Dear Outlaw,

After suffering a sharp pain behind my eyeballs, I visited my doctor, who immediately diagnosed the problem. His treatment was to get plenty of rest and apply Head-On to my forehead twice a day. What is a “skeptoid” anyway?

—Forgot to Ask My Doctor

Dear Forgot,

A skeptoid is a mild but sometimes painful protuberance on the brain. Although a specific cause has remained elusive, some scientists theorize that it’s triggered by a “skeptical strain in the brain.” In other words, overindulging in skepticism. Currently, there’s no real cure except for time, although some researchers are tirelessly testing a promising new product, tentatively referred to as “Preparation S.” I suggest you follow your doctor’s advice (think of the Head-On as a placebo), lay off any heavy, irritating doses of skepticism for a while, and avoid tight headgear.

The BCSE is fully supported by its members throughout the UK, and draws on the experience and expertise of like minded professional people resident in North America, Australia, South Africa and continental Europe. Our members come from a broad variety of fields - science, business, theology, education, academia, engineering, IT and research. We have two things in common - knowledge of the creationist movement and a deep concern for the proper science education of children.

BCSE is a part of the broader international campaign against Creationism. The creationist movement itself is international with strong connections in the USA, where much of the money comes from, and Australia. We believe that working with similar groups throughout the world considerably strengthens the organisation in terms of contacts, knowledge and expertise.

The United Kingdom is faced with a highly organised, well-funded coalition of fundamentalist Young Earth Creationist groups. These include, but are not limited to: Truth in Science, Answers in Genesis, the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, the Christian Institute, Creation Research UK, Genesis Agendum, the Creation Science Movement and the Biblical Creation Society.

The creationist movement receives money and assistance from other parts of the world including Australia, through Creation Ministries International and Creation Research International and the United States, through such organisations and individuals as Answers in Genesis, the Institute for Creation Research, the Discovery Institute, and Howard Ahmanson, the American billionaire recluse who also funds the Discovery Institute.

These organisations have long-established tactics for infiltration and are active in bringing bogus creationist science into the classrooms of British state schools, frequently without the knowledge of parents or local education authorities. The movement has already taken full control of three state schools and has the funding and intention to control many more.

They actively discredit or subvert the teaching of all subjects taught in schools that contradict their extreme fundamentalist religious opinions, which are based on strictly literal biblical interpretations. Most notably they state that all of science is wrong because it does not agree with their dogma that the world was created 6,000-10,000 years ago, there was a world-wide flood with dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark, and that these dinosaurs roamed the countryside in Tudor times.

The position has become so serious that two well respected and established British universities, Leeds and Leicester, are introducing compulsory remedial courses to undo the damage done.

We have built up a database of the structure and activities of fundamentalist organisations that are active in teaching creationism in UK schools, which will be available for use by the organisations we support. It will also be made available to: teachers and other educators; local education authorities; local and national politicians; students at universities with active fundamentalist staff; businesses recruiting from schools and universities; the media and trade unions and other professional bodies involved in science and education.

In September 2006, BCSE launched its first campaign to raise awareness of the problem of creationism in education.

Further information about the BCSE can be found on its website http://www.bcseweb.org.uk .

"Touch wood" or "knock on wood" is a popular saying to reverse any bad luck that might come your way, due to a recent action you have taken or comment you have made. The superstition is that if someone remarks about something not wished for, or something that has not happened lately, they should immediately touch or knock on wood to avoid the fulfillment of bad luck, or the event not desired. Touching wood after boasting of one's good fortune, or exemption from bad luck, was thought necessary to keep the streak of good luck intact. Still, today, people are likely to touch wood immediately after answering a question in the negative, such as "no, I have not been sick lately."

Touching wood is also practiced after an activity or event that has gone excessively well. As an example, if you give a good presentation you should touch wood afterwards to continue the success you are experiencing. People will often go to great lengths to find a piece of wood to touch after one of the events described above have occurred. They believe that if they do not touch wood, the fates will wreak vengeance upon them.

Touching wood is also a superstition practiced to ensure safety and good fortune at the start of a day or activity. Athletes and actors are among two of the professions that practice this superstition to increase the good luck they will have in their upcoming game or show.

Touching iron used to be popular as well when iron was more prevalent and thought to hold magical properties. The origin of the use of wood is thought to be associated with the cross that Jesus was crucified upon. Smaller crucifix pendants were made and worn as good luck charms, often made from wood. Wood then began to be associated with safety, magic and good fortune.

Rabbits and hares were considered very lucky animals as they were associated with spring and the return of flowers and other plants. Spring was also a time of fertility and so rabbits were considered good luck to be seen running through the fields. To see a rabbit running through your yard meant that it would be a good year to have children or that your garden would be especially fertile this year.

The manner in which rabbits run gave birth to the superstition about rabbit's feet. Apparently their unusual stride makes the back feet touch the ground ahead of their front feet and so the back feet were considered especially lucky.

For luck to had,  however, the original owner must give their rabbit's foot away and it would be the receiver of the gift that would also be the recipient of the good fortune. If the owner kept the foot for himself, he would be visited by bad luck. If the recipient of the rabbit's foot lost his lucky charm he would also be visited with bad luck.

Animal rights activists are rightfully concerned about this particular superstition and are encouraging it to die out.

Other Superstitions for Rabbits:

• It is good luck for a rabbit to cross your path
• Seeing a white rabbit is a death omen
• Seeing a black rabbit is unlucky
• Seeing a rabbit on the way to work is unlucky
• If you dream about a rabbit it means you will be visited by misfortune
• Wearing rabbit-skin socks protects against pleurisy
• A child who eats rabbit brains will improve his or her behavior!
• Seeing a rabbit cross behind you means bad luck is on its way
• A rabbit running down the street means there will be a fire in the neighborhood
• Saying "white rabbits" on the first of each month or on the first day of a new moon will bring good luck
• When sitting around a campfire, saying "white rabbit" will make the smoke go in another direction
• To predict the coming winter, if you see a rabbit with a thick coat, expect a hard winter; a rabbit with a thin coat means the winter will be a mild one

The wishbone superstition became popular enough that charms in the shape of wishbones can be found in jewelry stores, made from silver, gold, and other metals.

This is not a superstition for vegetarians, though!

Umbrellas also have other superstitions attached to them, most often those that bring bad luck.

• It is bad luck to give an umbrella as a gift.
• If you drop an umbrella, do not pick it up. Instead, have someone else do it for you, or you will be the recipient of bad luck.
• If a single woman drops an umbrella, she will never marry.
• If an umbrella is opened outside when it is not needed, rain, and other bad weather, will follow.

In the Middle Ages, spiders were also considered lucky. People would trap spiders inside walnut shells and then make a necklace with silk out of them. The purpose of this was to protect against illness. Another primitive medical cure associated with spiders was to capture one in a box or bag and wait until it died. When it finally died the spider was thought to also take your disease or illness along with it.

It is considered very bad luck to kill a spider. Considering the many, many people who have killed spiders it certainly doesn't make the future bright, according to folklore! No matter how scary and ugly they are, however, having one in your home was considered good luck as the spider would protect the house and family from any misfortune. To have a spider living in your home meant that happiness would be yours so long as the spider remained. A spider dangling from the ceiling meant that money was coming your way and the small, red spiders, no matter what they were doing or where you found them, also meant financial reward. Seeing a spider outside was also considered lucky.

A spider in the morning is a sign of sorrow;
A spider at noon brings worry for tomorrow;
A spider in the afternoon is a sign of a gift;
But a spider in the evening will all hopes life.

To spill salt then was an extraordinary waste and the superstition that claimed bad luck would visit anyone who spilt salt was invented specifically to deter this behavior.

• If salt was spilt in a particular person's direction, bad luck was coming to that person.
• Spilt salt should not be cleaned up but should instead by tossed over the left shoulder, into the face of the Devil.
• Enough tears must be cried to dissolve the spilt salt in order to reverse the bad luck that was coming your way.

Other superstitions for salt:

• Wearing a small bag of salt around your neck protected you from the Evil Eye.
• A pinch of salt was left in a baby's crib until it was christened.
• Salt was an unlucky word for sailors and should never be mentioned at sea.
• Salt was thrown on the threshold of a new house for good luck.

One of the most repeated verses that originates from a sailor superstition is below:

Red sky at night, sailor's delight
Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning

For sailors, it was lucky:

• to smash a bottle against the boat just before sailing
• for sailors to have tattoos
• to throw an old pair of shoes overboard just after launch
• to have a black cat on board
• for a child to be born on the ship
• for sailors to wear gold hoop earrings
• to touch the collar of a sailor
• to step aboard using the right foot first

For sailors, it was unlucky:

• to name the boat with a word ending in "a"
• to have the bottle not break when used in the launch ceremony
• to change the name of a boat
• to sail on a green boat
• to sail on a Friday
• to see rats leaving a ship
• to have someone die on the ship
• to whistle on board a ship
• to cross an area where another ship once sunk
• to lose a bucket at sea

Other sailing superstitions:

• Women and clergymen as passengers bring bad luck
• If you meet someone with red hair, a clergyman, or someone with cross-eyes on the way to the harbor, you are encouraged not to set sail
• A bell ringing by itself on the ship is a death omen for one of the crew
• The word "drown" can never be spoken at sea or it may summon up the actual event
• A ship without its figurehead will not sink
• Horseshoes on a ship's mast help turn away storms
• A ship will sail faster when fleeing an enemy
• A ship carrying a dead body will sail slower
• Seabirds are thought to carry the souls of dead sailors
• Whistling, cutting nails and trimming beards at sea will cause storms