It might be a good idea to stay away from black cats today, and
to be careful with mirrors and umbrellas and not walk under
ladders, or face the superstition-based consequences
– knock on wood.
It might be a good idea to stay away from black cats today, and to be careful with mirrors and umbrellas and not walk under ladders, or face the superstition-based consequences – knock on wood.
In an age dominated by science and technology, Friday the 13th doesn’t bring as much trepidation as it once did. Yet superstitions are still alive and well today.
One Hollister resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said she believes in all of them.
“I’m not going anywhere tomorrow,” she said the day before Friday the 13th.
She said her best friend was in an auto accident on a previous Friday the 13th. She believes in bad luck from cats that are entirely black, but if the cat has a colored spot, that’s OK.
She believes in bad luck from broken mirrors, full-moon nights, walking under ladders and not climbing onto the last two steps. She believes in the power of elephant charms for good luck and the power of spirits contained in wood, released with a knock.
But then, many people still perform that ritual.
“I knock on wood for the fun of it,” said Hollister resident Jodie Marshall. “I like to think it’s good luck.”
Megan Guerra, owner of the Main Street Bistro on San Benito Street, also admits to knocking on wood. The first dollar spent at her new restaurant is hanging in the kitchen – a good-luck charm of sorts.
Guerra says she isn’t superstitious, yet when she realized Friday the 13th was approaching she wondered whether it was a bad day for the Hollister Animal Shelter to pick up three stray black cats near her home.
Dorothy McNett, owner of Dorothy McNett’s Place, also knocks on wood and also has the first dollar spent at her store hanging near the entrance.
McNett says she’s far from being superstitious, but in the store’s wine room her old accordion hangs from the wall – a good-luck charm that holds the memory of her father, who wanted her to be a professional accordion player.
On the other hand, 13 is Hollister resident Toni Grimsley’s lucky number. She was born on the Friday the 13th and said overall she has not had an unlucky life.
“Thirteen is my favorite number,” Grimsley said. “It’s brought lots of good luck and I’ve never had any problems on Friday the 13th.”
It’s not an unusual day for police, said Hollister Police Chief Bill Pierpoint, who was married on a Friday the 13th 25 years ago. However, police generally respond to more calls on full-moon nights, he said.
It is suspected that Friday the 13th has roots in the Bible, which reported that 13 men gathered for the Last Supper.
In the United Kingdom, knocking on wood or to “touch wood” comes from a belief that wood and trees have good spirits in mythology, or is a reference to the crucifix.
Superstitions work through the power of the mind, much like the placebo effect or a self-fulfilling prophecy, said Hollister psychologist Dr. Brian Lippincott.
“If you have a bad day like Friday the 13th, it turns out to be a bad day because you’re projecting it onto the day,” he said. “When you hear something bad is going to happen, sometimes you create it when you interact with the environment.”
The prevalent tradition of knocking on wood is a good thing, Lippincott said, as are good-luck charms.
“(Knocking on wood) is a good thing if you believe in it,” he said. “It’s the mind gaining a primitive type of control. In reality, any of us could die and have an accident and we really aren’t in control.”
Lippincott, who coached Little League baseball for 15 years, said some players wouldn’t wash their uniforms during a winning streak and bats with which home runs were hit were revered.
Lippincott also had a “pain bottle” in which dirt was placed after a player got hit by a ball or suffered a scrape during a game.
“When we got down in late innings and needed a hit, we would pour some (dirt) on the bat,” Lippincott said. “It was a symbol of all the work, pain, sweat, blood and tears, and we’d call on that on bottom of the ninth.”
But baseball rituals and similar tokens of good luck are intermediate steps to believing in yourself Lippincott said – something that he teaches young baseball players.
