Sometimes I mock superstitious people for their credulity. It’s all very silly, isn’t it, all this hokum?
Oh dear. I’m such a hypocrite.
I myself have about a million little superstitions. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, I used to walk to work, and I always noticed playing cards in the streets. (I never see these anymore. What’s happened? Don’t people play cards anymore?) Playing cards match up with Tarot cards, and I used to tell my dailyfortune by the cards I saw. The nine of hearts foretold a very good day; the ten of spades meant a very bad day. And so on.
Now it’s finding change in the street. I’ve decided that finding money is a good omen. A penny will do; a nickel is better, or a dime, naturally. Some days I find handfuls of change (Providence is installing more parking meters, and people seem to throw change around in all directions). Once in a while I find folding money. Those are special days.
(Why do I do this? Why do any of us do this? Simple: we look for meaning in the world. We believe instinctively that everything is linked to everything else.)
(Not very logical, right? But very human.)
Not long ago, I was anticipating a pretty awful day. I walked to work as normal, hoping to find (at least) a penny in the street. But I found nothing.
Then, suddenly, on a wire fence, I saw a huge crow. It cawed, and suddenly something dark moved in the tree above, and I saw another.
Two crows.
Ah.
One crow sorrow, two crows joy;
Three crows a girl, and four crows a boy.
Five crows silver, six crows gold;
Seven crows a secret never to be told.
I can’t even remember where I learned that rhyme, but it cheered me. Two crows joy. An omen!
And then, a few moments later, I found a nickel in the street.
And you know what? The day turned out to be pretty good after all.
(The world is a mysterious place. Anything is possible.)
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