Sanjay Juneja has luck on his side. The biological sciences sophomore’s family is from northern India, where superstitions are highly regarded. He said he is indirectly superstitious because he respects his family’s religious and cultural beliefs.
Superstitions offer people comfort and an answer to the unexplainable. People use superstitions ranging from omens to lucky numbers to explain the unknown.
Juneja has not taken off the ring that he wears on his right hand in about one year. A family friend got the ring from an Indian religious figure and gave it to Juneja.
The gold ring has nine stones that represent the planets and harmony. The pearl represents the moon, the green stone represents Earth and the ruby in the center of the ring represents the sun.
“It provides balance from day to day,” he said.
Darlyne Nemeth, Bluebonnet Psychological Services clinical and neuropsychologist, said superstitions and religious beliefs are often linked with each other.
“For example, it’s not uncommon when there is religious conversion in a country for the religion to compromise with the native beliefs to get people to feel comfortable with the new ideas,” she said.
Nemeth said she learned about the Brazilian slave trade when she visited Salvador, Bahia. She said Salvador is a mainly Catholic area, and most of the African slaves that were imported are polytheistic. She said the Brazilian citizens blended the two-belief systems and made the gods into Catholic saints.
Sarah Berard, English sophomore, said she believes in signs not superstitions. She said superstitions and religion can be connected.
“Common superstitions aren’t signs of things to come,” she said. “Biblical numbers can have significance.”
Juneja wears his lucky boxers when he plays poker with his friends. The boxers have a green four-leaf clover pattern on them. He said he noticed he won every time he wore the lucky boxers, so he began wearing them every time he got together with his friends for the card game.
“They weren’t lucky because of the four-leaf clovers,” he said. “It was the coincidence that made them special.”
Juneja bought a card guard with a horseshoe on it for his poker games from eBay for $35. He did not buy it because he wanted another lucky charm, but he noticed that he started losing when he used the card guard.
“You can’t buy something intending for it to be lucky,” he said.
Juneja said he took a closer look at the card guard and noticed that the horseshoe was upside down. He said some people believe that the luck pours out of the horseshoe if it is upside down.
Juneja wears the number 10 when he plays team sports. He noticed he does not perform as well in sports when he is not wearing the number.
Rebecca McGovern, animal science junior, said she is not sure if she believes in lucky numbers, but she likes the number 14. She said she wore the number for her high school basketball team. She said most superstitions are coincidental.
Nemeth said the most common superstitions are associated with rabbit feet, lucky numbers, walking under ladders, black cats and deaths occurring in threes.
Nemeth said people’s superstitions are primarily attributed to cultural upbringing.
Nemeth moved to Baton Rouge about 40 years ago. She said the woman who lived in the apartment below hers was from New Orleans and practiced voodoo. The woman’s ancestors were from Haiti where voodoo plays an important role in that culture.
“Even when people from those cultures become very educated, it is not uncommon for them to keep with those superstitions,” she said.
Nemeth said some people will not give up on their beliefs even when they are challenged with fact and proven wrong.
“Most of what we do in our lives is not based on fact – it’s based on our belief system,” she said.
—–Contact Angelle Barbazon at [email protected]