What's the superstition behind walking underneath a ladder?
by 
wickedwillie
ANSWERS: 8
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I suppose if you walked under a ladder it is more likely that something will drop on you from above.. from whatever is happening up the ladder.. This is where it may have its roots.. maybe in the future it may be deemed unlucky to "Drive the wrong way down a one way street"
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My friend just told me the answer for this one- The ladder, wall and ground make the shape of a triangle, right? Well, the Chinese symbol for life is a triangle and so they believed that if you walk under a ladder, you broke the symbol of life, which obviously cant be good.
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The ladder's reputation for bad luck dates to long ago. Because one had rested against the crucifix in biblical times, it became a symbol of wickedness, betrayal and death. Walking under a ladder courted misfortune; in England and France during the 1600s, criminals en route to the gallows were forced to walk underneath the ladder they would climb to meet their fate, while their executioner walked around it. Of course, it actually is unlucky to walk under a ladder: it increases the chances that something will fall on your head from someone working above! However, you shouldn't take this to extremes: I heard of one person who went into the roadway to avoid walking under a ladder over the sidewalk, and got knocked down.
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It is also believed in some places that the triangle represents the Trinity - Father, Son and the Holy Ghost, and that by walking under the ladder you would be breaking it and become a target for the devil
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From what I've hear its believed that the ladder and the object or wall it is leaning against form a triangle which is beleived resembles the triangle formed between ''the father the ghost and the holy spirit'' idea and so if you walk under this ladder you break this ''holy plane'' thus being unlucky...
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It is said that the ladder with the wall and the floor creates the holy trinity, and walking through it (unless you are in the league with the devil) is bad luck...It would be bad luck if you were in league with the devil anyways 'cause you'd be burned.
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..for me nuthin..for a tall person, maybe whackin your head....
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Two answers: 1. Logically, people have a ladder up against a building because they needed to carry something up a height. Walking under the ladder means that whatever they were carrying could be dropped on you. 2. Philosophically, this superstition is thought to have come about because the ladder makes a triangle with the wall. Triangle = 3 sides = trinity. Therefore one is "breaking" the "Holy Trinity" by entering the triangle. People were advised not to act in such a fashion.
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