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If you’re a believer in superstitions, then Friday the 13th could be your unlucky day. But, remember, it’s simply a superstition, and nothing more. Some people take them seriously, but there is no factual evidence that anything will happen to you.

Nonetheless, superstitions are still observed and believed by many. In honor of Friday the Thirteenth, we’ll tell you about the origin of the day and why it’s considered unlucky. And, we’ll also mention a few other superstitions and unravel their mysteries.

Friday the Thirteenth - As you know, Friday the 13th is always considered an unlucky day. In fact the number 13 is considered so unlucky that many hotels and office buildings don’t have a thirteenth floor or room. Instead they skip right over to the fourteenth floor. But why do so many feel that this number is unlucky? Well, it’s been told in the Bible that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on Friday, the flood that Noah had to build an ark for also began on a Friday, and Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday. Christians also believed that Friday was the day that witches held their Satanic ceremonies. They believed that twelve witches and one devil would meet every Friday making the the number 13 and Friday a cursed combination.

Sneezing - Has anyone ever said God Bless You when you sneeze? Do you ever wonder why we say that to people who sneeze? Well this is another good example of how old superstitions lose their meaning, but still stick with us. A long time ago, in the 6th century, people would congratulate others who sneezed because it was believed that they were getting rid of evil from their bodies. But then a plague, or sickness, ravaged Europe, and people began sneezing violently. Because sneezing became a sign that people were extremely sick and might die, the Pope passed a law that required people to bless the sneezer so they would end up in Heaven.

Breaking a Mirror - Seven years of bad luck if you break a mirror, or so the superstition says. That’s a long time to believe that you have bad luck, so let’s find out the truth behind this one. Long before mirrors were invented, people used to see their reflections in pools of water. Since they had no scientific knowledge at the time, they believed this reflection to be their soul or their other self. And they believed that any interference with the other self would injure it. Hence when mirrors were invented, and they were broken, it was thought that the other self was harmed. And where did this seven year thing come in? Well, the Roman belief was that life renewed itself every seven years. And, since a mirror meant “broken” health, it was believed that the person who broke it would need seven years to recover.

So now the truth has been revealed about some of our most common superstitions. All of them date so far back that people don’t remember the origin of the superstition. They once had meaning, but now, we just recognize them as something that might cause us bad luck. But remember, luck is simply that, luck, and you never have control of it.