Hood superstitions

By Tommy O’Neill//

Many different superstitions have been passed down throughout Hood’s history. 

A common superstition that Hood students have is about the Pergola. It’s common to hear people walking through the Pergola say, “Hey! Don’t split the poles! Don’t split the poles!”

Many people believe that splitting the poles with a friend or significant other will end the relationship.

Another superstition is that couples who kiss in the Pergola are destined to be together and must get married in the campus chapel.

The superstition extends beyond the Pergola to any poles, pillars and trees. But it’s possible to reverse the curse by saying “bread and butter” out loud.

However, “bread-and-butter” remedy does not work when splitting the Pergola poles.

Junior Dee Richardson believes in a variety of superstitions, including that if she spills salt, she puts it back in her hand and throws it over her left shoulder. 

Richardson said she grew up with this superstition, hearing it from her parents and grandparents.

“I don’t know, I just follow the rules,” Richardson said jokingly. 

She also believes that when she’s sweeping and the broom touches her foot, she’s supposed to spit on it for good luck

Harrison Rebstock, a junior at Hood, considers himself superstitious.

“It’s a mix, coming from my family,” Rebstock said. “We believe in the spiritual side more so. One of my friends puts salt around her door to keep spirits away at night and I never batted an eye, and with my experience, there is absolutely no way I couldn’t believe in the supernatural.”

Rebstock said he was brought up people believing that Brodbeck Music Hall was haunted. Brodbeck, constructed in 1868, is the oldest building on campus, and a lot of students believe it is haunted because people have reported hearing strange noises coming from the building.

Rebstock said that his friends who live on campus would purposefully go out of their way to avoid the building at night.  

A popular theory or joke among students was that the fire in Brodbeck on Sept. 9 was caused by ghosts living there. However, fire officials later said that the fire was sparked from a lightning strike.

Rebstock had his own firsthand experience witnessing something supernatural within Brodbeck.

“Around the time of last year’s Halloween dance, I was walking back to my dorm room late at night. I walked by Brodbeck and glanced into the third-floor window and saw the silhouette of a woman sitting there. I did a double take, and when I looked back, she was gone,” Rebstock said.  

When he found out that Brodbeck Music Hall is on the index of most haunted places within Maryland, Rebstock’s eyebrows shot up.

“Y’know, that makes a whole lot of sense,” he said, laughing.