fingers crossed....

A friend is trying to sell her house, so I said I'd keep my fingers crossed for her.

Then is occurred to me that I didn't know why we do that. Wikipedia is our friend:

To cross ones fingers is a Christian hand gesture used to implore God for protection, as well as to pray for blessings and wish for good luck. The gesture has also been historically used in order to allow believers to recognise one another during times of persecution.

Children often use the gesture to excuse their telling of a white lie; this use has its roots in the belief that the power of the Christian cross might save one from being sent to hell for fibbinge.

When a suspected witch crossed your path, you could make a cross shortcut by crossing your index and second finger or the index fingers of both hands. This would provide protection and ward off the evil influence. Just like in Dracula movies, it was believed the power of the cross or any religious talisman would combat the forces of darkness.

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