This week, Flora and Naomii wear red underwear to ward off evil spirits
People love a good story. We’ve always loved making up little tales to explain away different phenomena. There are all sorts of myths and legends across various cultures, and some might say that these tales are based in truth. And maybe they are. The same can’t be said for more modern myths though, pretty sure it was just one guy’s cousin whose balls got swollen because of the COVID vaccine—but who knows.
Everyone’s a little bit superstitious about something, whether that be their exam habits, their pre-date rituals, or morning routines before a presentation, there’s always something we do when we’re particularly nervous to ease ourselves, and that acts as a thing that we can also blame our misfortunes on. For us, your Craccum co-Editors, that’s the fact that we’re both Libras.
Reading into astrology is always fun, until you read something that hits a little too close to home and then you start to question whether it’s actually real. Spoiler alert: it is, because why would we work on our indecisiveness when we can just bully the Earth signs of our team into making decisions for us? Only joking… kind of. But the fact remains that there’s a suspicious amount of Libras in student publishing, and writing in general. It could just be that everyone’s parents love getting freaky in Janurary, but we like to think it was written in the stars. As a Tweet we once saw said: another word for taste is Libra—no wonder there’s so many of us in the media.
Superstitions have been around for as long as humans have existed. They’re natural; some theories just get a little further outside the box than usual. Personally, our superstitions and rituals involve getting dressed up, a little wine (or a lot), and a little lipstick. Our prayers go to the thrifting Gods, the Spirit of Tinder, the God of Not-Getting-COVID, and the little people that live inside of our devices and dance whenever we want them to. That’s how TikTok works, right?
Throwing salt over your left shoulder, wearing red undies, walking barefoot, crossing oneself, counting in threes, wearing your sport team’s colours, prayer, manifestation, intuition, the list goes on. Where do traditions, culture, and religion end, and superstitions begin? And even if bad luck doesn’t exist and it’s all a story, what’s the harm in avoiding the sidewalk cracks anyway?
In a world where there are more stories than ever, more information than ever, and more narratives than ever, we’ve put together an issue to have a peek at superstitions in whatever form they take. So, dive on into this issue, and take the space to reflect on your own magical thinking, beliefs, and narratives. And watch your back this Friday 13… just in case.
XOXO
Arohanui
Flora Xie (she/her) and Naomii Seah (she/her)
