Are You Superstitious?

by Maureen Bonatch

Children are often more apt to accept the unbelievable and look for the magic in the world. As they grow older, most become more practical and only believe what can be rationally explained.

Although many adults still hold onto beliefs, or superstitions, to try to gain a little luck, or ward off bad luck. Superstitions are a widely held but unjustified belief that something supernatural is responsible for certain consequences of an action. In other words, if we can’t make sense of it, then we might make up the reason why something occurred.

These beliefs might bring some comfort, such as believing something gives them luck to help increase confidence in a positive outcome or unknown future event. Many of us may even make up our own superstitions such as having a lucky shirt or other item.

A few beliefs of lucky charms that I’m familiar with include:

• Believing a rabbits foot holds luck
• Crossing your fingers
• Find a penny pick it up (all the rest of the day good luck)
• Getting the larger piece of a broken turkey bone to grant luck or a wish

Other actions or beliefs of bad luck might increase your unease for no validated reason and can include:

• Bad luck comes in threes
• A black cat crossing your path
• Breaking a mirror brings 7 years of bad luck
• Knocking on wood to ward off bad luck
• Opening an umbrella inside brings bad luck

I’m currently working on a short story to be released with thirteen other authors on Friday the 13^th. Some people fear Friday the 13^th. They might be referred to as friggatriskaidekaphobics. 

My story,“Till Death”,  will be a little different than my other stories in that it’s a dark suspense, with no paranormal. Not having paranormal elements was really a challenge for me. It seems that I have trouble giving up looking for a little bit of magic in my characters.

My main character in Till Death is very superstitious. In researching the story I’ve come across some other unusual superstitions including:

• Mirrors don’t just reflect image, they hold bits of your soul
• Facing mirrors open a door for the devil
• Don’t go right home after the funeral or the spirit may have tagged along
• Whistling indoors summons demons
• If you see or hear an owl, terrible news is coming
• An owl in your house brings death
• A full moon is associated with chaos
• A person with 13 letters in their name is cursed

Perhaps if you’re just a little superstitious, you might still believe there's still a little magic left in the world.

Are You Feeling Lucky?

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Do You Have Any Superstitions?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter

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Do You Believe in Santa?

I’m forty-five years old, and I still believe in Santa Claus.

When I was a little girl, I stayed up listening for him on the roof. I marveled the next morning at the empty milk glass and the last remaining cookie with a bite out of it. I squealed with happiness each year at the one perfect gift waiting for me under the tree.

I never forced my parents to have “the talk” as I got older. My brother is eight years younger than I am, so eventually I was enlisted in covert Santa operations, hiding gifts in my own closet on Santa’s behalf. I didn’t mind helping him.

It never occurred to me to stop believing in Santa. Of course he was real. But parents often stopped believing, so they did Santa’s job for him. Considering how many children there are in the world, I figured he was probably grateful for the assist.

I still believed Santa could give non-material gifts. He was listening, right? As my teen years approached, my faith in him never wavered, and I’d write him a letter with whatever teen-angsty thing I wanted the most, then burned the letter in the fireplace. Santa would get it that way. He would know. Did he deliver on my request? I honestly couldn’t say. If he didn’t, I obviously wasn’t devastated, since I don’t remember.

I grew up and had kids of my own, which meant I had to decide whether to let Santa do his job, or help him out. I opted to help, of course. Santa had done a lot for me over the years. It was the least I could do. And my kids, when the time came, never cornered me for “the talk.” Possibly because they knew I would never, ever say that Santa wasn’t real. Or maybe because they didn’t want to upset me, since I was obviously unbalanced.

I could spout a bunch of feel-good business here about how Santa lives within each of us, in the spirit of Christmas and the brotherhood of man. But really, I simply want to believe in something magical and beautiful that we, as a species, have created together through the stories we’ve told each other over time, repeating those stories and adding to them. Santa’s reality grows stronger with each stocking stuffed, every bike put together at 2 A.M. on Christmas Eve, and all the white beards and red velvet suits worn by mall Santas around the world.

Santa is real. Maybe he doesn’t live at the North Pole and spend the rest of the year with elves and making toys. Maybe he doesn’t have flying reindeer, and maybe his belly doesn’t shake when he laughs like a bowl full of jelly.

But maybe, just maybe, he is real.

My kids are grown, but Santa is still visiting them this year, though he had to send a box to Florida to get everything to my youngest.

I’m sure Santa appreciates my help. I don’t mind. He’s done a lot for me over the years. It’s the least I can do.

I hope your holidays are filled with magic, love, and laughter. And trust me—if there’s something special you really want, maybe all you need is to believe.

Rachel's head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She is terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and sometimes recites the Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her castle move-in date.

Originally from Northern California, she has a tendency to move every few years, resulting in a total of seven different states and a six-year stint in England. Currently, she's planning her next grand adventure. Rachel has one heroic husband, two genius kids, a crazy-catlady starter kit, and an imaginary dog named Waffles.

She doesn't have time for a real dog.


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