Luck & Religion
Luck
success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions.
When things happen - good and bad - we often attribute them to luck and chance. We can see luck in many areas of society, from lottery tickets and gambling to the life that we are born into. Luck can also be viewed in a religious way when we act in superstitious ways and hope for good luck.
There is a very interesting connection between luck and religion, because not only can luck be treated as a religion, but world religions say a lot about luck:
Fortuna - Roman Goddess
In Roman religion, Fortuna is the goddess of chance and lot. An article from Britannica about Fortuna says that “she resembles a fertility deity, hence her association with the bounty of the soil and the fruitfulness of women.”
Islam:
Islam has many lucky charms that I will detail later, but the religion does oppose luck.
An article titled “Islam’s view on amulets, superstition and bad omens” from The Weekly Al Hakam explains this topic really well and says “the reality is that amulets, or charms, are not useful and helpful means; they are mere superstition. The Shariah [Islamic law] does not prohibit using worldly means while also acknowledging that core trust and reliance should be placed in God Almighty above any other means. After trust has been placed in God, worldly means can be used but not amulets, bad omens or superstition.”
Buddhism:
“Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, taught his followers not to believe in luck. He taught that all things which happen must have a cause, either material or spiritual, and do not occur due to luck, chance or fate.” (Luck)
Christianity & Judaism:
“The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord.”
Proverbs 16:33
Christianity and Judaism believe that there is no such thing as chance or luck because God is in control of everything and can impact any seemingly random event.
As you can see, major world religions are generally against the concept of luck. This makes sense because religion says that there is a higher power in control, rather than things happening off of chance.
Even though most religions don’t preach luck, there are many interesting symbols of luck in religion and cultures.
The Number 7:
“The number seven in the Bible is considered one of the most powerful and lucky numbers in scripture, according to the practice of gematria. Seven refers to the Creation of the world, accomplished by God in seven days according to Genesis. The Hebrew word for "luck," gad, equals seven in gematria.” (“Why the Number 7 is a Source of Good Luck” from Learn Religions.)
The Hamsa Hand:
“The Hamsa Hand, or Khamsa, is common in both Jewish and Muslim communities as a sign of good luck. This charm can be worn with the hand facing up or down. It is said to protect people from negative energy and bring happiness to the beholder … The word “hamsa” references the number five in Hebrew and is said to symbolize the five books of the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In Islam, the five fingers are associated with the Five Pillars of Islam.” (“24 Good Luck Charms from Around the World” from Invaluable.)
Hindu Good Luck Charms:
An article from Her Zindagi titled “These Good Luck Charms From Hindu Mythology Can Bring In Luck & Prosperity” details lucky charms such as the horseshoe, “a powerful lucky charm that is installed inside houses to kick the bad luck and diseases out of the house.”
In addition to these examples, “Charms and Amulets” from Just Dawah lists many different good luck symbols from Islamic cultures as well as Western cultures. Also, “The Meaning of Numbers Among Different Cultures” from Day Translations goes through some religious and cultural meanings of numbers.
How should we view luck in our lives?
It is undeniable that chance plays a role in our lives. Even if a religious perspective says that chance is still controlled by God, many things happen to us throughout our lives that have nothing to do with our actions. This can be challenging in many ways when we experience “bad luck”, but we can also experience “good luck”. It is important to acknowledge that nobody has only bad luck or only good luck, but rather that there are a million events that take place in the world that sometimes have positive impacts on us and sometimes have negative impacts on us.
The danger of luck can come when we believe that we don’t have control over our lives and that everything is up to chance. Issues can arise when we believe that the world is either for or against us. Luck can easily be treated as a religion when we look at luck in the same way as we look at a sovereign god. Luck is more difficult to worship than a religious god, though, because luck is completely based on chance and very unreliable. Basically, we shouldn’t base our lives on the randomness of luck.
Even though it can sometimes be a good idea to take risks and hope to get lucky, we should make decisions rationally and assume we have control over outcomes in our lives. I wrote a blog post titled “Choose Free Will” that is precisely about the idea that even though there may be outside factors influencing our situation, we are best off taking control of our decisions.
“No matter what you think about free will and whether those beliefs come from religion or not, you have the ability to make whatever you want out of any challenge or situation you are in. You have the ability to control yourself and your life.”
“Choose Free Will” - Entertainment Values
An article titled “Why You Should Believe In Luck” from Psychology Today says that “viewing luck, or "breaks," as beyond your control could significantly dent the likelihood of your future success. Instead, you may want to adopt the outlook of Thomas Jefferson, who once wrote, “I am a big believer in luck; the harder I work, the luckier I get.”
So, overall, there are things in life that happen outside of our control. It is important to not let luck and chance control your life or decisions, though, because at the end of the day,
“The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.”
Douglas MacArthur
