Where knock on wood comes from?

Question

I had to resurface this question because the "best answerer" failed to mention that the Greeks believed that there were sprites living in the trees that would bring misfortune upon you if you "boasted" about things going right in your life. If you knocked on wood, it was as though you were saying "but anything can happen" and they would leave you alone.

I enjoy how the documented ancient beliefs are always eventually turned into Christian bleiefs, like all of the Holidays and so on. It's amusing. I studied greek mythology. The greeks were very superstitious people, there were very vengeant Gods, Goddesses and spirits. Sprites were vindictive and spiteful, they caused problems on purpose, the greeks Knocked on the woods of the trees to keep them from bringing their spite upon them.

Answer 1

Being over-confident and boasting is not restricted to a few, all of us have been guilty of it, some time or the other. But most of us also have the feeling that if things are going well, too well, something is wrong or is bound to go wrong, and it is to guard against this change in fortune, that we use the phrase ‘touch wood’.
Today ‘touch wood’ is a Standard English idiomatic expression, and its American equivalent is ‘Knock on wood’.

Although it is certain that the belief is connected to a religious belief of superstition, its exact origin is uncertain and various theories abound, although most of them revolve around either the power of trees to drive away bad luck or as a sign of respect to the Gods who are said to have blessed the trees with these powers. Thus wood has since ancient times been associated with the Gods, magic, good fortune and even safety.

According to an ancient pagan belief, touching or knocking on wood wards off evil spirit, another belief is that good spirits reside in some trees, mainly Oak, and so touching or knocking the wood ensures that you are protected against misfortune & danger as the spirits on hearing your knock will come to your help. In fact no tree was more sacred throughout Europe than the Oak and newlyweds would dance around it for luck.
An ancient Celt belief is that a tree can conduct evil spirits down into the earth (much like a lightning conductor) and so touching a tree will draw out any evil spirit inside the body and send it into the ground.
The Greeks believed that if they touched an Oak tree, they communicate with Zeus, who would protect them from misfortune.
While an ancient Irish belief is that wood is knocked in order to thank the leprechauns (Irish fairy cobblers and keepers of treasures) for their good luck blessings.

Another theory has its roots in the Bible. Galatians (6:14) states ‘But God forbid that I should glory, save the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’. What it means is that one is forgiven idle boasting, if one remembers the cross immediately.
Since Christ was crucified on a cross, it became a Christian ritual to touch a wooden crucifix while praying for good fortune. And soon the powers of the crucifix were conferred onto every piece of wood. In effect every piece of wood became holy by becoming a symbol of the cross. Also small crucifix pendants made of wood became very popular as good luck charms.

One unlikely assumption is that the phrase is based on the game of ‘tag’, also known as ‘touch wood’, which was very popular amongst children during the 18th century. In one version, any child who was able to touch a tree (wood) was safe against capture, but since the game could also be played by replacing ‘touch wood’ with ‘touch iron’, it is not a very likely theory.
Although during the times that iron was in extensive use, it too was considered to have magical properties and touching iron had similar meaning as touching wood.

There is even a Jewish version in which around the 1500’s, the Jews were in flight and their temples (synagogues) were a safe haven. In order to protect those inside, the Jews had a special code, which had to be knocked on the wooden doors to gain access. Since this saved many lives, knocking on the wood became a sign of good luck.

Whatever the origin, the belief that the happiness in our lives may suddenly disappear and misfortune may appear, has resulted in this superstition becoming so commonplace, that we do not even consider it a superstition, for most of us it is a more of a custom or even a habit.
Actors & sportsmen are amongst those in whom this belief is very strong, as they believe it will increase their good luck before a show or a game.

Funnily enough, in this modern time of convenience, even customs and superstitions suffer, not in their followings but in their execution. For instance it might be difficult to find genuine wood and so substitutes are found and used, for example a table with a wooden type finish and if nothing else, our heads. But then, we don’t call each other blockheads for nothing.

But even now, some of us are extremely superstitious and will not touch just any piece of wood, the first choice would be a living tree, but if that is not around, an unpainted piece of wood would do, but the wood would have to be touched or knocked upon not once but thrice.

By Saurin Desai
Published: 6/26/2004

Answer 2

I have read many explanations about the origins of Knocking on Wood and Touching Wood.

The one I heard about "Knocking on Wood" and do not see listed anywhere was originated back in old colonial times when disease, alcohol abuse and lead poisoning (from lead dinner plates and cups used daily in the early days) could make a person appear to be dead or in a catatonic state. Many such people were mistaken as dead, put into wooden coffins and buried alive. That was also the purpose of the "wake" before a burial. The people were actually waiting and allowing time for their apparently dead person to wake up.

It was the act of such a person regaining his senses in the coffin before being buried and knocking frantically on the coffin lid for others to hear. Hopefully it was in time to save this person from an awful fate. This was the version I heard on the superstition of Knocking on Wood. Because of this problem with people being buried alive, glass fronts were sometimes inserted into the lid of the coffin. Later, bells were mounted inside the coffin itself for the poor soul to ring in such a horrible situation. (That is coincidently where the saying "Saved By The Bell" came from, not from the sport of boxing or school.)

As far as the act of touching wood, I found the following:. This explanation has a recorded history over 1,600 years old: "When Saint Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, visiting the Holy Land and seeking the True Cross upon which Jesus was crucified, found the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, the Cross was venerated by all the faithful in many public processions. Many faithful would come to touch the Holy Cross for blessing and healing. It was customary to touch the Wood of Life three times (as a confession of faith in the Holy Trinity).

This act of touching the True Cross became the earliest recorded histories of "knocking on wood." Whenever the Holy Cross was put forth for public veneration, touching it, or as English translations render it "knocking," became common liturgical practice. Once the Holy Cross was transferred to Constantinople and placed in the Great Church of the Holy Wisdom (aka Saint Sophia), Christians continued this piety by touching or knocking on any cross or crucifix (wood was the medium of the day) for blessings and healings.

This ancient tradition has been with us for over 1,600 years and has been a pious tradition to this day where people tend to touch anything made of wood ... but all interpretations of this behavior point back directly to Jerusalem in the 4th century AD and the True Cross."

Answer 3

I've read before that the expression comes from a time when people worshiped the god named "Wooden" who was made of wood. This god was supposed to give good luck or ward off any evil by touching anything made of wood. Our day of the week, Wednesday, is named after him, Wooden's Day. By the way, all of our days of the week, were dedicated to the worship of a pagan god, by naming the day after it.

Answer 4

I find it interesting how regional it is. As a young boy in New York (not the city), I never heard of "knocking on wood". When my family moved to western Pennsylvania, nearly everyone I went to school with did it but could not really explain to me why.

Jim, http://www.life-after-harry-potter.com

Answer 5

I've heard that it originally had to do with the wood of the Christian cross, and that to touch it was equivalent to a prayer or entreaty.

Answer 6

I honestly don't know where it started from but I was told it was to deafen trickster spirits that might be hiding in wood to keep them from meddling in whatever it was that was going well.

Answer 7

Knocking on wood started back in the time of ancient man-kind knocking on a fruit tree trying to remind it that the time is coming for it to bare fruit again and feed ancient man from it.... And that Ladies and Gentleman is how knocking on wood really got started..................................................................
FACTUAL.....................................