Those wacky skeptics. They never miss a chance to eat, drink and be rational.

        This Friday — the dreaded 13th — Greater Cincinnati's official naysayers will gather for their first “Superstition Bash” at St. John's Unitarian Church in Clifton.

        Fearlessly, they will open umbrellas, step on cracks and peer into broken mirrors. A magician will be on hand to fool nobody. Ouija boards will be available for miscommunication with the dead. One party-goer plans to dress as a black cat and run across people's paths. Another is promoting himself as a mind reader.

        Whew. These folks go all out to make their point, which can be summarized in a word: “Hooey.”
       

No truth out there

        “People in our group feel there is a lot of superstition about, and it needs to be exposed and made fun of,” says Joe Levee of Cincinnati.

        Silly beliefs aren't so far from serious wrongheadedness, he says. Presidents' wives consult astrologers, people obsess over flying saucers, cult members commit suicide while awaiting comets.

        Somebody has to hold the line. On Friday, Cincinnati's sanity brigade will fortify itself by acting a little strange.

        The party involves three organizations: the Free Inquiry Group, the Association for Rational Thought and the University of Cincinnati Skeptics.

        Their members are a prickly, stimulating bunch. They love to talk. They argue among themselves. They are relentlessly curious and brainy.

        Thus, Friday's rule-flouting will be accompanied by discussion. Donna Loughry, a systems analyst from Cincinnati, will remind everyone that ancient people communicated through the spoken word, which was undoubtedly distorted over time. She'll also share her research into the origins of beliefs.
       

Contradictions abound

        She has learned, for instance, that “knocking on wood” dates to ancient Rome, when people rapped on trees to enlist the support of spirits. In addition, Celtic priests performed rituals in groves, believing trees had the power to consume evil demons.

        Mirrors were thought to reflect people's spirits in another realm, so breaking them would bring trouble.

        Some superstitions contradict themselves, Ms. Loughry says. The No. 13 is bad here but good in Italy. Black cats are supposed to be bad luck, but sailors' wives kept them to ensure the safe return of their husbands.

        Ms. Loughry thinks common sense is behind other beliefs. Walk near a ladder and you might knock over a paint bucket. Open one of today's huge umbrellas and you're sure to clock somebody.

        “We're trying to have fun and give people a little background perspective,” Ms. Loughry says. “We're not trying to poke fun at anything. ... Every one of us has been raised on these things as youngsters.”

        OK, but here's a question: Where do skeptics get their chills and thrills? I can see them now, shunning haunted houses for some street corner, hoping to see an armed robbery or two.

        Me, I'll stick with the hooey. Nothing like a good scare for escaping the burdens of reality. They've added 13 minutes to The Exorcist, you know.
       • For more information on the Superstition Bash, check out www.cincinnatiskeptics.org.

       Karen Samples is Kentucky columnist for the Enquirer. She can be reached at (859) 578-5584 or ksamples@enquirer.com.

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