Beech Tree News Network

One day at work, one of my customers and I were talking about our grandchildren.  She has a grandson who is three years old, and she raises chickens.

“He was the first one through the door on New Year’s Day,” she said of her grandson.  “I was so disappointed, because I was hoping my son would be the first one through the door, but my grandson was the first one.  He ended up being good luck after all.  I have over a hundred chickens now.”

“What do you mean by chicken luck?” I asked.

“The first male who comes into your house in the New Year brings your chicken luck,” she said.  “If you raise pigs, the first female who comes into your house brings your pig luck for the year.”

I grew up with country superstitions, but I had never heard of either.  I asked our friend, Mike Martin, if he had ever heard of chicken luck or pig luck, and he said he hadn’t, but if I heard anything about cow luck to be sure to send some his way.

My stepmom used to tell us if your left hand itched, you would be coming into some money, but if your right hand itched, you were going to lose some money.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have itchy left hands.  

According to the website speakingtree.in, “Itchy palms are nothing more than energy circulating inside our body.”  The site suggests rubbing your hand across wood to make the itching stop or washing your hands with salt water to break any money curse.

When I was a kid, my sisters and I would buy lucky rabbit’s foot key chains at the state fair.  They were real rabbits’ feet back in the day, and I can’t believe we weren’t repulsed by the idea of carrying a dead foot around with us.  Although most lucky rabbits’ feet today are plastic faux-fur knock-offs, you can still get real rabbit’s foot key chains online from Amazon.  There’s even an online petition at thedodo.com to stop Amazon from selling the feet, because they come from rabbits that are raised in deplorable conditions for their meat.  (You know, we also bought shrunken heads at the state fair.  We assumed they were just rubber, but who knows?)

When Garey and I plant our garden, I always depend on his “green thumb” luck for our garden.  He gets the soil ready and we plant when it gets dry enough and warm enough to plant.  It’s worked for 43 years, however when he saw my note on the mirror reminding me to plant the green beans and cucumbers one day, he stopped me.

“According to the almanac, it’s a barren sign today,” he said, “You do not need to plant anything today.”

“Since when do we plant by the almanac?” I started to ask then thought better of it.  We always have abundant gardens, so if Garey thinks we need to sit up and take notice of what the almanac says this year about gardening then by golly, I’m going to sit up and take notice.

Here’s what I learned from the almanac:  There are twelve constellations.  When the moon makes its circuit through the sky, it passes through each of the twelve in succession.  Each of the twelve constellations has an accompanying Zodiac sign.  Each constellation has wet or dry tendencies, barren or productive and masculine and feminine characteristics.  

The signs are as follows:

Capricorn—moist and productive, Aquarius—dry and barren, Pisces—watery and fruitful, Aries—dry and barren, Taurus—moist and productive, Gemini—dry and barren, Cancer—watery and very fruitful, Leo—dry and barren, Virgo—dry and barren, Libra—moist and semi-fruitful, Scorpio—watery and fruitful, and Sagittarius—dry and barren.

I’ve been trying to study the almanac Garey gave me.  We raise a lot of sweet potatoes, and according to the almanac, you are supposed to plant things that bear fruit under the ground during the times that the moon passes through Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus or Cancer, and during which time the moon is on the decrease.

I have just about reached the conclusion Garey’s grandfather reached when someone told him the moon wasn’t in the right phase to plant his potatoes.  Mr. Hughes told the guy he didn’t intend to plant his potatoes on the moon, so he thought he would just go ahead and plant them.  Mr. Hughes had “green thumb” luck like Garey does, and you know what they say about “If it ain’t broke.”