Bad Luck, Good Luck?

It's Friday the 13th! Shall we panic now? Perhaps we should all just stay in bed and pull the covers over our heads. I never have, though, except when I was really hung over. I don't recall ever worrying about a day, other than Christmas, being very special. And that was only when I was very small. As I got older, many "special" things became mundane, ordinary.

A friend of mine suspects that Big Foot is real. Though we haven't discussed it, I suspect he believes in UFOs. I don't. No Yeti, no Big Foot, no little green men in flying saucers. Also no ghosts, no goblins, no leprechauns, no faeries, no zombies, no black (or white) magic of any kind. I just don't believe in such things. To me, there is no supernatural.

It might seem a little dull not to entertain some belief in the supernatural but it also takes away a lot of fear. It does not take away my curiosity about the folklore behind them, however.

Take vampires, for instance. Wonderful romantic legends. Many people think these legends began with Vlad the Impaler. But I think the concept existed long before Vlad existed. I do believe his story/legend inspired Bram Stoker's tale of Dracula, though, which may have morphed into the belief that he is the source of all vampiric legend.

Most, if not all, cultures had legends of vampires, or similar creatures, stretching all the way back into history. My pet theory is it was serial killers and pedophiles which gave birth to these legends.

In any case, superstition is not my thing. I do not worry about broken mirrors, black cats crossing my path, spilling salt, or hexes of any kind. I do worry about walking under ladders, however... ever since someone almost dropped a hammer on my head as I walked under one.