Cultural beliefs or superstitions? Well, oftentimes they’re both. Some may be connected to ethnicity and people’s ancestry by picking up a superstition from another person or culture; for example, the evil eye.

The evil eye has turned into a piece of jewelry to some people, but it stems from multiple different cultures including Roman, Jewish, Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist and many others. Although all of these heritages are diverse, they use the evil eye in similar ways. It was seen to bring misfortune to those who saw or broke it by those who believed in the superstition.

Now, the evil eye has different perceptions considering some believe it is seen to bring luck to those who wear it, have it gifted to them or have it in their homes. Others believe it to be a curse and bring sudden illness and misfortune to those who are presented to it. Junior Amelia Giuffre sees the evil eye in a more positive form.

“For me, the purpose of the evil eye is to ward off jealousy and evil,” Giuffre said.

Everyone is aware of the luck of the Irish, but many Irish families believe in old, not so lucky superstitions. Sophomore Sara Ryan is not the most superstitious person, but when she watches it happen up close and personal, it is impossible for her not to believe it, for example, death in threes.

“I checked on my grandma and she was crying; she was upset about being all alone, two of her family members had died within the span of a week and she had just gotten a call about a third passing,” Ryan said.

For Ryan, it was normal to witness multiple deaths in the span of a few weeks because of the superstition she had around her growing up.

“Whenever someone told me that they had a person in their family die I would ask if anyone else had died and they would get confused. I always thought death happened in groups and not just one person,” Ryan said.

Ethnic superstitions are even researched in classes here at DGS. In the Spanish 3 classes, there is a unit on superstitions in Spanish speaking households. World Languages Department Chair and Spanish 3 teacher Tara Basar teaches her students about superstitions during first semester.

“There are pretty short and small superstitions like under or by entryways or in windows you may find a cactus because they believe that cacti repel evil spirits. Also, there are larger ones that leak into the difference between superstitions and legends,” Basar said.

A lot like a fingerprint, personal superstitions have their very own make up and design like no other. People all around the world have all sorts of different routines in their daily lives that can often be coined as personal superstitions. While some may deem these habits as absurd, they are entirely personal and subjected to those who may believe them.

Stage crew has many different beliefs that happen to attract bad luck before a show. Senior Cathy Gadomski shared some of these rituals.

“There’s a superstition about whistling on stage because in the olden days, the way riggers would communicate was via whistling; therefore, if someone were to whistle on stage and a rigger would hear it, the rigger might drop something that shouldn’t be dropped or lowered. It’s bad luck that something will fall on whoever whistles,” Gadomski said.

Not only does stage crew have their own sets of superstitions, DGS athletes also indulge in quite a few of their own as well. Senior Nick Terry abides by his own rules when it comes to game day.

“My superstition is driving to school on game days. I feel it’s a lucky charm sort of thing that started when we won our first game… I’d driven to school that day,” Terry said.

There will always be a raised eyebrow from coaches, peers, parents and others, but the superstition only makes sense to the person who believes in it, and that’s why its meaning exists.

Superstitions, whether believed or not, are embedded into everyday life. These simple notions of good and bad luck can be found everywhere from your TikTok “For You” page to lunchroom talks.

Imagine a conversation with friends about something like an upcoming sporting event, when someone makes a prediction that a fan-favorite team will lose–the phrase “knock on wood” might be uttered, followed by a few swift taps on the nearest wooden surface.

Maybe the average person doesn’t wholly believe that knocking on wood will protect them from bad luck, but it is done anyway, just in case. These small behaviors often don’t draw much attention in the moment, but they represent the larger idea of superstitions being commonplace; habitual and normalized in day-to-day life.

For instance, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a child to skip along a sidewalk, avoiding cracks in the concrete and muttering the timeless rhyme, “don’t step on the cracks or you’ll break your mother’s back.” It also wouldn’t be unusual for someone to spot a tails-side-up penny and flip it over to its face before moving on. All of these are just a few examples of superstitions functioning in the regular world.

Freshman Ky’m Young relayed the ways in which certain superstitions have become habitual for her.

“I do kind of follow the one about stepping on cracks, but subconsciously. Like when I’m walking I’m never like ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a crack!’ but I’ll just instinctively avoid them because I feel weird about it, like something bad will happen to me,” Young said.

As popular as superstitions are, some people find it hard to indulge in what can seem like irrational behaviors. For example, the idea of one’s luck being affected by simple mannerisms such as avoiding walking beneath ladders is often waved off as foolish. Nonetheless, even semi-believers can still look to superstitions for peace of mind, as Young commented.

“I’m kind of superstitious about good things happening to me…I’m probably 50/50 superstitious. For instance, I play basketball and if we’re winning a game and someone says something about the other team scoring I’ll be like ‘no, don’t jinx it!’ But if we’re losing and someone says something it doesn’t really matter [to me],” Young said.

Fellow freshman Emily Gnatenco similarly noted that she too tended to be more superstitious when she was actively hoping for good luck.

“I am [superstitious] when it’s convenient to me…I’ll knock on wood when I remember and need good luck,” Gnatenco said.

For Gnatenco, superstitions have a special place in everyday life, as her mother also practices common superstitions.

“[My mom] is generally a very spiritual person. Every other weekend or so she’s like, ‘okay, we’re going to do this for good luck’ and throws salt over her shoulder,” Gnatenco said.

The existence of superstitions dates back to the beginning of civilization. Today, they still seem to be going strong. Borderline unavoidable, superstitions appear in conversation, home life and individual thoughts. They’ve been around for a long time, and likely aren’t going anywhere.

So, which superstitions appear in your day-to-day?