Long before the advent of modern medicine, societies tried to explain disease in cultural or religious contexts. The treatments, and health practices, related to disease were therefore nonscientific in nature. Some of those practices exist to this day, and have become modern superstitions.
Other modern superstitious practices exist because at one time they really were dangerous. Here are some modern superstitions and their health-based origins.
Reactions to sneezing
It’s not just in the English language-speaking world that a sneeze might be followed by a polite comment, such as “God bless you.” One might also hear “gesundheit” in German, meaning good health. In China, someone sneezing might garner a “bǎisuì,” from someone close by. In Mandarin, this means, literally, “hundred years,” as in, “May you live 100 years.” And, in the Arabic speaking world, one might say “sahha,” meaning “health.” In Spanish, it’s “salud,” and in Italian, “salute,” both also meaning “health.”
Responses to sneezing in many languages have to do with wishing good health, and it’s actually the same with “God bless you” in English. According to the U.S. Library of Congress, there are a few possible origins of saying “God bless you” or “bless you” after a sneeze. The practice may have originated in ancient Rome during the time of the bubonic plague, although not in English, of course, and it is believed that Pope Gregory I suggested the practice in the sixth century in hopes that the short prayer would protect a sick person from death. It is also possible that the saying originated because people thought the spirit may be expelled from the body during sneezing — at that time, people thought the soul existed in a person’s head in the form of air.
Breaking a mirror
Breaking a mirror may be considered bad luck, or even thought to bring seven whole years of bad luck to the person who broke it. According to Snopes.com writer David Mikkelson, this superstition too could have some health-based origins. In ancient times, many cultures believed a person’s reflection was a reflection of their soul, not just their appearance. In Rome, where some believed a person’s spirit was rejuvenated every seven years, breaking a mirror was considered damaging to one’s health, which would suffer until the next seven-year cycle began.
Opening an umbrella indoors
Opening an umbrella inside is considered bad luck, and has been likely considered so since they became popular in Victorian England. However, the English weren’t crazy when they thought opening an umbrella indoors could have negative health effects, they were right. Umbrellas in the 1800s were far more primitive than today, and prone to breaking. According to author Charles Panati’s 1989 book “Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things,” opening a metal-spoked umbrella indoors could be dangerous, with its “clumsy spring mechanism” and rigid spokes likely injuring nearby children or adults when opened in a small room.
Being cold and catching a cold
According to WebMD, simply being cold does not make one more likely to get sick. Yes, that means you are just as likely to get sick going out in the winter with a T-shirt on as you are going out bundled up in a scarf and jacket, all else equal. A cold, the sickness, is caused by a virus. Being cold may irritate a preexisting condition, such as asthma, and some viruses are more prevalent in the cold weather, but a person’s personal level of comfort has nothing to do with getting sick.
