If you pass through it you may have a hard time winning a bingo.



Origins



Some societies hold sacred the triangle that appears between a ladder and the straight wall on which it rests, as it represents the divine trinity. This concept is reflected in the sacred pyramids of the ancient Egyptians for whom the ladder represented the rise of the gods because, according to legend, a stairway allowed the god Osiris to escape from captivity to immortality.



Some superstitions are related to the gallows. In the seventeenth century in France, criminals sentenced to death were forced to walk under a ladder just before they were executed while the executioner, known as the ladder's groom, walked around it. Due to the high altitude of the gallows, it was necessary to use a ladder to place the rope in the correct position and to remove the corpse once executed. Anyone who passed under the ladder was always in danger to meet face to face with the dead body.



Misfortunes

You should always avoid standing on an odd numbered step. It's also best to have stairs with an odd number of steps. To skip a step when going up will cause bad fortune and falling from a ladder, besides the possibility of breaking something, means a loss of money. Also, when passing under a ladder young brides imagined that the steps would bring bad luck to them and they could not be married that year.



Is not unusual to believe that is a good omen to dream of yourself climbing a ladder or a bad omen if you are going down the same ladder in your dream. Outside the world of dreams it is considered a good omen and sign of upcoming marriage to fall from the stairs if you were going up or a sign of bad luck if you fall when you are going down.



Antidotes

If anyone, by mistake, has crossed the infamous triangle there are many ways to counteract the bad luck:



You can make a closed fist with the thumb between the index and middle fingers and point the fist to the ladder, cross your fingers until you see a dog, spit three times through the steps or once above your right shoulder, or spit on your shoe and continue walking down the road without turning back until the saliva is dry.



It is recommended if your stairs connect two floors that you make the sign of the cross as soon as you reach the first step to prevent a stumble. If in the middle of the stairs you suddenly remember that you left something forgotten and you must return, it is recommended not to stop. First you must complete upstairs before going down again, to avoid bad luck.



So next time you go to the bingo hall it is better to go early to avoid having to accept that chair just below the grand staircase and ruin your bingo luck that night. Do not miss the next chapter of Superstitions!