Superstitions and short beds

"Don't step on a crack or you'll break your mother's back" is a superstition or famous rhyme us kids played and tried to do, that is, when we remembered. It was just a childish superstition, as we do not see thousands of mothers walking around with broken backs. I’m unsure this is a game played in Aarhus, as cobblestone streets makes crack stepping unavoidable. So, like many others out there in the world, I still play by the rules with some superstitions such as, not walking under ladders or crossing in front of a black cat or breaking a mirror or spilling salt at the table and so on, as I want to avoid something terrible happening to me.


 These beliefs get passed down from the generation before us; however, we often act without knowing the reasons why. I learned of an interesting superstition, a Danish one, when we visited "The Old City" – an outdoor museum in Aarhus. Here you go back in time between the years 1700-1900 and you get to walk into the houses and shops and get a glimpse of what life was like back then.
One thing that stood out was that in several of the homes the beds were half the length of regular beds, but the adults were not as short as children.
The reason for this is that some of the Danes believed then that if one were to lay down to sleep that the soul would exit the body through the mouth – a tragedy. To avoid this, beds were made short, padded with pillows, and a person slept sitting up.


Personally, I choose to take a chance with losing my soul and like to sleep horizontally but can you imagine if you truly believed this? If you fear the worst, to keep safe it is believed that if you hang a horseshoe above your front doorway it will catch good luck and ward off evil. Sweet dreams.