The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Superstitions

If you're about to get on a plane, what should you do - and avoid doing - to assure a safe flight? What does it mean if you see an ambulance zoom by? And is a black cat always unlucky?

Though we may say we don't believe in superstitions, they have an unmistakable power...and to be on the safe side, most of us secretly knock wood, don't walk under ladders, and avoid opening that umbrella indoors. Broken up into categories such as animals, astrology, dreams, and flowers, this fascinating dictionary will alert you to thousands of beliefs, omens, and proverbs that you may never have known. Here's just a few:

 * A dog hiding under a table means a storm is brewing.

 * To see an image of your future spouse, eat a whole salted herring in three mouthfuls, go to bed without a drink, and say nothing. 

 * Scatter ashes over the roof of a house to protect it against lightning.

 * Bringing an axe into the home presages death.

 * When the aurora borealis - the colored lights that flash in the northern sky - appear, spirits are cavorting in heaven and a war is imminent.

 * Eating peanuts before an auto race brings bad luck.

Among the many other subjects: clothing, days of the year, food, gemstones, herbs, hobbies, illness and medicine, marriage numbers, plants and trees, professions, and the weather.