Love is one of the basic needs we have as human beings. It is third on the 7-level hierarchy of needs right after physiological and safety needs. We would all love to be with someone that loves us for who we are; a person we can share our dreams and aspirations with.
However, a lot of us find it difficult to find the one and I believe this is as a result of superstitions about love. For those of us that believe old superstitions about finding true love (and those that don’t), here are 13 common superstitions, derived from diverse cultures and old wife fables that people believe in.
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I thought I would start with the most common of them all. Catching the bouquet is a tradition that is observed (mostly) after church weddings all over the world. It originated in England, around the 14th century. As the tussle for love has been a timeless quest, women would often tear at pieces of the bride’s dress and bouquet in hopes of catching some luck.
The bride, in a desperate attempt to flee from the crowd of excited women, would often leave right after she threw her bouquet to them. Today, we practice a (slightly) less aggressive form of this and it is believed that whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to get married.
Getting tired of waiting for your one true love? This Nebraskan folklore is here to rescue you. It says that if you count ninety-nine (99) horses and one (1) white mule, and then shake a man, that man will be your husband.
This particular superstition is tough to prove as what are the chances you’d come across 99 horses and a (specifically) white mule? But Hey! That’s what it says. People have tried this before, and whether it worked out, well, no one knows for sure.
We all know about the popular trick of trying to use your tongue to touch your elbow. We often kept such tricks for indoor parties or when we were trying to show our friends that we could do something cool. It involves raising your arm and trying to use any part of your mouth or tongue to make contact with your elbow.
It is a very hard task to achieve, but for the few talented ones, this American superstition simply states that if you can use your tongue to touch your elbow or kiss your elbow, then your love life is ruined. How many of us wish we knew this in high school?
This ancient German superstition holds that if a virgin needs to know if they would be pregnant within the year, they should knock on the door of the chicken coop on Christmas Eve. If a cock crows, that means she will get pregnant.
If a hen crows, however, it means she’d have to wait another year. This one seems very tough to deliver on, but if you happen to have a poultry farm at home, then maybe you could give it a try. Superstitions like this also pertain to finding love as well.
A bouquet of yellow flowers in Russia is a big no in relationships. Yellow is believed to be the color of infidelity and if your partner gives you these flowers, he is most likely unfaithful.
If he is not, he already cursed the relationship such that either you or he may cheat in the near future. Superstitions like this suggest that if you want to keep your man, stay away from yellow symbolisms of love at all costs.
Ever wondered why doves are a regular presence at weddings? It is because doves are a symbol of peace, holiness, and love. Doves are said to mate for life and so have been used time and again to symbolize a long-lasting union.
It is said that it’s very bad luck to kill a dove. Gearing this towards love, killing a dove would kill your love aspirations or hopes for a relationship.
We cannot confirm or deny the validity of these statements, but there’s no harm in avoiding killing a beautiful, harmless bird. Right? Just remember, the person who clothes superstition with belief may most likely have bad things happen to them.
‘He loves me, he loves me not.’ In elementary/high school flowers were revered when we got into relationships as it meant that we would occasionally come to question the trueness of our partner’s love for us by plucking its petals.
This practice is also referred to as the daisy oracle and involves plucking one petal and saying “he loves me”, and plucking the next following with “he loves me not” and whichever one you land on last determines how your partner feels about you. This practice goes all the way back to medieval times and is believed to be of French origins.
Wedding fables have to be the most interesting to listen to, people have a way of actually riding off these kinds of superstitions. Love has been found, people have been married, and you can call it coincidence, but they don’t.
This particular tale says that if a single person goes to a wedding and comes back with a piece of the wedding cake, then puts it under her pillow, she will surely dream of her future husband. This superstition is easy to do but particularly messy. Wedding superstitions are done by people who have done everything else, and are hoping on their last string of faith that this will work.
Brooms are one of the most common household items found in our homes. They are useful in sweeping and removing cobwebs. In fictitious literature like Harry Potter, brooms have also been used as instruments for witches and warlocks as a transport vehicle for flying and playing certain games.
Here, we see another fictitious use of brooms. This tale says that a single person shouldn’t let brooms touch their feet, as they won’t ever be swept off their feet (this one is quite literal). It comes from Italian origins and is pretty easy to do, just avoid someone sweeping across your feet with a broom!
This superstition is not as old as the rest in its origins, but rather quite recent. Once in a while, we get those spam emails that read “Forward this email or you will have very bad luck in your relationship”. These emails are crafted by people who love to play on the superstitious nature of others.
It is used not just with love consequences but with financial and other life consequences as well. There is a lot of superstition around such email threads or even social media posts, where such superstitions are used to incentivize people to share posts or spread a common message.
Ever heard of the phrase ‘Marry in May and rue the day’? It is a common saying, well known in the wedding planning industry widely based on superstition. It is believed that couples who marry in the month of May are setting themselves up for a doomed union.
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It is unknown for now, why the month of May is the month of doom for marriage, but according to this superstition, if you want a successful marriage, you should probably skip the month of May.
Knives make for very bad gifts in relationships, or as wedding gifts to the superstitious. Knives are used to cut things in real life but they have always been a symbol for cutting less substantial things.
In the old days before anesthesia and other pain-relieving anecdotes, pregnant women almost in labor would often put knives under their bed to reduce the pain during labor. Today, a knife is seen as a symbolism of cutting or severing the relationship. Have you ever had a family member suggest this to you? I have.
We all love to dress up and go to weddings to support our friends on their special day as a bride’s maid. Interestingly, these are not the only duties of a bridesmaid. According to some superstitions, bridesmaids were originally intended to ward evil curses, hexes, and intentions away from the bride.
The bridesmaids are made to dress like the bride in order to ward off and confuse these evil demons that intend to destroy the bride’s happiness. Therefore, it is believed that a woman who goes for more than three weddings as a bride’s maid has garnered so much negative energy and demons that she will never be able to get a man for herself.
It’s a sign of good luck in love.
This superstition holds that if you see a spider on your wedding day, it is a sign of a good marriage.
Symbol of death in relationships.
Sign of a lover to steer clear of.
Brings misfortune to friends and family.
A sign of a good marriage.
A sign of pending pregnancy.
Good luck for the bride on her wedding day.
Used to increase chances of getting pregnant.
A superstition is a commonly held but often irrational belief in supernatural influences.
Superstitious beliefs are practices resulting from ignorance, fear, or a wrong conception of the cause of an event.
Superstitious behavior would be believing a certain tale or fable without checking for proof or its validity.
Superstitious beliefs have been shown to help promote an optimistic attitude towards oneself and life in general.
Some of the superstitious signs of good luck include:
Shooting stars
Elephants
Horse shoes
Four-leaf clovers and
Keys
Although I do not advise you to follow this list to the letter, I hope you enjoyed reading through it. It might be worth noting that superstitions may not be real but affect how a lot of us view the world and ourselves.
I do believe that we are largely a big part of our future, and no brooms, cows, horses or knives can drastically change our destinies, or at least not in the way I have mentioned above.
Did I miss out on any other love superstitions? Let us know in the comment section below. Please like and share this article if you enjoyed it or found it useful.
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Whether you're married or just started dating someone, infidelity rates have risen by over 40% in the past 20 years, so your concerns are justified.
Do you want to find out if he's texting other women behind your back? Or if he has an active Tinder or dating profile? Or even worse, if he has a criminal record or is cheating on you?
This tool can help by uncovering hidden social media and dating profiles, photos, criminal records, and much more, potentially putting your doubts to rest.
