Superstition ain’t the way…

My mother’s parents came from very different backgrounds, but one thing they shared is they believed in luck – both good and bad.

When they relocated from India to move into the family home in the UK, my mother redecorated a bedroom for them. When they arrived, my grandmother was absolutely horrified. Not because she’d wanted to choose the decor herself, but because my mother had chosen the colour green. My grandmother was half Irish and believed the old folklore that green was the colour of mischievous fairies, so wearing (or sleeping in) it could attract their dangerous attention. But as my grandmother was also an alcoholic, I’m afraid no notice was taken of her fear, and that room wasn’t re-decorated until my mother co-opted it for her own use many years later.

While my grandmother’s beliefs and practises focused more on the avoidance of bad luck, my grandfather’s were more aligned to good luck. He believed 7 was his lucky number, and it was hard to argue with him when all his great-grandchildren were born on the 7th. But he also faithfully read his horoscope in the daily paper every single day, even insisting on having it read for him when his eyesight faded, so it was hard to take his beliefs any more seriously than those of my grandmother.

Indeed, I grew up rejecting superstitions. I’d walk under ladders on purpose just to prove it was all nonsense and have a long-held preference for black cats. I don’t throw spilt salt over my shoulder or worry if I break a mirror.

And yet, when I came across Feng Shui in my late twenties, I was drawn to it. When looking at its roots, I could see some of it was based on good sense. Selecting appropriate geographical locations upon which to build – things like having a clear view over all approaches when considering defenses, near a bend in the river which isn’t fast flowing so it is safe to bathe and wash, and having a hill behind you to protect you from inclement weather. Certain aspects of interior feng shui also make sense – things like not having a porch as two consecutive doors close together can cause a blockage when entering the home, ensuring furniture placement allows an easy flow of through movement, location of and brightness of lights, sound – flowing water or wind chimes, pleasing images and colours – all intended to allow for the unimpeded flow of chi. But I like cozy and tend to be a clutter bug, so the stripped back minimalist nature of it was hard work for me to maintain. That, plus the proliferation of so many good luck activators (as well as reams of things to protect you from bad luck) meant I fell out of love with it rapidly.

When life gets shitty, I won’t pretend that I wonder if I should pay more attention to things like this, but I come back to the fact that applying good common sense has nothing to do with superstition, and good luck tends to be more the result of hard work and application than purchasing some form of activator while sitting on your backside.

And so I come back to what Stevie Wonder sang: superstition ain’t the way…

Are you superstitious – in little ways, or big? Do you have any rituals or habits to ensure the flow of good luck, or to remove the bad?

© Debs Carey, 2026