According to a YouGov survey carried out on 24 and 25 November 2022, a third of Britons consider themselves to be ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ superstitious.  People were asked about 28 superstitions, 16 of them ‘lucky’ and 12 of them ‘unlucky’.  Of the lucky ones the most popular were touching wood, which 33% believed would bring them good luck, and finding a four-leaf clover, which 32% thought was lucky.  Of the unlucky ones breaking mirrors was the most widely held, being believed by 30% of the participants to lead to misfortune.  No superstitions concerning ‘unlucky’ plants were included.

It appears that only 28 superstitions were considered and participants were not permitted to write in other superstitions, such as having red and white flowers together in a vase, or bringing hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) flowers indoors.  Surely the survey would have been more useful if people were encouraged to record superstitions beyond the selected 28, perhaps there are new ones which exist but haven’t yet been recorded?

Image: greetings card featuring four-leaved clover, purchased Tooting, London Borough of Wandsworth, January 1995.