Most people don't believe in magic, but they may still wish for a good outcome by knocking on wood. Magical thinking—the need to believe that one’s hopes and desires can have an effect on how the ...

Over the years, I’ve observed that there are two main modes of thinking in the business world: artful thinking and magical thinking. The two are opposites. I believe that artful thinking is key to ...

Superstition is a natural and common phenomenon. Consider the athlete that doesn’t change underwear on a winning streak; the gambler who blows on a set of dice at the craps table; the sports fan who ...

Ever since she can remember, writer Morgan Sullivan has had the nagging inkling that her routine behaviors could influence her future—and not in a positive, manifestational way. “As a little kid, I ...

“Each of the book’s chapters tells a true story of a strange experience that happened to people close to me or to me personally,” Markovsky explains. “Following the story, I dig below the surface to ...

Diego de la Cruz, "The Mass of Saint Gregory" (c. 1490), oil and gold leaf on wood (all images courtesy Princeton University Press) A significant part of Koering’s thesis is that in the pre-Christian ...