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The Roman Catholic Church considers superstition to be sinful in the sense that it denotes a lack of trust in the divine providence of God and, as such, is a violation of the first of the Ten Commandments. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states superstition "in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion" (para. #2110).
The Catechism clearly dispels commonly held preconceptions or misunderstandings about Catholic doctrine relating to superstitious practices:
"Superstition is a deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand is to fall into superstition." Cf. Matthew 23:16-22 (para. #2111)
Source: Wikipedia
The Curse of the Bambino (1920 – 2004) was an urban myth or scapegoat cited as a reason for the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series for 86 years after they sold Babe Ruth, sometimes called The Bambino, to the New York Yankees. The flip side of the curse was New York's success—after the sale, the once-lackluster Yankees became one of the most successful franchises in North American professional sports. While some fans took the superstition of the Curse seriously, many others used the expression in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
Source: Wikipedia
Friday the 13th (1980): directed by Sean S. Cunningham and starring Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King and Harry Crosby. Tagline: You'll wish it were only a nightmare... Plot Summary: Many years after two summer camp councilers are killed at Camp Crystal Lake, the owner decides to reopen, which sparks a series of grisly murders.
Source: IMDb
Friday the 13th: how is fear of the number thirteen demonstrated?
More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
Many airports skip the 13th gate.
Airplanes have no 13th aisle.
Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue
In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.
Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.
If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names.
Source: http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html
Superstitious people believe that by kissing the Blarney Stone, you receive the "Gift of the Gab". The gift of the gab is best described in the context of "What Blarney!" - the term used by the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth I. This was in response to Cormac Teige McCarthy's attempt to sweet talk his way out of a sticky situation, during negotiations of the takeover of the Blarney Castle by the occupying English forces. Cormac himself was the King of Munster, living in the Blarney Castle around the 14th century. The stone itself is rumoured to have been created by a witch way back in the middle ages.
Source: Wikipedia
Superstition by Stevie Wonder
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Gladstone Gander is a Walt Disney fictional character created by comic artist and writer Carl Barks for Western Publishing. Gladstone first appeared in the story "Wintertime Wager" in January, 1948. Gladstone is a lazy and infuriatingly lucky creature who never fails to upset his first cousin Donald Duck. Gladstone's luck defies probability and provides him with anything he desires, with hardly the need of effort. His philosophy in life is summarised in leaving everything to chance and taking advantage of opportunities as they come.
Source: Wikipedia
Joe Btfsplk is a character in the comic strip Li'l Abner. He is well-meaning, but is the world's worst jinx, bringing bad luck to all those around him. A small dark cloud hovers over his head, to symbolize his bad luck.
Source: Wikipedia
Almond Cheese Horseshoe
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Clover Leaf Rolls
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Superstition is the religion of weak minds (Edmund Burke)
Conscience without judgment is superstition. (Benjamin Whichcote)
It is the customary fate of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as superstitions. (Thomas Henry Huxley)
Men are probably nearer the central truth in their superstitions than in their science. (Henry David Thoreau)
No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
No sooner had Jesus knocked over the dragon of superstition than Paul boldly set it on it legs again in the name of Jesus. (George Bernard Shaw)
Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive and irrational -- but how much does it cost you to knock on wood? (Judith Viorst)
The superstition of science scoffs at the superstition of faith. (James A. Froude)
There is a superstition in avoiding superstition. (Francis Bacon)
Source: Creative Quotations
Luckdragons (Glücksdrachen) are a fictional dragon species featured in Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story ("Die unendliche Geschichte"). Only one luckdragon by the name of Fuchur (Falkor in English translations) appears in the book; nevertheless, it is described with precision and detail.
Source: Wikipedia
Good fortune may forbode bad luck, which may in turn disguise good fortune. (Chinese)
What is bad luck for one man is good luck for another. (Ghanaia)
After bad luck comes good fortune. (Gypsy)
Good luck beats early rising. (Irish)
Good luck comes in slender currents, misfortune in a rolling tide. (Irish)
When ill luck falls asleep, let none wake her. (Italian)
If you are looking for bad luck, you will soon find it. (Japanese)
To wait for luck is the same as waiting for death. (Japanese)
An itching palm is a sign of good luck. (Basotho)
You can give a piece of advice, but not good luck along with that. (Norwegian)
Change yourself, and your luck will change. (Portuguese)
The person afraid of bad luck will never know good. (Russian)
Source: Creative Proverbs
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