Ah, Friday the 13th, we meet again. What would such a day be without talking about superstitions? Whether you are superstitious or not, or even if you believe (some) superstitions are scientific fact, they are strong examples that show the influence of cultural history and what kind of impact they have on societies around the globe. Some buildings may not have a 13th floor, or a 4th floor, for some Friday the 13th is actually Tuesday the 13th. The list is (seemingly) endless. Underneath you will find 13 superstitions to get you through this dreaded day. Enjoy!

1. Three times the church bell rang | THE NETHERLANDS
In the Netherlands, you will regularly hear church bells at specific moments during the day. Legend has it that if you look in the mirror while the bell is ringing, your face will be permanently stuck the way it is at that moment. You’d better smile!

2. Maneki Neko | JAPAN
Kawaii! Legend has it that a travelling samurai was invited to a nearby temple by a waving cat, to prevent him from getting drenched by the coming storm. He was so pleased that he donated money to the temple and they built a statue of the cat with it. Due to its popularity, it has become a symbol of good luck, particularly in organisations and business.

3. The evil eye | GREECE
For every person around the world that takes a paracetamol to ease their headache, a grandma somewhere in Greece is dripping oil in a bowl of water to take away the evil eye from her grandchild, remove the curse and of course the headache that comes with it. The evil eye is usually the product of jealous thoughts, it can affect anybody and can cause fatigue, headaches, bad luck and a lousy mood.

4. A lucky or crappy day | FRANCE
While nobody would really enjoy cleaning their shoe of dog poo, at least one can be comforted by the idea that stepping into it with your left foot will bring good luck. Avoid stepping into it with your right foot, however. That will lead to bad luck instead. Merde alors!

5. A sticky situation | SOUTH KOREA
Koreans believe that students should eat sticky food, like yeot (traditional Korean taffy), to successfully pass an exam as ‘’to stick’’ and ‘’to pass’’ have the identical pronunciation in Korean. The other way around works too. Eating slippery food, like seaweed soup, will make you ‘’slip’’ an exam. Slippery business indeed.

6. Where there is a squirrel, there is fire | POLAND
The cute squirrel is not so cute according to the Polish. Namely, a few Polish believe that squirrels bring fire with them wherever they go, and the firefighters sometimes even get calls related to squirrels. Some say the world will end in fire…and squirrels?

7. Getting your foot through the door | RUSSIA
Do not shake hands across the doorway. Do not give flowers across the doorway. Even better, do not do anything across the doorway, because this is where the Russian spirit of the house resides. Either step in or make the other come out before making contact. Upsetting the spirit of the house would be rude.

8. Headgear, not bed gear | SPAIN
You’re a fashionista and you love hats. That’s great, but consider taking it off when laying on a bed in Spain, because it will bring you…BED luck (sorry). Anyway, some believe evil spirits make their nest in your hair and are freed when you take off your hat when lying on a bed. Just make sure you release those nasty spirits near the hat stand.

9. White Butterfly | BRAZIL
So you are walking down a green path and suddenly you see a beautiful, white butterfly. Well, it is your lucky day! Literally, because seeing one means you will have good luck for the rest of the year. The small catch is that it has to be the first butterfly you see that year. Challenge accepted!

10. Small ears, big ears | NEW ZEALAND
The size of your ears determines what kind of person you are! Do you have small ears? Then you are likely to be mean and not very generous. However, if you have big ears, it is the exact opposite. Cheer up little Dumbo!

11. Put the cake down slowly | GERMANY
Punctuality is everything in Germany and this counts also for birthdays. It is considered bad luck to wish someone a happy birthday before it is actually their birthday, even though that is a pretty common thing to do in other countries in case you are not able to see or wish the person a happy birthday in time.

12. No singing in the rain indoors with umbrellas | CANADA
You are finally dry and warm at home. Do not feel tempted to start singing in the rain indoors and accidentally open your umbrella, as this will bring bad luck. Of unknown origin, though some suggest it had to do with some prince passing away shortly after he received two umbrellas and opened them indoors. Well, unless it is leaking in your house, there is no real reason to open one anyway, right?

13. Here come the Elves | ICELAND
Huldufólk, or ‘’hidden people’’ are what we refer to as elves from a fairy-tale. However, in Iceland, the belief of elves is rather strong and you should definitely pay attention to those hidden people and their habitat when building and navigating roads or when throwing rocks. Actually, it is better not to throw any rocks at all, you might hurt the elves.

Happy Friday the 13th!
ELM Team