Bad luck omens and superstitions

Ants

Ants building a nest near the door to your house is a clear sign of financial security in the future. 

Bats

A bat in the house is a sign of death.

Birds

If a bird flies through your house, it indicates important news. If it can't get out, the news will be death.

If a bird flies towards you, bad fortune is imminent.

Crows

Are viewed as a bad omen, often foretelling death. If they caw, death is very near.

Seeing a single crow perched on a house, however, is very bad luck. 

Magpie

One for sorrow

Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy

Five for silver

Six for gold

Seven for a secret never to be told

Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a time of joyous bliss 

Owls

An owl screeching near a home means bad luck.

Hearing or seeing an owl in the daylight means bad luck

An owl perching on a home means death or sickness. 

Peacock 
Never bring a peacock feather indoors for decoration, as they are unlucky.

Sparrow

Sparrows carry the souls of the dead; it's unlucky to kill one.

Raven

An ill-omened bird, able to predict the future, particularly death. If the Ravens in the Tower of London should be lost or fly away then the Royal Family will die and Britain will fall to an enemy. The raven is 'the messenger of death' (American Indian) and has a very developed sense of smell, which can detect the odour of decay from some distance. The ominous nature of this creature is evoked in Edgar Allan Poe's poem 'The Raven'

Robin

The robin is perhaps the most loved of all wild birds and dire are the omens if you should kill one. The story that it was a robin who covered the unfortunate 'Babes in the Wood' with leaves to help them keep warm has done much to endear it to children everywhere. Legend has it that it got its distinctive red breast when it tried to pull the bloody thorns from Christ's head as he hung on the cross. 

 If a robin flies into a room through a window, death will shortly follow 

Brooms

If a broom falls in your home unwelcome company will come to visit you.

Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one.

To prevent an unwelcome guest from returning, sweep out the room they stayed in immediately after they leave. 

Candles

If the flame of a candle flickers and then turns blue, there's a spirit in the room.

If a candle lighted as part of a ceremony blows out, it is a sign that evil spirits are nearby. 

Cats

Black Cats
Curse:
Black cats have long been believed to be a supernatural omen, since the witch hunts of the middle ages, when cats were thought to be connected to evil. Since then, it is considered bad luck if a black cat crosses your path.
Ironically, a black cat walking towards you is considered lucky, while one walking away is said to be stealing your luck 

Chair

A person will have bad luck if his chair falls over when he stands up.

If you leave a rocking chair rocking when empty, it invites evil spirits to come into your house to sit in the rocking chair. 

Chills

A shiver means that someone is walking over your (eventual) grave.

If you feel a chill up your spine, someone is walking on your future grave. 

Clocks

If a clock, which has not been working suddenly, chimes, there will be a death in the family. 

Dogs

Howling - A dog howling foretells the death of someone nearby. 

Doors

As main point of entry to the house, a door is particularly important and the positioning over the porch of statues and good luck symbols (e.g. horseshoe, with points upwards to stop the luck from running out) keep out bad elements, spiritual or human. It is unlucky to enter the house for the first time by the back door, as this entrance is not protected against evil spirits. Encourage visitors to leave by the same door they came in to avoid taking the owner's luck with them. The opening of a door of its own accord indicates that a visitor is on the way, whilst a slamming door may damage the 'spirit of the house' and should be avoided.

Leave a door open when a child is being born or someone is dying, so that the entry or exit may take place without hindrance. The Romans would leave a servant on duty to stop someone entering left foot first (the forerunner of the modern footman). 

Eggs

Do not bring eggs into the house after dark as it is bad luck 

Fox

Seeing a lone fox near your home is an omen of disaster and death.

If a fox bites you, you will not live more then seven more years. 

Hats

A hat on a bed will bring bad luck. 

Halloween

A person born on Halloween will have the gift of communicating with the dead. 

Hands

If your palm itches, you will soon receive money. If you itch it, your money will never come. 

Ladders

Walking Under a Ladder
Curse:

If you walk under a ladder you supposedly break a spiritual triangle (the Holly Trinity) that will leave you vulnerable to the devil.

In the days before the gallows, criminals were hung from the top rung of a ladder and their spirits were believed to linger underneath. Thus, to walk beneath an open ladder, was to pass through the triangle of evil ghosts and spirits.
Cure:
If you should unwittingly wander under a ladder, you can save yourself by crossing your fingers and spitting three times through the ladder's rungs. 

Mirrors

Breaking a Mirror
Curse:
Our ancestors began this superstition, because they thought the image in a mirror, contained our actual soul. Thus, a broken mirror represented the soul being pulled from your body and being trapped in all the shattered pieces.
The reason the bad luck lasted for seven years, was because the Romans believed that after seven years, the body was physically renewed and the soul could once again return whole.
Cure:
To break the spell of misfortune from a broken mirror, you must wait seven hours, (one for each year of bad luck), before picking up the broken pieces, and bury them outside, in the moonlight. 

Moon

It is considered bad luck to point at the moon anytime.

Moon Eclipse A bad omen of a foreshadowed evil force prevailing. 

Numbers

The Number Thirteen
Curse:
There are many different theories about the origin of 13 being considered an unlucky number. The earliest come from ancient religious beliefs.
At Valhalla, the home of the Gods, if you had twelve guests at a feast, and a thirteenth, turned up uninvited; he was thought to be "The God of Deceit".

Many Christians believed it started with witches' covens having 12 members, making 13 only when the devil appeared at satanic ceremonies (although, prior to Christianity, 13 was considered a sacred number, representing the 13 moons of the year.) 

Friday the 13th
It is claimed that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, Noah's flood started on a Friday and Christ was crucified on a Friday, so it is likely these days and numbers combined were given the signal of bad luck. 

Opals

Unless you were born in October, it's unlucky to wear opals. 

Pins

It is an old custom to put two pins crossed under the doormat in order to ward off evil spirits. 

Salt

Spilling Salt
At one time salt was a rare commodity and thought to have magical powers. It has long been useful as a preservative, in medicine, and is also used in magic, ritual, and superstition to purify, bless things, and drive away evil.
Curse:
It was unfortunate to spill salt and was said to predict future family troubles and death.
Cure:
To ward off any bad luck, throw a pinch over your shoulder and all will be well. 

Umbrella

It's bad luck to open an umbrella inside the house, especially if you put it over your head. 

Windows

All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.

Wood

The superstition of knocking on wood for good luck originates from pagan beliefs in regards to trees.