Carrying a Baby Upstairs Superstition
The carrying-a-baby-upstairs superstition holds that a newborn’s first journey away from the birth room should begin with an upward movement. Carrying the child upstairs was…
Beliefs
Folk Beliefs & Superstitions
Browse canonical folk beliefs and follow their documented variants across countries, themes, topics, and contexts.
Browse by Topic
Browse by Theme
Double Hair Crown Two-Kingdoms Belief
Hair Whorl Folklore The double hair crown belief treats two distinct hair whorls on the crown of the head as a sign that a person…
Baby Resemblance Good-Luck Superstition
A baby’s resemblance to its parents has sometimes been treated as more than a family observation. In documented folk belief, looking like one or both…
Open-Handed Baby Superstition
Birth and Infancy Folklore An old English folk belief held that a baby born with its hands open would grow up to be generous and…
Day-of-Week Birth Superstition
Birth Folklore A long-standing folk belief assigns a child’s character, fortune, or future to the day of the week on which the child was born.…