What weird superstitions are common in your country?
Posted by NightZT@reddit | AskBalkans | View on Reddit | 88 comments
E.g. my gradnma always told me to not point at a rainbow or else a worm will grow inside my finger.
Or if you hear a Tawny owl is shouting it means someone in your vicinity will die.
Or that you have to touch newborns immediately after birth at their nose to protect them from magic spells and the evil eye.
hereforthebooooze@reddit
I remember being told you can't celebrate your birthday before the day it actually is otherwise you are tempting fate to not make it to your birthday. I think it's the same with celebrating a baby before it is born- like in the US it is common to have a baby shower before the baby is born.
That_North_994@reddit
My mother had this superstition of not buying baby clothes before the baby is born. (Romania)
Defiant_Being_9222@reddit
When 2 people say the same thing at the same time, they must both touch something red, otherwise they will have a fallout/argument. I actually thought this wasn't a Greek thing only, but apparently it is.
ElderCursive@reddit
Interesting, we have it different, when two people said the same thing in the same time someone is talking bad about behind their back. Its funny because when this happens the two people start to curse that hypothetical third person thats is talking shit behind their backs.
That_North_994@reddit
In Romania, at least amongst the people I know, when two people say the same thing, we say afterwords that a devil has died because of spite. And we laugh it off.
Defiant_Being_9222@reddit
That sounds like a pretty funny variant.
manu20bcr@reddit
+turkey
Defiant_Being_9222@reddit
Really?? Damn. Our similarities are insane.
Refugee_InThisWorld@reddit
Bird shit brings good luck.
mojothrowjo@reddit
We have, bird nests bring good luck. If a bird chooses to build their nest in your home it means you have a good or peaceful home
That_North_994@reddit
Similar thing in Romania. In fact, any animal that comes to your house is a sign of good luck, and when they leave is a sign of bad luck.
That_North_994@reddit
I think we have the same belief in Romania (if a bird shits on you that means you'll have good luck). Also, if you step in shit.
ConnectionUsed3684@reddit
Don't cut your nails at night, it brings bad luck.
f1fan6890@reddit
Don't play with shadows or you will piss yourself
Don't walk over someone lying down or they won't grow up
ConnectionUsed3684@reddit
omg the memories, I had a cousin that would cry every time we jumped over her, fearing what she heard from grandma that we won't grow. We had to jump a second time apparently that took away the curse. Funny enough to this day, she is the shortest of us all and we love trolling her for it.
Albanian_shqipe@reddit
This always gets me 😂 and don’t sleep with socks on or look at yourself in the mirror too long.
Nervous_Spare1056@reddit
My mother always insisted on these things.
immortalx74@reddit
Unbelievable, all those you mentioned also hold true here as well!
Most-Ad-8453@reddit
Mirrors were considered magical portals in the past.
Timepass10@reddit
Seriously, where does this come from ?
I would also add whistling at night.
mojothrowjo@reddit
Haha my mom told me the whistling at night thing when I was a kid too
ConnectionUsed3684@reddit
It is something about Albanians and the night. I guess being asleep is the only valid choice.Â
Pie_collector@reddit
Don't open your umbrella inside the house because it's going to bring some bad luck
Flashy-Association69@reddit
If you visit someone who recently suffered a loss, you wash your hands when you go back home - it stops death from following you.
kettykitten@reddit
Here’s the English translation:
If your right palm itches, it means you will have to give money to someone. If your left palm itches, it means you will receive money from someone.
If your right ear itches, it means a ghost is trying to contact you. If your left ear itches, it means you’re going to get beaten.
mal-sor@reddit
Dont kill the snake you find at home or bad luck and someone will die.
Its not a superstition but some ancient belief that every home has it own snake who protects it and everyone in it.
Bilbolbu@reddit
This is a Balto-Slavic belief. Household spirits in the form of snakes are present in the folklore of Czechs, Rusyns, Serbs, Bulgarians, Lithuanians (žaltys), etc.
redikan@reddit
It’s Indo-European. We didn’t get it from Slavs
Bilbolbu@reddit
Which other Indo-European cultures have this belief?
redikan@reddit
Albanians, Romans, Germanics, Ancient Greeks
Bilbolbu@reddit
Show me examples od this specific belief among these cultures.
redikan@reddit
Albanians, Ancient Greeks and Romans, Germanics
Bilbolbu@reddit
I'm not talking about pet snakes or snakes in mythology in general I'm asking what other Indo-European culture has ancestral household spirits appearing in a form of a snake, that's why I stressed ''this belief SPECIFICALLY''.
redikan@reddit
So if you are talking about a spirit, why did you reply to the Albanian who was talking about a house snake, not a spirit, and tell him it was a Slavic belief?
Bilbolbu@reddit
You don't even know what you're arguing at this point
redikan@reddit
Why don’t you read the whole page, in which it says clearly that this is related to Illyrian beliefs (Pre-Slavic migration into the Balkans). I don’t think you know what you’re arguing about tbh
Bilbolbu@reddit
That is what you claim. I'm yet to see proof of that claim. Albanians when they can't support their claims regarding stuff like this just fall back to ''it's Illyrian'' as some kind of universal cop out.
I showed how this specific belief is present among Slavs and Balts and even the wiki link you posted here says it's present among north Albanians, the group of Albanians which coincidentally had the most contact with Slavs.
I don't know why Albanians have such a hard time accepting they were influenced by Slavs to a certain extent.
redikan@reddit
It’s literally in the Wikipedia page. Or does the Wikipedia page only exist to confirm your false claims?
Bilbolbu@reddit
Jesus Christ. Every mythology has serpents in some shape or form. Every single one. I AM TALKING ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC BELIEF.
redikan@reddit
Ok. I gave you sources showing that the belief was not given to us by Slavs and that we have had it since before Christianisation, so before Slavs even stepped foot in the Balkans. I have no problem with acknowledging Slavic influences in Albanian culture but I will not allow traditional Albanian/Illyrian beliefs to be falsely named as Slavic in origin. The Albanian household serpent/Vitore is NOT Slavic in origin and is from the Illyrians.
mal-sor@reddit
Well do you have it ? Do you still practice it ?
Bilbolbu@reddit
As a part of folklore, yes. There's a belief that you shouldn't kill the ''house-guardian snake'' if it appears and that once it does appear it's usually a bad omen.
But I doubt people nowadays have snakes slithering out from beneath their thresholds.
https://oldeuropeanculture.blogspot.com/2023/03/house-snake.html?m=1
NightZT@reddit (OP)
We actually have that in Austria as well:
https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/oesterreich/burgenland/petzoldt/hausschlange.html
"And the priest said that nothing could be done about them because every house has a snake. And if you see this snake, you mustn't harm it. Because if this snake is killed, then this family will soon die out."
NightZT@reddit (OP)
We have that in eastern austria as well. If you kill the house snake the family will die out
Subject-Effective-92@reddit
We have the same belief in Romania. Also, if the house snake goes away never to return, a great misfortune will befall upon that household. I think that's a very archaic belief, a lot of frescoes unearhed at Pompeii, depicting lares & penates, the Roman household-protecting deities, show snakes at the bottom of the house.
Th3Dark0ccult@reddit
We also have this, but for a practical reason. Snakes catch mice and keep your stored grain safe.
Apatride@reddit
What difference do you make between superstition and ancient belief?
And it actually makes sense to some extent. Very few snakes in Europe are dangerous to humans but they do kill rodents which carry diseases so it makes sense that popular wisdom would encourage people not to kill snakes (a likely reaction to seeing a snake due to many reasons, including biblical ones).
mal-sor@reddit
Nah man in here a few snakes dont kill you,others toi dont wanna meet em.
NightZT@reddit (OP)
That's actually very cool!
casper_pwnz@reddit
When you see a chimney sweeper, you have to touch a button to have good luck.
NightZT@reddit (OP)
Interesting, here it's twisting the button
OmeletteDuFromage95@reddit
Don't whistle at night, it calls satan
syrmian_bdl@reddit
And whistling indoors it summons the mice.
oioioioioioiioo@reddit
Once you leave your house for going somewhere, you should not return if you forgot something or else bad luck follows
Nervous_Spare1056@reddit
My family says so too
hereforthebooooze@reddit
My mom just recently told me this one too
mssarac@reddit
We also have this one and it's extremely annoying when you're headed to the airport and you forgot something
kodial79@reddit
Don't whistle at night, it brings out the dead.
Draig_werdd@reddit
In Romania you are not supposed to whistle in the house at all. I think it's also about death.
immortalx74@reddit
When you see a priest touch your balls (I'm not kidding)
Subject-Effective-92@reddit
Do you happen to know the rationale behind this?
In Romania there is this superstition that meeting a priest when walking down the road brings bad luck. The reason, I was told, being the demons who constantly hang around "holy men" trying to make them sin and fall from grace (apparently, causing a man of cloth to sin grants the demon a higher status then tempting an ordinary layperson).
So, I wonder whether there is some similar reasoning here (like touching your balls to avert bad luck or something like that).
mojothrowjo@reddit
I've heard the same thing but I love seeing the priests doing their daily activities like everyone else lol
immortalx74@reddit
Lol that's a thorough explanation! I now remember that seeing them on the road was a key part (I mean, we weren't supposed to do the it in church 😅).
But I've no clue about its origins here TBH.
determine96@reddit
Hah, we have this in my town at least.
The funny thing is that my close relative was a priest, but I was doing as the other kids when we were seeing some other priest, it was because they can curse you, which is crazy thing in a Christian place..
I guess the black robes/clothes give them such dark image..
immortalx74@reddit
So it seems it's a Balkan thing (Greece, Romania, Bulgaria confirmed)! Lol yeah all us kids did it back then but I haven't heard youngsters mention it recently.
determine96@reddit
Same.
OkoMushroom@reddit
Wearing socks or undershirts inside out to deflect the evil eye 🤣
mojothrowjo@reddit
LOL that usually gives me the evil eye
manu20bcr@reddit
Don’t whistle inside the house, otherwise a jinn will come
itching of the left hand, a possible loss of money
Broken mirror
mojothrowjo@reddit
No wonder my left hand's been so itchy
mojothrowjo@reddit
No whistling at night or the devil will hear you- That's what my mother told me growing up and even though I know it's just a silly superstition I'm still not comfortable with whistling or hearing people whistle at night lol
Easy_Schedule5859@reddit
Promaja!
User20242024@reddit
Promaja is real, it is not superstition.
OmeletteDuFromage95@reddit
1 killer of Balkans around the world
nena_zee@reddit
Propuh!
NightZT@reddit (OP)
Ahh, we have that as well, but not to your extend i think. My mom blames every toothache, hurting eye, tense shoulder, houseplants that don't look good etc. on open windows or some other kind of breeze. It always drives me crazy
ElderCursive@reddit
Don’t do house chores or your rifle wont fire
This is intended for men, it seems that house chores were a woman thing and only man could bear arms and the weapon will have some type of consciousness to know if you did house chores or not when its time to fire your rifle 😆
ElderCursive@reddit
If your eat with two spoons your wife will die (for men) If you do house chores your rifle wont shoot when its needed (for men) If you sit like a man your husband will die (for women) When the houshold dog hawls like a wolf its a bad omen.
mssarac@reddit
I have so many superstitions that my bf wants me to write a book about them, he's convinced it's gonna sell 😂 spoiler alert: I won't
Aromatic_Dare_6104@reddit
'Don't wash your hair first day of your period.'
i know so many young women who still follow this.
Don't remember the superstition around it, but I think maybe someone was onto something because I have noticed taking long or very hot showers stops my flow and prolongs my period. Like if I take a long or very hot shower on my second day I won't bleed for one whole day after and then on the 4th day it starts from beginning like it's my 1st day cramps and everything! It's a drag because then it lasts for 7 days or even more.
So I wouldn't say I believe in the superstition but hey if I found even the tiny relief from feeling like I have an angry demon trying to claw it's was out of my uterus every month by not doing or doing something I'd follow it religiously. Until then I guess I'll destroy my liver with ketoprofen.
Too bad female reproductive health is such an underdeveloped term even in 2025.
MartoVBG2K5@reddit
I can't think of any stuff like that. And none of these superstitions are true in general.
NightZT@reddit (OP)
I don't believe in those at all but it's interesting and entertaining to read them
cmiljka@reddit
Dont sing while you eat otherwise your kids are going to end up retarded 😀
Most-Ad-8453@reddit
My grandma told me not to suck on my thumb or else mushroom will grow out of it... :)
Interesting what AI told me about it:
Th3Dark0ccult@reddit
If you pass under a rainbow, you change sex. If you're a boy you become girl and vice versa (p.s. This has nothing to do with lgbt because it was a superstition in my childhood, long before they adopted the rainbow as symbol).
if a black cat crosses your path you have to spin 3 times counter clockwise in place to undo the bad luck.
if you see a dead animal, knock on wood.
tzoum_trialari_laro@reddit
Finding a salamander in or around your home means good luck
The evil eye (a glance or word, too good or too bad, bringing injury or worse to the one it’s about, avoided by knocking on wood or fake-spitting)
Opening an umbrella in an enclosed space brings bad luck
Don’t stand on crossroads at night
name2sayMKD@reddit
Promaya will kill you
moisthotdogg@reddit
I don't think I can think of anything too crazy. Just that pointing at the moon is bad luck and drinking coffee as a kid will make you grow a tail