Don't Believe In Superstitions, You Will Have Bad Luck.

In comparison, the western culture is cognitive, while the eastern is emotive. We Filipinos believe in superstitions despite their lack of scientific explanations. Our belief in superstitions has been a vital part of the Filipino culture.

Here are some of the most popular superstitions:

1. The bride must not wear her wedding gown before the wedding. It has been believed that once this is done, the wedding will not push through.

2. During a woman's monthly period, they should not take a bath because if they do, it is believed that they will go insane.

3. Eating pancit on one's birthday is believed to give that person long life.

4. On New Year's Eve, children are asked to jump to improve their height.

5. When a person has dreamt that he/she lost a tooth, it means that a relative will die. Filipinos believe that a fallen tooth might represent a loss of someone you have an intimate relation with.

6. Black cats are evil. In ancient Egypt, the Goddess Bast, was a black female cat. Christian priests wanted to wipe out all traces of other religions so convinced their ignorant followers to destroy the evil demons that were black cats. While they were at it, they destroyed the kindly little old ladies who cared for the cats believing them to be witches. Filipinos believed that you should spit after seeing a black cat to prevent accidents from occuring.

7. Usog. It is believed that some people have an unfortunate gift whenever they compliment a child. It has been said that to prevent the child from getting sick, that person must form a cross using their saliva across the child's tummy.

8. We cover our mouths when we yawn because it was believed that evil spirits could enter our bodies via our mouths.

9. We say "God Bless You" when someone sneezes because it was believed that your soul could escape from your body during a sneeze, and saying "God Bless You" immediately after someone sneezed would stuff it back in.

10. Dropping silverware causes company. Drop a spoon and the company will be female, drop a fork and the company will be male. Dropping a knife will break the spell.