SUPERSTITION IS THE SUSPICION that things are seldom what they seem and usually worse. Breaking a mirror foreshadows a graver misfortune than having to buy a new one. Inviting thirteen for dinner involves a greater risk than not having enough to go round. The superstitious person may be more nearly right in being wrong than the person who takes everything at face value. If a black cat crosses your path and all you see is a black cat, you need to have more than your eyes examined. What is crossing your path with four legs and a hoisted tail is the dark and inscrutable mystery of creation itself.
-Originally published in Wishful Thinking and later in Beyond Words
