Russian superstitions

Russians are considered to be superstitious nation. Some superstitions and beliefs are never understood and considered to be absurd by the foreigners; however these traditions are the essential part of Russian culture and reality and are so natural for many people that they do not even pay special attention to them. The majority of people, especially young ones believe in superstitions more out of habit then of tempting fate. Some observe superstitions to just be on the safe side, however there are always people that take them quite seriously.

Many of superstitions have pagan or Orthodox background; some came from folk tales or fairy stories, Russian Orthodox tradition, or have peasant or agricultural roots and can get quite sound explanation even though they seem funny. Some superstitions are quite controversial and vary by locale.

Traveler's superstitions.

Before leaving for a long journey travelers, and all those who are seeing them off, must sit for a moment in silence before leaving the house.

It is often conveniently written off as a time to sit and think of anything one may have forgotten After someone has left the house on a long journey, their room and/or their things should not be cleaned up until they have arrived.

If you leave your house, you cannot go back inside for something you have forgotten, or your trip will result in nothing good.

If you must go back in to get the forgotten item, you can try to smooth the bad effects of returning by looking into the mirror, show the tongue at your own reflection or peep in the door mat before you leave again.

This remedy originates from the pagan tradition to trick or scare the evil spirits that can hinder the trip and is believed to house right under the door mat. Some Russians change the part of the clothes to show there is a different person leaving. On the rational side, loosing time while getting back can make a person nervous and these manipulations mean to ease the tension and annoyance.

If you want o come back again to the place you have liked, you should throw a coin onto the closest pool.

In Slavic legends the water symbolized clearance and revitalization. To through some money means to show your respect to the water so that it does not prevent you from coming back again.

A funeral procession brings good luck if you meet it on your way when you leave. However one should never cross its path or it is bad luck.

This belief comes form the ancient times when the custom to present the first comer with some gift was popular. It was considered that a person accepting money, some bread, a candle, a piece of cloth would grant remission of sins to the deceased.

A woman with empty water buckets coming towards you is considered a bad omen as it calls unlucky and vain day.

Meeting someone was believed to have mysterious affect on a travel. Thus it was lucky to meet somebody or something "full" (like a pregnat woman) and unlucky to meet a woman or a pope with empty buckets.

Pregnancy, birth, childhood and motherhood superstitions.

Mothers typically do not show their baby to anyone except the father of that child and close relatives for one month after the baby was born.

Actually it is considered to be a bad sign to show a baby to someone not belonging to the family for 6 weekas after its birth due to the evil eye threat. And , which is more important due to a forgotten Christiasn tradition of the 40th day. It is believed that a woman stays unchurched for 40 days and can not protect the baby properly. On the 40th day she brings a baby to the church and they both take communion receiving the holly protection.

A bad omen was to give a baby the same name as his father, brother, grandparent or any other relative living in the same house had.

This superstition was based on a belief that each person has his own guarding angel and if there are 2 people having the same name and sharing one house, an angel would have difficulties taking care of both of them.

Never cut baby's hair until he is 1 year old.

This tradition is based on the ancient cult of a fury (hairy) animal. Russians though that hairy creatures were healthier, happier, and more rich then the others. This cutting off the hair means taking away all the perspective benefits a person might have.

Do dot rock an empty cradle.

This superstition is based on a belief that if mother rocks a cradle it is occupied and a new baby has no room in.

Things bought for a newborn baby (such as clothes, toys, furniture, etc.) should only be purchased after the baby is born. Moreover a pregnat woman must not do this by herself, otherwise it is beleieved it can make harm to a baby.

This superstition can be partly explained by the belief in clones. If the clothes is ready, they have to be worn by a baby, not stay intact. There is however a more sound explanation and the aim to free the pregnant woman of preparations which much involved sewing in old days.

In addition to this a pregnat woman must not sew, cut, patch and darn. Otherwise a baby might have a patch (birth-mark) on its cheek when it is born or his way to the world would get "stitched up".

It is explained by a simple wisdom as if a pregnant woman pricks herself with sharp objects like scissors or a needle, she might get frightened suddenly which would have a negative affect on the baby.

The date of birth is not announced in advance to someone. This information is often conceal from even close relatives.

This is mainly explained by the fear of evil eye .

When a baby looses firth tooth, the tooth has to be thrown in the corner of the house. Then a mouse will take it and a new growing tooth will be as hard as the mouse's.

This is most likely some funny ritual made up especially for children so that they part with the tooth easily. Kids are often resistant to leave something that used to be the part of them for long time and would ask about it repeatedly. Thus giving a tooth away to the mouse seems to be the best way to entertain a child and make the change free from disappointment.

Superstitions about the home.

Moving to the new house one must first let a cat go in first.

This is explained by the ability of cats to find the best and cosiest place in the house where the bed and later a cradle would stand.

You can't whistle in the house or car, as Russians believe that you are whistling away the money.

In general whistling is approached to negatively in Russia, as whistling is considered to be idlers' usual amusement. On the mystic side whistling is similar to the wind blow that the welfare can go with. On the rational side, whistling can just be irritable.

Do not throw trash when it is dark outside or you will get robbed.

The mystic background of this superstition warns a person from getting rid of something after the sunset when the evil forces start to reign as it makes one weak. Moreover Russians preferred to burn the household trash.

Do not shake hands or kiss over the threshold of a door. It forms a bridge that allows the devil or evil spirits from the outside to enter the house this way.

The common sense suggests that this is simply impolite to continue the conversation when a person is about to leave or greet him when you are not inviting to come in.

It is considered to be a bad omen to keep broken or cracked crockery.

It symbolizes that that something is no longer intact and integral and might cause quarrels and disagreement. The rational subtext of this superstition is that the cracked things usually have sharp edges and are unsafe to use.

Wedding superstitions

A strong superstition associated with Russian weddings is that if the groom drops the ring while putting it on, it is a bad omen.

The superstitions dates back to the times when the ring was a symbol of eternity, thus if the ring is dropped the marriage is believed not to last long.

Russian wedding traditions and beliefs say that if the bride's shoe gets damaged, it will be a bad omen. If a kneel gets broken this will mean the marital life will be as lame as the bride.

At the wedding ceremony all the guests will gather around the bridal couple and start shouting: "Gorko! Gorko!" Literally this means: "Bitter! Bitter!" and is traditionally shouted after a toast. The bride and groom should kiss for as long as possible, while the guests start counting - 1, 2, 3...

This ritual is based on an old tradition when the bride went round the guests and treated them with a glass of drink. The guest was supposed to put the money as a present for the newlywed and shout "Gorko" proving he has drunk vodka, not just water.

The newlywed are welcomed by bridegroom's parents after the ceremony with bread and salt. The one who makes the biggest bite of bread is believed to be the future head of the family.

The ritual is just fun to entertain the guest, yet the "bread an salt" tradition itself is quite old and symbolic in Slavic culture. Bread symbolizes future prosperity and salt is supposed to protect from malign forces.

The bride can not step over the door way of the house she will be living in with her husband. She is either carried by a groom or they walk in together.

The requirement to step in together means they will do everything together in their marital life and live in compliance.

Food, meal and eating habits superstitions.

Do not you eat from a knife, or you'll be "angry like a dog

This superstition is beased on the belief that the knife is the evil forces averter. Thus one has to approach it with respect. However there is a rational meaning of this warning, if someone cuts himself with a knife he will naturally get angry.

Russians feel that it is a sin to throw away a piece of bread.

This very old belief has a very sound meaning as the growing wheat and making bread takes much time and labour and the one not taking care of it will be punished by the supreme forces. This is true in the common sense; the one that does not save up is doomed to be poor. It is better to feed the birds with dry bread as they were considered to be the souls of the dead and were in favor of Russians.

If a woman puts too much salt on the meals this means she is in love.

This belief is connected with one of love charms that involved salting food for the loved one. So too much salt meant the lust for love. It however has a scientific ground: a woman in love feels the need for salt.

If you spill salt, it's bad luck and is said to bring conflict, so you should throw salt over your left shoulder and laugh.

For long time salt was quite expensive in Russian in the old days, so this explained quite careful attitude to salt. The ability of salt to be preserved for long time and not get spoilded added it some mystrerious qualities: salt was believed to protect from evuil spirits. So if one spills salt, hepleases the evil forces. So he should throw salt over his left shoulder and laugh at the deavis. (who is supposed to hide behind the left shoulder). The laugher would show a man is not scared and just help to lifts spirits as in Russian tradition too much disapointment over something can cause a bigger trouble. (next superstition)

Superstitions about the people.

If someone is not recognized when seen or heard, he or she will be rich.

This belief is what is called "a false tradition". When you do not recognize someone you sort of pretend you have seen two different people instead of one and thus duplicate his wealth. A similar tradition took place when Russians were sowing wheat. The seeders were hungry when doing this job so that the seeds feel pity about the peasants and grow well.

If your ear itches, it will rain soon.

This is very true without any superstition (unless the ears need urgent cleaning). The eardrum reacts as a membrane in barometer - it bends and therefore itches.

Never laugh at Russian superstitions and beliefs. Vladimir Dal, a great Russian lexicographer, wrote: "The majority of those laughing and despising national superstitions and prejudice anyway secretly believe in them and never leave homes on Monday and always step outside the doorway to greet the neighbor."