Hi there! Did you miss us? We’ve returned for another pick of the Highlights of our #SuperstitionSat Sessions, after a little seasonal break last weekend. Yesterday (10/09/22), our theme was spent Under the Moonlit Night: Superstitions of Astrology, The Sky & Stars. Since you were waiting for this Session for two weeks, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the loveliest tweets shared for our Session this Saturday!

We will begin this new season of Superstition Saturday by, appropriately, looking at a tale about the new moon, as shared by Lili Hayward. According to Cornish belief, it is unlucky to take your first glance at the new moon from over your shoulder or through a window, especially if the moon is rising on a Friday. We wonder whether this has any connection to the superstition that it’s bad luck to begin new journeys on a Friday, or an association with Friday 13th. Nevertheless, it is possible to avert the bad luck by curtseying to our natural satellite, as well as taking out any money you have on you, spit on it; then put it back in your pocket and turn it around.

This custom seems to have been in place at least since the late 19th century, considering it was discussed in Volume 5 Issue 1 of the Folklore Journal, published in 1887. In an article simply titled “Cornish Folk-lore” by M.A. Courtney, the author added that “[i]f you particularly desire anything, look at the new moon and wish before you speak.” If you have access to the Folklore Journal, and are interested in reading this article in full, click here. If not, we’ll transcribe the rest of the paragraph for you, which says that:

“You may also wish when you see a falling star, and if you succeed in framing it before it disappears your wish will be granted. Seeing the new moon in the old moon’s arms is a sign of a change in the weather, so is a star passing over it. The change will be for the worse if the moon goes over the star.”

Still in the theme of falling stars and new things, our second Highlight was shared by the Graveyard Coffee Talk Podcast, who told us of an old credence elsewhere in the British Isles that a shooting star is a baby’s soul coming to earth to be born. This was recorded by Steve Roud in his Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland, where the author wrote that “[i]n some cases, the star is said to be the new soul of the baby itself; in others, shooting stars are said to be the souls of those who have recently died.” Roud goes on to dwell on the possibility that this superstition may have had a root in the Christian Nativity scene – of the star followed by the three Magi to witness the birth of Jesus – and that this beautiful belief was observed at least in Kent, Somerset, Dorset, Norfolk, Essex, Westmorland & Lancashire, as well as Yorkshire.

In other good news, we had a bit of a “countdown” for ourselves this Saturday, marking down the days on the calendar until we could tell you about our exciting new secret project with our Saturday buddies at BookWorm Saturday. If you haven’t heard about it already, yesterday we launched a Ko-fi page to gather contributions to the pre-production stages of a collaborative project outside of Twitter, with artwork by the author of The Commonplace Oracle & Tarot Decks, Nell Latimer. And we were STUNNED that with your help, we managed to achieve our goal in just under five hours! My gosh, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Both me and the hosts at BookWorm Saturday are still counting our lucky stars, so how about this triple whammy of Highlights about counting the stars as our third and final Highlight for today – as shared by Lore of, Haunted History BC, and Olivia Armstrong.

As always, thank you so much for participating in Superstition Saturday, and for supporting our upcoming project with BookWorm Saturday. Whether you’re old, new or just passing through, your presence is very much appreciated and I am glad to see you stop by. Keep your eyes peeled for more news of what we’ve got in store for you!

Your grateful lucky cat pal,
– Superstition Sam 🐾