There are positive and negative meanings that I have placed on many objects of sailors from past to present. Superstitious maritime beliefs and how they are applied and how accurate it is to talk about it. It is very logical for seafarers, who are sailing in open and dangerous waters for days, to make sense of certain objects. Although these beliefs are not based on scientific data and facts, these superstitions are very important for seafarers. First of all, they believed that the objects that they attribute to them would bring them bad luck or protect them from the dangers they might encounter at sea. This was a very important tradition that kept them alive in harsh living conditions.

Before we talk about the superstitious beliefs of seafarers, we want to explain how they came about and why they were needed.

In the past, sailors who had to travel in difficult and dangerous waters without technological devices had to find some superstitious beliefs to complete the journey. While they were traveling at sea, they could face any kind of danger, but when their travel time was extended, epidemics could occur on board. Superstitious beliefs had some kind of psychological effect for the seafarers to feel good when faced with such situations. It is not known whether these beliefs work or not, but it certainly has a relaxing effect on sailors.

Superstitions were a kind of ritual practice that dates back to ancient times and is usually performed by worshiping the souls of the deceased. For example, offering a delicious wine to the sea god they believed before going on the journey would make the journey safer for them. Besides, throwing stones into the sea was strictly forbidden. This was because they thought that the discarded stone was an important sign of disrespect towards the sea, or rather to the sea spirits. They thought the waves would swell when they made such disrespect. In addition to negative situations, they believed that a silver coin hiding under the main mast on the ship would bring luck during the journey.

Formerly, the sailors believed that the ships were women. For this reason, they would think that any woman on board would bring bad luck to the ship. On the other hand, the idea that a female statue erected on the bow would calm the waves. This was more of a tradition of ancient sacrifice.

Sailors also believed that going out to sea at certain times brought bad luck. According to the seafarers, the date of December 31, every Friday, the first week of April and the second Monday of August were not suitable for the journey. They often thought that bad events could happen when they went on a journey. The importance of these dates came from holy books. The bad events and negative developments that have shaken the world have been experienced in each history. Seafarers were so cautious against the number 13 that they would choose 12 + 1 when expressing this number.

Anything reminding of death while cruising at sea was considered ominous for sailors. For example, putting flowers on the deck was ominous because it reminded the funeral. Besides, wearing the clothes of fellow seafarers who passed away among sailors would be disastrous. This was one of the most accurate superstitions. The prevalence of epidemic diseases and the general lack of hygiene rules in the conditions of the period greatly increased the possibility of transmission of the disease to someone other than the clothes worn by the deceased. Another superstition that sailors believed in death was that the word "drowning" should never be used on the ship. They also thought that the word would bring bad luck and cause the ship to face a disaster.

It was again seen as ominous among sailors because of the black color evoked death. The only thing that was allowed to be on board was the cats. Black cats, which were thought to be ominous in many cultures and areas, were the opposite auspicious animal for sailors. They thought these cats could protect the ship from storms. To predict the weather, the behavior of the cats was observed and attributed to the possible meanings. The approach of the cat to someone on the deck was deemed auspicious, and the return of the cat as it approached was described as a negative situation. If the cat fell or threw off the deck, it would mean that a terrible storm would come and sink the ship. Besides, his sailor wives would feed a black cat at home to bring Ugur to their wives.

Swallows were another animal loaded with meaning while cruising. When they saw this animal, the sailors believed it was a lucky charm. Seeing cormorants or snipe was the opposite sign that something bad would happen. Other superstitions believed in animals; the souls of those who killed animals such as dolphin gulls and albatrosses would be cursed.

One of the most superstitious beliefs that sailors believed was the weather event called the Fire of Saint Elmo. The reason for this weather event was that the masts interacting with each other in the strong electric field and the blue and magenta lights formed in the air. When they saw this event, the sailors thought that the protective saints were with them and that they were protecting them.

The Fire of St. Elmo was a symbol of good luck dating back to ancient times. At that time, in every society, they believed that seeing this light brought good luck and that the gods and saints protected themselves from evil.

These lights, in which scientific elements played a role in its formation, were made superstitious in many ways by many sailors and different societies. Some sailors thought these lights were generally good signs. But some sailors believed that the weather would bring bad luck.

The constant occurrence of some events also caused bad luck among seafarers. For example, the frequent sinking of the cargo ships used in the banana trade led to the emergence of a superstitious belief that bananas brought bad luck among sailors. There were very important scientific reasons for this. However, since the conditions of that period were very difficult to reach these scientific data, more and more seafarers attributed them to non-scientific meanings.

Among the things that seafarers believe in, some superstitions had no rational basis, although there were situations based on a certain logic. If we talk about this a little bit. For example, they believed that having a red-haired sailor on board would bring bad luck. The same error was observed among flat-based people.

It was a bad sign among seafarers that wishing luck could be perceived as a courtesy under normal circumstances. When one wished for luck, they punched that person and thought that blood had to be shed and tried to eliminate the bad luck. The superstitious beliefs of seafarers, which could be considered unreasonable, were not limited to these. Other than that, it would be bad luck to lose buckets and brushes, cut nails and hair, repair the flag on the stern of the ship, and finally annoy the cat on board. Seafarers' practices to bring good luck; hanging horseshoes on the pole, having tattoos, wearing earrings, carrying feather feathers and finally riding the boat with the right foot. Today, many superstitious beliefs among sailors have been forgotten or abolished. It is unknown whether maritime superstitions and their implementation have helped or inconvenient in the past, but it is an undeniable fact that they are all very important to seafarers.