Russian Superstitions
Don’t whistle in the house. Sit down before embarking on a journey. Look in the mirror when you have to return home because you’ve forgotten something. Just a few random rules to bring good fortune or ward off misfortune. Russia has a whole arsenal of such beliefs.
Etiquette
Besides being amusing and interesting, it’s useful to know some of these. A number of them have become social norms or etiquette. For example, don’t shake hands on the threshold. Don’t give an even number of flowers unless it’s for a funeral.
As for handshakes: many of the rules and customs around this might change due to COVID-19. With that in mind, see Russia Tips, Tricks & Travel: The Etiquette of Shaking Hands (Russia Beyond, 2017, 4 m), How (Not) to Shake Hands in Russia (Andy Frecka, The Moscow Times 2013), and Is it true that you should never shake someone’s hand in a doorway in Russia because it’s bad luck? (Quora). Also see Not in Russia.
4 Videos
More and broader coverage of Russian superstitions in the following clips. Two are in English and two in Russian (with subtitles). More links below.
Most common superstitions in the Soviet Union
(Ushanka Show, 2019, 11 m)
11 Russian Superstitions
(Elina Bakunova, 2019, 9 m)
Are Russians superstitious?
(Easy Languages, 2018, 9 m)
Учим русский: популярные суеверия
(русский с носителем, 2017, 30 m)
More
- 10 Folk Beliefs That Russians Still Believe In (Easy Russian, 2020, 4 m)
- Russian superstitions / Русские суеверия (Ru-Land Club, 2019, 6 m)
- 7 Russian superstitions (Russian Progress, 2019, 5 m)
- Are Russians superstitious? (Jonny Tickle, 2019, 10 m)
- 5 суеверий русского народа (История. Интересно, 2019, 10 m)
- 7 contemporary Russian superstitions you should know about (Russia Beyond, 2018, 4 m)
- 5 Russian Superstitions (Yankee in Siberia, 2018, 4 m)
- Russian Superstitions (Crazy Russian Dad, 2018, 4 m)
- Russian Superstitions (iloverussia, 2018, 11 m)
- Русские народные приметы и суеверия (Lost Haos, 2018, 4 m)
- Russian Superstitions (Zahar Panda, 2017, 4 m)
- Странные русские суеверия (Olga Rojas, 2016, 8 m)
- Russian Superstitions | Русские суеверия (Easy Russian, 2015, 3 m)
Podcast: Russian superstitions I believe (Real Russian Club, 2019, 15 m)
See/read:
- Russian traditions and superstitions (Wikipedia)
- Weird Russian Omens And Superstitions (Russian Language Blog, 2020)
- How Russians protect themselves from evil spirits (Russia Beyond, 2019)
- Russian superstitions (In Your Pocket, 2019)
- Surprising Russian superstitions that still exist today (Urban Adventures, 2018)
- Why are Russians so superstitious? (Enjoy Russian, 2017)
- Russian Superstitions that are Out of This World (Travel All Russia, 2017)
- 10 common Russian superstitions (Russia Beyond, 2016)
- 58 Russian superstitions about love and life (Elena’s Models, 2016)
- 11 Russian Superstitions (The Moscow Times, 2015)
- Russian traditions and superstitions (Weird Russia, 2014)
- 10 Strange Russian Superstitions (Lidenz)
- How to avoid a spot of bad luck in Russia (Park Inn)
last updated 31-03-2021
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