Very Superstitious

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Today is one of two Friday the Thirteenths this year (the other is in December.) The idea the day came be viewed as unlucky is widely credited to Christian tradition: there were thirteen people at the Last Supper, followed by betrayal and Jesus' death on Friday. However, History.com points out the feeling that 12 = good and 13 is an unlucky aberration is deeply baked into western culture, where we have the twelve gods of Olympus, the twelve labors of Hercules, the twelve months and the twelve signs of the zodiac, among many others.

We've talked before about superstitions we learned growing up and which ones of us toss a pinch of salt or pick up pennies. (By the way, this is the second time Friday the 13th has fallen on one of my blog days - does that make me lucky, or un-?) I thought I might take a different twist this time:

What superstitions would you invent, if you could?

Because when you think about it, some do's and don't's have a basis in real-life warnings, if you squint a little. Don't walk under a ladder -well, it may be bad luck because you're increasing your chance of getting something dropped on your head. 

"Red sky at night, sailors (or shepherds, in Great Britain) delight" is meteorologically correct - according to metoffice.gov.uk, "A red sky at sunset means high pressure is moving in from the west so therefore the next day will usually be dry and pleasant." And as the owner of a black cat who often seems to disappear when the light is dim, I can attest that having her cross my path can lead, if not to actual bad luck, then at least to awkward jigging as I attempt to keep on my feet while not stepping on her.

Most of our superstitions are rooted in the distant past, however, and I say it's time for a modern world update. Here are mine:

If a cat jumps up beside your computer, pet her at once, or bad luck will befall you. (Because if she walks back and forth to get your attention, she might step on your keyboddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd


If an important email you must send, first get up and squat and bend. (So you have a chance to either think twice about emailing it, or at least get a fresh look at any errors when you get back to it.)

Rain in the morning, commuters take warning.

It's unlucky to enter a Target or Walmart the last two weeks of August. (Because you'll get run over by dorm- and back-to-school- shoppers.

Step on a crack, break the patriarchy's back.

Drive in June, wait past noon. (16 year olds often start driving lessons in June. At our local driving school, the road practice was done in the morning.)

And, speaking of driving, It's bad luck to drive with your charger unplugged. (This should be obvious.)

Peanut in school, grow up a fool.

A modern update on "Drop a knife, a man is coming to visit": Express an opinion on Twitter, a man will soon stop by. 

It's bad luck to leave a LEGO brick on the floor. 

And finally:

If you get three scam calls in a row, say, "God Bless Me!" and consider changing your number.

Okay, dear readers, it's your turn to play - can you come up with some 21st century superstitions?

Salt and Pennies and Friday Thirteenth

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Friday the Thirteenth! A day for thrills and chills and mystery, naturally. Unlike last year, when the Gregorian calendar had no less than three Friday the Thirteenths, today is the only one of 2016. The best Friday the Thirteenths are in the spooky month of October, of course, but even a sunny day in May will give some people pause. To quote Wikipedia, "According to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17 to 21 million people in the United States are affected by a fear of this day, making it the most feared day and date in history. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they avoid their normal routines in doing business, taking flights or even getting out of bed." Fear of this date has it's own name: triskaidekaphobia.

I've never worried about Friday the thirteenth, or black cats, or broken mirrors (except for the dangerous glass!) But I do find myself adhering to a few superstitions. When I spill salt, I throw some over my shoulder. I'll go out of my way to avoid circling widdershins (counter-clockwise.) I only use the term "The Scottish Play" in theaters and I never wish anyone good luck before a performance! I always say "I love you" to my children before hanging up the phone, and when I make my family dinner, I make a cross in or over the food and say a quick blessing.

Okay, maybe I am superstitious. How about you, Reds? Are you avoiding potential accidents today? What are your superstitions?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yeah, this is a tough one. I throw salt, definitely. I don't put hats on beds, or shoes on tables. I also don't put shoes on beds or hats on tables because I can never remember which it is. I don't pick up coins when they are face down. I kind of avoid walking under ladders.  Definitely with you, Julia, on the "good luck" thing, and the play.  I say "knock on wood" to avoid jinxing things.  (And, now, as I list these, I am horribly embarrassed.)


JULIA: I'm thinking no shoes on the table is just good hygiene.

HANK: Jonathan is completely un-superstitious. Not one thing. He's totally baffled at my little rituals.

My stepfather, too, would absolutely SNEER. Except once, he saw someone put a hat on a bad. He snatched it away, aghast.
 I said "Hey! You insisted you weren't superstitious!
And he said: "It's s not a superstition. One simply doesn't put hats on beds."
Oh, okay then.

Funny, though, although Friday the 13th crosses my mind, it doesn't scare me. Knock on wood.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: So funny you should bring this up, Julia, because the Kiddo is doing a scene from "The Scottish Play" this spring (playing MacDuff) and we had to go through the whole "you don't say the name of 'The Scottish Play" in the theater (unless you're on stage and it's in your line). There's a great Blackadder spoof called "Don't Mention Macbeth" that we showed him, which I think made more sense than the two of us prattling on about it. Really funny.





I have a lot of friends who are ballet dancers, modern dancers, opera singers, and choreographers — and it's always "merde" (yes, it means in French what you think it does—it's what they say—seriously) or "toi toi toi."

In puppetry, I always say to Noel and friends, "Break a rod." (Rods are the little sticks that hold up puppets' hands.)


JULIA: Susan, that's wonderful.

SUSAN: Other than that I'm not superstitious at all — and adore black cats (which are often very dark brown when you see their fur in direct sunlight).

HALLIE EPHRON: My mother was superstitious. Threw spilled salt over her shoulder (can't remember if it was right or left); if you dropped a knife it meant a man was coming; open an umbrella in the house is bad luck; break a mirror eight years bad luck. And of course they were in the theater so I knew to say "Break a leg."

I'm not superstitious, though I do "knock wood" and I "find a penny pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck."

LUCY BURDETTE: Absolutely yes to throwing salt, not opening umbrellas in the house, and knocking wood. And I would never, ever walk under a ladder. I am devastated when mirrors are broken. But I love Friday the 13th and especially, like Susan, love black cats. I think it was you, Hank, who persuaded me one year not to pick up pennies or other coins--just say "find a penny" and then leave it for someone else who needs it more. And that fits nicely into my germ suspiciousness...

HANK:Yes, Lucy, that's what I do!  I love to think of someone else picking it up. And if it is wrong side up, I turn it so they will.

RHYS BOWEN:  I grew up surrounded by elderly aunts who had so many superstitions: drop a knife = a gentleman visitor. A fork = a lady a spoon = a disappointment.
Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning. The only one that stuck with me is to say RABBITS on the first of the month on waking. I still find myself muttering this , even though I know it's stupid. And I have thrown a coin in the Trevi Fountain in Rome.  And I do pick up pins... See a pin and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck.

I have taken flights on Friday 13th and then I have been aware of little noises on take-off. Otherwise I don't even think about it.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have never in my life thrown salt over my shoulder. I don't worry about ladders, or pennies (although I, too, have thrown one in the Trevi Fountain) or putting hats on beds. I'd never even heard of that!! And I like black cats--I've had several. I guess I grew up in a very boring and rational family... I do knock on wood, though!

Rhys, I have friends who post "Rabbit, rabbit," on Facebook, and I never had any idea why. Thanks for getting me up to speed!)



JULIA: I had no idea about the Rabbit thing! I just remembered another one of mine: telling fortunes by counting crows. "One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never told."

How about you, dear readers? Do you pick up pennies? Throw salt? What are your superstitions?

Friday the Thirteenth

JAN: We don't like to think of ourselves as superstitious. But we all are. A little bit. I, for one, am totally convinced that all the Red Sox's problems this season are Joe Girardi's fault (NY Yankees manager) because he jinxed the team by saying we were the #1 team this year, the frontrunners, the team to beat. (And yes, he was trying to make us believe the Yankees were the underdogs.) I also am semi-convinced the rally caps my son and I wore during the 2004 playoffs are at least partly responsible for the Red Sox winning the series division.

Okay, that's how ridiculous I am. So on this Friday the thirteenth, what's your silly superstition?

ROBERTA: I love black cats, but not running across my path. And I won't walk under a ladder. And like you Jan, I hate to say things are going really well, for example: geez there was less traffic than we expected. That's asking for trouble and we all have to knock wood...

RHYS: I believe Hank asked me during an interview whether I was at all superstitious and I denied it. But I have noticed--if I'm up for an award and my hair looks good when I'm getting ready I don't win. If I can't do a thing with my hair and it looks awful--I win. But I can't make myself deliberately make my hair look terrible! My mother's family (Welsh influence) were horribly superstitious and had all these little mantras (drop a spoon, get a letter, drop a fork,visit from a lady, drop a knife, visit from a gentleman). I find myself muttering those things on occasion!

HANK: Rhys, you are too funny. Listen to this. On the night I was nominated for the best-first Agatha, I found a shiny shiny penny on the floor by my banquet seat. I snapped it up..and it was from 2005--the year I first started writing. I was SO HAPPY. And I won! So, of course it was the penny.

This year, nominated for Best Novel,I also found a coin! I was SO happy. I picked it up--and it was a Canadian coin. Sigh. And Louise Penny won. (Pretty funny on several levels...)

Am I superstitious? YES. I will not put a hat on a bed or shoes on a table.

DEB: I didn't grow up in a superstitious family. The only thing I can remember really worrying about as a child was "Don't step on a crack or you'll break your mother's back." Since my mother is ninety this year and her back is still okay, I must have avoided a lot of cracks! I've had several black cats, and only worry about walking under ladders if I think a can of paint might fall on my head.

I do worry about the reverse jinx, though. If I think, or say I think, I'm going to win an award, or that someting particularly good is going to happen, etc., I'm afraid I'll jinx it.

And I collect little tokens; a cardinal feather, a shell from the beach in Florida, a pretty little fragment of aqua tile I found on a morning walk. There's no real significance to these things, except as ties to moments that made me feel happy.

Love your penny story, Hank!

JAN: I never even heard of the not putting a hat on the bed. And I only don't put shoes on a table for hygienic reasons -- which just goes to show -- how many superstitions there really are - I can't keep track of them all.

So what weird superstitions are you in denial about? Come on fess up!