superstitious superstitions

11 THINGS: Superstitious Superstitions

Thursday, October 12, 2006

1. Black cats: Nocturnal voodoo witchcraft in the United States, yet considered good luck in the United Kingdom and Japan (clearly because the Brits and Japanese drive on the wrong side of the road).

2. Broken mirrors: Mirrors represent the future. Don't want to mess up your future? Well then, don't break the mirror.

3. Don't walk under ladders: As close to common sense as anything on this list (primarily because three is my magic number).

4. 4: Japan, Korea and China avoid 4 the same way America avoids 13 or 666 ... and so on and so "forth" ...

5. Curse of Payrod: Since Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS, Alex Rodriguez has gone 5-for-46 in the postseason. His number? 13. The number worn by his former high school classmate playing for the Red Sox at the time? 13. Clearly, it's all related.

6. Government superstitions: Nancy Reagan and astrology quickly spring to mind, but, in the spirit of bipartisanship, FDR was also known to have issues with the number 13.

7. Feng shui: My feng shui expert needs to be fired. The problem? I need to ask him the best time and place to do this.

8. Cross your fingers: I'm crossing my fingers that no one writes in to complain about me adding feng shui to the mix.

9. God bless you: Nobody knows if the evil spirits are entering or exiting when we sneeze, just that "God bless you" is meant to stop them.

10. Salt: A pinch is thrown over the left shoulder to ward off the devil -- and bad luck. (Please take this with a grain of itself.)

11. Friday the 13th: Might it all just be in your head? Something to ponder while driving along Funston Avenue, or sipping your beer at Lucky 13 on Friday night.

Tim Sullivan, tsullivan@sfchronicle.com

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