Happy & Healthy
DO YOU BELIEVE IN SUPERSTITION?
When I go to bed at night, I have to drag my kicked-off shoes through the living room first. Put them on the floor, pick them up again, let them fall next to the table, bend down, pick them up. The table would be an ideal place to drop them while I turn off the lights, but I don't dare. I know, it's downright disgusting (read here but just think about what's stuck under your shoes), but that has nothing to do with it. It's superstition. Putting your shoes on the table brings bad luck. So they say, someone, no idea who, just heard it somewhere. But it settles somewhere in my brain, to stick forever.
Superstition then. In the world of sports, the most normal thing (I'm not a regular guest). Eating a croissant before the big game, tapping the grass before you kick off, flipping your father the bird before you go swimming... Yes really, swimmer Joseph Santo does this for extra luck. I can already see myself giving my father the finger. I think I would do it while running, by the way. Sometimes I walk under a ladder like a daredevil. Just to act a bit tough, only on days when my self-confidence is sky high, by the way. And yet I get scared to death when a mirror breaks somewhere. Seven intensely long years of bad luck, omigado.
“Just for the superstitious
types among us.”
The Romans invented the mirror (for which many thanks still), but also believed that it could take a piece of your soul when it broke. That mirror on the wall would be the reflection of your soul. And that seven years comes from the idea that your body operates in seven-year phases. Had nothing to do with faith, but with the supernatural. Superstition is not an appendage of a religion, but actually that you believe in more without being a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or follower of something. With humanity came the superstition antics. By doing or not doing small things, you put a higher power out of play or influence it to bring you all sorts of beautiful things. Or well, maybe you still stick to an invisible force, that you’re not entirely sure. Although I dance around a fireplace without shame if it helps with getting a designer bag. That's just me.
But how come our humanity is so sensitive to that? And especially the down-to-earth Dutch. You would think that their no-nonsense mentality would suppress those magical thought processes. It's super simple: if something is intangible, we do the most ridiculous things to influence it. Even if you're not of the airy-fairy kind. So there you are, flipping your father the bird.
Opening an umbrella indoors, walking under a ladder, not making a funny face when the clock strikes, making yourself sick on fortune cookies or your lucky charm for a job interview. What do you do or not do for that extra bit of luck or to avoid bad luck? Oh yes, tomorrow is Friday the thirteenth by the way. And then Elke will tell you everything about what you should and shouldn't do on that day. Just for the superstitious types among us.
