Bless You or Gesundheit?

You hear a sneeze. Immediately you say bless you and is followed by a Thank you. Why is that your reflex is to say bless you? Well, its because of religion and tradition. People used to believe evil spirits may enter through the nose when you sneeze and saying bless you is giving you a blessing preventing the spirits to enter the nose.  Some believed the opposite and that your soul left when you sneezed and blessing them will prevent the Devil from taking the soul. During a bubonic plague outbreak the Pope had said God Bless You after someone had sneezed, which was a symptom of the disease. Some thought that the heart stopped during a sneeze and saying bless you will prevent death. Gesundheit is just a German translation of health or another way to say bless you. People all over the world have and continue to do this custom.