Sneezing
A sneeze is one of the few moments when strangers reliably speak to each other, with a quick "bless you." People have answered sneezes for a very long time: in Homer's Odyssey, Penelope blesses her son's sneeze as a happy omen.
This page only describes folk beliefs. If the sensation keeps coming back or worries you, please see a doctor.
What it may mean
Sneeze in a crowded elevator and there is a good chance a stranger will say "bless you." It is a quick kindness from someone who owes you nothing. The habit is ancient. In the Odyssey, Penelope hears her son sneeze and takes it as a happy omen; a Zulu who sneezed greeted the ancestral spirit he felt had come to him; and in 1542, when the explorer De Soto met the cacique Guachoya, the chief's attendants answered his sneeze with "May the sun guard you!" A sneeze is a tiny interruption that people in many places chose to answer. Its real gift may be the small acknowledgments it sets off: the nods, thank-yous and bless-yous that hold daily life together. You could hand out a few more.
Depending on how you saw it
Sneezing in bright sunlight
Plenty of people sneeze when they step out of a dim room into bright sun, a reflex that often runs in families. It surprises them every time, even though it has happened for years. What small trait of yours has been with you so long that you still forget to expect it?
A stranger saying bless you
A stranger who blesses your sneeze is offering the smallest possible kindness, one that costs nothing and still lands. You probably forget it within a minute, and yet it softens that minute. When did you last offer a stranger something that small?
A sneeze as you head out the door
In India, hearing a sneeze just as you began an undertaking was ominous, and a Hindu on his way to business might turn back and start again. A short pause before a fresh start is not a bad habit. What would you do differently if you paused for ten seconds before your next big step?
Nobody saying anything
Sneezing in a room where nobody answers can feel oddly lonely for something so small. A Bohemian custom told people to answer even a sneeze they heard but could not see. Who around you might be waiting for a small response that nobody is giving?
Why it happens in nature
Sneezing is a quick reflex that clears the nose. Everyday triggers include dust, pollen, pepper, perfume and a sudden change in the air.
What folk beliefs say
Ancient Greece
In the Odyssey, as quoted by Brand, Telemachus sneezes aloud and Penelope blesses it as a happy omen.
Source: John Brand; Henry Ellis (ed.), Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. 3 (1849), vol. 3, p. 119. View the page
Zulu (southern Africa)
When a Zulu sneezed, he would exclaim: "I am now blessed; the ancestral spirit is with me." When a chief sneezed, everyone cried "Bless you!", and when a child sneezed, "Grow!"
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 330. View the page
Germany
In Germany, if someone sneezed just after another person had made a claim or told a story, the sneeze was taken as vouching for its truth.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 331. View the page
Native America (De Soto, 1542)
When De Soto met the cacique Guachoya in 1542, the chief sneezed and his attendants bowed and saluted him with phrases such as "May the sun guard you!" and "May the sun shine upon you!"
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 329. View the page
Bohemia (Czech lands)
In Bohemia, if you heard someone sneeze but could not see them, you were to say "God make you well again": it might be a wandering soul that you had now set free.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 329. View the page
India
In India, hearing someone else sneeze as you were about to begin an undertaking was considered an ominous sign.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 331. View the page
To reflect on
Which small acknowledgment could you offer someone today, as easily as saying bless you?