The scene is all too common: someone says a bad thing, someone knocks on wood to prevent that bad thing from happening.
But this scene is not that common —
A guest drops by unannounced. You are up your neck in things to do. And you don’t like that person anyway. So, while that person is sitting at the kitchen table, you walk to the front door with a broomstick and put the broomstick behind the door and wait. In a few moments, the unwanted guest leaves.
What’s happened?
Both situations are cases of superstitions. The second one is a common example of a Brazilian superstition. Do you know what happened? If you do, you are familiar enough with Brazilian culture to know little bit about our common Brazilian superstitions.
If you don’t, worry not. I would like to talk a little bit about Brazilians and superstitions in this short post.
Are Brazilians superstitious? Can superstitions be a good thing?
The first question is: are Brazilians superstitious?
I don’t like saying “it depends,” but… it depends. It depends on what situation we are being superstitions about.
If it's about relationships, yes, we are pretty superstitious. The dating site Badoo conducted research in 2020 with its Brazilian users [in Portuguese]. It found that 20% of users resort to at least one superstition to bring luck to their love lives. And 14% believe that their lucky charms have helped them to be successful in their “romantic endeavors”.
Now, in case we are talking about money, yes, we are very superstitious. I couldn't find any official statistics on it, but we can see it in our vocabulary.
The common expression we use when talking about buying a lottery ticket is "to make a little faith" (fazer uma fezinha). If you have to "make faith" in order for you to bet, then you know it's not even true. After all, you either have faith or you don't.
But are we superstitious because we are Brazilian?
Not really.
Human beings have a tendency believe in superstitions. We wear the same socks whenever we watch a match of our soccer team. We avoid number 13 even though we know it's harmless. And some of us will avoid saying negative things for fear it may attract bad energies.
But we don't do that because we are "irrational". In the book Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition [link to a review], author Stuart Vyes maintains that superstitions are useful when we do not have control over something we really want to happen. And because we don't want accidents to happen — we want our safety to be the way it is — we do things to make what we wish would come true.
So, basically, we believe in superstitions because we are control freaks to some extent.
A few common Brazilian superstitions everyone (in Brazil) knows of
I do not need to go into the origin of common superstitions, but I can tell you that they are socially created and shared. Thus, Brazilians tend to know or believe in superstitions that were born here or brought here. And below you will find a few superstitions I know of.
It is by no means an exhaustive list but it's a good start to give you a few talking points next time you meet your Brazilian friends.
Don’t let anyone sweep your feet.
If you let someone sweep your feet accidentally you will never marry. This one might have come about because housewives wanted people to keep a distance when they were sweeping the floor.
Never pass under someone’s legs.
This one made me afraid when I was a kid. If you somehow pass under someone's legs, you'll never grow up. When this happened to me as a kid people mocked me. They knew I was going to be short.
Try this trick if you need to find something.
Ever lost something you wanted to find again but couldn't seem to find it? Pray to São Longuinho. Every day, desperate Brazilians say this saints prayer:
- São Longuinho, São Longuinho, se eu encontrar X, eu te dou dez pulinhos. "São Longuinho, São Longuinho, if I find X I'll give you ten little jumps.
If you find what you were looking for you have to hop 10 times. It's the payment to the Saint.
Cover the mirrors and prevent accidents.
According to my grandparents and parents, if you don't cover mirrors when it rains the mirrors will attract thunderbolts.
Don’t open an umbrella inside your house.
Opening an umbrella inside the house attracts the dead. You don't want them to be in your house.
Burning ears?
If in the course of the day you feel a burning sensation in your ear, it means someone is talking about you. And it's probably not a good thing.
You’ll surely like this one.
If the palm of your hand itches, it means you will find money on that day. My hands never itch.
Flip-flops.
When you take off your flip-flops before getting into your house, make sure they're not upside down. If they aren't, your mother will die.
Do it in case of no tooth fairy.
The tooth fairy doesn't exist in Brazilian culture natively. When a child's milk tooth falls out, he throws it on the roof of the house. This helps to make another tooth grow strong in its place.
Count them, but don’t point at them.
You can count stars, but don't point at them with your fingers. If you do, warts will grow on your hand.
Brazilian Superstitions for the End of Year
The superstitions you saw before were general. Now it's time for us to be more specific — those that are exclusive to the New Year’s Eve and Christmastime in Brazil.
Jumping over seven waves
This superstition is common only to those people who go to the beach on New Year's Eve.
In addition to wearing white (see next superstition for more information), they go to the beach and jump over seven waves. This ensures that they will have good fortune in the coming year.
Even though not doing it won’t cause you trouble, you want to stack everything in your favor.
Colors on New Year’s Eve
Depending on the color of the clothes — and this includes your underwear — you choose, you can influence your luck for the next year.
Most people wear white. White means peace and tranquility. If that's what you want to have, then make sure to wear white.
But if you want to attract money, you must wear yellow underwear. Green brings health, and red brings love. Blue brings tranquility, calmness, and to some black represents independence and maturity.
Other end-of-year superstitions are local. Depending on where you go or where the person you are talking to comes from, they will have different ideas.
Brazilian superstitions related to wedding
We all want weddings to be a success, and the ensuing marriage to last long and be healthy throughout. It's not for nothing that so many people hold superstitions for this event in our lives.
We don't have different superstitions than what you would find in a country like the US. You know, the groom cannot see the bride to before they enter the church, people throw rice to increase fertility etc.
But there is one that deserves your attention.
Losing the wedding ring and death
I know of a few couples who don’t usually wear their wedding ring at home. When they go out, they put it on like any other piece of clothing.
How dangerous it is for them!
They might lose the ring. And this superstition varies, but most versions say that whoever loses the ring first dies first. Or if the ring is lost, so is the marriage — a divorce is on its way.
Brazilian superstitions related to pregnancy
Younger generations don't have that many superstitions as the older generations. So, most of what I'm talking about came from grandparents — usually grandmothers — and might not be known to 30-year-olds.
Assembling the cradle
Parents shouldn't assemble the cradle before the baby is born. An empty cradle means the baby might die before birth.
Pregnant women should not sit here
In Brazil, the threshold of the doors that open to streets tend to be higher than the ground level. Because of that, people sit on that place. It looks like a bench. But pregnant women who sit on that place maybe make their baby be born prematurely.
Never put anything between your breasts
Pregnant women should never put anything between their breasts — like keys, money etc. When the baby is born, he or she will have a mark in the shape of that thing that was put between the mother's breasts.
And that’s only a few of the superstitions we have here in Brazil
Of course, if you know any Brazilians, you can ask them about more. They’ll surely complement this list with much more.
And if you ever ask yourself:
“I have a relationship with a Brazilian or am around Brazilians all the time. Do I have to behave like this?”
Not really. And having some superstition may even be positive — it may relieve anxiety.
Only when it gets out of control and becomes an obsessive-compulsive disorder is that people need to seek help.
If you've been to Brazil or deal with Brazilians frequently, have you seen any of those superstitions? Which one has drawn your attention? Share it with us in the comments below.