A Modern Guide to Superstition This is A Modern Guide to Superstition, a column by Dorothy Bendel on folk belief and ritual in chaotic times.

No One Is Waiting to Steal Your Joy

Growing up with abuse, I came to see the experience of joy as inseparable from the threat that it would all soon be undone.

Jul 29, 2021
“Bloody Mary” and Other Things Only Spoken of in the Dark

I try to talk openly about everything that was shrouded in mystery when I was growing up. I try to take the distorted sense of my younger self and change her shape.

Jun 30, 2021
What Moving During a Pandemic Taught Me About the Meaning of Home

My grandmother once told me that bringing bread into a home means that its residents will never go hungry.

Apr 27, 2021
Can a Bird and Its Nest Really Bring Bad Luck?

Some think good luck or bad luck is with us from birth—though our luck might change if a winged creature steals a strand of our hair.

Mar 24, 2021
Say “Bread and Butter” and Stick Together

If a pair, walking together, is forced to pass on opposite sides of some obstacle, they should say “bread and butter” or risk a permanent separation.

Feb 22, 2021