Photo by Sašo Tušar on Unsplash

Have you looked at the calendar today? It’s Friday, the thirteenth! You are NOT superstitious, of course, are you?  So, why miss an opportunity to prove it?

Having an unreasonable fear of something for no logical reason at all is just plain silly. Friday the 13th is another day exactly like any other Friday, nothing different, nothing special.

The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have reputations for being unlucky, a belief that dates back to ancient times. So when the 13th of the month falls on Friday, it is a double whammy, so to speak, and thought to be especially unlucky.

But what is luck anyhow? You make your own luck, don’t you, good or bad? You make your own choices control your own circumstances, have control of your own fate. There’s really no such thing as “luck.” How can unrelated outside events control our destiny?

How can something like a four leaf clover, broken mirror, or a black cat crossing your path make any difference whatsoever in how your life goes? Such things are absolutely ridiculous. But…

Believing that Friday the 13th is unlucky is one of the most common superstitions in the United States.

Many people think, why invite bad luck if you don’t have to? But others like to push their luck with a negative number like Friday the 13th and to show there is no luck, good or bad, associated with the day.

If you want to push your luck, you should not mind walking under a ladder today — or even walking under three ladders if you want tom even though people often believe that the number three is unlucky and that bad things come in threes.

Don’t worry about that black cat that ran across your path. Thank goodness, you are NOT superstitious as a black cat crossing your path is considered a sure sign of bad luck to come.

Superstitious people often believe you should not open an umbrella inside your house. I’m not sure why this is considered bad luck, but umbrellas are really for outside and not needed where it isn’t raining.

Everyone has heard that spilling salt will bring bad luck. There are ways to break the spell, but that would be superstitious, and you are NOT superstitious, are you?

So, go ahead and put your shoes on the table and your hat on the bed. Do I need to say why? I guess we will all die at some point, but hopefully that will be too far in the distant future to result from shoes on the table.

Remember, superstition says, if mirror is not covered and you look into it, it might steal your soul. Speaking of mirrors, breaking a mirror is one of the worse possible curses and brings seven years of bad luck to those unlucky enough to believe in superstition.

It may be difficult to avoid stepping on the cracks which are pretty much everywhere. I’m happy to say that so far, no backs have been broken as far as I know. If you are NOT superstitious, I’m sure you know why. Maybe you should call your mother and check, just in case.

It’s okay to open the window even if a bird might fly in and bring bad luck with it. Don’t let it land on your bed or you may not make it until the day ends before impending doom overtakes you, according to superstition.

If your lottery ticket doesn’t win, it is nothing new and you can’t blame it on bad luck, just on chance not working out for you this time. Winning the lottery is always merely chance and luck has nothing to do with it, unless you are superstitious.

When you leave, walk out the door where the horseshoe is turned upside down so any possible luck that remains will spill out, and you will be left with none at all. Don’t break a leg when you do.

If you missed this fantastic opportunity to prove you are NOT superstitious, don’t feel bad. Friday the 13th will come again and you will have another chance to dance with the devil if you dare.

How lucky can you get when you are NOT superstitious?

Copyright 2017 Sheila Moss