Below are the list of B Omens & Superstitions, if you have any that you know of and do not see here I would love to add them. Simply send me an e-mail telling me the superstition and I add it as soon as I can, giving you full credit unless you would rather remain anonymous.
Bacon is believed to be a powerful curative for fever and constipation according to a European superstition - but only, apparently, if it has been stolen!
The badger was an animal much favoured by old-time gamblers because according to a European tradition one of its teeth kept on your person made you unbeatable whenever you made a wager!
Baldness, the curse of many a man, has according to an old British superstition, a cure though not a very pleasant one; it requires liberal amounts of goose dung to be rubbed into the bald patches! Perhaps men would prefer a preventive measure supplied by another superstition - never cut your hair when the moon is waning for it will thin and fall out.
There is an old superstition about swimming in the sea or rivers for the first time, exemplified in this verse recorded all over the British Isles:
'He who bathes in May will soon be laid in clay
He who bathes in June will sing a merry tune
But he who bathes in July will dance like a fly.'
The origin of these verses would seem to be the ancient idea that the act of washing cleansed a man not only of the dirt from his body but also the sins from his heart. In many countries it has been held that to wash the body all over washes away a man's luck, and in Wales, miners would often deliberately leave their backs dirty for fear that if they cleaned them they ran the risk of the mine roof falling in on them. It is said to be very lucky to see a naked person bathing - although it is vital that you come across the person unexpectedly. It is obviously not so lucky if you happen to be the person so rudely discovered! Bathers should also note that the old superstition that it is unlucky to bathe feet first 'because the feet are below the head and thus inferior' is actually medically sound for to moisten the head first will alleviate the risk of a headache due to blood pressure which can of course lead to cramp.
Among the backwoodsmen of America there was a superstition that bears breed only once every seven years, and when they did this caused such a disturbance in the atmosphere that any cattle in the district which were about to calve would lose their young. Curiously, these same people also held that a child could be cured of whooping cough if he was able to ride on a bear - though the peril of his life would seem to outweigh the advantage of such a cure.
There are a few superstitions involving a bed:
The most widely held superstition about the beetle is that it is an omen of death if one walks over your shoes. Bad luck, says a Scottish superstition, is in store if one enters a room of your home while the family are seated, and the misfortune will certainly be increased if you kill it. In many parts of Europe it is said a beetle will bring on a terrible storm. All in all, it is an ill omened insect and should one emerge from a shoe you have left standing by the door, bad luck will follow.
Throughout much of Europe church bells are said to drive away evil spirits, and at one time it was believed that if they were rung during a storm they might distract the spirit of the storm from his work and cause the bad weather to abate. In England especially it is said that if two bells ring in a house at the same time somebody is shortly going to leave, and it is also an ill omen if a bell rings for no apparent reason.
Here are a couple of different omens & superstitions for births: