Plague Superstitions
- Carrying flowers in your pocket and burning scented wood for protection
Witches
Superstitions about witches included:
- They could fly
- They were old and unattractive
- They lived alone and away from the town
- They kept pets known as 'familiars' and used them to perform evil spells
- They could create potions in a cauldron
Good Luck Superstitions
- Touching a man about to be hung
- Possessing the right hand of an executed criminal
- A cow exhaling on you
- Spitting into fire
- The element of fire, iron, silver, salt and/or running water in a charm
Everyday Superstitions
Astrology
Bad Luck Superstitions
- Saying bless you after someone sneezed to ward off the devil
- Black cats were unlucky
- 'Touchwood' was created because trees were believed to have magical powers
- Sailors wore gold hoop earrings to pay their fare in the underworld in case they sunk and drown
- Solar and lunar eclipses
- Peacock feathers
- Walking under ladders
- Placing shoes on the table
- Spilling salt and pepper
- Stirring a pot counter-clockwise
- A sudden loss of hair
- Leaving the door open behind you
Astrology is the study of celestial bodies and its effects on human lives.
Different branches of astrology included:
Natal - About lives
Electional - Predicting the best time to do something
Medical - Diagnosing and treating diseases
Elizabethan Era Superstitions and Astrology
Tara Kenny