Unlucky Friday
 There are things in life that I consider to be unlucky. One of the most profoundly unlucky ones are leap years. Even though I was born in one. Which, on some days, seems like a not particularly lucky thing to have happened in the first place. There is yet to be a leap year in which something horrendous or, at the very best, cataclysmic did not happen in my life. 2008 is still young but it has already shown its fangs. (And I blame February 29th for my inability to write a review today.)My other unlucky "things" are: Sundays and Wednesdays, polka dots, number 9, and, to keep it on topic, Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum. That perfume, lovely as it is, is so unlucky that even mentioning its name today will undoubtedly result in an unpleasant occurrence of some sort. If I am not checking in on Monday, you know what to blame. Please share your unlucky things, and I am especially curious to know if there are any perfumes in your life wearing which invariably brings bad luck. I wish us all a happy and LUCKY weekend (touch wood and spit three times over left shoulder). |
posted by Marina |
12:03 AM
50 Comments:
Polka dots? Hmmm. Contemplates favorite pink and purple polka dot raincoat...could it be responsible for our disastrous drought?
I have a thing about the number 39, but I'm learning to accept it. Sort of.
I have lots of things I consider to be lucky and make a point of looking for them, but can't honestly say I think too many things are unlucky...although years of hearing vastu people talk of the evils of a front door opening to the south or west actually has kept me from ever buying a house w/ a door in that direction. But the two people who have done feng shui on our houses disagree w/ this for us, so who knows?
I agree that KM L******m is bad luck, if only because it has such ungodly tenacity. The stuff has the same half life as plutonium. Evil.
I'll be sending you extra good vibes to get through this leap year. :-)
Fascinating!!! As I get older I learn that things I've thought were so weird about myself are experienced by others! I was in a relationship with someone and every time I wore Prada Amber Pour Homme it seemed we'd get in a fight! How weird is THAT? :D I have to force myself out of OCD habits telling myself, "your day is not going to fall to crap if you don't put the same strokes of deodorant under each arm..." but I guess that's leaning toward superstition. :D Oh no, I've shared too much... ;) Sometimes if I feel I've picked the wrong or unlucky, if you will, fragrance... I wash it off and spray on something beautiful and natural like Hermes Un Jardin Sur le Nil, or Silver Mountain Water... seems to do the trick. _Anthony
I refuse to believe in bad luck.
Signed,
Pollyana von Pansy
I, too refuse to believe in luck, but if I knock over the salt shaker, I throw salt over my shoulder; someone says something nice about my art or my son and I mutter 'kinnahora' and make spitting noises to the left. Tamango and Mystere have been perfumes I loved but that brought me huge sadness. I remember distinctly wearing them when I got dumped. Twice. Ptui, ptui, enough of that.
Thursdays. Every really bad thing that's ever happened to me in my life has occurred on a Thursday.
well, Im only superstitious when it comes to acting - no mentioning "The Scottish Play" anywhere near the theatre. I have a friend who was in a production where someone said Macbeth 3 times backstage and was dead a week after the show closed. So we just stick to tradition and never mention "it". I can't even type it more than once in this post it - freaks me out.
And I have to brush everyone in the cast with a lint brush before we go onstage. The one time I forgot - well, lets just say I wont be forgetting again. I dont even know how that tradition got started - I started it, I just don't know when. It may have been the first time I acted and costume designed the same show - Im OCD about Lint. I have lint brushes in every room of my house, in every closet, and a mini folding lint brush in every bag I use. And there was a lot of black in that production if I recall correctly.
As for numbers - 13 is my LUCKY number. Its my birthday - March 13. And I was born on a Friday - which is double luck when it rolls around. Next year is the first time in about 12 years that my birthday falls on a Friday again. Very exciting.
Black cats crossing roads and broken mirrors freak me out. Boring usuals, I know.
I'm with Pollyana pansy, though I was also born in a leap year. I love them. I am about to head out to wield heavy garden machinery with huge engines though, so perhaps I need luck after all. Here's hoping I still have limbs later...
p.s. Don't Tarot folk claim the wheel of fortune is all about mutability. Up and down and round and round. Flux is all.
My Mother detests leap years too! (but she was not born in one) She always says that bad things happen to her on leap years. Recently I mentioned this to a friend who is an amateur Tarot reader and astrologist, and she nodded and said leap years are «complicated».
I'm not particular superstitious, but there is an old Spanish proverb that says «I don't believe in witches, but they certainly exist». So...
I straddle the line, with greater ease these days, and accept that I'm concomitantly an intellect, an intuitive, and a superstitious Eastern European...
I NEVER use the word DESERVE.
EVER.
It's about the power to evoke forces, and judgments, that one cannot control.
How's THAT creep you out ???
And I cross my fingers and toes, when we approach Day Boulevard- too many accidents, and near accidents, have occurred just blocks from my home.
L,
Definitely the lasting power of nuclear waste :-)
I am trying to thing if there are any lucky things that I have. I don't think I do. Maybe just color green. I *think* it is lucky for me.
Good vibes back at you! :-)
Anthony,
I basically wrote this post to find out if there are others like me out there. Apparently, yes. I am so glad :-)
Dear Pollyanna,
You should get together with Pollyanna No 2, aka Mr. C, and roll your eyes at me all evening long over drinks and snacks. *sigh*
Quinncreative,
I don't know Tamango. Maybe it's for the best though. Ptui ptui ptui indeed.
Gail,
Ouch. Well then thank goodness it's Friday!
MarkDavid,
Lint is evil.I too have no problem with No 13. In fact, I think it is a beautiful number.
Nonnochka,
Not boring usuals but Classics of Superstition :-)
Lee,
after you are done weilding joing the two other Pollyannas over there for refreshments.
Sylvia Scarlett,
What a great proverb! And I am glad there is someone else who feels the same about the evil that leap years.
Ida,
My DH says that only the Irish can rival us, Eastern Europeans, in being superstitious :-)
I am afraid to ask, but what is Day Boulevard?
Like L, I have a number of LUCKY things, but never thought that much about unlucky ones. I have to admit that I've always liked Leap Year, and am very envious of a student of mine whose birthday is February 29 (though she said it's only fun on the actual day; other years, she gets into arguments about when her birthday actually is:). Also envious of MD for having a b-day sometimes on Friday 13. Maybe I've just been oblivious to all the ill-omened things in my life.:)
I have never heard before today that leap years can be ill omened. Will be more careful now! The only thing I get a bit weird over is magpies. You know the song? "one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl etc etc". Well if I see one magpie I religiously sing the song to myself and hope it dispels the sorrow. One of my grandmothers was very superstitious and I'm afraid we rather rolled our eyes at her,probably in the manner of Mr C. Oh dear! I hope you have some lucky perfumes with which to ward off any impending bad luck!
Eating tuna salad on toast brings instantaneous bad luck. (Think about it: fortuna.) I learned from my superstitious mother and grandmother to never put shoes on a table (even if they're in a box or bag) and never to open an umbrella indoors. They also taught me how to congratulate someone so as not to invoke the Evil Eye and to "spit" three times after saying something nice about a baby. Wishing one and all a lucky day! ::spits three times::
The Day Before Thanksgiving (regardless of the actual date) has proven to be an unlucky day for me.
My ex-fiance of 5 years totally unexpectedly dumped me on that day in 2000.
In 1987 I think it was, my beloved uncle died of a massive stroke the day before Thanksgiving.
In 2004, my dad had a massive stroke that day. He was in the same hospital that my beloved uncle died in. We white-knuckled it all through that day and past Thanksgiving Day. Luckily, my dad's fate was not that of my uncle. My dad made a near-full recovery is doing very well. :)
When my dad was in the hospital (for 5 weeks) the only perfume I would wear, for some reason, was Lolita Lempicka Midnight. It made me feel safe and when I wore it I just knew that my dad was going to be okay. To this day I wear that perfume to get through a difficult day.
The number 13 is my favorite number. I love Friday the 13th. And I feel honored when a black cat crosses my path. Those are good luck signs for me.
I hope your day goes well!
--Molly
not convinced about luck. i do think our thoughts are very powerful, though. so what you expect to get (unlucky days or years) you help bring about. you're looking for them. you're not looking for the good things. i've never heard anything about leap years one way or another, so to me they are just interesting math questions. i just wonder how people born on leap 29s celebrate their birthdays! but i realize some cultures are rich in superstitions, and it can be hard to retrain your brain to think positively, in terms of blessings. but it can be done.
i find Hildegard of Bingen's All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well to be very useful in reframing (or recasting) my thoughts.
and, the number 13 is actually the number 4 in numerological terms. not sure why folks get so hinky over it.
sometimes i think we either believe in and trust in God or in superstitions. superstitions make us think we have some control - with our "countermeasures" - maybe that's why they endure.
then again, we can treat prayers as incantations and talismans so maybe it's human nature to want to keep a little bit of control over our fate. it's hard to give it up and surrender to the big guy.
always interesting to hear what other cultures teach us... it is endlessly fascinating. - minette
Hi Minette,
Keep in mind, though, many of the most enduring superstitions were created by religion. (which I know, isn't the same as god).
Black cats as evil, cats as evil in general, the number 666, (the number 13 if my memory serves me right), saying "bless you" or whatever when someone sneezes (so as not to let "the devil" into one's soul), etc: these all have Judeo-Christian roots. There are countless other examples.
Oh-I forgot to add in my previous post that now I see the day before thanksgiving as (tentatively!) lucky. My family and I celebrate that day because my dad recovered from his stroke, and worked so very hard to do so!
oh, yes, there is quite a difference between believing in God and a church or religion. have been studying and working on sorting all that out for years now. and yes, some superstitions do derive from religion. those, too, are distractions from the heart of the matter.
others, especially (it seems to me) family superstitions, appear to derive from dramatic experiences - they happen to someone once, and then somehow over the years get mythologized or petrified into a family belief.
i wonder if the years of believing without challenging the belief are what give some superstitions power?
sometimes we don't know where the superstition came from, or if it even makes sense for us now.
congrats on your dad's recovery!
- minette
Not what you asked, but my lucky perfume is Ormonde Jayne Frangipani.
Hope the weekend goes better than you're expecting!
everything that was told to me as bad luck, i would do it right then - like walk under that ladder or step on that crack. friday 13th is my 2nd favorite day of the year (after halloween!) and i adore blck cats, leap years and the number 9.
nothing can hurt you unless you let it. :-)
What I consider most unlucky is, even if it sounds dumb, bad luck. For example,if something unlucky happens to me early in the morning (I spill my breakfast coffee all over my white shirt, I can't find that really important document, etc.) then I fear the whole day is going to be a complete disaster. Unlucky fragrances? I once broke up with a boyfriend wearing Anaïs Anaïs (I was wearing it mainly because he'd said he loved it). Later I threw the bottle away and haven't even sniffed it since.
I never put hats on my bed, especially since I saw "Drugstore Cowboy" (great movie). I unreasonably believe nothing bad can happen to me if I wear a perfume with rose in it.
I never thought much about it, but perhaps I should have been paying more attention to the omens in my life! (I was "downsized" yesterday, what a coincidence...) It's a good thing I didn't leave the house today; goodness knows what would have happened.
J,
I am really starting to feel bad that I don't have any lucky things :-)
Nicola,
I haven't heard that one. So if one keeps repeating, four for a boy, four for a boy, one might get one's wish? :-)
Nancy,
Your family sounds like my family :-)
Molly,
I am so sorry! But so glad that your father overcame his illness!
Minette,
When I read the first five sentences, I thought it was from Mr. Colombina. That is exactly what he always says :-)
Thank you, R! Now I am wondering if I have a lucky perfume.
Kamala,
I don't mind ladders and cracks, love 13, black cats and Halloween. But I draw the line on number 9.
Jane,
I know exactly what you mean. When something goes wrong in the morning it is like a chain reaction. Perhaps because we dwell on it and bring more bad stuff into our lives that way, who knows.
Edwardina,
Really, roses? OK, one day when I really need luck, I will douse myself in something rosy :-)
Denise,
I am so very sorry to hear that!
Hmmm, I think the closest thing I have to an unlucky superstition is my aversion to leaving things half-finished - like, if I started to clean off a table, I'm incapable of just cleaning one half and leaving the other for later. It's leaving things in an unbalanced state, or something crazy.
Does this mean we might be hearing about a Little Mr. Columbina soon?
I hear you! I do that too. Or else the world might end or something.
As for the other thing. Hopefully. One day. Maybe. Ptui ptui ptui. :-)
Hi Minette,
I totally agree with you on all counts. Superstitions only have power when we empower them. Habits of the mind are easily formed and hard to break! Especially when they're culturally shared and/or passed down through the generations. It's really a fascinating topic to explore.
And thanks for the congrats on my dad's recovery! I'm so proud of him.
Molly
hi, molly... the best way i've found to break a habit is to replace it with another. if you leave a void where the "bad" habit used to be, the bad habit can too easily return or be replaced by an even "badder" one.
but if you consciously replace the old habit with a new one, the new one is more likely to take root.
i wonder if this is what is meant by the saying "nature abhors a vacuum."
i discovered this principle one lenten season when i gave up watching tv/videos. i not only unplugged and covered the machines, making it harder to use them, i replaced the time with reading. i didn't miss the television because i had something to do during the time i would've been vegging out.
went through a period later where i watched a lot of hbo and movies, but gave it up and replaced that habit with jewelry making and more reading. i just find tv too hypnotic and a big time-waster - even though i work in the biz.
hi, columbina - that's interesting! you must have some intriguing discussions as you come at it from just different perspectives. - minette
i meant "such" different perspectives. clearly need more tea before i type...
- minette
I always set my alarm to a time ending in 2, 4, or 8. No idea why. I also have lucky clothes and shoes, which are looking pretty ratty lately. Considering I'm from an Eastern European family, maybe i should get some more. i'll have to ask. :o)
Hi, Minette (sorry to hijack this thread slightly) -
Actually, the great "All shall be well", etc., is St. Julian of Norwich, not Hildegard von Bingen. One of my favorites to repeat to myself - when I remember, that is!
People get "hinky" over 13 because it's the traditional number of witches in a coven.
yep, you're right. i read stuff from both women years ago and got it confused. thanks!
13 is also a baker's dozen - so in that case it's a good number.
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