Superstitions have a way of making their way throughout the years. Superstition is a belief or practice generally regarded as irrational and resulting from ignorance or from fear of the unknown (The Encyclopedia of Superstitions 8). In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the concept of superstitions arose that there was witches among the community. Superstition and fear were in every house, in every mind, when accusation was a conviction, when assertion of innocence was regarded as a confession of guilt. Now the intelligent people know better that witches never existed, that human beings never bargained with any devil, and that our pious savage ancestors were mistaken. Although superstition is something that can be scientifically proven wrong, they simple explanation for a coincidence (superstitions 1-4). Here are three most common superstitions and how they came about that have been passed on through history to this very day. .

             The most popular superstition is that if a black cat is crossing a person"s path it will cause that person bad lucks before his or her journey is over. If this occurs the individual can take twelve steps backwards to ward off the bad luck (cat-report 6). This belief originated in ancient Egypt where the cat was considered sacred and to kill one was sacrilege. It is believed that the folklore surrounding the black cat began in the Middle Ages when it was associated with witches. It is likely that a black cat was the pet of some women accused of being a witch. Rumors began that the cat was able to change shape and help the witch cast spells. Since then, black cats have been associated with luck, both good and bad (Customs and Superstitions and their Romantic Origins 7).

             Another popular superstition is that a person who walks under a ladder will have bad luck to come. Some believe it originates with the early Christian belief that a leaning ladder formed a triangle with the wall and ground.