Everlasting superstitions

[Maks.K]

There are many durable superstitions here in Russia. Like:
* Spilled salt - to trouble or to quarrel. Protective action - throw a pinch of scattered salt into the four corners of the room or throw it over the left shoulder.
* Black cat crossed your path - your plans will fail. Protective action - spit over the left shoulder and better choose another path.
* Met a woman with an empty bucket(s) - to bad luck. Protective action - turn back, spit three times over the left shoulder, cross fingers.
* Broken mirror - to seven years of misfortune, to illnesses or even to death. Protective action - collect all shards and throw away as far from home as possible.
* Knock on wood to protect against the evil eye.
* To put horseshoe over the main entrance door to repel bad luck.
...

This last one is mentioned in anecdote about great scientist Niels Bohr:

 

There is popular anecdote about a journalist or friend who visited the home of a prominent physicist. The visitor was surprised to find a horseshoe above the front doorway of the scientist’s abode. Tradition asserts that a horseshoe acts as a talisman of luck when placed over a door.

The visitor asked the physicist about the purpose of the horseshoe while expressing incredulity that a man of science could possibly be swayed by a simple-minded folk belief. The physicist replied:

- Of course I don’t believe in it, but I understand it brings you luck, whether you believe in it or not.

 

[Akhuun]

Good thing that rapid urbanization significantly lowered our chances of meeting women with empty buckets.