By David Schefcik
Joshua Flake?s quick steps don?t reflect the careful hesitancy of someone purposely avoiding the sidewalk cracks. And yet, the 23-year-old junior from Atlanta, Ga., manages to miss each one effortlessly.
?I just do it subconsciously now,? Flake said. ?It is like most of the holidays we celebrate. They are all superstitions that have come to be accepted.?
As lonesome pennies, tails facing up, go left behind and umbrellas are opened indoors by the unaware, superstitions are thriving at BYU, even if most students don?t notice.
?Once you learn about a superstition, it can drive you nuts because you see it all around the place,? Flake said. ?Even religion can be viewed by some to be one big superstition.?
With bad luck superstitions and omens varying from spilling salt, having a black cat pass in front of you or walking underneath a ladder, a myriad of ways exist to lose your luck.
?I would be petrified if I broke a mirror,? said Flake as he hurriedly knocked on a nearby wooden desk to avoid tempting fate. ?I wouldn?t know what I would do with seven years of bad luck.?
However, bad luck can be countered by crossing your fingers, walking in the rain or carrying around lucky trinkets. A few good luck items include horseshoes, four-leaf clovers, a rabbit?s foot and ladybugs. It has even been said if you study for a test with a pencil, that same pencil will remember the answers when you use it on a test.
While some superstitions are based loosely in fact?such as eating an apple a day keeps the doctor away?most are based on reoc-curring coincidences and old wives? tales. The beginnings of superstitions are often hard to trace, with each generation passing down its own vocal traditions with varying permutations.
?A superstition can be started by anything,? Flake said. ?It is like the new rule that you can?t carry liquids on a plane. In 15 to 30 years, it will be bad luck to carry liquids on a plane.?
Superstitions aren?t limited to simply providing good or bad luck. They also can provide insights to your life. For example, twisting an apple stem while saying the alphabet will reveal the first letter of the name of your future spouse when the stem breaks. Cutting that same apple in half and then counting the seeds will tell you how many children you will have.
?I think it is all rubbish,? said Kiku Beaufort, 19, a sophomore from Boise, Idaho. ?Unless I?m playing hopscotch, I don?t care where the cracks in the sidewalk are.?
Perhaps eating a watermelon seed won?t cause a watermelon to grow in your stomach or pulling out one gray hair won?t cause two to grow in its place, but Beaufort said superstitions are ?all in your head.?
?They take away your agency,? she said. ?God is in control, and I don?t think that the stars or random occurrences will regulate what will happen in your life.?
Ranging from predicting the future to momentary insights, superstitions are supposed to be fun and not too overbearing, said Mindi Martin, 24, a junior from Mesa, Ariz., majoring in economics. ?I don?t really believe in superstitions, so if I have to go out of my way to avoid something, I won?t.?
Neither getting out of the bed left foot first or passing someone going the same direction on a staircase has brought bad luck to Mar-tin. ?I don?t worry about luck because nothing has ever happened to me,? she said.
Yet, Martin has fun with certain superstitions, such as making wishes while blowing out birthday candles or tossing a coin into a nearby fountain.
?There is a balance between obsession and cautious optimism,? Martin said. ?You can have fun with superstitions as long as you don?t take things too seriously or get upset about it.?
So, does losing your wedding band cause marriages to fail? Can small trinkets protect you from black cats and bad luck? Are super-stitions real enough to believe?
?I like to cover all of my bases,? Flake said, skipping another crack with his step. ?It can?t hurt to believe in a little good luck some-times.?