Have you ever wondered why people say it’s bad luck to open an umbrella inside? It’s a superstition that many of us have heard, but few know the origins or reasons behind it. In this article, we will explore the history and beliefs surrounding this common superstition. Whether you’re a believer or not, you’ll find the reasons fascinating. So, let’s dive in and uncover the truth behind this mysterious superstition.
The Origins of the Superstition
The origin of the superstition is deeply ingrained in the history of umbrellas.
To begin with, the original concept of an umbrella was designed to protect against the sun, not rain. They have been in use since 2400 BC in ancient Mesopotamia and were used to shield the bearer from the sun. Fast forward through time and umbrellas are still used for the same purpose in many cultures today.
In ancient Egypt and India, umbrellas were reserved for royalty. They were a symbol of wealth and nobility, and slaves would hold them over their pharaoh or other rulers to keep them shaded from the sun. In ancient China, they were used to protect children who were more at risk for sunstroke. Later on, the Chinese began using oiled parasols in order to shield themselves from the rain as well.
But it wasn’t until 642 AD that a Middle Eastern woman added waterproofing to umbrellas. The first umbrellas that could protect against rain came from Persia, and singles were exclusively allowed to use them before they began being manufactured in mass.
The idea of an umbrella protecting us from both rain and sun dates back to 13th century Europe. Back then in France, Italian merchants would shield themselves from the rain with what they called “umbrellino,” which translates as “a little shadow.” The Latin word for “umbrella” is “umbra” which means “shade” or “shadow.” By 17th century England, more versions of umbrellas were sold but were still thought of as an accessory strictly for women. As such, there weren’t many shops devoted to selling them.
Then by the 18th century in England, Jonas Hanway began using them. Being a man of prestige and rank, his adoption of an umbrella was a way for men to do so without feeling effeminate. Though people started using them more frequently in London, it would take over a century before men all over Europe began regularly carrying umbrellas.
But people all over Europe did not want to bring them inside their homes because they weren’t aesthetically pleasing at the time. They didn’t open or close like ours do today.
They weren’t collapsible or easy to open and close quickly, and doing so was considered rude. It would take five years before Samuel Fox patented our familiar folding design. The reason he patented a collapsible design was because he witnessed a woman slip under an umbrella that was opening.
During the Victorian era, it became improper to bring an umbrella into a home servants had worked hard to clean because it was seen as ungrateful for you to bring your dirty objects inside. It became known as bad luck after this period.
Variations in Different Cultures
As you might expect, different cultures have different superstitions surrounding umbrellas. Here are a few:
China
The Chinese people love using homophones to create new words, and the word for “umbrella” in Mandarin (san) sounds like the word for “scatter,” so they believe that opening an umbrella inside could lead to chaos or confusion.
Britain and the United States
We’ve already talked about how the superstition inspired a popular saying in Britain—”ducks in a row.” In the United States, this phrase has also become popular in the business world. Business consultants often talk about turning this superstition into good business practices.
But there’s another superstition surrounding umbrellas in British culture. The British traditionally consider gifting an umbrella to be bad luck unless you give a coin as well. This gesture is supposed to symbolize that the friendship between giver and recipient is firm like a coin.
Russia
In Russia, there is also a superstition about giving or receiving an umbrella as a gift. It’s bad luck to do so unless the giver and receiver exchange something of value as well—usually a symbolic amount of money.
India
In India, it’s very common for people to have servants or other household employees who do various chores around the house. One of these chores is shaking out umbrellas outside when they come in from the rain so they don’t make a mess inside. There’s a superstition associated with this practice—if you shake out your umbrella at night, you’ll bring bad luck on your family.
Egypt
In Egypt, it’s considered disrespectful to even bring an umbrella inside a building because it will bring bad luck.
Symbolic Meaning of Umbrellas
Umbrellas are universal symbols. They are often used in sports logos and tattoo designs. But what do they symbolize? How do we use umbrellas in communication? Let’s find that out.
Protection
The main purpose of an umbrella is to provide protection from the sun and rain. This represents shelter or protection from outside influences. It is a reflection of shelter and security in your life.
Carrying an umbrella in a dream can also represent emotional security. You are protecting yourself from internal negative emotions.
As an external symbol, the umbrella can provide a sense of safety, stability and support. It’s also representative of sacred space and a shield against manipulation.
Good Fortune
Some people believe umbrellas are bad luck, but they were traditionally seen as symbols of good luck.
The most famous umbrella superstition is the sun/rain theory. In China, an open red umbrella is a symbol of protection and good fortune. There, umbrellas are often included with sun symbols to create rain symbols. The Chinese believe that rain results in great fortune.
It’s also customary to include an umbrella with a small boy crying on a woman’s hat to represent a family wanting children. This symbol is meant to encourage the woman to marry and have children.
Transition
The way umbrellas open acts as a transitional signal between different states. You open it when you arrive at your destination and fold it when you reach your starting point.
This makes umbrellas symbols for transitions or changes between two different states, such as between one place or another.
In dreams, opening an umbrella symbolizes the opening of new possibilities or projects.
Fashion
Finally, the fashion industry sees umbrellas as fashionable accessories. They add style in different weather conditions. There are so many colors and prints available, so everyone can find an umbrella that represents their style and personality.
The Element of Surprise
On the other hand, if you open an umbrella indoors by surprise, you could be in the hot seat.
Full disclosure: I’m not big into superstitions.
But I can see how there’s a bit of an unspoken rule to not scare people, right?
Whether we’re talking about sneaking up on someone or giving them a jump scare, we’ve all probably felt the guilt of surprising someone than we meant to.
Hell, even in memes and movies, there’s a clear difference between watching jump scares by yourself and trying to catch someone off-guard.
Given the many layers of nuance involved in surprise scares (which obviously aren’t all bad), the idea of opening an umbrella indoors as part of a surprise seems totally unnecessary. Why take the risk?
Another consideration of surprise involves common courtesy and manners. As a general rule, it’s not cool to do anything that makes people visibly uncomfortable, right? Why risk that good ol’ umbrella superstition for something so trivial and easy to avoid?
From being considerate at work to respecting boundaries and personal space, surprise is surprisingly (heh) powerful as a means of shaping our interactions with others.
Let’s move on to another umbrella superstition, shall we?
Disruption of the Natural Order
Why does the umbrella superstition exist in so many cultures? One reason is the belief that doing so disrupts the natural order.
In nature, we rely on rain to help nourish our land and water our plants. When it rains on an occasional basis, it’s a great thing. But when it rains all the time, it can lead to flooding and other problems.
People believe that using an umbrella indoors would disrupt that natural balance. While using an umbrella outdoors helps keep you dry, doing so indoors may prevent you from getting rained on. This in turn would throw off that natural balance of rain and water.
In certain cultures, people hold umbrellas over other people’s heads for protection from the elements. This protection extends indoors, too. For example, someone may hold an umbrella over their own head and another person’s head while entering a room during a rainstorm. This practice stems from African, Asian and Middle Eastern cultures.
If this act protects a person from the rain while inside a building, it could anger the sky gods. Doing so may mean you’re trying to protect yourself from their wrath. Some cultures believe this could bring bad luck on the entire community.
Throughout history, it wasn’t uncommon for communities to make offerings to weather gods in the form of sacrifices or religious ceremonies. It was these weather gods that people believed had direct control over the forecast.
People likely began using umbrellas made out of materials like animal skin to appeal to these weather gods. If they used their umbrellas in the sky god’s temples or palaces, they believed it would anger the gods.
As time went on, these beliefs were passed down through generations and evolved into superstitions.
To Prevent Bad Luck Associated with Leaving an Umbrella Opened Inside
The misconception surrounding this superstition is that it’s simply bad luck to open an umbrella inside. There is a bit more to it than that.
In many cases, you’ll hear that opening an umbrella inside your home can bring about bad luck over the course of a week. In some cases, some people believe it could even last as long as five years.
The theory behind this is that opening an umbrella inside means you might be letting all of your good fortune out without even realizing it. By opening your umbrella inside your home or anywhere else besides outdoors when it is raining (or on a boat in rough waters), you might be throwing away all of your good fortune and inviting bad luck into your life to take its place.
Now that one of our most popular articles has addressed the question “is it bad luck to open an umbrella in a house?”, why not check out some of our others as well?
Historical Reasons for the Superstition
Umbrella superstition meaning has changed over time. Read on for a brief history of how the umbrella opening bad luck superstition came to be.
Romans are the First to Blame
Lore surrounding the superstition likely has its roots in ancient Rome.
Their sun umbrellas come from Greece. These were olive branches or large palm leaves attached to a stick. Roman nobles in fancy attire used similar umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun.
Slaves would do the brunt of the labor when it came to umbrella pests. As a result, bringing one indoors would have been like bringing your slaves into the house with you.
Pointing an open umbrella towards someone was seen as symbolic of slavery. It wasn’t uncommon for fights to break out over this matter.
Eventually, this morphed into a general belief that umbrellas were bad luck when used indoors.
Gothic Superstitions About Umbrellas
During the Gothic period, the church was very influential. They did their best to implement Christian superstitious influence. This made many people wary of common symbols.
Spooky tales of vampires would have gone hand-in-hand with these efforts to keep superstitions alive. An involved myth from this time explains the dark origins of this umbrella superstition.
In Transylvania (yes, that one!), villagers believed that unluck ridden spirits could inhabit dark places. These spirits would hide from daylight and spread misfortune under umbrellas and parasols alike.
A common-sense explanation for this is that it wasn’t good for society if everyone was wandering around using parasols inside. The church pounced on this as an opportunity to stoke fears and control the populace.
Victorian Era Superstitions About Umbrellas
The Victorians took superstitions pretty seriously. There were a lot of Victorian superstitions about death, one of which was when a photo was taken of you before your wedding day or if you fell ill right after someone sneezed around you, you would die.
A superstitious belief from colonial times in America may have led to umbrella opening inside bad luck beliefs. Early English settlers saw American Indians carry long poles with stretched animal hide on top to ward off rain. They adapted their version of this device and called it a “parasol.”
Puritans then believed that umbrellas were undignified and would often refuse to use them outdoors. This umbrella avoidance may have added to people’s fear and superstitions about umbrellas at the time.
The Fear of Unfolding Bad Luck
Another theory is that the bad omen comes from the sudden deployable of an umbrella. It was traditionally thought to be bad luck to suddenly unfurl any cloth, because you might accidentally trap a small, malicious spirit or fairy inside.
The belief that spirits could inhabit everyday objects is a common superstition across several cultures, including in Japan.
The Japanese have a custom called hina-matsuri, a doll festival for young girls. During hinamatsuri, families with young daughters set up large doll displays. These displays are elaborate, with each incarnation of the doll representing an empress or emperor. The dolls are often passed down through generations and are widely believed to contain spirits.
Japanese superstition tells that the dolls should never be left folded up or put away without good reason because it angers the spirits that inhabit them. People believe that to avoid bad luck and keep the spirit of the emperor or empress happy, these dolls need to be treated with respect.
In Britain, there is an old belief that if you leave an umbrella open, mischievous fairies may choose to make it their home. While this may seem harmless at first, it’s been known to bring a great deal of misfortune. This bad luck is believed to include infertility and theft.
A variation of this superstition states that if you open an umbrella indoors, you’ll be putting yourself at risk for bad luck by trapping yourself in the “house” of a mythical fairy. The only way to escape this bad luck is by going outside and giving your umbrella a vigorous shake to encourage the fairy to fly away.
The Victorians also held a deep-seated belief in fairies and their propensity for mischievous behavior. They even went so far as to invent special devices that were meant to nullify the mischief of fairies. People would carry these devices on their person anywhere they went to protect themselves from any fairy trickery.
Today, we still see some leftover evidence of these superstitions during celebrations such as wedding showers. People often hold superstitions that are no longer relevant, but there’s something about seeing a bride open her gifts under the shelter of an open umbrella that seems much less fun.
The Practical Reasons
When you think about it, there are practical reasons behind the superstition. It isn’t all luck-based.
First let’s talk about common sense. If you’re inside and open an umbrella, you’re going to be swinging metal around. You’re probably going to smack some things you weren’t planning on smacking. If that sounds like a lot of work to you, then avoiding the whole thing becomes even more appealing. That’s part of the reason that the superstition has been passed down so much.
On a darker note, there is a very real possibility that someone could get injured from an open umbrella indoors. Most umbrellas are equipped with metal spokes and plastic or wood tips. A person could get injured if one of those tips or spokes pokes them accidentally in the eye. This is perhaps the most practical reason behind the superstition.
Another practical reason to avoid opening an umbrella indoors is that it takes up space. This could be especially hazardous if there are a lot of people in a room or if someone is already moving around trying to do something.
Ever gotten your shoelace hooked on a table leg? It’s kind of like that.
We also can’t forget that people need space to open an umbrella indoors. If a person is opening up a large umbrella in a tight space, it might hit the ceiling or walls and become unusable in precisely the same way it would if it hit a table lamp.
In Japanese culture, opening an umbrella indoors disrupts the essential flow of chi. Chi is believed to flow through rooms and bring good energy and prosperity with it. When an umbrella is opened, it becomes a barrier which affects the chi’s flow negatively.
Similarly, in ancient Egypt, umbrellas were reserved for members of royalty. This means that opening an umbrella indoors was not only bad luck but had political implications as well.
In conclusion, the belief that opening an umbrella inside brings bad luck is deeply rooted in superstition and cultural folklore. While there may not be any scientific evidence to support these beliefs, they have become ingrained in many societies around the world. Whether you choose to believe in these superstitions or not, it’s always interesting to learn about the customs and beliefs that shape our cultures. So, next time you’re tempted to open an umbrella indoors, you might want to think twice!
