5 ways to avoid bad luck on Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th is known as an especially unlucky day, mostly for reasons unknown but thought to be relating to the Last Supper and Jesus’ Crucifiction, or to a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party in Valhalla and a third, uninvited God turning up and wreaking havoc.

Some people nowadays don’t pay much heed to the day but others be weary of their actions and their surroundings. If you’re someone who would prefer to play it safe, here’s some old Irish piseoga that might help you along. They also might not.

1: An slua slí – the fairies

The fairies played a big part in old Irish folklore and there are still remnants of the beliefs in our culture today. Fairies – or na Daoine Maithe (the Good People), as they prefer to be known – aren’t exactly the friendliest of people, even though you should never really say that out loud. Na daoine maithe are said to be responsible for ‘changelings’ which is where they’ll take a person away with them and replace them with a exact replica, but one that’s not quite right. It was common for na daoine maithe to take children, fishermen and brides on their wedding day and replace them with changelings who wouldn’t speak much. Looking back, it seems that the ‘changelings’ was a way for people in old Ireland to explain things such as autism and depression, when they weren’t fully understood.

Today, although many people would say they don’t believe, it would be very difficult to find someone willing to cut down a fairy tree, and fairy forts and other mystical places still feel magical but terrifying. People still put a cross on their soda bread to ‘let the fairies out’ and bless each other after a sneeze so as to scare the fairies away. So, even if you don’t believe in na daoine maithe, are you still willing to risk it all by angering them?

2: Don’t bring a red-haired woman fishing

I’m sure there’s not many Derry people heading out to sea on Friday the 13th but, as the saying goes, you’re better safe than sorry. Speaking of staying safe, if you do want to head out fishing today, do not let a red-haired woman on your boat or you might be sorry. Also, don’t go out to sea if you see a priest because the pagan gods of the sea will not be sticking around to protect your boat, apparently. You should also avoid saying the words ‘pig’, ‘fox’ ‘cat’ ‘hare’ ‘goat’ or ‘rabbit’ because these are all forms a witch can take, so you might be accidentally inviting her onboard.

3: Saluting to a magpie

Lone magpies have long been associated with evilness and the devil. It has been said that magpies were the only animal not to board Noah’s Arc and also the only bird that didn’t mourn after Jesus was crucified. Magpies would also eat small dead animals if they came across one, which made people associate them with the devil.

Most people know the nursery rhyme about magpies which has been around since the 1700s – ‘One for sorrow, two for joy..’. It is believed that one magpie will bring bad luck but, this can be avoided by saluting to the bird to show it respect. Other people have been known to wink at a singular bird to pretend to yourself that you saw two and some even flap their arms to pretend they’re the second bird. Each to their own, I suppose.

4: Seeing a hare

As alluded to with the fishing, the cailleach – or witch – is able to ship-shift and disguise herself as different animals, one of which is a hare. There is a story of a farmer who woke one morning to find that his cow had barely any milk. That night, he woke in the middle of the night to investigate and he found a hare drinking milk from the cow. He shot the hare but it managed to run off into a nearby house. The farmer followed the hare into the house, where he found an old woman who was bleeding after being shot. The woman was said to be a cailleach who shapeshifted to become a hare.

There are other strange stories involving hares with supernatural powers and hares who were hunted but turned out to be women. In the Duchais.ie schools collection, a story written by Michael McConalogue has been transcribed about a man who was travelling on horseback from Inishowen to Derry and met a man who was on the back of a hare. The story is complicated with many twists and turns but the hare had magic powers and saved the day of the man on horseback. The story can be read here.

5: Finding a horseshoe on your way

It’s not often nowadays you would come across a horseshoe when you’re out and about but you never know, this might be your lucky day after all! It was said that if you found a horseshoe on the road, it was a sign of good luck, as long as the shoe was facing you, as if the horse were walking towards you. If the shoe faces the other way, all the luck will be walking away from you, apparently. You will have no luck at all, however, if you leave the horseshoe laying on the road. You must take it with you and if you can’t, turn it upside down and hope for the best!

Good luck!