2006-06-25 21:52:43 · 8 answers · asked by Michael B 1 in Health ➔ Other - Health
It is a superstition. People used to believe that the devil could enter you when you sneezed. God Bless You was a way for others to try to help prevent that.
2006-06-25 21:56:13 · answer #1 · answered by Hillaryforpresident 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Although there are a number of theories as to why it is said, the earliest mentions do not explain and so it is a true mystery.
Why is it that we salute a person when he sneezes, an observation which Tiberius Caesar, they say, the most unsociable of men, as we all know, used to exact, when riding in his chariot even? -Pliny, Natural History, 77 CE
'Bless you, my dear!' he said, and 'bless you, bless you!' at the second and third sneeze. -Apuleius, Golden ***, 150 CE
Is it possible as Snopes mentions, "...Are we trying to protect the sneezers from evil spirits? Are we fending off the Devil? Is this a remnant of an ancient recognition that sneezers aren't long for this world, thus we commend their souls to God even as we wash our hands of them? Are we congratulating them on their impending good luck? (As silly as this may sound now, sneezing was at one long-ago time seen as a fortuitous portent.) "
People will continue to speculate, but it will always remain a mystery, unless and until new evidence is discovered sometime in the future.
2006-06-26 05:10:30 · answer #2 · answered by Seikilos 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I learned that it comes from a traditional belief that sneezing caused by your soul escaping or evil spirits/demons entering your body (differs according to region); laying a blessing on the person who sneezed opened the path to let the soul back/forced the demon out.
2006-06-26 04:57:37 · answer #3 · answered by hogan.enterprises 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People used to think that your soul could fly out your mouth when you sneeze, so to protect themselves, they'd say "God bless you." Tee hee
2006-06-26 04:56:52 · answer #4 · answered by mizpriz30 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well, when you sneeze your heart stops, thats why it only last a second. My husband has sneezed so many times in a roll that he has passed out.
2006-07-03 01:50:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
because a sneeze is the closest to death we get, hence the term "god bless you"
2006-06-26 04:55:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some believe it is the soul trying to escape so saying 'god bless you' traps it back inside.
2006-06-26 04:57:35 · answer #7 · answered by blood_hooks 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they used to think you could die from sneezing too many times in a row
2006-06-26 04:56:11 · answer #8 · answered by Susie K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋