By Eduardo Galindo
When we picture rain, it is usually something we see as sad or disappointing, as it locks away some things that are fun. Little kids sing rain rain go away as if it is something unwanted. In movies it symbolizes sadness or tears. However, in some places around the world, there are superstitions about good luck for when it rains. Moving out when it rains is said to bring good luck. Rain itself also means renewal or cleansing for it washes away negative feelings
Good luck from rain might seem absurd since it is always seen as something bad but some people do believe that it can bring good luck. There is a superstition of good luck in Iceland where if you move into a new house and it rains that day then it will bring wealth. In Portugal the superstition is if it’s raining while it is sunny then a widow is getting married but in Germany if it is raining while the sun is out then there is a feast in hell. There are also other sayings if the sun is shining but it is also raining mostly about animals, marriage, or the devil such as the devil is getting married in Bulgaria.
Other superstitions about rain are how to predict rain. One in Iceland says if cows are licking trees then rain will come down soon. In Norway it is if you whistle while facing the sun rain will come and if a spider is killed in Finland it will bring rain. There are other sayings that hold some truth like red sky at night sailor’s delight red sky in mourning sailor’s warning or if a bird flying low means rain the next day. If there is a red sky at sunset then good weather will come due to the red light coming from dust particles which sends stable air. A red sky in the morning means that the good weather has already passed and a storm will follow. A bird flies low if the atmosphere is low in pressure because it is harder to fly through which means a storm will come.
Most superstitions come from folklore or ancient beliefs in Egypt and Greece where they and other places used myths and stories to explain parts of the world. Some of those beliefs made it through to now but with some changes to how it was originally interpreted. Those changes made them into what we now know as superstitions.
Urban legends come about much the same way that superstitions do except they are more recent than ancient times. They come about because they explain events in a way that is convincing and makes sense. These might also come from parents trying to teach their kids a lesson. They could also come from friends who got it from their friends trying to tell stories.
Urban legends and superstitions explain parts of the world that we are not sure of. This is why we see superstitions about rain and luck because back when the superstitions were being made, we didn’t know where rain came from. We didn’t know whether the actions you do affect the rest of your day or whether it was completely out of our control. So we created these beliefs that were based on coincidental events that might have been untrue and shaped our beliefs around to make our world more sense.
