10 Bizarre Origins Of Everyday Traditions That Will Blow Your Mind
3. Crossing Your Fingers
The Tradition Today: Crossing ones fingers today is a gesture that is generally associated with wishing for good luck or hoping for Gods protection, or, if youre seven, to somehow excuse the fact that you just blatantly lied to somebodys face. The practice has rooted itself in common language too, with phrases like my fingers are crossed! becoming more popular than the actual action. Where It Came From: Its not a huge cognitive leap to go from cross to Christianity, where it is alleged this practice came about. In the time of the early Church, Christians would make the gesture in order to invoke the power of the crucifix for protection against evil. Along these lines, crossing ones fingers was used in the time of Roman persecution of Christianity, as a secret symbol of sorts so that Christians could recognize each other and congregate for worship. An alternate explanation predates Christianity, tracing back to European Paganism, wherein the cross was already a powerful symbol. The cross, as a symbol of perfect unity, was thought to harbor good spirits and, as such, a wish made on a cross would anchor itself to the crosss intersection until it came true. From wishing on a cross came about the two-person hand gesture of crossing ones index finger over anothers to show support for their wish. Once we realized that we didnt need another person to impart the benefits of the cross, the one-handed practice surfaced, eventually evolving into the practice we know today.
Canadian student. Spends probably an unhealthy amount of time enthusing over musicals, unpopular TV shows, and Harry Potter. Main life goal: to become fluent in Elvish.
