When someone sneezes, do you say, "God Bless You!"? Or maybe "Gesundheit!"? I have heard both, though most commonly, "God Bless You", which I still say today.
In earlier times, since it was known that God breathed breath into man, a sneeze--a 'rapid departure' of breath, was thought to be the instance of life leaving one's body. And the blessing of saying 'God Bless You', kept evil from being able to enter the empty space left by the sneeze.
Most sneezing beliefs seem to center on whether the soul is leaving the body, or evil spirits are getting in. That is thought to be the original reason for covering your mouth when you sneeze--to keep your soul in or evil out, not to prevent spreading germs.
On a funny note, I read one post on the Internet that said there are probably some people still living, even today, that remember the old "God Bless You" custom after someone sneezes. LOL! I wonder how old the person was that wrote that article, and better yet, where they are from??
And so to end this post, sneezing or not~God Bless You!!
