Why only bless people when they sneeze? Why not coughs, burps, hiccups, cracks, pops and farts?
actually it is because sneezing was one of the first symptoms of the bubonic plague, the black death that nearly demolished europe. those other things were not plague symptoms. everyone knew that, with few exceptions, if you got the plague, you died. that's why it seemed so urgent and thus warranted a blessing. the habit has lingered so long that its origins are no longer widely known by those who offer the blessing. the song "ring around the rosy" is about the plague. another early symptom was a rosy round rash. it was thought that flowers (i forget whether it was only certain flowers or any old flowers) would protect you from the plague. today we say "ring around the rosy, a pocketful of posies, ashes to ashes, all fall down," which does describe the plague to an extent, but that "ashes to ashes" bit, appropriate as it may sound, was originally "achoo, achoo." that was the sneeze.
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I hate when people say any form of blessing when i sneeze. (Even before i was full on atheist) it's a dumb superstition. Got into a [verbal] fight with someone on how impolite i was for not saying it. And then within days, my ex gave me the same shit. Certain there was some (explainable) conspiracy happening to ensure I acknowledged the concern of a fellow human dislodging mucus or irritants from their nasal passages. I noticed after that, I started reacting verbally with the inquiry, "are you okay?" ... And years later, hearing my voice, I totally hear the tone accusing a sneezer of being somehow inferior to me. I'm almost positive that this condescending question is more rude than ignoring the sneeze with apathy.
There are imps and small demons that hover around us and attempt to enter our bodies when we sneeze. It was always thought that sneezing caused your good 'humor' (a kind of energy), to leave the body and though your body would regenerate more humors in a few seconds, the imps and demons would seize upon that moment to enter into you and do bad things. Coughs, burps, hiccups, etc. do not put enough humors out of the body to allow for the demons to enter. There, I hope I have solved this vexing problem to your satisfaction.
That sounds abotu right. Saying "bless you" after a sneeze was originally superstitious in origins.
I am sure the story varied from one village to another, but the idea was demons were trying to enter your body. That is also why women paint their lips with lipstick. it started as an idea that it would act as a deterrrent for demons to enter the mouth.