Illustration by Leanna

All llustrations by Leanna.

I believe in luck. I was born on Friday the 13th—most people consider that hellishly unlucky, but it’s always been a lucky day for me. My birth date could be the reason I have a thing about the number 13: I have 13 ear piercings, and on the days when I need the most luck I make sure I’m wearing jewelry in all of them. I also have a lucky necklace that I wear all the time, a couple of lucky bracelets that I wear when I need a boost, and a lucky coin that I keep in my wallet. I mostly think these items are lucky because the people who gave them to me are like my guardian angels, but I also think it’s OK to just decide that certain things are lucky, and I do it all the time. If I have a particularly awesome day while I’m wearing a certain shirt, dress, pair of earrings, or underwear, I tend to decide that those items are lucky, too.

We’re usually taught that luck is not within our control, but I absolutely maintain that you can create your own luck. I do that quite literally sometimes by making charm or mojo bags to tap into my strengths, something I learned from looking at a few different Wiccan and Pagan books. I sort of make up my Wiccan practice as I go along—I’ve always been interested in it, but I’m not necessarily practicing regularly—so it feels even more like I’m creating my own magic. My charm and mojo bags are filled with herbs that are supposed to help your creativity (laurel, valerian, lavender) and stones that are said to bring prosperity and luck (moonstone, adventurine, citrine, jade). I put these things in a yellow or gold bag (those colors are connected to creativity and prosperity), then I put that bag in a black bag (a color indicating neutrality and protection). I write a little blessing before I start—just some good thoughts I have about myself—and say it out loud as I assemble the bag. Sometimes I say the blessing again when I feel like my luck needs to be recharged. When my bag is finished, I sleep with it under my pillow, carry it with me when I feel like I really need luck, or keep it near my writing desk for the creative charge. Carrying my charm bags makes me feel stronger, and it’s a special kind of strong because I know I channeled energy from the best parts of me when I made them.

I was curious about other people’s lucky charms, and asked some of the Rookie staff what items brought them luck. —Stephanie