Superstitions

Some are blessings in disguise.

My penchant for numbers may come from my mother, who entertained more superstitions than I can count. No doubt you’ve heard of many of these:

• You should never start a new project on Friday.
• Friday night’s dream, Saturday morning told, will come true before a week old.
• Toss a pinch of spilled salt over your left shoulder.
• Never cross the path of a black cat.
• Don’t walk under a ladder.
• Break a mirror and you’ll have seven years of bad luck.
• Keep a rabbits foot for good luck.
• If your ears are ringing, someone is talking about you. (Guess someone is always talking about me. I’ve got tinnitus.)
• If your nose itches, someone is coming to see you. (I know this isn’t true because my nose itches a lot, but I have few visitors.)
• The number 13 means bad luck. (Fear of 13 is called triskaidekaphobia.)
• Bad things will happen on Friday the 13th.
• Don’t be the third man to light a cigarette from a match; it’s bad luck. (As if smoking weren’t bad enough.)
• The number 666 is the sign of the devil, avoid it. (aka hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia)
• Finding a horseshoe is good luck.
• Hang a horseshoe with ends pointing down. Good luck will fall out.
• Find a penny pick it up; leave it lie and bad luck will follow.
• Opening an umbrella inside the house will bring bad luck.
• If you mention something good about yourself, for example your good health, knock on wood so it won’t change for the worse, or something bad happen. (I still do this.)
• Finding a four-leaf clover means you’ll have good luck.
• Wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day will give you the luck of the Irish.
• If you pull a wishbone with someone and get the longer piece, your wish will come true.
• Seven and eleven are lucky numbers.

I don’t know how these superstitions got started. I’m sure each one has its own story. Nor do I know why my mother seemed to believe in them so strongly, but she did. I think I learned most of these by heart by the time I was six or seven. What a gift for a child, eh?

Once I got older and became a Christian, I let go of most of them. However, I can still recite a good number of the list from memory. I abide by many without even thinking.

I have even created a new superstition.

I view finding dimes as a good omen. I’ve found a great many of them over the past twenty years. Each one associated with good thoughts or a good situation. I view each one as a blessing and the sign of blessings to come.

I’ve found them in some strange locations. I saw one in the middle of the gym floor at church while sweeping it one night.

I’ve picked up many in parking lots.

I found my last dime while bagging our groceries at the local grocery store. Actually I found three. I hadn’t found one in quite some time, so I figured God was making up for lost time, or maybe I’d been particularly good that day (wink, wink)!

I discovered another on a hiking trail in the Northwoods of Minnesota and one under a bench in Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

I had a small Baggie full of dimes at one time, but emptied it into my change can and took them to the bank one day. Now I wish I had kept those dimes just as a reminder. I also wish I had written down when and where I’d found each one.

I used to glue dimes to 3x5 cards with the saying, “A dime’s worth of faith,” and a brief account of what dimes meant to me and how I’d found so many. I’d give them to people I encountered whom I thought needed a little encouragement. I view finding dimes as more of a sign of God’s Presence and a reminder of His Blessings than as a superstition.

And, since this is St. Patrick’s Day, I leave you with this blessing

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sunshine warm your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

I extend this blessing to all of you and especially to my dear writer/poet friends on Medium:

Agnes Louis, Amy Marley, Aurora Eliam, CMP, Bill Abbate, Caroline Macdonald, Dew Langrial, Chowa Sekai, Dipti Pande, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Gurpreet Dhariwal, Holly Jahangiri, Julia E Hubbel, Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D., Kevin Buddaeus, P.G. Barnett, Paul Myers MBA, Saloni Joshi, Sherry McGuinn, Simran Kankas, Suntonu Bhadra, Terry Mansfield, Tim Maudlin, Timothy Key, Trista Ainsworth, Charlene Fate, Riku Arikiri, Selma, Caroline de Braganza, Rusty Alderson, Wolfie Bain, Harley King, Michele Thill, Rasheed Hooda, Annelise Lords, Beth Stormont, Chris Hedges, Eli Snow, FILZA CHAUDHRY, Indra Raj Pathak, James G Brennan, Joanne Troppello🌿, Joe Luca, John C. Davis, Krissy Ruiz ☽✪☾, Lisa Bolin, Mary Holden, Neha Sandhir S, Patrick M. Davis, Priyanka Srivastava, Robert Nelson, Sarah E Sturgis, Vinitha Dileep, Willem-Jan Ageling, Zachary Burres, Jenine Bsharah Baines

I hope each of you finds a dime today, but even if you don’t, good luck and have a blessed day! May the luck of the Irish be with you. And, if you do find a dime or some other good-luck charm, please let me know.

And, if you have time, I’d appreciate your thoughts on some of my recent stories:

Happy Reading, Writing and Connecting with each other and the Divine.