Boy Meets Girl (July 14th)

  Superstitions can be so funny. I remember being warned as a young girl never to sit on concrete, because if I did, I'd never get pregnant. Or hearing that it was bad luck to walk away from an unmade bed. And then there were those childhood games we played that would help us "see into the future" - specifically our romantic future.
    I remember one particular game that involved a can of soft drink and the letters of the alphabet. The game was pretty simple – starting with an unopened can, you lifted the tab, and said the letter A. After the can was opened, you flipped the tab back to its original position, and said the letter B. The tab was flipped back and forth, while continuing with the alphabet, until eventually, the tab broke off. At this point you had the can in one hand, the pull tab in the other, and you knew the initial of the man you were destined to marry. Clever, huh?
    And there was that superstition about cutting an apple in half and counting the seeds. The number of seeds represented the number of children you would have. Or tying a ring to piece of string, and asking a yes/no question. If the ring turned clockwise, the answer was yes, if the ring rotated anticlockwise, the answer was no. If the ring swung side-to-side, the answer was uncertain, and your best friend would tell you off for not taking the game seriously enough.

    Some say superstitions are just harmful rubbish, but if you don't take them too seriously, they can actually be quite fun. I think the key is to just keep them light and positive (as opposed to those charming emails that say things like, "Forward this on to the next fifty-billion people in your address book, or tomorrow, you will die.").
    And in a world that often takes itself way too seriously, these little games can sprinkle some much-needed magic on to our lives - it's when we step over the cracks in the pavement, say "Bless you" when someone sneezes, or when we dare to wish upon a star.