r and then find the corresponding letter in the alphabet. This letter is supposed to be the initial of the person that is talking about you.
Mirror: If you break a mirror, you will have 7 years bad luck. Many also believe that if you look at the mirror after midnight, great evil will find you.
Knives: Greeks never hand knives to someone who asks for it for they consider that if they do that they will have a fight or argument with the person. Therefore they set it down on the table or somewhere and let the other person take it her / him hand.
Scissors: if a pregnant sit on open scissors unintentionally, she will give birth to a boy. If you leave it open you will soon have an argument with somebody.
Priest: Greek Orthodox priests ( popes ) are very revered and the custom is to kiss a priest’s hand in respect when meeting one, today this custom is only followed in small villages. But it is believed that seeing a black cat and a priest during the same day is bad luck.
Salt: Makes unwelcome visitors to leave. All you need is to shoot a little behind theirback.
Garlic: The ancient Greek name for garlic was scorodon. According to Fulder and Blackwood, French physician Henri Leclerc derived this from skaion rodon which he translated as rose puante, or “stinking rose”. Garlic (Allium sativum) has been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes. Sanskrit records show its medicinal use about 5,000 years ago, and it has been used for at least 3,000 years in Chinese medicine. The Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans used garlic for healing purposes. In 1858, Pasteur noted garlic’s antibacterial activity. Garlic is another way to ward off the evil eye, and one can sometimes see it hanging in a corner of some houses. Garlic, as well as onion, is also considered of having a great healing power by many Greeks. If someone is feeling ill, they will advice him to eat garlic.
Black cat (μαύρηγάτα): If you see a black cut means that bad luck is waiting for you for the rest of the day.
Ladybug: It is the opposite of the black cat. It will bring luck if it lands on you.
Ladder: It will bring bad luck if you pass under it.
Bat Bone: For some Island folk, bat bones are considered to be very lucky. These people carry a small bit of the bone in their pockets or purses with them where ever they go. The only problem is getting the bone as it is supposed to be very bad luck to kill a bat.
Cactus: No Greek home would be complete with out at least 1 cactus positioned somewhere close the front entrance. Cactus with its thorny spikes, takes it place proudly warding off the evil eye from the property.
Closing Eyes: Some death rituals are practicalities. The closing of the eyes of the recently deceased in Britain is cited as being due simply to guard against rigor mortis setting in while they are still open, the eyelids being one of the first parts to be affected. However this was often combined with a superstition that being looked at by a corpse could threaten you and your kin. To aid this, pennies were sometimes placed on eyelids to keep them shut.
Crow: Crows are considered omens of bad news, misfortune, disease and death. When you see or hear a crow cawing, you say go well into the day and bring me good news ( in greek language “Sto Kalo, Sto Kalo, Kala Nea na me Feris” )
Evil Eye: The belief in the Evil Eye is an ancient superstition that you will meet in many cultures around the Mediterranean sea, Arabia, Turkey, Greece and all the way to India. In Greece these belief is dating back to at least the 6th century BC. In the Greco-Roman period a scientific explanation of the evil eye was common. Amongst Greek superstitions, the Evil Eye is one of the oldest and widely believed myths. The Evil Eye is known widely throughout Greece and the Greek Islands. The Greek Orthodox Church also believes in the evil eye, and they refer to it as “Vaskania”.