Always liked the Thai spirit house tradition -

We have lucky coins under the rug in the doorway, Foo dogs on either side of the door, horseshoes over both exterior doors, a hamsa over the front door on the inside, and a lucky money toad near the front door. I'm actually not superstitious. These objects are more for fun/decoration than anything else.

My mother insists on splashing holy water around the place (but I let her do it). She also gave me a bottle to keep in the car with me in case "I get into an accident". Hopefully one that isn't so serious that I can't pop the top off to spritz it all around the area I guess.

My grandmother refused to carry the old broom to the new house. Something about carrying the troubles from the old to new.

I do have a horseshoe hung over my front door, but that's mainly because it was a gift from a dear friend from college for my first place. It'd actually been used by a horse she owned and loved, so it's really more to honor her than any superstitious reason. It's been over the front door of any place I've lived since then.

Is it horseshoe up to hold the luck or horseshoe down to shower the entry with luck?

I remember seeing a blue bottle on a stick outside of many an old dogtrot slab log home in northern Louisiana (to keep the haunts away).

Always have a good natured laugh when I happen upon a multicolored bottle tree in front of a MacMansion with a subscription to Southern Living. Serious fear evolves into decorative accent.

My mother always gives me salt to bring out the flavor in life, a (new) broom to sweep cares away, and something else. I forget...it might be a new apron. We are African American, but this tradition seems to have traction in many other cultures as well. I am very superstitious and still have the container of salt from my last move three years ago.

my sister gave me a guardian gargoyle that sits among the plants on our balcony, near the front door.

I always hang a nazar (greek "glass" eye) on my front door to ward away the evil eye. There's one in my car as well...:)

I have heard of salt and bread for the new home from Russian sources. Ain't Life Grand, my family is caucasian but my grandparents were farmers in the rural south. I think some of the superstitions crossed over as you say. I know the recipes did! My Urban African American friends were often puzzled at some of the dishes I brout to pot lucks and such. All from my mother and grandmother.

I live in a shared flat and, though I'm not very supersticious, once I was given a stick representing a kind of "mandala" from India which is often put on the walls to protect homes and I put it over my bedroom's door. Just in case...

The Christmas mistletoe always resides, in a plant pot, high on the kitchen cabinets. It's supposed to keep financial troubles away and so far it's working. :)

No, I don't.

My mom always insisted on a new broom/mop and salt/sugar when moving into a new home. I never really questioned why and whenever I've moved she always reminds me to leave behind or discard the items.

My next older sister lives near a cemetery and is fine with that, but is superstitious about the number 13. My older sister lives in apartment #13, and is fine with that and cemeteries. I'm fine with 13, but wonder if my superstition against living near a cemetery is common.

I keep mezuzahs hung on the Frames of both the front and back doors.

I have an old donkey shoe I found in the Sahara desert that I nailed by the door of my diminutive apartment next to the trusty bicycle/"Burro" that is my one and only vehicle.

Moke076: I was wondering if someone would mention a mezuzah! My mother-in-law keeps a cross sitting on her elderly little pomeranian's dog crate.

Many would probably get their feathers ruffled to have our religious symbolism put into the category of superstition - but they're really not that far apart, are they?

One could argue superstitions are mostly associated with fear, while crosses and mezuzahs are based in faith. But at the end of the day, whether it's salt over a shoulder, or not opening an umbrella in the house... it's not all that removed from waving smoke-filled bronze orbs in a Catholic church, or covering your mirrors when sitting shivah.

When you boil it down, we're just assigning mystical properties to inanimate objects. Actually, the only superstition mentioned above that truly seems logical is to not bring the germs on your dirty old broom into your clean new house! ; )~

I have a cross blessed by Pope John Paul II hanging over my bedroom door... It's been in the same spot in the past eight places I've lived in (except the studio - I put it over the bathroom door). It's kind of evolved into my own superstition....

I always like to having a cross in my apartment somewhere. I'm Catholic and in my family after Palm Sunday you take the palm fronds woven into crosses home to be tucked into paintings and mirrors around the house.

Yes, what were once religious symbols and rituals may be reduced to superstitions if their meanings are forgotten. They may become good luck charms and garbled nursery stories. Hanging a cross over my door isn't superstitious, because I don't imagine that a bit of ceramic or wood has magical powers. Instead, I was taught its meaning by loved ones who went before me, and remember its meaning by following the examples of their lives. I hang a cross over my door, not to protect me, but to remind me.

A pagan friend once showed me how to clear and bless my space, I do it every time I move. During my most recent move a Reiki Master came and blessed my space as well.

The broom thing is a new one for me, but I hope I'm done moving for awhile.

How is this not the same post about rituals one does when moving in from the other day?

@MsDonnaGirl: A ritual is a series of actions, which might or might not involve special objects , that are performed in a certain order and according to strict instructions. The ritual is intended to move the spirit from one state to another (fearful to calm, etc.)
A superstition, in this context, is a belief that an action or object can protect or bless the new dwelling. Use of a particular floorwash, putting a certain object in a certain place, making a certain food first...all these are examples of superstitions. The action is usually a simple one; almost never does it involve a series of actions. Superstitions are shared between individuals in personal communication.
Note on the horseshoe: The Roman invaders discovered that the Irish worshipped a Great Goddess called Epona. She was a horse or was in charge of horses or each horse was her epiphany -- all at once. That's the nature of many deities. The Romans adopted Epona and the practice of honoring her domain with a symbolic horseshoe placed over the stables to invoke her protection.
She is the only deity added to the Roman pantheon from any of the territories and cultures they invaded. You might know her as one of her epiphanies, Rhiannon, the subject of a well-loved song performed by Fleetwood Mac.

@ Rapunzel- I do appreciate the breakdown. And I was wondering what was up with the horseshoe! I'm not sure this post doesn't still get to the same point as yesterday's, but I thank you nonetheless.

@Rapunzel, Thanks for the clarification. I guess that my refusal to live near a cemetery is more having seen too many scary movies than being superstitious.

@Ansela, this is surprisingly true. I had rented an attic room in an old converted Victorian. The few months I was there, I was miserable and always had nightmares, along with other weird stuff going on. When I signed a lease on a different room on one of the lower floors, the issues went away. It wasn't until after I had signed the lease that the landlord told me that he had a former tenant commit suicide in one of the other attic rooms.

I have a small jar filled with fake, plastic grass that I got before my freshman year of college that goes with me wherever I move. Kind of goofy, but it feels comforting to have something constant (even if it is plastic grass).

Children and animals always bring a good vibe

@businessgypsy - I was told that the horseshoe has to be upright, otherwise the luck falls out.

@business gypsy: The bottle trees of the South! There is a wonderful book called "Flash of the Spirit" by Robert Thomson that explores the decorative use of shiny objects, including bottle trees -- expressions of transplanted African religious beliefs and practices.