Why when you sneeze, some will say "bless you". whats that for?

Question

Where this traits originated? Do we have to say that evrytime we can hear somebody sneezing? Is it proper not to say it?

Answer 1

some people believe that when you sneeze the devil can grab your soul or something. Or that your sneezing out your soul. So they say "bless you" Because their glad he did take it. You can say whatever you want. I just say "Excuse you" if someone else sneezes or "Excuse me" if I do

Answer 2

Basically, like everyone else is saying, in the far past it was beleived that a sneeze caused your soul to leave ur body. Making u susceptable to the devil. by saying Bless u or God Bless u, u r being protected so that your soul may safely return. it differs around the world. In Germany when u sneeze ur told gazuntight which means health. When ur told it its to b implied as good health.

Answer 3

If I do recall correctly (don't rely to terribly much upon this, look it up if you are going to use the info for anything other than random facts) the ancient Egyptians used to believe that when you sneezed, it was a time that the evil spirits could enter your body. So they said 'bless you' to keep you from staying on the good side, so to say.

Answer 4

I can't remember the exact origin, but there was a time far in the past when people believed that when you sneezed, you lost your soul - they literally believed your soul would fly out with the sneeze and they had to quickly say "God bless you" to keep you from losing your soul.

In modern times, it's just polite to say it - no different than saying "please" or "thank you".

Answer 5

There are a bunch of variations on the story as to how it originated. This is the one I know.
Peaple used to think that when you sneezed, Satan would be able to enter your soul through your mouth, so people said "bless you" in hopes that God would bless you, and Satan wouldn't get hold of you. Or something like that.

Answer 6

a powerful sneeze hampers our nerves running in the spinal cord (our back bone) where in medical history there have been reported many deaths via just a sneeze.
i don't know about any other custom or religion but in Islam we say 'GOD bless you' or 'sukr alhamd du lillah' (meaning the same) to rejoice that the moment of sneeze has passed away, also this is said to let the sneezing guy know that there is some one looking after him or just to show that we care.

Islam is a simple code of life.

Answer 7

Ancient man believed that his breath was also his soul or "essence of life." When God made man, he "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." A rapid departure of that breath--a sneeze--is the same as expelling life from one's body. Also, it leaves a vacuum in the head which evil spirits can enter. Roman citizens feared sneezing when a plague hit their city during the reign of Pope Gregory the Great. Since they regarded the sneeze as a sure sign of approaching sickness, Pope Gregory in situated the use of the phrase "God bless you" to shield sneezers from any ill effects.

Answer 8

The indians once believed that the devil would take your sould if you sneezed a lot. They would say bless you and supposedly god would keep your soul in your body when you died. But if you sneezed, and nobody said bless you, you would be doomed. They also thought they could keep us off their territory.... shows how much they know.....

Answer 9

In addition to the soul thing, I've heard that it was believed to be an early sign of fatal illness way back in the Dark Ages. You would bless someone with the hopes their health would be good.

I usually say Gezundheit, which means something like to your health.

Answer 10

Legend says that when you sneeze your heart stops and people say "God bless you" to that your heart will start to beat again.