Most people don't believe in magic, but they may still wish for a good outcome by knocking on wood. Magical thinking—the need to believe that one’s hopes and desires can have an effect on how the ...

Superstition is a natural and common phenomenon. Consider the athlete that doesn’t change underwear on a winning streak; the gambler who blows on a set of dice at the craps table; the sports fan who ...

Leading up to the election, many people may have thought they would jinx their preferred candidate if they stated that they believed he or she would win. This belief that one's thoughts or hopes can ...

Diego de la Cruz, "The Mass of Saint Gregory" (c. 1490), oil and gold leaf on wood (all images courtesy Princeton University Press) A significant part of Koering’s thesis is that in the pre-Christian ...

I never thought I’d write this. Honestly, I believed magical thinking died along with DVDs, dial-up internet and the last episode of Charmed. I was absolutely certain that tarot cards, numerology and ...

I just finished a book by Richard Overy called The Twilight Years analyzing the dying throes of the exceptionalism of the British Empire (American clerisy, please take note). There was a fascinating ...