Pirates believed that piercing the ears with such precious metals as silver and gold improved one's eyesight.
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Some motorcycle enthusiasts hang a biker's bell from a portion of their bike to protect themselves from evil road spirits.
64
According to an age old custom, carrying a dead shrew in your pocket wards off rheumatism!
24
A single magpie is considered a sign of bad luck. A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar recites an old proverb concerning the incidence of bad weather when magpies forage alone and a possible scientific explanation for this.
49
Before traveling a person should, apparently, sit on their luggage. (Russian)
117
Amber beads, worn as a necklace, can protect against illness or cure colds.
89
If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.
394
Opening an umbrella indoors is said to result in 21 days of bad luck. Some traditions hold that it is only bad luck if the umbrella is placed over the head of someone while indoors.
75