Superstition refers to any belief or practice that is caused by supernatural causality, and which contradicts modern science. Superstitious beliefs and practices often vary from one person to another or from one culture to another.

Common examples of superstitious beliefs in India include: a black cat crossing the road symbolizes bad luck, a crow cawing indicates that guests are arriving, drinking milk after eating fish causes skin diseases, seeing a mongoose symbolizes to be very lucky, and itchy palms mean that money is coming your way.

Hindus believe that cutting nails and hair on Saturdays brings bad luck.

Hindus believe that it’s inauspicious to cut hair and nails on Saturday because it angers planet Saturn (shani), which then brings bad luck. However, ask people who cut their hair and nails on Saturdays, and we bet they’ll tell you their hair looked better and their nails neater, and no planet hovered above them with bad luck.

If a black cat crosses your path, then your tasks get delayed or postponed.

Poor black cats. They are blamed just for being black (no racist joke here). It’s a popular belief in the west too that, if a black cat crosses your path, it’s a bad omen. For the west, the origin of this superstition came from Egypt. Egyptian culture believed that black cats were evil creatures, whereas the Indian explanation is that black represents Shani and therefore brings bad luck. It is said that if a black cat crosses your path, then your day’s tasks get delayed or postponed.

Curse of 8

According to numerology, the number eight is ruled by the planet Shani (again Shani!) and therefore if you’re ruled by the number eight then there shall be lots of obstructions, limitations and frustrations in your way.

Keeping onions and knives under your bed will drive away bad dreams.

An onion and a knife is kept under a newborn child’s bed to drive away bad dreams. It is also believed that placing an onion under your pillow while you sleep will bring you great insight when dreaming about who your future partner in life will be.