Editing Luck (section)

{{Short description|Concept that defines the experience of notably positive, negative, or improbable events}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Redirect|Good luck}}
{{Redirect|Good fortune||Good Fortune (disambiguation){{!}}Good Fortune}}
[[File:Four-leaf clover.jpg|thumb|200px|A [[four-leaf clover]], a rare variant of the [[shamrock]], is often considered to bestow good luck.]]

'''Luck''' is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones.  The [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalistic]] interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to random and non-random natural and artificial processes, and that even improbable events can happen by [[random chance]].  In this view, the epithet "lucky" or "unlucky" is a descriptive label that refers to an event's positivity, negativity, or improbability.

[[Supernatural]] interpretations of luck consider it to be an attribute of a person or object, or the result of a favorable or unfavorable view of a [[deity]] upon a person.  These interpretations often ''prescribe'' how luckiness or unluckiness can be obtained, such as by carrying a lucky charm or offering sacrifices or prayers to a deity. Saying someone is "born lucky" may hold different meanings, depending on the interpretation: it could simply mean that they have been born into a good family or circumstance; or that they habitually experience improbably positive events, due to some inherent property, or due to the lifelong favor of a god or goddess in a [[monotheistic]] or [[polytheistic]] religion.

Many [[superstition]]s are related to luck, though these are often specific to a given [[culture]] or set of related cultures, and sometimes contradictory.  For example, [[lucky symbols]] include the number 7 in Christian-influenced cultures and the number 8 in Chinese-influenced cultures.  [[Unlucky symbols]] and events include entering and leaving a house by different doors or breaking a mirror<ref>{{Cite web |title=Breaking a mirror - Meaning of broken mirror |url=http://www.mirrorhistory.com/mirror-facts/broken-mirror/ |access-date=2022-09-05 |website=www.mirrorhistory.com}}</ref> in Greek culture, throwing rocks into a whirlwind in Navajo culture,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Navajo Superstitions |url=https://navajocodetalkers.org/navajo-superstitions/ |access-date=2024-08-23 |website=navajocodetalkers.org}}</ref> and [[raven]]s in Western culture. Some of these associations may derive from related facts or desires.  For example, in Western culture opening an umbrella indoors might be considered unlucky partly because it could poke someone in the eye, whereas shaking hands with a [[chimney sweep]] might be considered lucky partly because it is a kind but unpleasant thing to do given the dirty nature of their work. In Chinese  and Japanese culture, the association of the number 4 as a [[homophone]] with the word for death may explain why it is considered unlucky.  Extremely complicated and sometimes contradictory systems for prescribing auspicious and inauspicious times and arrangements of things have been devised, for example [[feng shui]] in Chinese culture and systems of [[astrology]] in various cultures around the world.

Many polytheistic religions have specific gods or goddesses that are associated with luck, both good and bad, including [[Fortuna]] and [[Felicitas]] in the [[Ancient Roman religion]] (the former related to the words "fortunate" and "unfortunate" in English), [[Dedun]] in Nubian religion, the [[Seven Lucky Gods]] in [[Japanese mythology]], mythical American serviceman [[John Frum]] in Polynesian [[cargo cult]]s, and the inauspicious [[Alakshmi]] in Hinduism.