With a Little Bit of Luck by Melissa A. Bartell

Generally speaking, I don’t believe in luck. Or at least, I don’t believe in it as something controlled by external forces. I think horoscopes are entertaining, and fortune cookies are just for fun, and the tarot is an interesting experiment, but I could never let any of these things inform my decisions or guide my life. I’m also not a believer in “good luck” charms. I don’t need a shamrock or a rabbit’s foot (and about the latter, may I just say ewww?) to keep luck close to me. I believe, by and large, we make our own good fortune.

I do, however, believe in ritual. Ritual isn’t about making luck or causing good fortune, as much as it is a way to connect to the universe. We humans are a social animal, and even those of us – like me – who live fairly internal lives, need some form of interaction, some sense of belonging.

Rituals come in all shapes and sizes. They can be as ordinary as a weekly bubble bath, as quiet as an hour of silent meditation, as vigorous as a morning run, or as innocuous as lighting candles before dinner. There are the larger rituals, as well, the ones we share with others: hanging Christmas stockings by the fireplace, lighting Hanukkah candles for eight nights, singing “Auld Lang Syne” and sharing a kiss at midnight on New Year’s Day, holy communion, singing the national anthem at a sports event…the list goes on.

Recently, I participated in a southern ritual – that of eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day – for the first time. Being a curious sort of person, it wasn’t enough to know, “It’s tradition.” I wanted – no, needed – to know why.

What I learned was that the tradition, at least in the American South, dates to the Civil War. According to Wikipedia, “These ‘good luck’ traditions supposedly date back to the American Civil War. Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General William Tecumseh Sherman, typically stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock, and destroy whatever they couldn’t carry away. At that time, Northerners considered ‘field peas’ and corn suitable only for animal fodder, and didn’t steal or destroy these humble foods.” It’s a pretty bloody source for a ritual, really, but then, a lot of rituals are based in blood, war, and the desire for peace.

Further research took me several centuries back in time, to the Babylonian Talmud of ~500 C.E., which advised people that, “…now that you have established that good-luck symbols avail, you should make it a habit to see Qara (bottle gourd), Rubiya (black-eyed peas, Arabic Lubiya), Kartei (leeks), Silka (either beets or spinach), and Tamrei (dates) on your table on the New Year.” There’s a parallel text encouraging people to eat these symbols of good luck.

Interestingly, it was the word “dates” that struck me. My Italian-American grandmother had a personal tradition of baking date-nut bread during the holidays, and I am left wondering if her bread was an unconscious holdover from a tradition of eating dates for luck. Sadly, she isn’t around for me to ask, but I think it’s perfectly plausible, and will choose to believe there’s a connection, however small.

But that brings me back to luck. Whether it’s eating black-eyed peas, baking date-nut bread, or saying “rabbit, rabbit,” it isn’t the act that brings luck, it’s the belief in the ritual.

The Roman philosopher Seneca is credited with the words: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity,” and Buddha said, “Being deeply learned and skilled, being well trained and using well spoken words; This is good luck.” Both seem to support my own belief: we make our own luck, and we make our own good fortune.

As we begin our journey through a new year, I ask myself, and each of you: what will you do to help your own good fortune come to be?

Melissa A. Bartell likes strong coffee, red wine, and dark chocolate. She earns her living writing web-copy for an Internet marketing firm, dabbles fiction on the side. She lives near Dallas, TX with her husband, two dogs, and more computers than anyone really needs. She is the Managing Editor here at All Things Girl. Find out more about her on our About Page, or check out her blog at MissMeliss.com