Title: Lucky #18 in Judaism

General Information about Item:

• Superstition, Number lore
• Language: English
• Religion of Origin: Judaism
• Informant: Jonah Deykin
• Date Collected: 2/25/18

Informant Data:

• Jonah Deykin was born on October 17, 1996 in Boston, Massachusetts. Both of his parents grew up in the United States as Jewish Americans and are currently employed as physicians. Jonah’s parents and sister still live in Boston, while he attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.  Jonah is a member of the Beta Alpha Omega Fraternity and is majoring in economics with the goal of working in finance after graduation in 2019.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: Since Jonah is currently on his off-term at Dartmouth College, I had to interview him over Skype. The lucky number that Jonah discussed with me was the number 18.  He originally learned the folklore behind this number from his family and their Jewish religious background.
• Social Context: He remembered that the first time he encountered 18 as being a lucky number was when he was attending Hebrew school in fourth-grade where he was taught the importance of this number. He has also encountered this number on numerous occasions such as his bar mitzvah.  Although Jonah typically doesn’t believe in lucky or unlucky numbers, he sees 18 as one number that will be lucky for him the rest of his life, based on his religious background.

Item:

• According to Jonah, in Hebrew numerology, 18 is the value of the letters that make up the word “life,” so people often give gifts in denominations that are multiples of 18 or charitable donations in similar amounts. For example, he received many gifts of money for his bar mitzvah in multiples of 18.

Informants Comments:

• For example, Jonah said he received many gifts of money for his bar mitzvah in multiples of 18.

Collectors Name: John Lazor-Hanover, NH

Tags/Keywords: 

• lucky numbers
• superstition

Title: Lucky #3 in Slovakia

General Information about Item:

• Superstition, Number lore
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: Slovakia
• Informant: Matus Petrovsky
• Date Collected: 2/26/18

Informant Data:

• Matus Petrovski was born on April 12, 1997 in Slovakia. Both of his parents grew up in Slovakia and are currently living and working there today. However, Matus attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire where he is a member of the Beta Alpha Omega Fraternity and is majoring in economics with the goal of working in finance after graduation in 2019.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: I was able to speak with Matus on February 26, 2018 in the Dartmouth College Library. The lucky number that Matus discussed with me was the number 3.  He originally learned the folklore behind this number from his parents and their Slovakian cultural background.
• Social Context: In Slovakia, the number 3 is very lucky, and he was taught this when his mother would read fairytales to him as a child in order to put him to sleep at night. Matus has grown up with his mother telling him how lucky this number is, so it has been engrained in him and he will always believe that luck is associated with 3.

Item:

• In Slovakian fairytales, movies, theater plays, or even songs, the numbers 7, 12, and most notably 3, appear very often and are associated with a magical significance. This is because there are usually 3 characters or a character must decide between three routes or options during the tale. Usually one of the three characters or one of the options that are available has a magical significance associated with it.

Collector’s Name: John Lazor-Hanover, NH

Tags/Keywords:

• superstition
• lucky number

Title: Lucky #8 in China

General Information about Item:

• Superstition, Number lore
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: China
• Informant: Edric Wung
• Date Collected: 2/27/18

Informant Data:

• Edric Wung was born on May 18, 1996 in The District of Columbia, USA. However, both of his parents are Chinese as they grew up in China, but and are currently employed and living in the United States.  Edric attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire where he competes on the Men’s Varsity Golf Team and is majoring in economics with the goal of working in finance after graduation.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: I interviewed Edric on February 27^th in the Dartmouth College Library. The lucky number that Edric discussed with me was the number 8.  He originally learned the folklore behind this number from his family and their Chinese cultural background and beliefs. He was first introduced to this number and its significance when his mother would tell him Chinese riddles and tales involving the lucky number 8.
• Social Context: Although Edric said he is not normally a strong believer in lucky and unlucky numbers, he believes 8 is a very important number to him and that it brings him great luck. For example, since he is a golfer, his 8-iron has always been the golf club he feels the most comfortable hitting and rarely hits poor shots with it, therefore adding to his belief that 8 is a very lucky number. Another example he told me about was how people in China would pay extra sums of money to have a license plate with the number 8 on it.

Item:

• In China, the number 8 has long been regarded as one of the luckiest numbers in Chinese culture. It is pronounced as ‘Ba’ in Chinese, and sounds very similar to the word ‘Fa’, which means to make a fortune. Therefore, because it sounds so close to a word that is associated with wealth and prosperity, its seen as being very lucky.

Collector’s Name: John Lazor-Hanover, NH

Tags/Keywords: 

• superstition
• lucky number