Amidst a Full Moon on Friday the 13th
My late maternal grandmother, a first generation American born of two Italian immigrants who hailed from Perugia, was as superstitious as they come…
- Spilling salt, toss it over your left shoulder;
- Break a mirror, seven years of bad luck;
- Always exit a home from the same door you enter (in other words, never “cross” a home);
- Step on a sidewalk crack, break your mother’s back;
- A black cat crossing your path, turn around before you get to that spot;
- Arch your eyebrows and stare into another’s eyes- a Mallochio (evil eye);
- Point at another with the first and fourth finger outstretched (thumb holding the middle and ring fingers) another Mallochio;
- Wear a new outfit for the first time when attending Mass gains indulgence for your sins…otherwise you’ll stain or tear the new clothes;
- Friday the 13th, always bad luck…throw in a full moon, and look out!
I could go on and on listing all her superstitions and this missive might never end…
Every nationality and/or culture has its superstitions about what constitutes bad or good luck, and I suppose that in this modern age of enlightenment (so-called, that is to say), such superstitions are more likely something to smile about than either portending doom or good fortune. For my grandmother, such superstitions were a governing force that always, always were at the forefront of her conscientiousness. For her generation (she was born a few years before the twentieth century began) I suppose they also provided a convenient way to explain the inexplicable.
My wife’s family had an unusual superstition that if the first word out of your mouth on the first day of the month is “rabbits,” you will receive a present sometime during the ensuing month. Since we have been together, it has been a tradition in our own home, which provides a moment of merriment (or dread) depending on whether or not we remember to say it.
Do people experience bad luck on Friday the 13th? Why of course they do, just as they experience bad luck on any other day of the year, because ours is not a perfect existence and even animals experience bad luck on any given day (i.e. roadkill).
So, while we indulge ourselves with a host of superstitions, like making a wish before blowing out a birthday cake’s candles or scanning a patch of clovers in the hopes of finding a sprig with four leaflets, the degree to which we take such frivolities seriously determines to what extent we inhabit the real world- full of fortune, good or bad.
So, on this day of Friday the 13th, full moon and all, I’ll extend to you my best wishes for only good luck…knock on wood!
-Drew Nickell, Friday, 13 September 2019
© 2019 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.
author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”
Signed and personalized editions now available at my website:
Follow my postings on the RSS feed: http://www.drewnickell.com/?feed=rss2