Walking Under Ladders

People will go to great lengths to avoid walking under ladders. Many origins for the superstition have been surfaced over the years. One provides a source in medieval times. A leaning ladder was thought to resemble the gallows and so by walking underneath a ladder, you are playing out your own execution. Another explanation points to the triangular shape a ladder will take when erected or leaned up against a wall. The triangle is considered the symbol representing the Holy Trinity and to walk through a triangle violates and desecrates God while you, the perpetrator, fall prey to Satan.

If you walk under a ladder by accident, however, there are several measures that you can take to avoid bad luck:

• Spit three times through the ladder's rungs
• Cross you fingers until you see a dog
• Spit on your shoe and continue walking, but don't look down at the shoe until the spittle has dried
• Walk backwards, out from the ladder the same way you came in, and make a wish as you go back out.