Page 26 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - August/September 2017

26 From The ‘X’ Zone Broadcast Network

13 Common (But Silly)

Superstitions

Continued from Page 25

Make a wish on a wishbone

The tradition of turkey bone tug-of-war goes
back a long way. Legend has it that first-century
Romans used to fight over dried wishbones —
which they believed were good luck — and
would accidentally break them, ushering in the
idea that whoever has the largest bit of bone gets
their wish. Bird bones have also been used in
divination throughout history, with a supposed THE ‘X’ ZONE RADIO SHOW
soothsayer throwing the bones and reading their with ROB McCONNELL
patterns to predict the future.
From the world of the PARANORMAL to the science of PARAPSYCHOLOGY - Welcome to
Cross your fingers The 'X' Zone.... a place where Fact is Fiction and Fiction is Reality where Canadian broadcaster,

the host, creator and executive producer, Rob McConnell has been at the helm of this
Those wishing for luck will often cross one Internationally syndicated terrestrial radio and satellite programming since 1991.
finger over another, a gesture that's said to date
back to early Christianity. The story goes that Since 1992, Rob has interviewed more than 4,100 guests, all of who can be view at
two people used to cross index fingers when www.rmmcpublishing.com/guestsofthex.
making a wish, a symbol of support from a
friend to the person making the wish. (Anything To read what guests have said about their visit to The 'X' Zone Radio/TV Show, go to
associated with the shape of the Christian cross www.rmmcpublishing.com/guestcomments.
was thought to be good luck.) The tradition
gradually became something people could do on To contact Rob McConnell - Email - robmcconnell@xzbn.net
their own; these days, just saying "fingers
crossed" is enough to get the message, well,
across.
www.XZBN.net

No umbrellas inside

… And not just because you'll poke someone's
eye out. Opening an umbrella indoors is
supposed to bring bad luck, though the origins
of this belief are murky. Legends abound, from
a story of an ancient Roman woman who
happened to have opened her umbrella moments
before her house collapsed, to the tale of a
British prince who accepted two umbrellas from
a visiting king and died within months. Like the
"don't walk under a ladder" superstition, this
seems to be a case of a myth arising to keep
people from doing something that is slightly
dangerous in the first place.

Friday the 13th
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
If you're not scared of Friday the 13th, you
should be scared of the word used to describe with DR. KEVIN RANDLE
those who are: friggatriskaidekaphobics. (An
alternative, though just as tongue-twisty, word DR KEVIN RANDLE, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel who served combat tours as a
for the fear is "paraskevidekatriaphobia.") helicopter pilot in Vietnam and an intelligence officer in Iraq. He has been studying UFOs for
For a superstition, the fear of Friday the nearly fifty years. He has investigated some of the most famous UFO cases including the
13th seems fairly new, dating back to the late Levelland sightings and series of sightings over Washington, D.C. in 1952. He has been
1800s. Friday has long been considered an consulted for dozens of documentaries about UFOs and has made presentations to dozens of
unlucky day (according to Christian tradition, colleges and other organizations. He is considered one of the leading experts into the Roswell
Jesus died on a Friday), and 13 has a long UFO crash of 1947. He had written more than 25 books about UFOs including the recently
history as an unlucky number. published Roswell in the 21st Century and hosts a blog, KevinRandle.blogspot.com. To contact
According to the Stress Management Dr Kevin Randle - Email - drkevinrandle@xzbn.net
Center and Phobia Institute in North Carolina,
about 17 million people fear Friday the 13th. Past Guests Include: Don Schmitt, Philip Mantle, Peter Robbins, Nick Redfern, Don Ecker, Jan
Many may fall prey to the human mind's desire Harzan, John Greenwald, Barry Greenwood, Lorna Hunter, Lance Moody, Don Ledger, Paul
to associate thoughts and symbols with events. Kimball, Chris Rutkowski, Col. Charles Halt, Curt Collins, and many others.
"If anything bad happens to you on
Friday the 13th, the two will be forever
associated in your mind," said Thomas Gilovich,
a psychologist at Cornell University. "All those www.XZBN.net
uneventful days in which the 13th fell on a
Friday will be ignored." []