Top 10 Things That Are Considered Bad Luck

We've all heard that it's a bad omen if a black cat crosses your path, so I figured I'd start there. In the 17th century, black cats were associated with witchcraft, and people thought they were basically witches themselves, just disguised as cats.

Although I think we're smarter than 17th-century people, this association is still the main reason that black cats don't get adopted as much as other cats.

This is false. My cousin owns a black cat. Sometimes the cat stays with my dad's parents, and I was having a sleepover there when the cat was staying there too. It didn't cause me bad luck there, and my cousin has had the cat for a while now.

In many nations, 13 is considered unlucky. Italy, China, and France actually consider 13 a lucky number, but let's focus on the rest of the world. Wikipedia has many examples of why 13 is considered unlucky by most.

The best example is the Last Supper, which had 13 people (Christ included) seated and was the last meal Jesus had before being crucified. Other scenarios emphasize why 13 is unlucky, like the Knights Templar, which happened on (surprise) Friday the 13th when King Phillip IV ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar, and most knights were tortured or killed.

Throughout the 18th century, synthetic green dyes were made with a newly discovered compound called cupric hydrogen arsenic. Though the widespread publication of arsenic in 1822 finally alerted the public to its dangers, some superstitious homeowners view green walls as a bad omen even today. The ironic thing is green is also considered good luck.

Is that true? Because when I see the color green, I think of Christmas.

Remember that Save the Clock Tower flyer Marty McFly got in the first Back to the Future? According to Feng Shui superstition, broken clocks are more powerful than you think. Feng Shui implies that a broken clock can stop time itself and leave you in the Twilight Zone for eternity. If a broken clock chimes, it foreshadows your death.

I can testify that neither of those is the case. I have a dysfunctional wristwatch floating around my house somewhere, and I am not living in limbo. I also have a semi-functional watch under my bed that goes off every day. I am not even close to dead.

This one goes back to ancient Egypt. In ancient Egypt, if you brought anything that protects you from the weather inside, it was considered disrespectful to the spirits that protected you. The implication was that the guardian spirit's protection is not good enough, and the fear of the wrath of these spirits has kept people from opening umbrellas inside, even if the origin is forgotten.

I, being my ever-so-non-superstitious self, have run this risk. So far, there have been no further contingencies in my life.

That sounds kind of unlikely anyway. I live surrounded by forest, and I have never seen such an insect in my house.

According to Victorian superstitions, if you bring a firefly or lightning bug into your house, it means someone is going to die soon.

Although I forgot which group of superstitious people this one came from (and will modify this comment when I research it), I remember the logic behind it. Supposedly, if you hang a horseshoe upside down, the luck will fall out of it.

This is one I believe in. No point in asking why because I don't know. It's an irrational belief I can't seem to undo.

Some people think this superstition was made by parents. If you don't make your bed, or are even interrupted while making it, that could doom you to a bad night's sleep. And let's face it, an unmade bed just looks bad anyway.

Okay, before I get into details, unless you are a professional lumberjack or have some experience with using axes, this is just stupid in the first place. As for the bad luck behind bringing an ax into your house, it can bring death. I wonder how this became logic.

I have also done this one. (Surprised?) I think this one has a bunch of theoretical origins, from Christians believing that if you walk through a triangle, you are somehow breaking the Godhead to Ancient Egyptians believing that this is disrespectful to the gods. (Man, Ancient Egyptians must have lived their lives very paranoid. You couldn't do anything without upsetting spirits or the gods.)

It's also, generally speaking, not a bright idea, especially if the ladder is rickety and needs to lean against your house to climb it.

More "superstitions" that many see as more than that. It's not as much "unlucky" as it is one of the many harbingers of Jesus. I actually missed a Blood Moon last year because I was watching the Super Bowl.

I feel like anything that has to do with blood is bad. Also, I love your lists, HaiThere. They are always so much fun.

I have a lot of crows around my house. Is that why I'm so unlucky?

I have a lot of them, but I'm not scared.

You've gotta wonder what TopTenners (or people in general) who have pet birds think about this one. Supposedly, if a bird flies into your house (especially through a window), it foreshadows - you guessed it - death.

I can tell you firsthand that this one isn't true. When I was maybe six, my family somehow managed to let a crow into our house. Don't ask me how we let it in, but everyone who lived in my house at the time is still fine.

Man, I've seen a lot of birds fly into my classrooms.

I think this means that you'll have relationship issues.

I have seen a lot of horror movies where rocking chairs have moved on their own, so I don't have any inside or outside of my home.

An empty rocking chair is an invitation for ghosts to enter your home. I did a project on that once.

I feel the same way. That's why I don't have any.

Because arranged marriages were customary, there was fear that the groom would back out if he didn't find the bride attractive.

A superstitious belief that leaving a hat on the bed will bring death within the household.

It's the Chinese number for death.

I thought the same thing about Moana. Thank you, I am not the only one to think that.

Never heard of this one. I don't think this would come up much anyway though.

So that's why Moana left the pig on the island after leaving?