Old - Luck by Design In 88 Principles - Kevin DS Murray writing and projects

> [!META]+ Meta > Author:: Kevin Murray Date:: 2014-01-27 Themes:: [[Social object]] Tags:: ISBN: 978-0-9875154-2-1 Design by Ishan Khosla Studio This book is dedicated to Deborah Z. Cass This set of guidelines is for creating objects, spaces and actions on which others may pin their hopes. It is of relevance to jewellers, architects, interior designers, product designers, artists, parents and friends. Herein the reader will find gathered wisdom from tradition, sociology, psychoanalysis, anthropology and contemporary design practice. The reader is not required to believe in supernatural forces. It is only assumed that he or she have an interest in making the world a more liveable place. Luck by Design is the practice of creating spaces in which we might share with each other the adventure of being alive in the world. With this book, you can make someone else lucky. This publication is part of the Joyaviva project. See www.joyaviva.net. <div class="WordSection1"> ‘There is no one luckier than he who thinks himself so.’ German Proverb \ </div> ## Introduction Walking into my Greek hairdresser for regular cut, I was shocked to see Chris the barber appear with a badly bruised face. What happened? With a half-smile, he told me he’d been knocked down by a car crossing a busy road, left in a coma for days. ‘That’s terrible, Chris.’ But he laughed, ‘Don’t worry, I have luck!’ He dug his hand under his shirt collar and pulled out a crucifix. ‘This protects me.’ He then told me about how he was given this special object in a Greek monastery. Listening in the barber’s seat, I felt pleased for Chris. But walking home questions began to arise. Is he really lucky? I wasn’t wearing a crucifix, and I haven’t been hit by a car. He wears a crucifix and he is nearly killed. No, it’s not the objective reality of luck that seems to matter to Chris, it’s more the positive perspective he brings to it. For Chris, things could always be worse. Sure you’ve been struck by a car, but then you could have been killed. Chris feels lucky. And he has a long-lasting cultural platform to support this feeling. He *is* lucky. But what about doubters like myself? Is there a way of feeling lucky without subscribing to belief that a mysterious hand is guiding events in our favour? Previous generations have inherited cosmologies and superstitions that give a semblance of order behind the random occurrences that can disrupt our lives. In abandoning such childish beliefs, have we lost a potentially positive frame through which to look forward? I raised this with my sister-in-law, a superbly intelligent professor of international law who just happened to be struck with the curse of a terminal bowel cancer. She was committed to every possible practical treatment, from medical technology to strict diet. Nothing was left to chance. Yet underpinning all this was the critical element of hope. ‘In the end, you have to believe in something.’ The challenge then is to think of luck as something can be constructed, rather than imbibed magically through traditions or new age fantasies. To create luck by design seeks to create a space in which fortune can appear. This is the space where stories appear. The core element in any narrative is unpredictability—then what happened? By contrast with the predictable routines of daily life, stories allow for surprise. It’s this shared vulnerability to chance that connects people together. Today, the creation of luck draws on a mixture of past and present sources, including collective traditions, personal invention and professional design. Civilisation is an ongoing project. Just as crafts like pottery were honed over millennia, so techniques evolved for warding off impalpable fears. There have been substances that presage the future, such as tea leaves. Mysterious symbols have inspired confidence, like the four-leaf clover. Fragments of rare substances, as in medieval reliquaries, evoke a powerful aura. In addition to inherited traditions, many individuals invent their own ways to pass on luck to friends or family. A personal customised charm might prove effective in evoking a friendship that will survive through thick and thin. And now there are some designers, particularly jewellers, who are re-casting traditions to invent a modern amulet, tailored to meet new anxieties. For the applied arts, the challenge of enabling luck promises to connect craft for art’s sake to the relational age. Craft survived in the 20^th^ century by becoming an art form. Ceramics and jewellery continued to be made by hand as a form of creative expression, rather than objects to be used. But this is unlikely to continue. With ongoing deskilling and dematerialisation, the production of craft masterpieces is declining. One answer is to return to the social basis of craft There is in the origins of craft an element of design—not necessarily for practical purposes such as holding liquids, but in the architecture of hope within which people gain emotional shelter. The care invested in a handmade gift is a capital that we can carry around to face uncertainties of a life in play. The project of Luck by Design is to draw from this rich combination of tradition, personal invention and professional practice to create a set of principles at play in the practice of making fortune. While it aspires to the disciplines of a professional practice, it also honours the folk wisdom that has evolved over millennia to raise hopes and ward off fear. The 88 principles of Luck by Design are intended to evoke the diversity and open-ended nature of creating auspiciousness. Perhaps later, it may be possible to distil these into a system, like colour theory. But for now, we can enjoy its rich legacy, and maybe even contribute something new. <div class="WordSection1"> [1. There is no such thing as luck]() =========================================================================================================== For some, luck is the result of a mysterious force, such as the hand of God or a divine offsider, saint or elf. This luck is one of the ‘mysterious ways’ in which higher forces operate. What seems like random fortune is really to be understood as part of a carefully laid plan, of which we mortals are ignorant. While many still believe that luck has a divine origin, this faith is not really necessary for its producers or consumers. Luck by Design is grounded on an existentialist view of luck, for which there is no underlying order in the world. Luck does indeed exist, but as a social construction rather than a supernatural force. This kind of luck is what you and others make of it. Making luck is a combination of art and science. The art of luck draws on individual creativity within a context of traditions evolved over generations. The science of luck is grounded in the disciplines of product design, anthropology, psychoanalysis, sociology and narrative psychology. Together they help us to create luck by design. </div> <div class="WordSection1"> [2. Luck is hard work.]() =============================================================================================== It is tempting these days to think that an object can be made lucky simply by adding to it an iconic symbol, such as a four-leaf clover. What used to be wondrously enchanting charm bracelets have been replaced these days by kitsch accessories based more on fashion than fate. But for luck to work, you have work to do. An object cannot provide luck until it is activated. Activation can take many different forms, including incantations, transformations such as being eaten, or rubbed on the body. It is as much the activation afforded by the object as the object itself which has the desired effect. The ritual use of the object takes the user out of the everyday world, making a space for change to occur. </div> <div class="WordSection1"> [3. Go away.]() ===================================================================================== One especially effective form of luck work is travel. Most successful religions include devotional itineraries for those seeking to connect with important historical moments. Such pilgrimages often result in miracles, or at least revelations, and certainly blessings. Tourism as a secular form of pilgrimage almost inevitably involves chance occurrences, such as meeting famous people or losing luggage. The longer the journey, the greater the space for luck to occur. </div> <div class="WordSection1"> [4. Find the McGuffin.]() =============================================================================================== McGuffin is the name for an object whose sole purpose is to generate suspense. Alfred Hitchcock christened this plot device with the anecdote: ‘\[McGuffin\] might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men in a train. One man says "What's that package up there in the baggage rack?", and the other answers, "Oh, that's a McGuffin". The first one asks "What's a McGuffin?" "Well", the other man says, "It's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands". The first man says, "But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands", and the other one answers, "Well, then that's no McGuffin!"’ There is no essential characteristic in an object that generates luck. What’s necessary is for the object to find itself in the flow of life, buffeted by chance events. What’s more significant than the object itself is the story that will emerge from its alternating presence and absence. </div> [5. Too much risk management is a dangerous thing.]() =========================================================================================================================== Risk management is a blight on contemporary existence. Life has become beholden to technocratic processes: friendly or gruff attendants are replaced by emotionless CCTV cameras. A new managerial class has emerged with a specialist language that is devastatingly effective in stifling innovation. Boards of organisations are taken over by lawyers and corporate managers whose employment capital grows as they uncover previously unimagined contingencies that reluctantly prevent the latest bold initiate from seeing the light of day. It’s ‘steady as she goes’, and Western economies are going steadily down under the weight of technocracy, while the global south emerges unbridled by the management class, for the time being at least. Luck by design counteracts technocracy. It creates a space for change to happen. To a degree, it is the antithesis of design as conventionally understood—design as a practice for making the world more predictable. What’s necessary is a space for chaos, where individuals can exercise some agency themselves. The rise of technocracy has left us feeling like cogs in the machine. We need luck to make us human again. The Melbourne jeweller Caz Guiney has made a modest but heartfelt contribution to this. Her Charm ID is an amulet in the guise of a lanyard. Those feeling particularly oppressed by their organisation can rub the charm on its brick edifice, leaving a trace of hope. This is especially important for those who can remember back to a time when the organisation was based on a mission beyond its own self-preservation. [6. The question is the answer.]() ======================================================================================================== ‘Good luck’ is one of the most common salutations between friends and acquaintances. Why is this? Do we actually believe that the listener will be magically endowed by the incantation of our two simple words? We tend to say good luck on parting, in acknowledgement of the particular challenge our friend is facing, such as bid on eBay or a tricky car repair. This is the moment where Luck by Design can be particularly effective. Offering a lucky charm at this moment provides added investment in the friendly regard. ‘Here, take this. It will bring you luck.’ It is not necessary for either giver or receiver of the charm to believe in luck for the object to work. Its true mission instead is to license the giver to ask the question when they next meet the recipient, ‘So, did the charm work for you?’, enabling the other to begin the story, ‘Funnily enough…’ or ‘Well actually….’ By framing the story as one of luck, this also frees our friend from fear of judgement. If they didn't get the job after the interview, this is seen as a matter of external circumstance, rather than personal responsibility. Unlike in the world of work, where our value is contingent on performance, friends are defined by their support for each other's personal journey, whoever it might take us. Luck is the space friends make to accommodate failure in our lives. ### 7. Choose your luck One of the simplest techniques for creating luck is to offer the user a choice. Will you take the red pill or the blue pill? Choice has a mysterious power. Obviously it actively engages the recipient, granting them some responsibility for the outcome. Carefully chosen luck is something can be ‘owned’. Beyond the mere fact of choice, the elements which are seen to guide selection can then become part of the larger narrative framework in which action takes place. Why did you chose to go through the left door, rather than the right? But there is also the potential for unconscious factors to play a role in making our decision. A seemingly arbitrary choice has potential to reveal something about our self which we didn’t know before, as when we choose the adventurous red alternative opposed to our normally cautious blue preference. The Walka Studio from Chile have a Cornucopia Project where participants make a selection from a series of almost identical charms made from cow horn. The subtle variations of colour and texture lend themselves to all kinds of narratives—do I identify with the strength of solid black or the aesthetic subtlety of light brown with a black streak? Making the choice creates quite a different capacity than if the charms were assigned to participants randomly. ### 8. Plan for unplanned obsolescence The value of design is often linked to the durability of function. A well-designed product survives the wear and tear of use. It keeps on washing clothes, updating its operating system, travelling along roads… Occasionally we hear of ‘planned obsolescence’, when the profit motive compromises good design. This obviously is a problem in conventional design. By contrast, luck by design can aspire to an ‘unplanned obsolescence’, as the device harbouring fortune suddenly breaks as if for no reason. The classic wishbone necklace is held together with a thin silk thread, easy to break. The story goes that the moment it breaks, a love has been found. Of course, we may subliminally cause stress on the thread when we feel we have made a choice. Alternatively, there may be relief in fate having chosen for us. Regardless, while intact this necklace sustains a hope that a match will be found one day. ### 9. Luck wants to be free. A significant challenge facing designers of fortune is economics. The most successful lucky product is one received for free, as a gift. Because the true value of the charm is the relationship with the giver, one purchased for money, especially for oneself, has lesser power. Luck by design is a subset of the gift. An excellent account of the gift’s power can be found in the writings of Clive Dilnot: ‘The end of the object is not in itself but in the subject for whom the object is made. Objects (help) make us. Objects are not dead possessions but live gifts.’ (Clive Dilnot 'The gift' *Design Issues* 1993, 9: 2, pp. 51-63) One solution for a product of fortune is to come packaged with a warning that its effectiveness depends on it being received for no money. Given the dependence on the narrative for the success of the object, this should ensure its power is sustained. [10. As Karl Marx said…]() ============================================================================================ Karl Marx argued that the true nature of things lies in the social relations that are embedded in them. His reflection on human activity could apply particularly to charms: ‘I would know myself to be confirmed in your thought as well as in your love. I would know that I had created through my life expression immediately yours as well. Thus in my individual activity I would know my true essence, my human, common essence is contained and realized. Our production would be so many mirrors, in which our essence would be mutually illuminated.’ Quote given by Clive Dilnot, from some notes by Marx on James Mill in the *Notebooks, Appended to the Pariser Manuskripte*. They are not published in the English translations. This version comes from Seyla Benhabib, *Critique, Norm & Utopia: A Study of the Foundations of Critical Theory* (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986, pp. 63-64). [11. World Luck Economy]() ============================================================================================ While the success of various nations can be measured by economic indicators, such as GDP, there is often an alternative luck economy that differentiate the dispositions of particular cultures. Despite their historical and economic woes, we find that ‘the luck of the Irish’ is a common appellation. This tends to give luck a bad name, aligned with stereotypes of drunkenness and stupidity. However, it does demonstrate the compensatory nature of luck, in which fortune can seem to shine on the underdog. Hinduism supports this notion with the system of *karma*, where the rewards for good deeds may not be evident within one’s own lifetime. [12. Find the four-leaf clover.]() ==================================================================================================== Commonly Irish luck is associated with a mutated shamrock, containing three rather than three leaves. Most people in the Anglo world will have gone on a search for one through a field at some stage in their lives. It is usually done with a group of friends, as a game to see who wins the ‘prize’. Other times it can be accidentally discovered, suggesting coming fortune. Why is it so enduring as a symbol of luck? The key to its power is a combination of rarity, natural growth and size. It is estimated that one in every 10,000 shamrocks has four leaves. Its appearance is thus a rare occasion. A rainbow also has rarity—in time rather than space—but it is part of natural flux and cannot be held. But unlike a diamond, which is both rare and tangible, the clover cannot be preserved. It is small enough to be possessed by an individual, granting specific beneficence, but perishable therefore unable to be traded with others. Luck designers can gain much from studying such popular traditions. Recently, a clover has been genetically modified to ensure that it only produces four-leaves, which can now be purchased online. This product threatens to destroy the meaning of the four-leaf clover, as it becomes yet another consumer good to be bought and sold, rather than a gift of fate. [13. Luck is expensive.]() ============================================================================================ The dialectical relation between luck and finance is especially evident in the way fortune is often gained by the loss of money. An urban designer might consider creating a common space in which visitors can throw their money away. This is usually associated with water, such a well. Even when a wishing well is not deliberately constructed, a fountain or moat can be popularly adopted as a receptacle for coins. Luck is a way for us to escape the otherwise omnipresent power of capital. Rather than spending our days accumulating previous financial resources, here is an opportunity to render money useless, freeing up our precious humanity. Is this the secret attraction of gambling? [14. Luck is hidden.]() ========================================================================================= When examined in the cold light of day, many legends of luck can seem like silly superstitions. Surely there’s no logical reason to avoid the number 13 for instance. By contrast, the more powerful and enduring lucky objects mask their content. In Japan, the Omamori has proved to be of lasting power, transcending generations. This little pouch is purchased at a Buddhist temple. Different temples have their own specialist versions of fortune—health, wealth, academic, love, etc. But what actually sits inside the Omamori is a mystery. And here is the stroke of genius in this particular luck by design: for the charm to function, the wearer must never open the pouch. This not only sustains the mystery, but also provides a contract between the wearer and the giver, similar to that between God and Adam and Eve, that they don’t eat the forbidden fruit. The Greeks too have a similar charm called a Filahte. [15. Everybody forges their own good luck.]() =============================================================================================================== As the Germans know, it is dangerous to depend on luck itself for getting ahead in the world. While luck might seem the antithesis of effort in human endeavour, without it our inevitable failures will seem like damning indictments. Instead, we can think of luck as something ‘forged’ through our labour. The jeweller Blanch Tilden understood this well when she created her charm. This pendant is designed particularly for freelancers, who are forever putting our pitches and applying for grants, and much face regular knockbacks and disappointments. As a way of picking oneself up again, Tilden’s charm involves an inspiring ritual. The charm consists of two elements: a small gold ingot, made up of the gold dust accumulated over years at her jeweller’s bench, and a small file. Rubbing the file against the ingot creates a small shower of gold dust. As the dust disappears into the ether, you say, ‘The harder I work, the luckier I get.’ The sacrifice of this precious metal provides testimony that there are things more important than material success. One must carry on regardless. [16. Embrace the unexpected.]() ================================================================================================= Many popular psychology texts try to analyse what makes one person luckier than another. A common element is openness to chance encounters. Our routine lives can often make us reluctant to divert our actions and follow an unexpected avenue. Luck by Design involves disrupting these habits to allow a new opportunity to unfold. [17. As luck would have it...]() ================================================================================================== You know the story. Someone frets about being late or missing a bus, only to find that they were saved from a far worse outcome by avoiding being in the right place at the wrong time. A craftsperson tells the story of what happened to her on the day of the second Christchurch earthquake. She had just said goodbye to her friend Mel and was in her workplace awaiting the arrival of two colleagues Rose and Marcel when the building started to shake. With walls falling around her, she managed to escape down the stairs and out the door when she saw her colleagues watching in horror from across the road. ‘Unbeknownst to me, Rose had arrived early for our meeting and had met Mel as she was leaving. As Mel turned back to unlock the door and let Rose in, the shaking started and they both ran out into the street, clear of the brick facade and leaving the door wide open. Every day since then I’ve thought to myself how lucky we were. How lucky Rose was early, how lucky Marcel hadn’t left home yet, how lucky they weren’t in the building or hit by debris, how lucky Mel opened the door. ‘And every day since then, along with the rest of New Zealand, my heart has just about broken for the families and friends of those who weren’t so lucky.’ Most disaster stories involve glimmers of good fortune amidst the tragedy. Survivors reflect on the seeming random quirk of fate that delivered them from oblivion, leaving them grateful yet not without guilt for those not so lucky. These tales reflect on our shared vulnerability to chance. For full story, read <http://www.felt.co.nz/blog/2011/03/rise-up-christchurch/> [18. Luck can be the ultimate misfortune.]() ============================================================================================================== There are worse fates than surviving. There is the story of a young Muslim man in Aceh who snuck out one evening to spend the night with a young woman in a nearby village. It was his first ever sexual dalliance. While he was away from home, the tsunami occurred. A massive wave of sea water brought with it a ship that smashed through his village. Racing back home to find out the fate of his family, the young man could find only flattened land, cleared of all houses. It was only some familiar trees in the distance that signalled he was standing on earth that once housed his family. Being religious, he presumed there was some reason for his survival. But it wasn’t anything beneficent. Clearly he was being punished for adultery, and he would forever suffer the torture of guilt at the devastation that he had caused. [19. Put a flaw in it.]() =========================================================================================== While finely made products aspire to perfection, there are situations where auspiciousness is associated with mistakes. Persian rug makers will deliberately make a bad knot so that their work is flawed. To make an immaculate rug would be to challenge the authority of God, who has exclusive rights on all things perfect. In Japanese ceramics, substances like salt and ash are placed in kilns in order to create unpredictable explosions that scar the pots. These resulting works carry with them ‘happy accidents’, which tell the story of nature’s inner beauty, beyond an artist’s conscious intention. [20. Things could be worse.]() ================================================================================================ A typical story in daily news: ‘A woman is lucky to be alive after her car crashed six storeys from the top floor of a car park in Melbourne's CBD this morning.’ Is she really lucky? After all, she lost her car. Surely she didn’t drive off the top floor deliberately. It must have been a terrible mistake. Yet in the end her life is worth more than the car, so in the scheme of things the good outweighs the bad luck. Luck can be viewed as a zero-sum game. For good luck to occur, there needs to be bad luck. Perhaps the secret of happiness is finding again what it is that we once lost. We feel grateful and happy, yet we are in exactly the same position as before the loss. Nothing has changed. Surely this is a better path to happiness than the constant accumulation of goods that drives consumer capitalism. To design for luck includes intermittent break down or loss. This prevents objects falling into the oblivion of the ‘taken for granted’. [21. Bear witness.]() ======================================================================================= Bearing witness is a key index of a living culture. An important role of artist is to reflect on what is happening in their world. Generally we assume this is a unique human capacity, related to our ability to acquire consciousness. But it is not only people that can bear witness. An important function of public statuary is to endure through generations. Its presence provides us with a tangible sign of history, knowing that it was present during the events of years past. In a similar fashion, objects that serve the function of charms are not there only to provide luck, they are also persistent things that see us through the joys and woes of life. As so much of sentient life comes and goes, changes loyalties, succumbs to death, we are left with the things we carry to bear the burden of our existence. This is powerfully demonstrated in Ilse-Marie Erl’s *Handful of Luck* for the Joyaviva project, which has produced engaging diaries dictated to the wearer’s charm. [22. Here, swallow this.]() ============================================================================================= Medical science is beginning to take the placebo effect seriously. In research, the placebo used to be taken as a measure of bogus success. When a cure was seen as caused by psychological factors, such as the reassuring encounter with a medical professional, this was used as the base line beyond which pharmaceutical intervention could be measured. But the placebo effect has proved to be particularly strong. It has even been found to be effective when the person is aware that it is merely a sugar pill. Why is this? The reasons appear complex, but it is likely to be a subliminal action of switching off an immune response, which can make a patient still feel sick when their body has already recovered. We are actually already better. The placebo just gives us permission to be well again. [23. Self-fulfilling prophecy]() ================================================================================================== Though luck by design is not specifically about curing people of illness, the placebo effect is partly about the benefits that come with increased confidence. As Tennessee Williams says, ‘Luck is believing you are lucky.’ [24. Take it. You’ll feel better.]() ====================================================================================================== To be a modern person is to be able to take tests. As a school student, sitting exams can be a particularly traumatic experience for many. This involves more than the struggle with difficult questions. There is also the demon within, which causes the mind to buzz with self-doubt leading to stress and difficulties in concentration. The anticipation of parents and students before an exam is not only about the child’s intellectual capacity, it is also his or her emotional stability. The latter is as much a key to their success through life as the former. The Sydney jeweller Alice Whish has made some ingenious charms for students who are about to sit the NAPLAN, which is a national examination designed to benchmark the child’s progress. Nothing tangible hangs on their performance, so it is more about the child’s capacity to deal with the stressful challenges that future life will throw at her. [25. Don’t take it, it’s bad for you.]() ========================================================================================================== More recently attention has been directed to the prevalence of ‘nocebos’, which reverse the effect of placebo so that harmful effects are felt despite lack of real cause. The nocebo has been a controversial issue for environmentalism, with some complaints that wind farms can induce sickness for those who have to live with them. This has been ridiculed by Greens as hysteria engineered by the non-renewable energy sector. Rather than discounting this effect, perhaps environmentalists can distribute special devices for countering the imagined negative effect of wind farms. [26. Go for a spin.]() ======================================================================================== One of the most common ways to create luck is to design a mechanism that is capable of random states. A coin is perfectly designed to produce unpredictable binary outcomes. A flick of the thumb sends the coin spinning through the air; its eventual resting state cannot be foretold. The chance outcome is useful for making decisions, such as which team has choice of direction in starting out a game. Luck is needed when a choice has to be made which involves one person having advantage over another, while trying to maintain equality between the two. An alternative spin is radial, such as a raffle or roulette wheel. This provides more options and is used to distribute prizes by chance. There are alternative uses of wheel, such as the threshold device in the *Turn the Soil* exhibition where visitors to an exhibition could spin to find out which country might have colonised Australia. The purpose was to consider the seeming chance factors that lead to a country being colonised by one imperial power rather than another. [27. Be in touch.]() ====================================================================================== Unlike standard jewellery, charms are not designed to be worn for others to see. They are usually found under the clothing, next to the skin of the wearer. The regular contact provides a constant reminder of its presence, and enduring power. This intimacy makes the charm a kind of transitional object—something that is both ‘me’ and ‘not me’. While originally associated with childhood toys and blankets, the charm sustains that interstitial connection to the world into adulthood. As such, it provides a locus for our more personal hopes and fears. [28. Wear the same underpants.]() =================================================================================================== Many successful athletes attribute part of their record to superstitious practices that involve a dogmatic adherence to a particular condition during various performance. The greatest ever basketball player Michael Jordan wore the same shorts during each game of his successful run of NBA championships. To cover up his superstition, he wore a second pair of larger shorts over the originals, leading to a fashion for bigger outfits on the court. Performance-based activities like sport or theatre are especially sensitive to changes in confidence. Rigid adherence to personal rituals provides some reassurance that things are being done correctly. [29. The things that bind us.]() ================================================================================================== One of the principle points of contention between Catholic and Protestant religions is the material reality of its core rituals. In Catholic practice, the taking of sacrament involves the transubstantiation of Christ—his body becomes the wafer, and blood, the wine consumed during the mass. Protestants differed, claiming that this ritual was only symbolic of redemption made possible by Christ’s sacrifice. This debate has extended into secular realms such as technology. According to some, technology is just a tool that serves our needs; the mobile phone is merely a conduit for social relations. An alternative perspective has been provided by the French sociologist of science Bruno Latour, for whom devices are invested with an agency beyond our immediate needs. As he writes, ‘All durability, all solidity, all permanence will have to be paid for by its mediators. It is this exploration of a transcendence without a contrary that makes our world so very unmodern, with all those noncios, mediators, delegates, fetishes, machines, figurines, instruments, representatives, angels, lieutenants, spokespersons and cherubim.’ (Bruno Latour *We Have Never Been Modern* (trans. Catherine Porter) New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1991, p. 129) According to this latter view, although charms may seem to be mere tokens of social support, we do in fact invest them with their own agency. Design for luck involves granting things a power beyond our desires, to be lost and found at the whim of fate. [30. Inside the red line]() ============================================================================================= The red thread is found through most world religions as a form of protection. Hindu ceremonies involve tying a red thread around the wrists of participants to create a *mauli*. This is based on the story of Lord Vishnu, who during his incarnation as Vamana tied a red thread on the hands of King Bali to grant him immortality and to rule the netherworld. Followers of the Jewish Kabbalah wear a red thread around their left wrist to protect against the evil eye. Tibetan Buddhist monks tie a red string to a statue for a blessing before tying it around each other’s wrists. [31. Beware the evil eye.]() ============================================================================================== The evil eye is a ubiquitous concern of traditional superstition. The notion was that you could be cursed by someone merely in the way they looked at you. While such a belief may seem barbaric today, it does have a base in the universal issue of envy and resentment at another’s success. The evil eye concerns not the absence of luck but its excess. For those who feel blessed by fortune, the fear is that others will try to steal one’s bounty. The evil eye generalises this fear beyond any one specific person to a more existential awareness of the fragility of fortune. In India, the evil eye is countered by the colour black. A beautiful baby is given a black spot on their face to spoil their appearance, to avoid attention of the evil eye. Even the gaily decorated trucks have black pom poms on their sides (*cholas*) that prevent cosmic envy. In luck by design, it is worth considering the addition of a black mark in recognition that beauty is susceptible to fate. [32. Luck is at the door.]()\ ============================================================================================================================= Objects for luck need not only be sited on the body. They can also be in familiar spaces such as the doors of one’s home. According to Jewish custom, every door of the home except bathroom should be adorned with a *mezuzah*, an ornamental cylinder which contains a piece of parchment blessed in the synagogue. While offering a way of adhering to tradition, the *mezuzah* has a powerful relational function. A young couple entering their first home will be often given *mezuzah* by parents and relatives. The object carries the blessing of family, providing an extension of its presence despite moving out of home. [33. Luck grows on trees.]() ============================================================================================== The tree is an enduring structure for creating good fortune. For many animist religions such as Shinto, the tree is often adorned with messages or votive offerings designed to bring future blessing. Indians believe in [](){#Section0004_0029.htm#OLE_LINK2}[Kalpa Vriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree](){#Section0004_0029.htm#OLE_LINK1}. In a contemporary secular vein, the ‘wish tree’ has become a methodology for researching a community’s concerns. Participants are asked to fill out cards listing their greatest concern, their wish and the event that most changed their life. [34. Luck is thirsty.]() ========================================================================================== According to the pioneer of folklore studies, Alan Dundes, the evil eye is based on ancient associations of water with life and dryness with death. The effect of the evil eye is the dry up the liquid inside living beings, such as milking animals, young fruit trees and nursing mothers. Many blessings are channelled through water, such as the Christian Asperges or the Hindu bathing in the Ganges. The association of water with heavenly dispensation makes it a particularly obvious element of fortune. [35. Luck looks back.]() ========================================================================================== In India both Muslim and Hindu believe in the positive effect of mirrors, which represent the reflection of light on water, bringing prosperity and fertility. *Sisha* (Hindu) or *Abla* (Muslim) involves embroidering mirror into fabric, popular among desert tribes. Like the Chinese, who place mirrors at doorways, they are believed to ward off the evil eye by reflecting it back. [36. The fickle flame of fortune]() ===================================================================================================== Fire is an enduring element of fortune. The lighting of candles accompanies prayer in many religions. The precariousness of the flame renders the ritual vulnerable to fate. Its endurance is thus a blessing. This has led to prohibitions on extinguishing particular fires, such as the eternal flame at shrines of remembrance, or the Olympic torch that is carried around the world. [37. Luck needs faith.]() =========================================================================================== Arguably the most source of symbolism in luck is religious. Symbols such as the Jewish Star of David, the Christian crucifix or Hindu phallus are seen as auspicious by followers of their respective religions. There are countless stories of soldiers being miraculously spared death by the bible that stopped the bullet entering their heart. [38. Water flows uphill for money.]() ======================================================================================================= Luck may seem to be a personal concern, unrelated to the greater forces that affect society, such as economic cycles. But the stock market depends on confidence as much as any other human endeavour. This is acknowledged in Singapore where much of the urban design is based on auspicious forces. At the centre of the city is Fountain of Wealth, a circular structure from which pours water. It is the world’s largest fountain. According to local knowledge, the fountain broke down and stopped functioning in 2008, on the eve of the financial crisis. While this can be dismissed as a mere coincidence, it is clear that a collective theatre of fortune can have a strong impact on individual confidence in future trends. One needn’t believe in auspicious signs oneself. It is enough that others may believe it, for it to become effective. [39. Luck gets you through life.]() ===================================================================================================== We mostly work on the assumption of accountability. We like to act as though we have responsibility for our actions. Anything that contradicts this is accompanied by an expression such as ‘oops’ to indicate that it is not something we intended. However, we have not always nor will always in the future be responsible for our actions. These predictable changes in responsibility involve rites of passage, such as birth, puberty, marriage, childbirth and death. Such events are often governed by rituals, even in modern rationalist society. In such occasions we acknowledge the power of forces beyond our individual control. [40. This principle was lost.]() ================================================================================================== [41. This is the missing \#40.]() =================================================================================================== In Christchurch, a creative group known as *Smash Palace* offered to repair ceramics broken during the earthquake and turn them into valuable heirlooms and jewellery. According to the French psychoanalysis, Jacques Lacan, ‘The object is by nature a refound object. That it was lost is a consequence of that -- but after the fact. It is thus refound without our knowing, except through the refinding, that it was ever lost. .. You cannot fail to see that in the celebrated expression of Picasso, 'I do not seek, I find', that it is the finding (*trouver*), the *trobar* of the Provençal troubadours and the *trouvéres*.’ (Jacques Lacan *The Ethics of Psychoanalysis: 1959-1960* (trans. Dennis Porter) London: Routledge, 1992, orig. 1960, p. 118). [42. The power of group think]() ================================================================================================== Support of a group can be a very powerful force. The Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau has created a Pacific sisterhood of like-minded women eager to support each other. For each of them, she has made a ‘power-pendant’, containing woven lavu-lavu fabric. For the pendant to work, one of the group needs to send a message out that she is about to face an important challenge, like the opening of an exhibition or a job interview. In response, all members of the group on that day will wear the pendant. Thus the person can be confident in the knowledge that others are supporting her in a tangible way. [43. Receive so that you may give.]() ======================================================================================================= It is the custom of many countries to have a public space where members of a community might leave tokens of gratitude for wishes that have been granted. This is the antithesis of a memorial, which reflects on what has been lost. It presumes that there is some consciousness at work in the good fortune that will be pleased to see expressions of thanks. Beyond individual meaning, such ex-votives provide a glimpse into the hopes and fears of a community. Rather than be seen as a primitive tradition limited to ‘undeveloped’ countries, urban designers in otherwise soulless metropolitan centres are well advised to look at the ex-votive as a way of generating community. [44. Shit happens.]() ======================================================================================= Technology offers a horizon in which our problems will find eventual resolution. Dense urban traffic, cancer, personal relationships at a distance and even potentially mortality itself may be solved by a new device or process. The sphere of technological answers increases daily. But this technocratic thinking is not well suited to the enduring role of chance in our lives. Despite the increasing automatisation and monitoring of life, we are still prone to mishap. ‘Shit happens’, as they say. We may be on the plane that is struck by freak lightning storm. We could be walking past a site that is targeted by a suicide bomber. Or we might be suddenly taken down by a hidden cerebral aneurism. We are continually playing with fate. Obviously we should continue to improve our world so that it is safer and more reliable, but we do need to acknowledge the role of chance, particularly the fear that something might go wrong. Luck by design should reflect this reality in the spaces around us. [45. Feng Shui]() =================================================================================== An exposition of Chinese geomancy is beyond the scope of this modest book. However, it is worth noting that this interior design practice does place great emphasis on the elemental arrangement of our spaces. For instance, a north-east facing front door should be coloured light yellow. While the principles may seem arbitrary to us, they do involve an alignment towards common cosmology, therefore provide a lived sense of connection with one’s culture that may otherwise be missing. [](){#Section0004_0042.htm#OLE_LINK3}[46. Vastu Shastra]() ============================================================================================================================ The Indian equivalent of Feng Shui is *Vastu Shatra*. This science is particularly concerned with the alignment of body and build form. One important product of this system is the *yantra*, a mystical diagram like the mandala that offers special powers, such as love attraction, good health, the beginning of a new project, wealth and academic achievement. One very interesting use of these *yantras* is in public space. They are placed sometimes on tiles in public spaces where men are occasioned to spit. As no one would dare spit on a *yantra*, it can be placed there to ensure better public hygiene. [47. Leave something behind.]() ================================================================================================= Many trades have secrets. It is common for builders to leave something buried or behind a wall in a house they are constructing. In more extreme cases, such as ancient Balkan custom, a person is buried alive at the base of a bridge in order for their spirit to watch over the structure. Boatbuilders place a coin at the base of a mast. Is there a place for this practice in the modern world? Clearly the seemingly meaningless deposit by workers has an important function of exercising solidarity. It creates a secret only those lower down in the labour hierarchy will know. [48. Why should the devil have all the good tricks?]() ======================================================================================================================== Alongside providing luck is the negative tradition of charms—making a curse. If you visit the Sonora Market in México City, you will find aisles packed with objects and substances that claim magical properties. Many of these involve creating bad effects on people, such as the black salt that is thrown over a neighbour’s fence to force them to move (fortunately, you can also buy white salt to counteract this spell). The narcotic trade in particular has a thriving subculture of superstition. The market is filled with statues of Jesús Malverde (meaning literally ‘bad green’), who is revered a kind of Robin Hood that can help drug runners get rich. Many of instruments of cursing are quite creative, but it’s a shame that their intentions are bad. However, there is no reason why a designer can’t re-develop these objects for more positive ends. Why not introduce into this market a Jesús Bienverde (‘good green’) that helps with environmental initiatives? [49. Make it small.]() ======================================================================================== The miniature is often associated with magical properties. Like a seed it has potential to grow into the full sized version. A common example of this is the charm bracelet, on which are attached tiny versions of world icons, such as the Eiffel Tower. The charm bracelet is typically giving to a girl on her 16^th^ birthday. The principle is that adult can invest in a child’s future by giving her a symbol of something to be experienced when she grows up. This practice of miniaturisation runs through many cultures. It is particularly strong in the Andes, where Incas used to made tiny cast versions of corn cobs which they would scatter through the fields in the hope that a good harvest would ensure—corn was far more important than gold. [50. Choose the lucky ball.]() ================================================================================================ According to research, when golfers a given a ball that is described as lucky, there scores are significantly better than if they received an ordinary ball. Of course, the two balls are identical. [51. Give thanks.]() ====================================================================================== The supply of luck often involves a contract. In return for fulfilling the wish, the recipient is obliged to honour the giver. But what do you do when the giver does not belong to this world, such as a saint? In Latin countries, thanks are usually given with an ex-votive. Shrines are often covered with messages of thanks from those who have benefited from divine intersession. A dramatic version of this involves the *milagros*, tiny body parts embossed in metal that are posted according to the particular part that was healed. [52. From low to high]() ========================================================================================== In Chile, there is a tradition of making the site where a homeless person has died with a small shrine, called an [](){#Section0004_0048.htm#OLE_LINK5}[*anamita*](){#Section0004_0048.htm#OLE_LINK4}. This is a common place for locals to pray, lighting a candle for their wish and leaving an ex-votive afterwards in thanks. The logic behind this is based on a divine compensation which those who’ve experience hardship during their life. To make up for their mortal suffering, they enjoy a blessed afterlife, and thus greater access to divine powers. In the centre of Santiago, Chile, is a massive shrine, Rumaldito, which was originally the location in 1947 where a homeless Russian immigrant died. The *anamita* now covers the entire block and volunteers spend their days cleaning up the countless candles left by supplicants. [53. Things have power beyond luck.]() ======================================================================================================== The Pacific and Maori traditions certainly subscribe to supernatural agencies, such as Tāwhaki and Whaitiri, the gods of thunder. However, it is not easy to map Western concepts of luck onto Maori belief. One particular form of Maori ornament, the hei-tiki has become used a lucky charm. In 1911, the crew of the HMS New Zealand attributed their success in sea battle to the hei-tiki worn by the captain. However, the authentic purpose of a hei-tiki is as a taonga – a treasured object passed down through generations. The power of a taonga is in its bestowal by others. Nonetheless, such treasured objects are thought to possess special powers, representing the influence that ancestors have on our fates. There are many stories of the string of someone’s taonga breaking at the precise moment when its giver passed away. [54. Until it drops off.]() ============================================================================================= As part of the Hindu religious ritual puja, participants have their wrists bound with a bracelet made of red cotton. This *mauli* is knotted tightly to prevent it unravelling. For such a charm to be effective, it is necessary that the host continues to wear this bracelet until it drops off through eventual decay. The status of the objects is thus beyond the agency of the wearer, allowing other powers to be exercised through it. [55. Gather the nine planets.]() ================================================================================================== A very powerful Indian symbol of fortune relates to the alignment of planets. The jewel known as [](){#Section0004_0051.htm#OLE_LINK7}[*navaratna*](){#Section0004_0051.htm#OLE_LINK6} comprises of the diamond, pearl, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, cat’s eye, coral, and either the hyacinth or zircon. Each corresponds to a Hindu deity and when joined together create cosmological harmony and good outcome. [56. Make a lucky dollar.]() ============================================================================================== In Singapore, the dollar coin was designed as an octagon. This [](){#Section0004_0052.htm#OLE_LINK9}[*Bagua*](){#Section0004_0052.htm#OLE_LINK8} shape using eight trigrams is designed to attracted wealth to all citizens. Today, Singapore is ranked as the most open and least corrupt economy, with one of the highest GDP in the world. Clearly, it worked. [57. Pay \$88.]() =================================================================================== If you visit a Buddhist charm shop, you’ll notice that not only are the products quite expensive, but their prices are not rounded out. \$88 is a typical price. Here the monetary value of the good itself is not a purely commercial consideration. It is a product of luck by design, 88 being a lucky number. [58. Give it a name.]() ========================================================================================= A shortcut to the placebo effect of luck is to use the word itself. In world politics, two successful electoral campaigns have been waged by politicians with the word in their name. In 2010, Goodluck Jonathan became the 14^th^ President of Nigeria, and in 2011 Yingluck (‘Lady Luck’) Shinawatra became Prime Minister of Thailand. [59. Put a sarong on it.]() ============================================================================================= In 2011, Than Shwe and other top Burmese generals appeared at a nationally televised ceremony not in their usual military uniform, but instead in women’s sarongs. Apparently this weird display was part of *yadaya*, Burmese black magic. Astrologists had predicted that a woman would come to rule Burma. Thus the generals hoped to stay in power by appearing to look like women. With Suu Kyi likely to take power in Burma, this diversionary tactic doesn’t seem to have worked. [60. Put legs on it.]() ========================================================================================= The swastika has become a universal symbol of evil. However, as travellers to India will know, a version of this symbol is still used for its auspicious powers. Up until the early 20^th^ century, it was used in many Western designs to represent good luck. Obviously, this symbol didn’t work very well any more outside India. [61. Go to the trouble.]() ============================================================================================ In Hindu culture, the investiture of a ruler is formalised through the gathering of eight elements, called the [](){#Section0004_0057.htm#OLE_LINK11}[*Ashtamangala*](){#Section0004_0057.htm#OLE_LINK10}. This includes a throne, swastika, handprint, hooked knot, vase of jewels, water libation flask, pair of fishes and lidded bowl. Their presence is seen to ensure the fortune of the future ruler. The collection of these eight elements is a tiresome exercise, but it does clearly signal that his event is unique, marking the ascension as special and worthy of recognition. [62. FFTB128]() ================================================================================= There have been reports that research has uncovered was appears to be a good luck gene, FFTB128. A particular sequence of chromosomes is associated with an individual’s capacity to act effectively on a hunch. Despite complex scientific detail, this research seems to be a hoax. More than anything, it tells of a continuing project to capture the power of luck scientifically (such as the GM four-leaf clover), which is bound to be always a failure by definition. [63. Wish upon a star.]() =========================================================================================== A common superstition is to make a wish on the first star visible at night. Such rituals have a use in opening the mind to a sense of possibility as dusk occurs, at the cusp of night’s adventure. At a deeper level, there is a sense that stars can have an influence on human destiny, as documented in the science of astrology. [64. Live by chance.]() ========================================================================================= Individuals may choose to live their life according to chance. The Luke Rhinehart novel *Dice Man* concerns a man who makes key decisions in his life by rolling a dice, pushing himself to actions he would otherwise not choose. The US radio program *This American Life* once broadcast the story of a limousine driver in Las Vegas who would every night gamble away his daily earnings at the casino. He seemed an extraordinarily happy man, as though daily cleansing himself of the taint of money. [65. Welcome kitty]() ======================================================================================= Many East Asian shops will have a toy cat in their window whose right paw appears to be waving. One story of [](){#Section0004_0061.htm#OLE_LINK13}[Manaki-Eko](){#Section0004_0061.htm#OLE_LINK12} is that a nobleman was travelling to an inn, but before entering he was distracted by a cat that seemed to be waving at him. Curious, he approached the cat, just as lightning struck the inn, thus saving him from death. This seemingly arbitrary device has thus become a conventional sign of welcome, wishing good luck to visitors. [66. Be there at noon on 24 January]() ======================================================================================================== Every 24 January at noon, residents of La Paz in Bolivia go to purchase their *alasita* for the year. These ‘alasitas’ are miniature versions of goods they might aspire to, such a tiny passport for travel or a small car for transport. The festival is a celebration of fortune and has traditionally involved fine craftsmanship in fashioning tiny objects. The god who oversees the festival is El Ekeko, a kind of Andean Santa Claus, who must be given a cigarette when asked for a wish. [67. The down payment on fortune]() ===================================================================================================== According to Roman religion, there are particular sacrifices designed to compel the deity to reciprocate. The principle of *Do ut des* is that I give in order to receive something in return. This was extended beyond human transactions to engagement with the deities. Sacrifice in this sense is a gift, leaving the deity in a position of obligation to the giver. This Roman logic was denigrated in Christianity as reducing piety to a business transaction. However the French sociologist Emile Durkheim saw it as a useful support for the greater systems of exchange that regulate a society. [68. Walk in a circle]() ========================================================================================== Walking a circle is a common element of ritual. In the Jewish wedding ceremony the bride walks around the groom seven times, echoing the walk of Joshua around Jericho, causing the walls to fall down. In Chile, on New Year’s Eve, if someone wishes to travel in the coming year, they take an empty suitcase and walk it around the neighbourhood block at midnight. Walking in a circle is a meaningless thing to do and leaves the person slightly disorientated. Perfect. [69. Sixth time unlucky]() ============================================================================================ The concept of Russian roulette challenges the care we normally take over the preservation of life. Leaving survival up to chance is scandalous disregard for the sanctity of existence. But when used deliberately on oneself, it can demonstrate a desire to live without fear of death. Existence changes from something taken for granted, to become more of a gift. While this is certainly not something to be tried at home, there may be less harmful ways of introducing this chance principle into life. It’s worth a try. Every time you seek to acquire something, you throw a dice. Whenever 1 comes up, you forgo your wish. Chance can provide an ascetic discipline. [70. Third time]() ==================================================================================== Obviously there is no inherent reason why doing something a third time might be more successful. If the first time fails, the second attempt might be beset with lack of confidence, leaving the third as an opportunity to recover composure. Yet the sequence of three is often associated with aspirations beyond our control, such as winning a lottery. It is also something that is often applied retrospectively, when successful, rather than comment on all those other third attempts that prove unsuccessful. Like many sayings of everyday speech, it is there to show engagement and concern in other people’s aspirations. [71. Luck is many.]() ======================================================================================= Luck is usually viewed generically as an overall potential for good fortune. But luck by design can be particularly effective when focused on quite specific concerns. This is understood in the Japanese tradition of *Omamori*, where charms are given for particular benefits, such health or academic achievement. If we take a relational view of luck, then the narrow specific focus affords particular interventions by those wanting to offer a support. ‘Here, take this, it is designed particularly for those undergoing chemotherapy. This is how you use it…’ For a sense of how these repertoires might develop, look at the extraordinary scale of the Hallmark Corporation, which has designed cards for any occasion suggesting social contact. [72. Waiting for job interview]() =================================================================================================== The job interview is a particularly modern ordeal. For an hour we open ourselves for inspection by others, in whom our fate depends. One of the most traumatic elements of the job interview is the waiting. Usually in waiting rooms we might seek distraction from a magazine or telephone call. However, it is important to maintain focus for the eventual call up. There is scope here for a handheld object that can be ‘worried’ while waiting, even taken into the interview as a transitional object. For this object to be effective, it should be given by someone who has unquestionable interest and belief in your success. This job interview charm provides a tactile reminder of those who support you, at a time when you need it most. [73. Ask a homeless person]() =============================================================================================== As luck is something that exists outside the formal economy, it can often be associated with a familiar homeless person. A spontaneous gesture of generosity towards this figure can provide a feeling of wholesomeness that leads to confidence in taking up opportunities. Those homeless individuals seeking charity could do well to offer special good luck wishes to donors. [74. Luck is for the few, not like Facebook]() ================================================================================================================ While Facebook has radically expanded the field of sociality, this comes at a price. It is very easy now for someone starting out with a Facebook account to acquire a 1,000 friends. But how do you distinguish close friends from mere acquaintances? The choice to limit the sharing of feeds seems a relatively technical gesture. Gift-giving is a primary means of formalising the hierarchy of relationships. In an age spent increasingly in the cloud, we are likely to make recourse to objects such as charms in order to recover the inner circle of friends who provide key reference in our lives. [75. Luck is for everyone.]() =============================================================================================== Luck is an important concept in a democracy where there still exists a large gap between rich and poor. Seeing someone’s fortune as the result of luck (‘born with a silver spoon in their mouth’) helps reconcile inequality and merit. The Tasmanian David Walsh, who amassed a fortune gambling, admitted to a journalist, ‘If I was one of the million people who tried to gamble and didn’t succeed at it, you wouldn’t be interviewing me.’ More radically, Warren Buffet, considered the most successful investor of the 20^th^ century, attempts to disown his success: ‘My luck was accentuated by my living in a market system that sometimes produces distorted results, though overall it services our country well ... I've worked in an economy that rewards someone who saves the lives of others on a battlefield with a medal, rewards a great teacher with thank-you notes from parents, but rewards those who can detect the mispricing of securities with sums reaching into the billions. In short, fate's distribution of long straws is wildly capricious.’ One positive effect of making the successful seem ‘more like us’, is to encourage others who may not feel privileged to continue to aspire for a better life. [76. Luck must finish its business.]() ======================================================================================================== According to Japanese legend, anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a real crane. Inspired by the Senbazuzu story, a 12 year old victim of radiation sickness in Hiroshima, Sadako Sasaki, sought a cure by fulfilling the task. Sadly, she only managed to fold 644 before dying. In her memory, Sadako’s classmates continued the quest in her honour. This ritual is used in other ways, such as a women who made origami cranes while sitting with her mother as she underwent chemotherapy. The thousandth crane was timed for the last session, after which her mother achieved successful remission. The mother now wears the thousandth crane as a pendant in gratitude to her daughter. The completion of any time consuming task can provide hope necessary to go on through difficult circumstances. [77. The ball is the true object of the game.]() ================================================================================================================== As the French philosopher Michel Serres says, ‘the ball is the true subject of the game’. The singularity of the ball provides a common object around which competitive sports are formed. The qualities of the ball, such as its colour or material are relatively unimportant. What is critical is that there is only one. In a similar way, an object can acquire power by its uniqueness. The potential for competition grants it a power. Charms can work on a parallel logic. [78. ‘When corn is ripe, make presents to the poor in order to avoid fevers.’]() ================================================================================================================================================== The Hausa of Sudan have a saying to help ensure community harmony at times of abundance. Accepting that success is partly the result of chance then leaves one predisposed to look kindly on those not so lucky. [79. It is better to share.]() ================================================================================================ A key function of charms is to transform a private fear that isolates us into a shared condition. Fear is an alienating experience. Inner uncertainties are often invisible to others, and therefore seem to be unique to the one who feels them. Socialising that fear through the exchange of an object helps externalise trepidation and thus makes it more manageable. A charm for sitting exams acknowledges the normalcy of anxiety, thus cancels the narrative of self-doubt that can de-rail performance. As the US author Richard Ford writes, ‘If loneliness is the disease, the story is the cure.’ [80. Knock on wood.]() ======================================================================================== We knock on wood after saying something that can be construed as having an over-confident view of the future. Though it is said to have obscure origins in medieval jousting, it clearly continues to play an important role in acknowledging the influence of accident in life. The converse is the Jewish expression *mazeltov* (‘good luck’), which often accompanies a mishap such as a broken glass. From the power of chance, good things can arise as well as bad. [81. Look north.]() ===================================================================================== The modern world has been oriented with north up and south down. Facing north is thus a correct direction, as indicated by the compass and maps. Certain Chinese charms need to be oriented in a particular direction to be effective. Thus the charm Ma Shang Feng Hou (‘Auspicious Monkey on House’) has to be placed in the north of a house in order to be effective in achieving job promotion. [82. Let the green parrot decide.]() ====================================================================================================== A charming tradition in Chile is the *organillero*, who wanders around the neighbourhood playing an organ. On hearing his sound, people come to have their fortune told. The *organillero* has a green parrot that on cue will choose between different pieces of paper in a drawer. The chosen fortune is then given as a sign of what is to come. Given their seeming indifference to human intention, animal behaviour can be used a way of creating random outcomes. [83. The necessary principle]() ================================================================================================= This principle only exists because without it we wouldn’t have a total of 88 principles. [84. Luck is arbitrary.]() ============================================================================================ The more arbitrary the principle, the greater its power. [85. Safety first, luck after rewards.]() =========================================================================================================== Indian culture is renowned for reconciling opposites, such as tradition and technology. A road sign found in the north of Delhi provides a telling illustration. ‘Safety first, luck after rewards’ acknowledges that one should not leave things up to chance, particularly behaviour on the road. But given that luck is considered an enduring aim, the idea is that luck will come from actions that are not guided by luck. [86. Luck first, safety after rewards.]() =========================================================================================================== Midway through the rainy season in the small village of Preak Khmeng, Kandal Province, a team of researchers paddle their wooden boat on the murky waters, visiting Cambodian homes one by one. Their purpose, as part of a three-year scientific study known as the Iron Fish Project, is to develop an effective, low-cost remedy for people who suffer from dietary iron deficiency. This anaemia is remedied by placing an iron object at the bottom of a cooking pot. To encourage its use, it is presented as a 'lucky fish' that will bring good fortune to the household. [87. Deposit in the luck bank]() ================================================================================================== Luck by Design is an inherently democratic project. It draws on the lore that is held in common by communities and individuals to meet the challenge of sustaining hope against adversity. You, dear reader, can play an active role in this. It is possible that there are some key principles in luck by design that you find missing in this slim volume. You can contribute to the collective lore by depositing a story of how luck is achieved on the tumblr site <http://luckbank.joyaviva.net>. [88. Give it with love.]() ====================================================================================================================== When offered as a gift, it is not just the object itself which has capacity to exercise a difference in someone’s life. It is also the manner of bestowal which plays a role. This involves a fateful context of activation. Like a marriage proposal, the bestowal of a lucky charm requires an element of theatre. Find a quiet moment to make the offer. You may not be always around to offer protection, but you can invest your love in the object that will always be around the subject of your care. In luck we trust.