Russian Superstitions

Like most other cultures, Russians have various superstitions. Americans might be superstitious walking under a ladder, spilling salt, or breaking a mirror. It may even be considered bad luck for the groom to see his bride before the wedding. Here are a few Russian superstitious…

Whistling inside the home will cause you to lose money. If you gift someone with a wallet or purse, put money inside of it or it will bring poor financial luck to the person receiving it. Money is believed to transmit energy from its owner – negative energy. The passenger of a taxi, for example, should leave the money on the dashboard or special tray. Once the passenger leaves, the driver may then collect the money (after the link to the energy is broken). 

If you have forgotten something at home, do not go back! If you really do think you need to go back to your house after forgetting something, look in a mirror before you leave the house again. Before someone leaves for a long journey, everyone in the house must sit down in the hall for a minute. This allows people to help calm down before the journey (and this helps to remember anything they might have forgotten to pack). 

Familiarly, if a black cat crosses in front of you it will be a bad day. (To offset this bad luck, walk backwards away from the cat). It is also bad luck to see a woman with an empty bucket headed towards your direction. 

No baby showers – you should only buy gifts for the child after it has been born. Do not visit the newborn for a month after its birth because you do not want to accidentally give the child negative energies. Women looking to get married should not sit on the corner of a table – this will leave her single for seven years!

Washing someone’s clothes when they are away on a trip might mean they will not return from that trip. Brooms should be kept in the corner where they can be seen to keep bad house spirits away. 

There are ways to have good luck instead of just keeping bad luck away! For exams, put five rubles in your shoe. Finding a lilac with an odd number of petals is also good luck. There are omens such as a spoon falling to the floor – this means that the next person who enters that room will be a kind woman. On the other hand, a fork means it will be an angry woman, and a knife means the man will arrive. If you find a spider on your clothes, this is a sign of financial success. 

Hiccups mean that someone is thinking of you. It you find out you is thinking about you, the hiccups will stop. A dark omen is the bird: a bird flying into your home will bring about death (although if bird poop lands on your head, this is also good luck in Russia).