But what’s up with all these superstitions? Why are we afraid of black cats and not red or blue ones? Unsurprisingly, it all somehow ends up being related to religion. You see, back in the day, cats were considered divine symbols by Egyptians. They would also appear in Greek mythology alongside Hecate, the goddess of magic, sorcery, the moon, and witchcraft.
In other words, pagans loved them. And what pagans loved was a big no-no to the Christian church. Add to the fact that cats tend to be independent and not listen to authority, which is another thing the Christian church hates, and everything starts falling into place.
Suddenly, the fact that in the 13th century, the church declared that black cats were incarnations of Satan is not that surprising. You also start to understand why people would want to avoid them—whether they were scared of the evil spirits or the possible persecution.
Supposedly, another superstition that was born out of Christians wanting to oppose pagans at all costs was the number 13. The thing is that, for ages, this number was related to the menstrual cycle and feminine power. It was believed to be connected to goddesses of fertility, love, and motherhood.
Women's empowerment, though, wasn’t really a Christian thing. So, wanting to get rid of all that nonsense, they labeled the goddesses witches and made sure that the number was associated with the evil spirits. This was all turned around in the 21st century, of course, when Taylor Swift swooped in and gave the feminine power back to the number 13.
Surprisingly or not, walking under a ladder is also related to religion. You see, when a ladder is propped up against the wall, the space underneath makes a triangle. In Christian faith, a triangle represents the holy trinity. So, walking through it means “disrupting” it, which was considered blasphemous.
Egyptians, apparently, were also not so stoked about walking under ladders. That is because they would leave them in tombs for the dead to be able to climb to the afterlife. The space under the ladder, though, was thought to be the home of all sorts of good and bad spirits. Walking through that space would disturb and anger them, which it was believed would lead to really bad consequences.
Weirdly enough, Egyptians might be the reason for why some consider opening an umbrella inside an unlucky thing to do. See, Egyptians used to use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, and they believed that using one inside would anger the sun deity Ra. Umbrellas were also a luxury reserved for royalty only, so if you are not of noble blood, stepping into the shade provided by an umbrella was simply a sacrilegious thing to do.
Still, it’s very unlikely that such a minor superstition managed to survive such a long time. So, it is more likely that we avoid opening up umbrellas inside simply because it used to be quite a complicated contraption. Opening it up in a tight space could lead to injuries or broken items, so it was best to avoid it.
