Breaking a mirror is said to bring bad luck for 7 years. To "undo" this, take the shards of glass and bury them underneath the moonlight. In ancient times, the mirror was said to be a window to the viewer's soul. If that mirror were to break, it would
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It's bad luck to leave a house through a different door than the one used to come into it.
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According to an age old custom, carrying a dead shrew in your pocket wards off rheumatism!
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Amber beads, worn as a necklace, can protect against illness or cure colds.
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Placing a hat on the bed is, apparently, bad luck. (South Carolina)
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When you speak of bad luck, it is said that one should always knock on wood. Also knocking when speaking of good luck apparently helps with having good luck. This is an old Celtic tradition related to belief of wood spirits.
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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.
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Pirates believed that piercing the ears with such precious metals as silver and gold improved one's eyesight.
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