Why do we cross our fingers for good luck?
by Linda Browne Whether you think theyâre downright foolishness, or youâre one of those folks whoâd literally go out of your way to avoid crossing the path of a black cat or having to walk under a ladder, you canât deny the intrigue of superstitions. And even if youâre not a believer, you might find yourself performing strange little rituals from time to time without giving it much thought. Even the most skeptical among us have probably said âbless youâ after someoneâs sneezed, or rapped their knuckles against a wooden table (or their own head, in self-deprecating fashion) to help avoid a negative outcome and encourage good fortune to keep flowing. You mightâve also crossed your fingers for a friend headed out on a job interview, or for a child competing in a sports tournament, to wish them good luck and encourage a favourable outcome. Or perhaps you simply said, âIâll keep my fingers crossed for you!â without doing the action. Either way, itâs probably something youâve done, or said, time and time again. Like many superstitions, sayings and the like, thereâs no clear-cut answer as to how this peculiar practice came about. Though there seems to be two main opposing viewpoints. One is that the gesture predates Christianity, with two people forming a cross with their index fingers. In his book Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, former physicist Charles Panati writes that the gesture âgrew out of the pagan belief that a cross was a symbol of perfect unity; andthat its point of intersection marked the dwelling place of beneficent spirits. A wish made on a cross was supposed to be anchored steadfastly at the crossâs intersection until that desire was realized.âAnother theory suggests the practice came about when Christianity was in its infancy, with Christians using the gesture as a secret symbol of sorts to identify each other. Itâs said that each person would form an âLâ with their index finger and thumb, and then touch their thumbs together and overlap their index fingers,forming the Ichthys symbol (perhaps better known as the âJesus fishâ). âItis difficult to know if early Christians were using signs and symbols âsecretly,â and they certainly shared many of the symbols of the Greeks and Romans. The âChiRhoâ symbol is one of the earliest, and it was based on the ÎΧÎΥΣ or âFISHâ acrostic, which stood for âJesus Christ, Godâs Son, Saviourâ and does appear on an ancient Christian tombstone (Aberkios, 2nd century),â writes Dr. Alicia Batten, professor of religious and theological studies at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo, in an email to Downhome.âIt is true that early Christians would seemingly reflect this symbol later by touching the thumb to the index finger (and blessing people with this), but I do not know for sure whether this was related to crossing fingers.âStuart Vyse , an American behavioural scientist, teacher, writer and expert on superstition and irrational behaviour, says the theory linking crossed fingersto the Christian cross, âwhich presumably is thought to bring on luck,â seems to make the most sense, pointing to Harry Oliverâs book, Black Cats & Four-Leaf Clovers: The Origins of Old Wivesâ Tales and Superstitions in Our Everyday Lives. (In the book, Oliver notes that âCrossing fingers is also a gesture used as a countermeasure when one has accidentally walked under a ladder, and it is commonly used by children when telling a lie as a way of protecting themselves in advance for the consequences of the bad deed.â He adds, âThere is little evidence of people crossing fingers as a sign of good luck before the late 19th century.â)However, Vyse cautions, âwhen it comes to folk beliefs, it is hard to know⦠No one has claimed to have originated these practices, and there seems to be quite a bit of speculation going on by those who claim to know the origins. Multiple sources are also a real possibility. For example, there are no fewer than three major theories of the origin of unlucky 13,â he tells Downhome. âI will point out that crossing fingers is different than many other superstitions, but similar to knocking on wood in the sense that it is often done in public as a kind of shared hope. People will sometimes say âfingers crossedâ or actually cross their fingers as a way of communicating that they hope something will happen. 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