Friday Smiles 350: Good superstitions

I'm foregoing the Eisenhower museum this week in favor of talking about good superstitions.  The last time we had Friday 13th was in September of this year. Annie (at A Stitch in Time) was on hiatus that Friday.  At that time I talked about bad or unlucky superstitions.  Today we are talking about the lucky ones.

According to The Balance Everyday:

Many people have little superstitions that they follow to attract good luck. Maybe they do a "kiss for Chris" when going through a yellow light, or they cross their fingers when they are hoping for a good outcome, or they wish on a star. 

Very few of these good luck superstitions seem to make any sense.

So why do we find ourselves observing them?
Why do we cross our fingers?  According to MystiCurious:

The tradition of crossing your fingers is very common, you will notice a kid crossing his fingers behind his back while lying to his parent. Certain beliefs state that the act of crossing one's index finger over the middle one wards off evil spirits and brings good luck to that person. It is a hand gesture used widely and is referred to by the idiom - keeping one's fingers crossed.

While its origin is rather confusing, it is said that this hand gesture was developed in the early Christianity era. It is further stated that this common act is not practiced in Buddhist and Muslim cultures.

Further:

Although the exact origins of the practice is not definite, historians were able to shed some light on this ordinary hand gesture. A group of historians were of the view that it has been used during the pre-Christianity Pagan belief in Western Europe.

According to Wisegeek:

When it began, the act of crossing fingers was probably a two person process. A Christian would extend his or her hand with the index finger and thumb forming an L shape and another Christian would do the same. When their thumbs were pressed together and index fingers crossed, this would form the shape of the Christian fish symbol. Over the years, the signs of the cross and fish came to stand for good luck and blessings, as well as Christianity.

While the process of crossing your fingers for luck may have been around for centuries, it required the actions of two people. Sometimes, an individual needs that extra luck when there isn't another person around, however. The evolution of the gesture was inevitable as people developed ways of crossing fingers — and commanding their fortunes — independently.

The modern version of crossing your fingers probably came into existence during the time of the Hundred Years War. In this epic war between France and England, which lasted from 1337 to 1457, the rival armies wanted all the luck they could muster. The archer preparing to make a shot would have crossed his fingers and then said a prayer before pulling the bowstring.

Finally, according to Wikipedia:

To cross one's fingers is a hand gesture commonly used to wish for luck. Occasionally it is interpreted as an attempt to implore God for protection.

Why do we knock on wood?  According to UK Phrases:

This phrase is used by people who rap their knuckles on a piece of wood hoping to stave off bad luck. In the UK, the phrase 'touch wood' is used - often jokingly by tapping one's head. The phrases are sometimes spoken when a person is already experiencing some good fortune and hope that it will continue - for example "I've been winning on every race - touch wood".

Further:

The derivation may be the association that wood and trees have with good spirits in mythology, or with the Christian cross. It used to be considered good luck to tap trees to let the wood spirits within know you were there. Traditions of this sort still persist in Ireland.  

The British version of the phrase - 'touch wood', pre-dates the American 'knock on wood' and was itself preceded by a Latin version - 'absit omen', meaning 'far be that omen from us'. This dates from at least the early 17th century, when it is quoted by John Heywood in his collections of proverbs.

According to The Free Dictionary:

A superstitious expression said, typically in combination with actually touching or knocking on a wooden object or surface, when one desires something positive to continue, lest the mention of it "jinx" or somehow reverse one's good fortune. 

The Balance Everyday gives us an additional idea:

As with many superstitions, there is also a Christian explanation: that the wood represents the Cross, so when you touch or knock on wood, you are asking God to help your luck.

Why in the world would anyone carry a dead rabbit part?  According to The Balance Everyday:

The answer may lie with the Celts. Celtic lore held that rabbits were lucky since they lived below ground and thus could communicate more easily with the gods. 

The Roman queen Boudicca was said to have released rabbits onto the battlefield before a fight began to predict whether or not she'd be victorious.

Rabbits are popular among people who were trying to have a child, due to their (in)famous fertility. Women who want to conceive have carried a rabbit charm for hundreds of years.

However, also according to The Balance Everyday:

Today, many rabbit's foot charms are actually made of faux-fur and plastic, which is better for the bunnies and for our consciousnesses.

And even if they don't have inauspicious circumstances surrounding their origins, if they make you feel more positive and motivated, they'll still have a good effect on your luck.

Most of us have heard the phrase, "Find a penny, pick it up and all day long you'll have good luck."  Have you ever considered this?  Why a penny? Wouldn't a $20 bill be even luckier?  Not necessarily. According to Wisegeek, the luck a penny brings doesn't come from its value, but because of its shiny metal. In days of yore, when metal was much more scarce than it is today, people believed that finding it was a gift from the gods, and that gift would protect the finder against bad luck.

We've probably all heard the saying “When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true.” Some of us may have even sung the song.  According to The Simple Things:

It’s an idea that spans cultures from all over the world. But even thinking of them as stars is wishful thinking – in fact they’re meteors going out in a blaze of glory as they enter Earth’s atmosphere.

In the 2nd century, Greek astronomer Ptolemy interpreted them as a sign the Gods were peering down at Earth – the stars slipped through the gap in the heavenly spheres – and therefore a good time to ask for what you most wish. It’s more likely their hold comes from their rarity, making a spotter feel blessed. Be thankful you only need to make a wish upon spotting.

In Chile, you’re also required to pick up a stone to make your wish, while in the Philippines you have to tie a knot in your hankie before the light disappears. Good luck with that!

 Bleubeard insisted on this image of the shooting star, so I honored his wishes.

Why are horseshoes considered lucky?  According to Live Science:

A Saint Patrick's Day staple, horse shoes have long been associated with good luck although there's an ongoing debate over the proper way to use them when attempting to attract good fortune.

From the horseshoe necklace Carrie Bradshaw wore in the "Sex and the City" movie to the horseshoe-shape purple marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal, the superstitious symbols have a solid presence in popular culture. Their popularity as lucky emblems dates back for centuries, when they were used to ward off evil goblins.

According to ancient folklore, small-framed "fairy folk" existed during the Stone Age across what is now Northern Europe and the British Isles. When migrating Celtic tribes began invading the lands around 400 BC, the fairies hid in forests and camouflaged themselves by wearing green much like today's leprechauns. The new settlers told stories about the mysterious, magical "little people" living in the woods, who were also referred to as elves and goblins.

Why is a wishbone supposed to be lucky?  According to How Things Work:

One of the more iconic images of the holidays is that of two family members (usually kids) fighting over a wishbone. Each struggles to crack the bone and get the bigger piece, ensuring good luck and that his or her wish will be granted. What's behind this rather odd piece of folklore?

The furcula, or "wishbone," of a turkey, duck or chicken is the fusion of the bird's clavicles right above the sternum. Although today we mostly play the wishbone game with turkey bones during the holidays, the origins of wishbones as lucky charms go all the way back to ancient times. Around 700 B.C.E., the Etruscans believed birds were oracles and could tell the future. Whenever the Etruscans slaughtered a chicken, they would leave the furcula in the sun to dry out, preserving it in hopes of gaining some its divining powers. Villagers would then pick up the furcula and gently stroke it while making a wish — giving it its more common name, the wishbone.

Legend has it that the Romans then picked up the superstition who passed it on to the British who took it with them to the New World (Plymouth Rock).  Because chickens were rare, wild turkeys were captured and the wishbone was used from them.

As a rule, you dry the wishbone for a few days until it's brittle. Then, two people hook their pinkie fingers around each end, make a wish and pull. Whoever ends up with the bigger piece will have their wish come true.  My grandmother used  to dry the wishbone from chickens and turkeys on her kitchen windowsill.  When dry, she and I would pull on the wishbone.  I never thought of this as a superstition, just time spent having fun with my grandmother (grandparents raised me from birth).

For the final superstition I will cover, I wonder why we put candles on a birthday cake, then blow them out? According to a site called Peppermint and Tobacco:

In many western countries people celebrate their birthday with a birthday cake. The birthday cake often has candles on top. The candles on the birthday cake often match the age of the person being celebrated. Once the age numbers become pretty high, the candles sometimes symbolize the age. People also use birthday candles that are shaped like numbers to symbolize the age. 

Apparently that is true in the States, too.

According to a site called Curiosity:

The earliest known reference to a birthday is 4,000 years ago. In ancient Egypt, the coronation date of a Pharaoh was a big deal, since they believed that was when the king transformed from a human into a god.

According to Wonderopolis:

For the Ancient Greeks, putting candles on a cake was a special way to pay tribute to the Greek moon goddess, Artemis. They baked round cakes to symbolize the moon. Candles were added to represent the reflected moonlight.  

Curiosity goes on to claim:

The first people we know of who almost certainly used cakes to celebrate the birthdays of regular old humans were the Romans. They baked cakes with wheat flour, olive oil, honey, and grated cheese to honor the birthdays of friends and family.

Wonderopolis admits:

Candles on cakes became a popular tradition long ago in Germany, too. For religious reasons, Germans would place a large candle in the center of a cake to symbolize “the light of life."

Some scholars believe that other meanings have also been attached to the use of candles on cakes. People may have believed that the smoke from the candles carried their wishes and prayers to gods who lived in the skies. Others probably believed the smoke helped to ward off evil spirits.

Further:

Today, we still put birthday candles on cakes. Many people still hold superstitious beliefs about them, too.

For example, many people believe that the birthday boy or girl must make a silent wish before blowing out the candles. If all the candles are blown out in one breath, the wish will come true, and the person will have good luck throughout the year.

On the other hand, if it takes more than one breath to blow out all the candles or if the person tells someone what the wish was, it will supposedly not come true.

What superstitions do you believe in?  Have they ever come true? I hope you enjoyed this fun look at good superstitions.  I also hope you will join Annie (at A Stitch in Time) and me for Friday Smiles.  We'd love to have you share a smile, too.  I hope you found something in this post to smile about.  I know I did!