Russian Superstitions

In my early days in Russia, a friend, Vadim, called me to invite me over. Soon outside his flat. I rang the bell and the door opened. I had already learnt that the standard greeting between men is to shake hands. I duly extended my hand. He looked at it, then at me, “Come in.” I left my hand outstretched but quickly understood that the gesture was not about to be reciprocated. I was confused and wondered if and how I’d offended him. I got inside, unnerved, removing my outdoor shoes in the house, as is usual. Vadim then grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically. I was baffled. The explanation was a superstition, which I’ll explain, along with some others I’ve experienced.

An animated version of a domovoi, a character of superstitions, from a Russian film

• Don’t shake hands in a doorway – you’ll have an argument, which explains what happened when I went to Vadim’s. Lily says that the same applies to handing over money to someone over a threshold.
• Don’t whistle in the house, all your money will fly away.
• If you return to fetch something you’ve forgotten, look in a mirror before continuing with your journey to avoid bad luck. Lily says it’s ‘to check if there’s the devil behind you about to f**k up your day’.
• Lily’s grandmother always sits for a minute, or gets us to, before travelling on a long journey – I don’t get if it’s for good luck or just to pause to think whether everything’s in order.
• Do not buy a gift for an unborn baby – it’s seen as bad luck, kind of tempting fate.
• On the baby theme, some parents won’t show a newborn to anyone for 40 days so no one ‘puts an evil eye on it’.
• Don’t put an empty alcohol bottle on the table. It’s about bringing bad luck or death rather than causing confusion as to which are full and empty or about reducing space.
• After a toast and clinking glasses, if you put your glass back down on the table before drinking, it cancels what you toasted.
• NEVER EVER clink glasses when toasting in memory of someone’s who’s died. Some people also hold the glass in the left hand for such a toast and so don’t drink shots with their left hand.
• On the left-handed theme, some people believe it’s unlucky to pour drinks with your left hand and others are superstitious about not pouring their own drink.
• If you’re unmarried and sit at the corner of the table, you’ll never get married.
• Some people believe in a домовой (domovoi), a house spirit, who brings positive energy to your home and who should also be invited to go with you if you move house. Some buy a straw figurine as a representation of this.*

* Knowing that we don’t have a domovoi (figure) at home, I asked Lily if her parents have one. “Yes, Fyedor, he’s four years old.” “Could your parents take a photo so I can use it for the blog?” She looked puzzled and answered, “It’s not a figurine.”