar Russian superstition exists, where you must leave your room in the same state it was as when you return from a trip. Both have a similar use, as it can determine if someone has been in your room. The origin of the Russian superstition most likely lies in the famous Russian proverb, “trust, but verify” attributed to Lenin.

The second faculty member I asked was Mr. Foreman. Mr. Foreman described to me a superstition he holds towards cats, believing that they steal your breath while you sleep. Mr. Foreman is very adamant about this belief, as I remember he got into an argument with students about this belief on the excursion he supervised that I was on. This belief stems from the olden days of society, where there were many superstitions that surrounded cats, as they were viewed as evil. This specific superstition has two different reasons for “cats stealing your breath.” The first reason is that cats would smell the milk on a child's lip and would cause them to attempt to steal the child's breath. The second reason for this belief exists is that during cold winter months, cats would often attempt to warm themselves by laying with infants or children. In a few cases, this caused the child to be smothered by the cat, causing many to believe it stole the breath of the child. The earliest verified written account of this superstition is traced back to 1791 in England. 

Superstitions are in many ways small codes or beliefs that we live by that have been ingrained in us from a young age. Sometimes they become so ingrained in our lives that we forget the meaning they once held, or the reason we so adamantly believe in them. Regardless, they add a little bit of order in the chaos of life, connecting us back to our family or culture. I really enjoyed learning about these superstitions shared by people at Galloway and the communities that they come from, and explaining why these superstitions exist. 

By Holden Gruel