Night Ops Superstitions

[Necrogue]

Recently I was rereading Harry Houdini’s book ‘The Right Way To Do Wrong’ and the chapter on the various superstitions observed by the criminal element prompted me to wonder...... Does anyone here in the Night Ops community have any superstitious beliefs that influence your opping decisions?

[Sicarius]

I never go out on new moons or full moons, as they make people act strange. This is not a superstition though. The gravitational pull of either affects the water in your body, hence why people can feel and act weird. I do not know why this suddenly occurs on a new or full moon rather than progressively as the moon changes cycles.

I never really have been in a scary or bad situation, but if my mind/gut is telling me something is wrong, I am getting the fuck out! I can distinguish between my typical paranoia and that weird sense you get when "somethings fucky"

[V-S]

I use to be superstitious long ago. I was into witchcraft and the occult at the time. I'd actually do rituals for the success of an op. It's hard to prove if it actually had any real effect. However, the meditation I did to clear my mind before the op certainly was beneficial. I'm no longer into the occult as much as I use to be, I am much more skepical now. Though I do tend to believe there is a 'sixth sense'.

[Xanatos]

There is the phenomenon of 'veteran's paranoia' that plagues some of us from time to time: the crippling feeling that you're going to get caught and arrested/killed. That's the closest I can think of.

[Nvulxa]

I also believe there's a sixth sense. You could talk about the specifics of what the sixth sense is, but to me it's that gut feeling that you know when somethings wrong or like when you know someone's in the area when you haven't seen or heard them. Could be real could be fake but I've had stuff like that happen on multiple ops.

[HouseEater47]

Like someone sitting on a pitch black patio or somebody watching you through a window in pitch black?

[Nvulxa]

Yeah, that could be an example.

[V-S]

I just remembered a time many years ago that has me contemplating on the "sixth sense".

I was with friends on a mission (I won't give specifics). It must have been about 3 am when we got to the main road of a town we had to cross while hauling some items of value. I had a strange uneasy feeling and so did another mate. We both agreed to just wait a minute before crossing while another impatient mate was ready to run across. 10 seconds later, a police patrol comes out of nowhere and passes through.

I have a few examples but that one does stick out the most.

Is it just common sense and then circumstance tricking us? Or do we really have that extra sensory perception?

[Xanatos]

Don't know how it works. Maybe you heard a car approaching but just didn't recognise it on a conscious level? Your "sixth sense" may just be one of your other senses you didn't properly acknowledge.

[Psychlonic]

I personally believe that many troublesome situations create a tell-tale pattern around them of sorts that we know on a subconscious level. We don't know this in a rational way that can be explained, but on an emotional level that can be felt. Those feelings will always tell you something, whether it's about your environment or about yourself. We constantly forget minor details throughout our day that seem insignificant to us, but that side of us will always remember if there's any emotion attached at all. When the world around us starts to match up with those patterns, you get "a feeling".

Yeah, I'm sure that seems like vague woo bullshit, but it's hard to put into words better.