Superstitious?

This is Benny. He lives next door and is quite the tomcat.

It won't have escaped your attention that he is a cat that's black, and depending on where you're from that means good or bad luck.

Another creature with the power to bestow good or bad fortune on anyone it encounters is the magpie. But as with Benny et al, how this works out depends on cultural factors and you're whereabouts.

The reason all this has particular resonance this weekend is that tomorrow sees Newcastle play Sunderland. Or, put another way, the Magpies vs the Black Cats*.

Now, being British, a black cat is more often considered lucky, while the magpie, unless accompanied ("two for joy"), is a foreboding symbol of "sorrow".

None of which helps me one bit. I'm a Newcastle fan.

Good job I'm not superstitious, I suppose.

And I didn't even mention halloween once.

Embiggen

* this vacuous nickname was only adopted by the mackems in the last few years. Prior to that I cannot remember what everyone else called them...