My grandmother was the inspiration for today's post. She was very superstitious and loved Halloween. She even knew how to read fortunes from tea leaves! So I've compiled 22 Halloween superstitions from around the internet to help you survive the holiday.
If you hear footsteps behind you on this night, don't look
back. It may be the dead following you. Turning back could mean that you will
soon join the dead
If you do not want to be haunting a graveyard any time soon,
be sure you do not look at your shadow in the moonlight. Doing so on All
Hallows Eve will guarantee your death within a short span of time.
If a candle lighted as part of a ceremony blows out or if
the candle flame suddenly turns blue it is a sign that evil spirits are nearby.
Never slam a door. You might hurt a ghost, who'll haunt you
for the rest of your life.
If a bat flies into a house it is a sign that ghosts are
about and maybe the ghost let the bat in.
If you hold your breath while you drive by a cemetery, evil
spirits can't enter your body.
When bobbing for apples, it is believed that the first
person to bite an apple would be the first to marry.
If you go to a crossroads at Halloween and listen to the
wind, you will learn all the most important things that will befall you during
the next twelve months.
It is believed in several districts of Britian that it is
lucky to see an empty hearse coming towards you but unlucky if you turn round
to watch it go by.
Throughout Germany it is said that anyone who lies in a
coffin, even for fun, is inviting death.
You should walk around your home three times backwards and
counterclockwise before sunset on Halloween to ward off evil spirits.
Knocking on wood keeps bad luck away.
If you see a spider on Halloween, it could be the spirit of
a dead loved one who is watching you.
If you ring a bell on Halloween, it will scare evil spirits
away.
In North America, it's bad luck if a black cat crosses your
path and good luck if a white cat crosses your path. In Britain and Ireland,
it's the opposite.
A burning candle inside a jack-o-lantern on Halloween keeps
evil spirits and demons at bay.
It is believed that if a person lights a new orange colored
candle at midnight on Halloween and lets it burn until sunrise, he or she will
be the recipient of good luck.
Put your clothes on inside out and walk backwards on
Halloween night to meet a witch.
One Gaelic superstition states that all souls that are bound
in Purgatory are set free for forty-eight hours on All Hallows Eve.
Don't point at a grave or your finger will rot off.
When passing a graveyard or a house where someone has died,
turn your pockets inside out to make sure you don't bring home ghost in your
pocket.
There is an old superstition that the body put in the first
grave dug in a new graveyard is always claimed by the devil.
