Where did these superstitions originate?

Question

Opening an umbrella inside
Putting shoes on a table(my mother always told me it was bad luck to put shoes on a table, wasn't sure if that one was common)
Walking under a ladder
Rocking an empty rocking chair
Closing the door behind you when going through another door
Breaking a mirror(aside from having to buy a new mirrow and having to clean up the mess)

Answer 1

Here is a bunch. I looked around online. I hadn't heard of the shoe one, or the door one. The shoe one I found. The last bit is what I could find out about doors.


OPENING UMBRELLAS INDOORS


Umbrellas are to be used only outdoors. Failure to adhere to this dictate will bring about the "righteous anger of the sun."


Origin. Umbrellas were used in the East as early as the 11th century B.C. Members of the political and religious hierarchy used them not only as a protective measure against the hot sun rays, but also as a device to ward off any spirits who might do them harm. Because of the umbrella's sacred relationship to the sun, it is wrong to open it in the shade.


© 1975 - 1981 by David Wallechinsky & Irving Wallace
Reproduced with permission from "The People's Almanac" series of books.
All rights reserved.

WALKING UNDER LADDERS


If you walk under a ladder, the wrath of the gods will be upon you. Should you forget and do so, quickly cross your fingers or make a wish.


Origin. A ladder leaning against a wall forms a triangle with the wall and the ground. This triangle signifies the Holy Trinity and to enter into the sacred enclosed area is a punishable offense. Also, crossing through this forbidden zone may weaken the powers of the gods and unleash the powers of evil spirits.


© 1975 - 1981 by David Wallechinsky & Irving Wallace
Reproduced with permission from "The People's Almanac" series of books.
All rights reserved.

BREAKING A MIRROR


This will bring you 7 years of bad luck or might cause the death of someone in the family. If a mirror is broken, remove it from the house and, if possible, bury it in the ground (to counteract the evil consequences).


Origin. Before the invention of mirrors, man gazed at his reflection, his "other self," in pools, ponds, and lakes. If the image was distorted, it was a mark of impending disaster. The "unbreakable" metal mirrors of the early Egyptians and Greeks were valued items because of their magical properties. After glass mirrors were introduced, it was the Romans who tagged the broken mirror a sign of bad luck. The length of the prescribed misfortune, 7 years, came from the Roman belief that man's body was physically rejuvenated every 7 years, and he became, in effect, a new man.


© 1975 - 1981 by David Wallechinsky & Irving Wallace
Reproduced with permission from "The People's Almanac" series of books.
All rights reserved.

If you rocked an empty rocking chair, this was a foretelling that someone in your family was going to die!

Shoes - bad luck
Shoes placed on a table are thought to be a bad omen and either a quarrel in the house, or a storm of thunder and lightening will come. Leaving shoes in the shape of the cross is also considered bad luck. To break break the run another person must pick the shoes up. Another common belief concerns beetles and shoes. It is bad luck if a beetle crawls out of your shoe and when a beetle crawls over your shoe it foretells death. Placing your left foot on the ground first thing in the morning is a bad omen. It is unlucky to put the left shoe on first. Dressing the left foot first is bad luck with one exception and that is dressing the left foot unintentionally on a Friday morning, otherwise you are sure to have a quarrel. Walking around with one shoe on and the other off will bring bad luck for a year. Putting shoes on the wrong feet will foretell and accident to the feet. Never place shoes higher than your head or keep shoes under the bed for both are bad luck. Slippers and shoes should never be put on the bed for the same reason. Tying shoes together and hanging them on a nail is bad luck. Shoes as a gift on Christmas Day is considered bad luck.

Actors never place shoes on a chair in the dressing room because it is considered bad luck.

Superstitions about Doors
About back doors

1864, R Chambers Book of Days II It is unlucky to enter a house, which you are going to occupy, by the back-door.

1883 Burne Shropshire Its is unlucky (after a wedding) to re-enter the house by the back door. In the case of a servant married from her mistress's house, I have known the wedding-party on their return from church drive up to the hall-door in the most matter-of-course fashion.

1891-3 Proceedings Royal Irish Acad., 3rd ser. The corpse is carried our by the back door.

1907 Folklore At this first home-coming (after the wedding) the entrance is always by the back door of the cabin, it being deemed unlucky to go in the front, through which the dead are always carried out.

1912 Leather Herfordshire It is very unlucky for the bride and bridegroom to leave the bride's home by the back door after the wedding. This was done near Hereford recently, by a couple wishing to escape showers of rice; the old people present shook their heads, and thought it a very bad omen.

1923 Taunton It is considered very unlucky when moving into a new house to enter by the back door.

Bride's door

1920 Folklore The door of the bride's home must not be closed while she is at church.

Changing a Door

1882 Folk-Lore Record Another plan of … averting misfortune is to change the doors of the house, to block an existing door and open another in its place.

1926 Folklore A village woman, speaking of ghosts, said, “you can keep ‘em out if you unhangs the door and puts it on the other way round.

Front Doors
One of my dearest friends from my teen years always took us to through the back door because "the front door's for strangers."


1883 Burne A few years ago, a butler in the service of a family in North Shropshire died in his mistress's house and on the day of the funeral the servants especially begged leave for the body to be carried out the front door, otherwise there would surely be another death in the house within a short time.

1923 Wellington, Som. It is lucky for a baby to go out of the front door for the first time.

Leaving by the Same Door

1852 N&Q Ist ser. Be sure when you go out to get married that you don't go in at one dour and out the other, or you will always be unlucky.

1961 I'll let you out by the front door… unless you are superstitious and won't go out except by the same door as you came in.

1985 Woman c.35 (on being shown to the front door after her visit) If you don't mind I'll use the back door, I always like to go out by the same door as I came in by.

Doors and Windows – opened in thunderstorms

1873 Kilvert Diary 23 July At 2 AM began the great lightning storm… There were lights in the houses all over the village and the cottage doors and windows were opened wide to let the lightning out easily if it should come in.

1964 Girl, 16, If there is a storm, there must be a window open at the back and the front of the house so that the lightning can pass right through.

1984 Woman, 56, My mother always opened the windows during a thunderstorm. She said it was to prevent the build-up of hot air in the room, which might draw the lightning to strike the house.

Window-Blind falls - an ominous sign...

1899 Schoolmaster: If a window blind fall of its own accord, it is unlucky. 1923 If the blind suddenly unrolls without being touched you will shortly have to pull then down through death.

Answer 2

I'll try to answer the ones I am familiar with...

Umbrella inside...the umbrella is used to protect oneself against the outside element, to open one inside is believed to invite the outside elements inside - i.e. - daring a storm or flood or earthquake to damage the house.

Ladder - actually, this was based on an old safety rule...people walking under ladders could either be hurt by the person on the ladder dropping something OR could jostle the ladder, thereby causing the person on the ladder to fall.

Door - you block the 'guardian angel' who always follows you from you when you close a door. This one is sort of silly, since, after all, angels ARE spirits and CAN walk through doors/walls anyway...

Mirrors - This is caught up with the belief that you see no only your physical but your spiritual self when you look in a mirror...breaking it was somehow thought to harm your spirit.

Don't the shoes on the table or the rocking chair ones.

Answer 3

I've never heard of half of these, but they ALL started by people with OCD before it was recognized as such.