Category superstitions

Jun 13 2014

Superstition Squared: Friday the 13th, Full Moon

Moon 13

Run for Your Lives!

Oh, no!

It’s Friday the 13th.

And in some places on earth, it was a full moon this morning.

You know what that means, don’t you?

Well…

…it means one of three things:

  1. If you walk under a ladder and there is a werewolf on the ladder, you’re in for the biggest chase of your life.
  2. If a black cat crosses your path and you turn into a werewolf, that might be the unluckiest dinner you ever eat.
  3. If you look at a mirror and it breaks, it means the werewolf you turned into is having a Medusa-level hair-day.

Why is it so rare?

  • There can be as many as 3 Friday the 13th’s in a calendar year.
  • There can be as many as 13 full moons in a calendar year. (Don’t let that number go to your head.)

Doesn’t it seem like it should be more common? The next one is set for 2049 (well, some times zones get “lucky” and will see it in 2017 or 2019).

Read all about it

  • Slate explains that it’s no more rare than, say, having a new moon on Monday the 22nd. (If you really want to get rare, try a blue moon on Easter Sunday!) This article also explains the time zone issue, and how some time zones will see this again much sooner.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/06/13/full_moon_and_friday_the_13th_not_so_rare_after_all.html?wpisrc=burger_bar

  • If you want to participate in some of the Facebook frenzy on this subject, here is a good place to start:

https://www.facebook.com/TheMindUnleashed/photos/pb.432632306793920.-2207520000.1402585736./737748626282285/?type=3&theater

  • Want to learn two new really long words for a couple of cool phobias (fear of Friday the 13th and fear of the moon)? Check out this article:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/06/13/321633197/its-friday-the-13th-and-there-was-a-rare-full-moon

Copyright © 2014 Chris McMullen

Aug 19 2013

Authors, What Are Your Writing Superstitions?

I’m very curious about this.

If you’re a writer and you have any superstitions, quirks, or rituals that relate to writing, please take a moment to share them.

Or if you know a writer with such habits, please share them.

Let me suggest a few examples for you to consider while think about this:

  • Do you check every chapter to make sure that it doesn’t have 13 pages?
  • Do you refuse to wash your underwear until the book is finished? (Well, that might explain why writing tends to be such a solitary experience…)
  • Do you read your horoscope before you decide to write that day?
  • Do you use a Ouija board to help get book ideas?
  • Do you insist on ending every book on page 451 (hoping that sales will be ‘on fire,’ in degrees Fahrenheit)?
  • Do you walk precisely one mile on the treadmill for every page you write?

Well, then, what do you do?