My family has instilled some superstitions to live by. These may seem a little crazy and out there, but I promise you, my family and many other Russians swear by them
1. Spitting or touching wood
Russians believe in the evil eye and fear it. If someone compliments someone else’s child, health, future, or vacations; their parents or family members will spit three times over their shoulder and touch wood. Doing so, they refrain from suffering misfortune.
2. Don’t put empty bottles/keys on the table
Putting keys or empty bottles on the table are examples of “bad omens” of financial loss and tears. Keys are usually put in a drawer or hung up, and bottles are put on the floor before throwing away.
3. Sit in silence before a trip
Before going on a trip, vacation, or any big travel plans; one must sit in silence and think positive thoughts to ensure safety, peace, and happiness for their time away from home. (My family does this before leaving for vacations and my best friend joined me on a ski trip and she did this ritual and was extremely confused and called it “family kumbayah session.”)
4. Don’t come back into the house once you’ve already left
It is believed to be bad luck to enter your home after already leaving it. The idea of going back means trouble or misfortune in the journey ahead of you. (This ones super annoying … I find myself questioning going back home if I left my phone or computer or something I really need)
5. ….If you do come back, look at yourself in the mirror
If you do come back inside, you have to make will a point of looking at yourself in the eye in a mirror. This is known to be another trick of the trade to deceive an evil omen.
6. Never give anyone an empty wallet
Giving someone a wallet is always a nice gift, but in Russian culture, it is believed to always put money in a wallet when you give it to someone. This shows they will never have an empty wallet and face financial troubles. It puts them on the right track to success.
7. Never give scarves, knives, or clocks as a present
Unfortunately a these things are not considered the best present for a Russian. Scarves, for example, are an omen of tears, knives an omen of enemies, and clocks an omen of parting. If one was to give someone a knife, scarf or clock, the person receiving the gift sometimes would give the other person a coin or small amount of money to pretend they “bought” the item.
8. Don’t sit at the corner of a table
Sitting at the corner of a table means that you will never get married. So, I’ve always tried to avoid sitting at the edge of a table 🙂
9. Stepping back on someones toes after being stepped on
Whenever you step on a Russians toes, they will most likely step back lightly to avoid any fights, bad luck, or evils between the two of you. If they don’t, then there is a chance there will be turmoil between the two of you.
10. And my grandpa’s favorite, always take an extra shot of vodka for good luck!
These superstitions are part of my everyday life and are always in the back of my mind. I’m glad I could share some of these superstitions with you, and hopefully you’ve learned some tricks and cultural beliefs of the Russian culture.
Bring on the Borscht 
Thank you for this blog post. The ten top Russian superstitions mentioned here are fun to learn. I particularly enjoyed reading #4 and #5. Prior to reading about these two superstitions, I had no idea that returning to the home shortly after exiting the main entrance is considered unlucky. I wonder if this habit of leaving the home once only apply to your time living on campus. Me, myself personally forget to bring things with me to class all of the time. When I do return to my dorm room to get something, I often do so without much agitation. I sometimes look at myself in the mirror before exiting the residence hall. I do so to examine my personal appearance rather than for some other reason. After reading points 4 and 5, I will have new perspective in considering my dorm room a place where the heart is. Thank you for sharing!
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Wow these are really interesting. Some of them make sense to me in a superstitious form of logic, while there are a couple, like the keys or the mirror, that I had to really think about to come upon the reason. In China it’s also bad luck to give a clock as a present, it has to do with death. Finally, my favorite of these customs/superstitions is giving some a filled wallet. I think that is cool.
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Very interesting post. I think a lot of these superstitions are similar to some of the common ones we have over here in the West. For example the first one of spiting three times over one’s shoulder and touching wood is a lot alike our superstition of one throwing salt over one’s shoulder to negate the bad luck of spilling the salt in the first place. Do you happen to know the origins of these superstitions? Are there stories surrounding how they got started? It’s be really fascinating to know!
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This is an awesome post and I really enjoyed reading it. I am extremely superstitious myself so I completely understand where you are coming from. I am constantly knocking on wood (three times) to save myself from getting jinxed. I thought superstition #2 was very interesting to read. When I thought about it, I could easily see how car keys and empty bottles could represent financial loss and tears. I will definitely remember these superstitions and being as superstitious as I am, will probably adopt a few of them
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I totally feel you! I grew up and lived in an area of Italy where superstitions are such a big deal! WhenI read “These superstitions are part of my everyday life and are always in the back of my mind.”, I was like “Yeah, I know! I get you!”. Even if I don’t want to or I don’t care at all, sometimes I found myself unconsciously acting like a perfect superstitious Southerner (Italian), and I hate that, but there’s nothing I can do about it! 😦 Also, it is weird that so far countries like Russia and Italy can have similar superstitions but I knew about it before because of my best friend (he’s mother is Russian, he’s Slovakian but lives in Italy) and because I studied folklore stories around the world for my thesis 😉 Anyway, #1, #6, #7, #9 are very similar with few slightly differences.
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