Do not open an umbrella indoors. Do not break a mirror. Do not walk beneath a ladder. Do not walk over a person lying down. These are classic superstitions that people believe bring bad luck.

Superstitions, however, go beyond bad luck. People believe that superstitions are bad omens of events to come. So great is the power of superstitions as in the number 13, for example, many buildings don’t have a floor labeled 13.

Some superstitions are cultural.

“I think black cats mean bad luck,” said sophomore Sage Guo. “I also think four is a bad number. In Chinese, the number four sounds like ‘die,’ and can also mean ‘die’ sometimes. I don’t like that number.”

Although it may look like science, astrology is a form of superstition. Astrology is the relation between the positions of celestial bodies, human affairs and the natural world. Horoscopes are closely related to this and are featured in most daily newspapers. Many people schedule trips or plan events around their horoscope and act accordingly. Adolf Hitler was one of these.

“I guess for me, I don’t really think about superstitions. I just think about facts nowadays, like science, but I still keep my faith because I don’t doubt Jesus and God,” said junior Kaitlyn Pang.