Children

You might have noticed that Ukrainians don't like to show their newborn babies to anyone. They nei­ther photograph nor video them until the child is at least 3 months old. This is due to superstition number one: someone can sglazit the baby or give it the evil eye. The term sglazit stands for bringing bad luck whether intentional or not. People with dark eyes and hair are apparently more likely to cause sglaz. As a result of sglaz the child starts crying desperately and hysterically, stops eating and becomes irritable. The only way to get rid of this, according to Ukrainians, is to invite babka (a woman who can allegedly cure an illnesses without medicine) to the home. When the child is 3 months or older, you could still be a potential source of danger, so when you see a mother with a beautiful baby, don't even try to compliment her. Instead you should say “Tfu, tfu, what a bad boy/girl!” Fortunately more and more modern Ukrainian mothers have forgotten these archaic superstitions.

Students

College students have superstitions all of their own. Every student in Ukraine has a special record book, where all the grades are carefully written down. As soon as the exams come, students don't allow any­one except teachers and professors to open it. They are afraid that their shara (unexpected luck) will desert them. There is a special ritual, when a stu­dent takes (his/her credit book, goes to a balcony in the middle of the night on the eve of the exam, opens it and calls, "Shara, fly here!" - (Shara is believed to be able to fly). Sometimes the professors, aware of this tradition, play special tricks. Every student has probably heard of a similar story to the one where a professor of some university in Ukraine came to the auditorium, opened a window and said: “Shara has flown in.” Those who managed to open their record books and gave them to him got excellent marks, while the rest had to take a very serious exam.

Students also believe that five kopeks in the right-footed shoe brings good luck, so finding one of this coins of the day of an exam can prove quite difficult. Graduates even sell their lucky coins to freshmen! Some Ukrainian students refrain from washing their hair before the exam, to prevent all their knowledge flawing away with the water. They also wear the same clothes to all of the exams if the first one was passed successfully.

General

Of course there are loads of superstitions that apply, to any age, social and sex group of Ukrainians and pertain to many different occasions as well as to friends, colleagues and visitors. If you visit a Ukrainian household, remember never to shake hands across the doorway (it brings bad luck), only bring an odd-numbered bouquet of flowers (even numbers are brought to funerals and cemeteries) and when, drinking don't leave an empty bottle on the table. Touch wood and spit, three times when you talk about your plans for the future, or say that everything goes fine right now. Otherwise you could become another victim of sglaz.

Don't be surprised by the fact that Ukrainians do not unveil their plans for the future, since they are afraid of sglaz too. The horseshoe on the door, in fact, is aimed at keeping all the evil spirits outside. Ukrainians are likely to refuse to return home or to the office if they've forgotten something there. If they have no way of avoiding it, they will make sure they sit on the table/desk and look in the mirror, otherwise the day will go badly wrong. It is believed to be a good sign, when the first per­son you see in the morning is a man carrying a full bucket; if it's a woman carrying an empty one, you can be pretty sure that your day is already spoiled. The same happens when a black cat crosses your street; Ukrainians believe that you should take a different road as this one could be dangerous.

When it comes to dreams, there is no better way to find out about your future. If a woman sees a fish it means that she'll get pregnant soon. If you see a pair of shoes or boots, you’ll meet a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife. Think hard, as to whether they were pair fancy or not, since the quality will tell you what kind of person your new friend is likely be. Water means that people will be talking about you: clean water — favourably, dirty — nastily. If you see someone naked or wearing black — it's a sigh of illness. Teeth mean illness too. On the other hand, if you suddenly see excrement — you'll get rich! Coins mean tears, and paper money guarantees fun. A young girl symbolises unexpected news, while dead relatives or friends being alive — weather changes. A dog traditionally means a friend, and a cat — an enemy.

So, bear all this in mind, it could make all the difference to your week!