Have you ever wondered why people buy lucky charms? I can’t blame you if you are one of them. In fact, I have been eyeing lucking charms in Lazada lately. As a staunch non-believer of magic and a woman of science, I should not be attracted to lucky charms. But I am.
Let’s qualify it: I do not buy lucky charms, per se. I buy japa malas. What are these? They are the Buddhist rosaries. So, why would an atheist be interested in religious paraphernalia? And what does this have to do with lucky charms? The answer is, both items are talismans. And talismans are repositories of magic and power. When I hold a japa mala in my hands, I am exercising my power over something in a symbolic way. The same basic principle applies when you wear your lucky bracelet, lucky shoes, or your St. Benedict’s medal.
It is at this point that I have to make a stand. As I mentioned earlier, I am atheist, and so, I do not believe in anything supernatural. This includes “God” or gods, magic, and superstition. If you are still with me, read on. If not, you are welcome to ignore my insights. I would be glad, though, if you stayed, if you keep an open mind to what I have to say.
Everybody needs a lucky charm. This applies to anyone, regardless of religion, or in my case, irreligion. The reason for this goes beyond religion, it is actually, psychological and sociological. Let me explain.
When you hold that lucky charm of yours, what do you feel? There is a solid presence that assures you things will work out, or will go your way. This object has become your way to control the unknown. And if you believe in “higher beings” (God, Angels, the Universe, Buddha), you will believe that these higher powers are watching over you. Through the symbol that you hold in your hands, they are controlling the unknown so that you will get what you want. It is in this state of belief that the magic happens. The lucky charms work because the gods are granting you your wishes—you firmly believe it so. And because you believe, it manifests.
If this sounds a lot like the famous “Law of Attraction”, then you are correct. The law of attraction by Losier says that you attract to your life whatever you give focus on or give energy to. In psychology, there are many terms to explain law of attraction. In my opinion, the best combo would be self-hypnosis + behavioral conditioning.
Let me break it down for you. First, self-hypnosis. When I do self-hypnosis, I am not fooling myself into something. It is about getting into a mental state where I am open to suggestions, as opposed to being totally close-minded about possibilities. At this point if you are asking, is self-hypnosis a form of budol? Yes, actually, it is self-budol.
I’ll be more concrete. Here’s an example of a statement using self-hypnosis, “I am attracting positive people in my life today.” In contrast, when I am not in a self-hypnotic frame of mind, the statements in my head are not focused towards the object of my desire.
Notice that to get into that self-hypnotic state, I must first know what I want, and then articulate it in an open-ended way. The process of going about this: naming the want, then saying the want in an open-ended way are both essential to make the “magic” of self-hypnosis work.
Next, let’s talk about behavioral conditioning. All behavior is learned, good or bad. We may have a lot of control about learning the behavior, or we may have learned it by observing other people. When it comes to lucky charms, we apply behavioral learning by association. Let’s say you were wearing that lucky charm when you got a lucky break. What are the chances that you will associate that lucky charm with being lucky? You are inclined to think of that charm as lucky from that time on. And guess what? The more you believe that it is lucky, the more your self-hypnosis works. It’s a self-fulfilling prophesy.
But then, let me add to my first and second points. Not only do lucky charms work because of self-hypnosis and behavioral conditioning, there is a third aspect. It’s the psychosocial aspect—in short, society also influences you to believe in the power of your lucky charm, with all its charms and associations with magic.
Let’s put it this way. You wear a lucky charm to work, people notice it. They believe it works, and they reinforce the belief. You (consciously or unconsciously) accept what they think, and these things influence the way you behave. I’m going to apply all of what I said now to my current interest with the japa mala.
Self-hypnosis – “The japa mala promotes inner peace.”
Behavioral conditioning – “When I have the japa mala, I calm down.”
Social reinforcement – People see that I am wearing this Buddhist rosary and they may assume I meditate (or I practice yoga, or etc.), and therefore I am a calm person. Hence, people interact with me with this preconditioned belief.
Do you see how the magic works now? There is a confluence of factors that make the magic charm work. In this case, my japa mala works because of a combination of self-talk, associating a behavior with something positive, and social influence. The magic is a constructed reality—it would not work for anybody else except me with my particular, unique circumstances. As an object of your constructed reality, the power is magnified because it is not just about you in isolation. It is also about you and the meaningful relationships you have with others—what they think of you, how they behave around you. In short, the magic belongs not only to you, but the society you are embedded in. This makes the lucky charm double or triple its power.
I hope I gave a good explanation about lucky charms from a psychologist’s perspective. Presently, I have several japa malas I use to calm me down when things get a bit toxic. The beauty of it is it works for me. Having something tangible to ground myself, and a really pretty object at that, works wonders for me. What about you? What’s your magic object? Treat it with respect, because on the overall, it holds your power.
The featured image on this blog was AI-generated by me using free tools, namely ChatGPT, Canva, and Leonardo AI. I use these images to support my written content creatively and cost-effectively.
