Superstitons, Spiders, and Nasty Feng Shui

Are you superstitious?

I can't decide if I am or not.

For instance, I believe in good luck, but not bad luck. I'm contrary that way.

This past Friday the thirteenth, the local radio station was giving away concert tickets to the group Theory of a Dead Man . To compete to win them, you had to run an obstacle course in a supermarket parking lot in keeping with the spirit of the day: spill a little salt, walk under a ladder, break a mirror, and generally complete tasks designed to tempt the gods to give you bad luck.

I have occasionally (and surreptitiously) tossed a pinch of salt over my shoulder out of habit should I spill some, but I can't help but feel that if I had wanted to go to this concert I would have been in the parking lot cheefully smashing mirrors in the spirit of competitive fun and the pursuit of musical appreciation.

I just know somehow that the powers that be would figuratively go *pshaw* and let the Bad-Luck-Whammy Rule slide for little 'ol me.

You see, I've come to the conclusion over the years that I'm a pretty lucky person. Lucky, as in 'good things happen to me'. Oh, I'm not saying there haven't been bad incidents or uncomfortable times but, as my father would say, it all builds character, and overall the good things have FAR outweighed the unpleasantries.

Gee, I hope I'm not tempting the gods by saying that. Come to think of it, I haven't won the lottery lately....

But believing in bad luck is incredibly unhealthy.

I was down by Victoria's waterfront recently and I spoke with a man who had set up a little table advertising "Feng Shui Home Readings". Basically, a prospective client would bring him a floor plan of their home and he would make recommendations to improve their living space.

Now, I think the concept of feng shui is interesting--arranging your home and environment to improve the good energy in your life, clearing the clutter and rearranging the furniture to balance the elements and all that.

I'm afraid most of the complicated Asian theories regarding the geographical and mathematical aspects of it go way over my head(I will move my sofa, but please don't ask me to use a compass), but I have enjoyed reading some of the fluffier westernized theories about it.

But this fellow down by the Harbour seemed deadly serious about the whole business and it gave me the jim-jams. He told me this horrible little story to illustrate how much bad luck you could have if you ignored the "poison arrows"(unlucky things) of the feng shui concerning your real estate. In a nutshell, he was convinced his wife had fallen ill with bone cancer and died because they had moved to a "pie-shaped lot", which is apparently just about the worst thing you can do.

Eeeek!

Was his story a genuine belief, or just a marketing ploy to convince me to hire him for his potentially life-saving advice? I don't know. He had very sad eyes and seemed very earnest.

Regardless of his sincerity, nobody's wife has ever perished solely from the side-effects from living on a dessert-shaped piece of property. That would just be so wrong.

I believe that you can choose what you are afraid of.

I, Spider Girl, for instance, was once afraid of spiders. No longer! I decided NOT to be.

Heh, now I believe they're lucky. Maybe it's a rule I made up, but that's a much healthier attitude than screaming and brandishing a bedroom slipper like an armed maniac, as I've observed some do.

But even if you don't believe spiders are lucky--- don't step on them --it makes it rain.

By the way, the spider photo on this post was taken at the Victoria Bug Zoo. Isn't she a beaut? :)

The other photo from there is of the most bugalicious dollhouse I've ever seen---check out the Madagascar hissing cockroach peeking out from under the bed.