On my way home from work, I saw several houses that already had their Christmas lights and decorations up. Insane right? So it got me thinking about superstitions and I immediately thought of ladders, which are used to put up the lights. I’m pretty sure we have all heard about the superstition of walking under a ladder being bad luck. I always wondered first of all why it is bad luck but also how this myth came to be.
One of the most explored the theory of the ladder comes from the Christian religion. Christianity believed that walking under a ladder was considered a blaspheming. We all know they believe in the Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore the number three for this religion was very important to them and the triangle, which was underneath the ladder, was somewhat sacred. The triangle was associated to the triangle because it had three sides. A ladder leaning on a building made a form of a triangle and walking through a such form was seen as breaking the trinity. The bible always talks about the worst sin being going against the Holy Spirit, which meant; anyone who broke the trinity with the Holy Spirit would be seen working with the Devil. Being labelled as a Devil in the old days meant a witch trial (timelessmyths).
Another superstition a little less complicated and religious was similarities between a ladder leaning against a wall and a gallows. Anything with similarities to a gallows was considered bad luck, therefore walking under a gallows or a ladder that looked like one was meant bad luck. They say if you just walked underneath a ladder, a way to get rid of bad luck, you have to spit. Either you must spit three times through the rungs of the ladder or you must pit on your shoe. Although, you can’t look at your shoe until the spit has dried on the shoe. If it was up to me I would spit three times. ( timelessmyths)
This is actually very interesting! I can`t remember the last time I walked under a ladder, thank god. I'm not sure if I totally believe this because I`m sure tons of people walk under a ladder and nothing bad happens to them! LOL. But I`m surprised it came from the Christian religion. But, personally I`m more scared to climb a ladder than I am to walk under the ladder, but that's just my opinion! Great post!
I feel the same way! I do not think anyone could find me walking up a ladder because I am afraid of falling off, it is even worse to walk down a ladder. As for the superstition it did not suprise me as much to hear about the Christian religion because back in the say they were just crazy and made up a lot of things to stay in control
Very cool and scary at the same time! I always ask myself what walking under ladder had to do with bad luck. Now knowing what the real symbol means I dont think ill have a problem walking under an other ladder again! Look forward to reading more of you're blogs!
I felt the same way Chris! never knew either, I was just always told it was bad luck to walk under it, as it is to break a mirror. The history of this supersition was very interesting compared to the other ones. Who would have known that a ladder could be linked to a gallow. Times were funny back then. Every superstition I find always seems to link back to God and the Devil.
On my way home from work, I saw several houses that already had their Christmas lights and decorations up. Insane right? So it got me thinking about superstitions and I immediately thought of ladders, which are used to put up the lights. I’m pretty sure we have all heard about the superstition of walking under a ladder being bad luck. I always wondered first of all why it is bad luck but also how this myth came to be.
One of the most explored the theory of the ladder comes from the Christian religion. Christianity believed that walking under a ladder was considered a blaspheming. We all know they believe in the Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Spirit. Therefore the number three for this religion was very important to them and the triangle, which was underneath the ladder, was somewhat sacred. The triangle was associated to the triangle because it had three sides. A ladder leaning on a building made a form of a triangle and walking through a such form was seen as breaking the trinity. The bible always talks about the worst sin being going against the Holy Spirit, which meant; anyone who broke the trinity with the Holy Spirit would be seen working with the Devil. Being labelled as a Devil in the old days meant a witch trial (timelessmyths).
Another superstition a little less complicated and religious was similarities between a ladder leaning against a wall and a gallows. Anything with similarities to a gallows was considered bad luck, therefore walking under a gallows or a ladder that looked like one was meant bad luck. They say if you just walked underneath a ladder, a way to get rid of bad luck, you have to spit. Either you must spit three times through the rungs of the ladder or you must pit on your shoe. Although, you can’t look at your shoe until the spit has dried on the shoe. If it was up to me I would spit three times. ( timelessmyths)
This is actually very interesting! I can`t remember the last time I walked under a ladder, thank god. I'm not sure if I totally believe this because I`m sure tons of people walk under a ladder and nothing bad happens to them! LOL. But I`m surprised it came from the Christian religion. But, personally I`m more scared to climb a ladder than I am to walk under the ladder, but that's just my opinion! Great post!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way! I do not think anyone could find me walking up a ladder because I am afraid of falling off, it is even worse to walk down a ladder. As for the superstition it did not suprise me as much to hear about the Christian religion because back in the say they were just crazy and made up a lot of things to stay in control
ReplyDeleteVery cool and scary at the same time! I always ask myself what walking under ladder had to do with bad luck. Now knowing what the real symbol means I dont think ill have a problem walking under an other ladder again! Look forward to reading more of you're blogs!
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way Chris! never knew either, I was just always told it was bad luck to walk under it, as it is to break a mirror. The history of this supersition was very interesting compared to the other ones. Who would have known that a ladder could be linked to a gallow. Times were funny back then. Every superstition I find always seems to link back to God and the Devil.
ReplyDelete