Happy (or should that be lucky?) Friday the 13th!

Morning, readers

And happy Friday the 13th! *cue eerie music*

But don’t worry, there’s no reason to hide under the covers and lay trembling in fear until the Day of Bad Luck is finally over.

It’s not like a psychotic serial killer is going to spontaneously appear out of nowhere at the exact location you find yourself and start picking you & those around you off one-by-one until someone miraculously comes up with a ‘plan’ to save the day… with said person  being the sole survivor… and all of this only happening at night (I’d argue that the last man standing was the killer to begin with, but oh well…) See – nothing to worry about! *shifts uncomfortably in seat*

Have you ever taken the time to think about how utterly silly superstitions are?

Many superstitions we hear or read about today are rooted in mythology or came into existence because something bad happened to someone and they needed to find an explanation/scape-goat/excuse for it – no matter how ridiculous it might sound. The word ‘superstition’ means stand(ing) over, perhaps in awe of or as the survivor/witness of something. It is “a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary” (not everyone who comes across a black cat, cuts their nails/hair, walks under a ladder, etc.  on Friday the 13th has bad luck…and what is luck anyway but another sort of superstition?); “a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation.”

So sure, let’s all blame our problems on Friday the 13th. Anything unfortunate that happens to you before then can be explained as a build-up to the actual day… and then, depending on the amount of misfortune, you could argue that you had suffered enough and that’s why you were ‘spared’ any misfortune on the day itself *roll eyes*

Anyone else hearing how ridiculous this sounds?

 

 

Okay, another example: If there are thirteen letters in your name, you will have ‘the devil’s luck’. Really? Isn’t this just people/society trying to find a reason why some people do terrible things? Like Jack the Ripper (not even a real name), Charles Manson & Theodore Bundy? [Notice how all of them are men? And even if the same applies to women, would that be with their maiden name or does your married name, i.e. surname change, count?] Why can’t people accept that there are truly horrible people in the world who make their own sick decisions and that they cannot blame an invisible force (like the devil, who not everyone believes in) so that they at least feel better about mankind?

Anyway, let’s not get into the whole ‘God needs the Devil to prove that he is good’ PARADISE LOST discussion. The fact of the matter is, anything can be bad if you make a point of believing that it really is. Watch THE NUMBER 23. Or start believing that not colour-coordinating your wardrobe and organizing your drawers will lead to unspeakable things *cue eerie music again*

Enough rambling for one morning. Let’s all go hug a black cat, not care about stepping on cracks in the sidewalk, and only feel anxious about the long, nearly impossible to pronounce names for the fear of Friday the 13th: friggatriskaidekaphobia and paraskevidekatriaphobia.

And if you stillwant to go ahead and feel superstitious, I can only quote THE HUNGER GAMES and say: “May the odds be ever in your favour.”