Real-life sailors tend to be very superstitious; given that the 40Kverse is already pretty superstitious, it seems to me that their equivellant of 'sailors' would be extra superstitious. What counterparts to "Never start a voyage on a Thursday" and "It's bad luck to kill an albatross" do you think there would be in the 41st century?
Voidfarer superstitions?
If you are born during an encounter with a void-whale, your fate is blessed by the Emperor.
If you are born during a warp transition, you are cursed by the warp and a pox upon the crew - treated with animosity.
A Gargoyle or Devotional Statue that falls as you're walking by is a bad omen for your shift.
The Litany of the Emperor must be spoken by at least one voice at all times during a Warp transition. This will require more than one person, as pausing for breath or between words counts as the prayer no longer being spoken.
If a Servo Skull is the first thing you see when you wake up, then the machine spirits will smile on you this day.
The longer your ship goes without a death, the more catastrophic the next one will be.
Withdrawing from port while facing the Eye of Terror curses a voyage.
Eggs must not be eaten before your shift, only after.
(one thing to remember, many superstitions come from misunderstood correlations; they may be actually (slightly) correlated, or appeared correlated once or twice by chance, before becoming a superstition. Hense why morest superstitions are to avoid bad things.)
Before firing a cold drive the chief enginseer and drivemaster must stand near a canister of pure water and discuss the previous day's events for at least 15 minutes. Upon depressing the ignition rune the drive master must also kick an available section of the engine casing to help wake the machine spirit.
All hammocks should be woven with at least a few strands of hair from a priest of the Ecclesiarchy to ensure good restful sleep and protect against the evils of the warp.
The longer a voidsman goes without grog or rum the more likely he will be to be infected by an evil spirit.
If a hullgast (mutant) ever becomes an officer the ship will be cursed with bad luck.
At least one rating must urinate on a torpedo as it is being loaded otherwise it will missfire.
Never say: "it's a good thing the geller field is holding out." as this will cause it to collapse.
It is bad luck to whistle in the enginarium.
Inquisitors on board are bad luck.
When translating into the warp count backwards from 64 to placate that wich dwells in the warp.
Kissing a servitor will bring good luck: the uglier the servitor, the better.
Inquisitors on board are bad luck.
Well, that's not superstition, that's just a statement of fact...
Blood makes the holy unguents spread evenly.
Incense purifies the air. Rendered down witch fat will do in a pinch. :::everyone glances at the astropath:::
Ships that aren't named in the Emperor's glory disappear more often.
Never speak of another's misfortune, lest their misfortune spread to you.
Children born during a gunnery duel with another ship is blessed to be a skilled duelist themselves.
Throwing cursed people out of the airlock helps with warp transit.
Throwing snotlings into the plasma drive eases the activation of the cold drive, as the ship despises orkoid kind (and helps with that whole infestation thing XD, no need to mention how often the generators need cleaned because of this)
Playing any game of chance during warp transit is also tempting your own fate, and others may consider you cursed (see above)
When in warp transit, never knock on the outer hull. It brings bad luck.
Do not light candles directly from other candles. It is said that this kills a voidsman, somewhere.
Two servitors crashing into each other is nothing to bother about. Two servo skulls crashing into each other is a bad omen for the next warp journey.
Voidsmen who die in the warp are to be stored as close to a shrine as possible until they can be properly buried at void.
Tools dropped out in the void while doing repairs are considered cursed.
Make sure dirtside debts are paid before leaving port. Voidsmen in debt are not in themselves unlucky, but they make every other omen worse. The bigger the debt, the greater the distance, the greater the curse.
It's bad luck to have psykers on the bridge.
The last shell from a case of munitions must never be fired in anger, or dire things will happen.
Only small ships may approach docking stations from any direction; capital ships must "catch up" to dock along its orbit.
Pray to the Emperor for a safe landfall before leaving port. Once the ship is underway praying for a safe landfall will curse the voyage.
The 13th deck is cursed. A tech-priest must visit the deck every day to commune with the machine spirits of the equipment that lives there lest they rebel.
all crew: Never step directly on the seal, gasket, or join when passing through an airlock.
seneschals:
when returning from shore leave, put new laces/clips/whatever on whichever pair of boots you wore while away from the ship.
armsman:
when tasked to be on an away team, go to the lavatory and purge your last meal.
pursers and yeoman:
before each warp transit, always drink a half pint of each beverage (grog, water, coffee) and always in that same order, with the same prayer verse said before each cup.
navigators:
before returning to the ship (after shore leave, away team, ship transfer, etc.) always smoke a death-stick, but only half-way, and toss the butt over your left shoulder in such a way so it hits someone else from the crew. If it does not hit anyone, pray extra hard for your next transit.
explorators:
when searching a derelict ship, have a crewman bring along a bag of elephant poop. it must be at least 8 pounds worth, or shyte from the largest herbivore you can find. this ensures that the loot or tech found by the away team will not be crappy. if the bag is destroyed or lost, a new one must be gotten from the animal deck or the next planet possible.
engineers:
when prepping a thunderhawk, arvus or other lighter for a trip into the void, ask each landing gear how it is doing, wish it well on its journey, and bid it fare well like an old friend.
explorators:
when rewiring a data slate or other hand held cogitation device, wind the wires when possible to clockwise for a left handed owner, and to the reverse for right. ambidextrous owners require extra care, prayer, and prep time.
gun crews, stokers, loaders, cargo handlers, etc:
if your section gets an award, like meritorious conduct, efficiency citation, etc.
~never ever touch it~.
the only person who should touch it, mount it on the wall, polish it or interact with the award at all is the youngest leftenant or midshipman from the section, or the newest one to the department, especially if he wasn't around during the action for which the award was given. when a new midshipman comes into the section, he is shown the care and maintenance of the awards and trophies, and then the old one
never touches them ever again.
if the new guy gets killed, the old guy doesn't go back to the job.
armsman and armory techs:
either from a space station infirmary, or stolen from the ship's nursery, a few bottles of diaper powder must be kept on hand. Then, whenever all weapons of a given type are checked out of the lockers (ie, all boarding cutlasses are issued, or all the flamers are taken out for servicing) then the cradles and hooks on which the weapons rest must be lightly dusted with the fragrant white powder; before the weapons come back to the racks.
shuttle guards, hangar security, airlock sentries:
each man maintains his own boarding cutlass. and everyone wraps the handle in a specific way. it varies by duty shift or section, but the results are like this: alternating stripes of black and navy tape, or alternating rough and smooth tapes, or grey and gold, or leather strips halved with shark skin, etc. Anyone with a mono color handle, or a poorly wrapped one, is flogged and sent to work with the scuppers.
astropaths, esp the choir:
when exiting or entering the choir chambers, always do so in single file, from oldest to youngest, or tallest to shortest, or whatever, but always do it the same. last one out raps his weapon or staff 3x on the door frame.
void pilots, helmsmen, fighter pilots:
after a successful return to the mother ship, always undress in the same order: IE left glove, left boot, belt, right glove, right boot. or whatever, just do it the same. details vary widely, and is not consistent from squadron to squadron, or from man to man.
enginseers:
before scrubbing the promethium tankage, (or the heavy isotope replacement, or reactor maintenance & charging) feed the crewmen a feast; same courses, same drinks and dessert every year when you do it. if the meal goes well (no choking, no dropped goblets, no broken china, etc) then no-one will die during the upcoming dangerous procedure.
yeomen, pursers, stewards:
when packing a bag for an officer, always put a bit of live vegetable matter deep in one of the pockets. could be a mint leaf, a cheroot stick, spice seed, etc; must it must be fresh and whole at the time you packed the bag. to forget this is to doom the one you serve to suffer from a setback, such as xeno deception, missed flight, bad landing.
Edited
by Egyptoid
I win. No-one can top those superstitions.