"The Truth About Friday The 13th..."

Beware of black cats, ladders and breaking  mirrors. Today is Friday —  the 13th!

The worst of all possible days — if you’re superstitious, that is.

The trouble with Friday the 13th is, it is has double the superstitions — both Friday and the number 13 have all sorts of bad luck associated with them.

Put your superstition know-how to a test — Here's a 13-question trivia test:

1. When is Friday the 13th lucky?

a) If you play hockey

b) If you’re a black cat

c) If it’s your birthday

d) If your name is Jason

2. Carrying an acorn will:

a) Bring good luck and long life

b) Ward off hunger

c) Attract squirrels

d) Protect you from evil

3. The number of seeds in an apple determines:

a) How many days you’ll be sick this year

b) How many cavities you’ll have

c) Your fate in love

d) How many A grades  you’ll get in school

4. To ward off bad luck you should:

a) Kiss a toad and hop away

b) Stand on your head and recite, “I think I can, I think I can”

c) Spit three times through your forefinger and middle finger on the back of your right hand

d) Bring cookies to all of your neighbors

5. Bed-wetting can be cured by:

a) Drinking lemonade

b) Staying awake for three days

c) Eating fried worms

d) Eating half a roasted mouse

6. If you drop a school book you must:

a) Kiss it as you pick it up

b) Flip it over before you pick it up

c) Read the first chapter upside down or you will fail your next test

d) Give the teacher an apple or else you’ll get a pop quiz

7. Butterflies can bring good luck if:

a) You bite the head off the first one you see

b) The first one you see is white

c) You see three butterflies together

d) All of the above

 

8. If a black cat crosses your path it’s bad luck, but what if a black cat walks toward you?

a) It’s good luck.

b) It’s really bad luck.

c) You will soon be rich.

d) You will trip and fall.

9. If a girl knocks over a chair what will happen to her?

a) She will break a nail.

b) She will stay single for one year.

c) She will cry.

d) Her dog will run away.

 

10. Combs can bring bad luck if you:

a) Comb your hair after dark

b) Comb it while it’s wet

c) Drop it while you are combing your hair

d) All of the above

11. To cure a cough you should do what?

a) Take a hair from your head, roll it into a ball with some honey and feed it to a dog

b) Take cough medicine, go to bed early and listen to everything your parents say

c) Cut your toenails, place them in a circle and leave them there until the next morning

d) Recite the alphabet backwards with your hands on your head

12. If you want to make sure you have good dreams at night you should always:

a) Wear clean underwear

b) Put your left foot on the bed before your right foot

c) Sleep on your back

d) All of the above

13. If you wash your hands in water that eggs were boiled in you will get:

a) Warts

b) Stinky hands

c) Extra candy from the Easter bunny

d) An A on your next test

Click "Read More" for the answers

ANSWERS to superstition quiz

1. (c) Friday the 13th is lucky if it is your birthday.

2. (a) Carrying an acorn is said to bring you good luck and a long life.

The Druids once thought that oak trees and acorns were sacred, and to honor them would bring good luck. To harm them brought bad luck.

The Romans believed an acorn brought long life because such tall oak trees grew from a tiny acorn.

3. (c) To determine your fate in love count the seeds reciting the following poem:

“One, I love

Two, I love

Three, I love, I say.

Four, I love with all my heart

And five, I cast away.

Six, he loves

Seven, she loves

Eight, they both love.

Nine, he comes

Ten, he tarries.

Eleven, he courts

Twelve, he marries

Thirteen, wishes.

Fourteen, kisses.

All the rest, little witches.”

4. (c) To ward off bad luck you should hold the back of your right hand to your face and spit three times through a V sign made by the forefinger and middle finger.

5. (d) It is believed you can cure bed-wetting by eating half a fried mouse. It’s also said that if you pick dandelions you will wet the bed. And if you are a small child, playing with fire will cause you to wet the bed.

6.  (a) If you drop a book you must kiss it as you pick it up or you will forget everything you have read in it.

7. (d) All of the answers. Butterflies will bring good luck if you bite off the head of the first one you see — although we don’t recommend this. Butterflies are nice. It is also good luck if the first butterfly you see is white or if you see three butterflies together.

8. (a) If a black cat walks toward you, it’s good luck — at least in England where black cats are considered lucky omens for the most part.

9. (b) If a girl knocks over a chair she will stay single for one year. In some places in the United States, a girl must be very careful not to knock over a chair when she has enemies present. If she does, they may start to count and not stop until she has set the chair upright and is sitting in it. The number they reach is the number of years that will go by until she will marry. (Which, depending on your age, could be a good thing or a bad thing.)

10. (d) All of the above. There are lots of superstitions about combs bringing bad luck. It is said if you comb your hair after dark you will comb sorrow into your love’s heart. If you comb your hair while it is wet, you will drop the devil into it. And if, you drop a comb while combing your hair, be prepared for a coming disappointment. However, you can stop the disappointment by counting backwards from seven while picking up the comb.

11. (a) To cure a cough you should take a hair from your head roll it into a ball with some honey and feed it to a dog while saying the following charm:

“Eat well, you hound

May you be sick

and I be sound.”

Since we like dogs, we think cough medicine and bed rest is a better cure.

12. (b) If you want to make sure you have good dreams at night put your left foot on the bed before your right foot, and recite the following chant:

“Left and right

Left and right

Good dreams all night.”

13. (a) If you wash your hands in water that eggs were boiled in you will get warts.

If you are feeling particularly nasty, it is said you can pass a wart to someone else by paying them a penny for each wart. However, the penny has to have a hole in it, and the exchange has to be made in a cemetery at midnight.

And there are lots of superstitions for getting rid of warts including:

— Steal a piece of meat, rub it on the wart and bury it. As the meat rots away, the wart will disappear.

— Tie a red threat around a wart, wrapping it three times. Unwrap the thread and bury it in the ground where none will find it. After nine days the wart will disappear.

— Put as many pebbles as you have warts in a small paper bag. Walk down the right side of the street alone and throw the bag over your right shoulder. Beware of the bag, because it is said whoever picks up the bag and counts the pebbles will get your warts.

— Touch a wart with nine beans and throw the beans over your right shoulder without ever turning around or looking to see where the beans fall. As the beans rot, so will the wart. Some people use this same charm with nine slices from different onions.

Sources: “Take Warning: A Book of Superstitions” by Jane Sarnoff and Reynold Ruffins; “Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat” by Alvin Schwartz; “Super Stitches: A Book of Superstitions” by Ann Nevins