Oooh… Friday the 13th.
Yeah. Not impressed. I’m not much for that kind of superstition. Friday the 13th, black cats, walking under ladders or opening umbrellas indoors… whatever. Those are interesting to the storyteller in me more because of their foundations in folklore and mythology as opposed to any personal beliefs. Now, admittedly, I’m not crazy about broken mirrors, but then again, who is?
However, this isn’t to say that I’m completely pragmatic and dismissive when it comes to matters of spirituality and what some might refer to as “woo woo.” While I’m very inexperienced with it, I love Tarot and Tarot cards and have several decks, just because they’re beautiful pieces of art– my personal favorite being the Lover’s Path Tarot by Kris Waldherr with its gorgeous illustrations depicting famous lovers throughout the ages like Tristan and Isolde and Psyche and Cupid. The few times I’ve gotten a reading, I like deciphering the meanings behind the cards. It’s like a puzzle.
Then there are horoscopes. (Or horrorscopes, as I jokingly refer to them.)
Friday, Feb 13th, 2009 — Instead of reconsidering a recent decision today, accept your previous judgment as being sound. It’s past the time to be thinking about whether or not to proceed. You have already stepped through that gate, even if you are still experiencing waves of self-doubt. If you are tempted to question your recent choices, consciously shift your attention toward taking the next steps on your journey instead.
Hmm… well, that’s clear as mud. Although there have been a couple of recent decisions I’ve made that I wonder about. But I think I can say that almost every day. So yeah, horoscopes are iffy things–fun to read with the occasional “Oh really?” moment, but not much beyond that. Astrological signs, on the other hand, those I put a lot more stock in, because seriously, sometimes it’s the only way to explain some things. (Or provide a handy excuse.) I mean, with me, for example. I’ve often joked that I’m as Virgo as Virgo gets.
The Virgin is highly discriminating, but not necessarily as prudish at some might believe. In ancient times, a Virgin was a woman who was not the property of man, and therefore had the legal right to just say “no.” Now, in modern times, you Virgos are known for your ability to be highly discriminating — especially when it comes to matters of personal desire. When you are ready, however, to say yes, the laser-like focus of your passion is anything but prudish.
You Virgos have the uncanny sense to see what’s wrong with a person, a situation or your environment. It’s why you make such natural critics. Your practical analytical abilities are second to none. Your mental process may not be the most creative, but your razor-like thinking is highly effective. Like the maiden pictured in your glyph, you separate the useful wheat from the unneeded chafe, the good from the bad. You might be a “clean freak,” but most Virgos have a messy closet somewhere or a disaster under their bed.
Well, I’m not nuts about the mental process not being creative, but admittedly, the rest of it is pretty on. Although I’m not so much a “clean freak” as I am an organizational freak. And I know, from my husband on through most of my friends, they’re sitting there, nodding their heads at the “analytical ability” and “critic” bits. However, one of the most fascinating things to me about being a Virgo is that we’re ruled by the planet Mercury– The Messenger.
Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods, moves around the Sun faster than any other planet. He symbolizes our thoughts — not only how we think, but how we communicate. In fact, Mercury is in charge of all language. Mercury is our active and rational mind. It is not only “just the facts” but also what we do with them.
It’s really not a surprise then, that there are a lot of Virgos within the creative fields, especially writers. Ken Kesey, Agatha Christie, Stephen King, Upton Sinclair, D.H. Lawrence, Robert Benchley, Leo Tolstoy, H.G. Wells, Roald Dahl just to mention a few. Some dark-minded folks in there. Wonder if I should be concerned?
*tries to ignore husband and friends sitting there, nodding their heads*
It works with other signs too. My husband– he’s a Libra. The scales and balance. He graduated with dual degrees in Philosophy and Psychology. Arguing with him is frankly, a pain. He can start on one side of a discussion and work his way around to the other side before you’ve even realized it. However, on the other side of the coin, he also can’t make up his mind to save his life. For someone like me, who’s very decisive, it’s a maddening trait. He more than makes up for it in other ways though, and I simply don’t go shopping with him anymore.
Where I have fun with this in writing is in character traits. I don’t fill out character profiles, I don’t care what toothpaste or deodorant they use or what size shoe they wear (unless it has a direct bearing on the plot) but I do find that I often subconsciously assign my characters traits that put them in line with one sign or another. While I don’t necessarily allow it to fully dictate character behavior, it does turn into a fun game– kind of a way for the Girls in the Basement to amuse themselves with the characters.
Yeah, the Girls. Another form of woo woo, I suppose. But a powerful form. Them, I don’t argue with or make fun of. Who knows what they’ll hatch as revenge deep in the recesses of my psyche?
So what about you guys? What are some of your favorite superstitions, rituals, practices?
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Laughing about your hubby. My hubby also is very slow to make decisions. He once went into a store where everything was so inexpensive (bargain basement sales) that he got confused and came out with nothing.
I didn’t even think about it being Friday the 13th today. Well, duh…
Heh, Kimber– that’s TOO funny. The one that drove me bananas with my husband was when we bought our first big ticket item, way back in the Dark Ages– a VCR. We knew we wanted a really nice one and we’d narrowed it down to two that were very similar. So we go to Best Buy and we’re studying them and he’s like, “Well, this one has THIS feature.”
So I said, “Okay, let’s get that one.”
Then he replies, “Welllll… but that one has THAT feature that the other one doesn’t have and it’s really cool and could come in handy.”
“So let’s get that one.”
“Yeah, but the feature on the first one is really cool too.”
“Yeah, um… you know, I’m going to go check out the CDs– I’ll be back in a while and see if you’ve made a decision.”
As it happens, time got away from me in the CD section and I spent more time browsing than I expected. So nearly an hour later, I come back to the VCR section and he’s STILL STANDING THERE– looking between the two VCRs like a donkey stuck between two bales of hay.
I grabbed a box off the shelf and said, “You’ve officially abdicated your right to choose. We’re taking this one.”
I will not go car shopping with him. Just won’t do it.
Okay, this might be a little too creepy, but I’m convinced that my late husband messes with our phone and computer lines.
After he passed away, I could not keep a phone in the room where he died. We’d had the same phone in there for six years. It fried within a month after his death. Every phone I put in there after that would stop working within a couple of weeks.
Even now that I don’t live in the house where he died, our phone lines and computer connections tend to have problems on the anniversary of his death.
Maybe it’s coincidence, but he was kind of a gadget freak. I think he’s just letting me know he’s still around.
Eileen, if there’s anyone I might think would get haunted… still, I think that would freak me right out.
Then, it would probably get annoying and I’d be yelling at the walls and stuff and well… we know where that leads.
Barb said: I grabbed a box off the shelf and said, “You’ve officially abdicated your right to choose. We’re taking this one.â€
This made me laugh, Barb. Oh Patient One and I are the exact opposite, especially when it comes to supermarket shopping. Extra especially when we’re supermarket shopping together AND we’re both hungry. It starts off well enough, we consult our list (yes, I’m a list kind of gal), and then we get to the deli section and it all goes to hell.
Oh Patient One” I know they’re not on the list, but I could really fancy a chicken sate.”
Me: “Ooo, me too, let’s get a family pack. Actually, I could really eat some of that delicious looking Thai green curry, too.”
Oh Patient One: ” I LOVE Thai green curry. Let’s get some of the red one, too.”
Me: “And some of those little spring rolls. . .”
Suffice to say that when we get to the checkout we’ve spent about four times as much as we’d planned.
These days we try to avoid food shopping together.
Jeez, Michelle– I want to go shopping with both of you, too! And now I’M hungry and want curry.
(And this is also why most large city and European markets are better than ours. Best we get in the takeaway is fried chicken and sushi.)
Hey, I’m married to a Libra, too! (And I can SO relate to your shopping experiences!)
Like you, Barbara, I only read daily horoscopes with a vaguely interested tilt of the head. But I do enjoy astrological signs, and I do use them for my writing also. I like to assign them to characters because they give you a wide range of interesting character traits to choose from. Maybe you knew you wanted your character to be nurturing, but it didn’t occur to you that she could be “closed off,” too — which you discover by reading the description of Cancer and her “protective shell.”
I feel like it helps create really well-rounded characters.
Plus it’s fun!
Heh– Cancer. That’s my son. Don’t forget moody, too.
And yep, it’s definitely a lot of fun. There are some great sun sign books out there that really give you all aspects of the personality traits. They’re almost better than any of the writing ones, as far as I’m concerned.
I pay no attention to astrology, to the point where I couldn’t even tell you what my husband or daughter’s sign is and barely remember mine, and I barely even noticed it was Friday the 13th.
I do, however, have my own personal superstitions, many of them sports-related. For example, I had a ship in my manuscript that I’d named the Felix, after Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez. In my original draft, the ship came to a good end, but on rewrite the ship explodes on p. 4. I renamed it, of course. Otherwise I’d feel like I was bringing bad luck upon our ace.
Oh my, I had a whole thing written up on athletes and how superstitious THEY are, especially baseball players!
Yeah, good thing you changed the name. Don’t wanna jinx the ace. *g*
Sounds like lots of us have some type of odd superstition or belief. I don’t read horoscopes at all and though I don’t really believe in the black cat thing, or walking under ladders, I tend to try and avoid both. So maybe I do. I played sports in my high school and college and you better believe I always wore the same socks, got dressed in the same way, tied my shoes in the same way, warmed up the same way and said the same prayer. My children all play sports and they all have rituals. My son that played college football had to watch a certain scene in ‘Remember the Titans’ before each game. Can’t know if it helped but what might have happened if he’d ever skipped it?
Oh yeah– back in my jock days, I was the same way with the rituals. The thing about athletes too is that they don’t necessarily believe the ritual or superstition DOES anything, but just in case, they don’t want to find out…
And even now that I’m not playing sports, I do have a few sports related rituals– sometime during the last week of Spring Training I always have to watch Bull Durham and Major League.
And I always have to have a brat and some chips and dip.
What? It’s a ritual!