Humans are odd. We really are. There is no other species, in my opinion, quite as extraordinarily out-there as us humans.

Take our habits, for example. We will each have habits: routine ways of doing things. Think about yourself. Do you have something that everyone else thinks is completely unnecessary to do, but you simply have to do it anyway otherwise you don't feel quite right?

I know I do. Whenever I am sitting in a room, I find it terribly difficult to concentrate with the door open, or with the curtains only half open(or closed, take your pick). I also have a weird relationship with numbers. On the television, the volume must be at a multiple of five or I feel very uncomfortable. This, of course, drives my family up the wall, but it's just the way I am - the way we all are, in our own ways.

For some people, it is worse than it is for others. Many people are aware of just how ridiculous and illogical their behaviour is, yet they continue to do it. Why is that?

OCD is closely linked to superstitions. Psychologists think that superstitions are our subconcious ways of trying to have some control over our lives, by creating boundaries for ourselves. You might not think that this applies to you, but I can assure you: you almost certainly are superstitious to a certain extent, even without necessarily believing it. For example, do you talk to your pets? Or shout at the TV when sport is on, even though you know the players can not hear you? Do you curse the weather, or your car, or the computer that has decided not to crash? Nobody is free from irrational behaviour, as humans have the instinctive tendency to think up imaginary truths.

Superstitions are also closely linked to religion. For example, Friday the 13th is considered to be unlucky. This is based on the idea of The Last Supper in Christianity, where there were 13 people and it was meant to be on a Friday. Some people take this superstition to extraordinary lengths. People in my class went into a state of panic when we were informed that our maths exam is going to be on Friday the 13th June. When asked, no one could actually tell me why they were panicking, they "just felt it". And most of them do not even believe in The Last Supper!

Going down a list of superstitions, it occurs to me that cats really did pull the short straw here. There are a ridiculous number of superstitions about cats, some more well-known than others. A cat crossing your path is lucky. Cats are meant to be witches' "familiars" - demons. In Italy, a cat sneezing is an omen of bad things to come(or possibly the cat just has a cold). Cats are meant to have nine lives, too, and I tell you the way my two cats jump off of high walls, you would think they did.

There are also a lot of superstitions about animals in general. Magpies is an interesting one. You may or may not know the rhyme:

"One for sorrow,
two for joy,
three for a girl,
four for a boy"

Many people, including my mother, stick loyally to these words, and mid-conversation, walking down the street, will call out to a single magpie: "Good day, Mr. Magpie. Where's your wife?".
For a start, I don't know how they know this magpie is male. And how do they know that this male magpie has, in fact, got a wife? How do they know that this magpie isn't already getting a load of nagging from his mother about finding a suitable bird, without them joining in as well?
"Nobody likes a single magpie, son. They're far too sorrowful!" Honestly, have some compassion!

Ahem. That was an awkward pause.

Or as some people might say, that was a spirit passing over. Yeah.

Imagine being on a first date. It's all going very well, both of you are a little nervous and embarrassed and at some point in the conversation you come to an awkward pause...

Then, the other person leans over and whispers: "You know what that was? That was a spirit passing over." Of course, there's now going to be an even longer, more awkward pause as you wonder why on Earth you went on this date in the first place.

Superstitions are normally harmless, but sometimes they can ruin a childhood. As a child on my birthday, I was always slipped the common line: "Blow out your candles and make a wish!" I would gleefully do so and then wait.

I tell you now, this is all a load of rubbish. I dutifully made a wish on every birthday of mine, but I'm still sitting here in my house studying rather than relaxing on my own private island with Girls Aloud, two unicorns and something strange like world peace or no poverty, because I went through a hippy-like, selfless stage around my 8th birthday.

I don't make birthday wishes anymore. It is too hurtful an experience now.

Some supersitions, I fear, are made up to allow people to get away with not doing things. "I can not do any work because I am worried that my arms will fall off." Nice try.

During the 1800's, men refused to eat lettuce, claiming it made them infertile. It sounds like something off of a t-shirt!

Another green leaf that is the object of superstition is clover. At school, sitting on the field, my classmates would frantically be searching for four-leaved clovers. No one ever found one as far as I can remember and no one seemed at all interested in engaging in a conversation whilst they were busy searching. Clover is the national symbol of Ireland, for crying out loud! They call it shamrock, admittedly, but it's the same deal and there's not anything especially lucky about Ireland as far as I can see. The land of Saints and Scholars and Guinness.

Although, to be fair, they did invent both Guinness and Whiskey. So, maybe there's something in this superstitions thing after all.