Lieryth and Mikhuth's Clutch, November 2008

The theme for this clutch was "Superstitions". The clutching party log can be found here.

Fey Wood Egg

A combination of oak and mahogany are layered upon this egg, laced through with ash to create a gnarled, wooden appearance complete with wood grain effect. The solid shape of the egg is lent more weight by that colouration and the large size only further accentuates that 'feeling' of density. More imaginative sorts might even see faces or mischievous figures in the tangled lines and whorls, while others will see nothing more than the nonsensical markings of a common egg.

Inspiration: "Knock on wood" -- it's a phrase that's usually accompanied by the act of knocking on wood, usually to try to prevent one from jinxing oneself. Folklore holds that knocking on wood is supposed to prevent evil spirits from spoiling a bout of good luck.

Sunniva

Seven Years Egg

This silvery egg looks as if it was dropped from a great height or hit with a hard object. Smooth, shiny silver is marred by radial black cracks that start from the bottom of the egg and travel upward, splintering into hairline imperfections that distort the surface. Pieces of the shell seem to be missing, forming black gaps in the flowing mercury surface, as though an impact jarred them away. Near the top of the egg, undisturbed by the mysterious impact, the silver glistens and shines in any light that hits it. The color is so perfect and undisturbed; one could almost imagine images of the sands reflected on its surface. This poor egg seems very unlucky, but will it bring good luck or bad luck to someone?

Inspiration: You break a mirror you get seven years of bad luck, so says the superstition. Having never broken a mirror, I can't really say if it's unlucky. I won't be testing that theory any time soon though!

Niala

Pants on Fire Egg

Up close, this egg is nothing more than an aggregation of colors - cromcoal and copper, crimson and white. There a pale blue, here a peculiar shade of orange. But from a distance even as short as the entrance to the sands, those colors paint an illusion of clothing - black pants and blue shirt, with that little orange flame licking at the side of one of the legs.

Inspiration: Though I've since recovered, when I was a kid I was terrified my pants might spontaneously combust if I ever told a lie.

Fadra

Mother's Bane Egg

This egg is a thing of mottled cream and white, utterly unassuming and sedate. Its squat bulk is settled in the sands as nice as one could ever hope for and is, initially, the very picture of What An Egg Should Be. But if one were to look upon it closely and turn their head just so to examine a particular curve, they will find the otherwise common shell appears to have a very distinct crack upon the surface, a fractured line of charcoal that arcs from top to bottom to vanish into the sand. A touch will reveal this is cosmetic, but unsettling, nonetheless.

Inspiration: One of the most common -- and, to me, most terrifying --superstitions that children are taught from an early age: "Step on a crack, break your mother's back."

Sunniva

Pop Goes the Luck Egg

One end of this egg is a shiny black color that forms an umbrella over the rest of the colors worn on the shell should it find itself perched just so in the sands. A thin line of brown runs down one side to the other end where it swoops in a curve to the right. Underneath the black overhang, along the rest of the shell, can be found several other colors, like bright blue shapes lying beside green and yellow stripes. It's as if a whole tumble of shapes and colors have been scattered about to cover up the pale cream color of the rest of the egg's shell. The shapes and random placement might bring to mind the way a floor looks when someone hurriedly tosses items down to it rather than put them up in their proper place.

Inspiration: Opening an umbrella inside is considered to bring bad luck raining down upon you especially if that umbrella is black.

Javeri

Dim Glows Egg

A dusty white comprises the shell of this tall, slim egg, deep pocks and hollow nubbles exaggerating the shadowed effect. Depending on the direction the egg is turned, it is either quite plain or revealing just a touch of color that appears to be a trick of the light. Sometimes when the egg's angled just right, an amber glow may appear to burst across the shell from a single pinpointed yellowed circle, its rays emanating outward like the glimmer of flame-touched resin or a beacon sought from shore on a stormy night at sea. Its illusory glow is at first bright, then ringed in concentric circles of ever-darkening shadow until it is absorbed by the simplicity of the ordinary eggshell, so much so that its presence itself is cast in doubt.

Inspiration: A candle superstition that tells that if a candle that is lighted as part of a ceremony blows out, it is a sign that evil spirits are nearby.

Nolee

Supernatural Toll Egg

The dark, sluggish-seeming midnight blue of this egg washes over this egg in a stagnant flow. It is a glossy thing, as if perpetually in water, but the shine does nothing to sharpen the hazy ripples that mar the surface. Only at the apex is this hue broken -- a crisp disc, gold-and-copper-bright, rests at the top, imprinted with nonsensical squiggles in a darker shade that seems to hint at a portrait that's been well-worn. When viewed directly from above, it might even look as if it were a coin, dropped into some slowly-moving river.

Inspiration: Coins surface in many cultures as items of superstition -- from 'good luck' pennies and placing coins under the tongue of the deceased to pay Charon's toll (such as the one on this egg), to placing coins over a dead person's eyes and using a coin flip to settle matters.

Sunniva

Taboo to Touch Egg

Sleek, smooth steel sheaths the shell of this ovoid. Though the color is uniform dusky chrome, any light that catches on this half-buried egg glints highlights of a more silvery shade. The half of the egg protruding from the black sands is, in a word, pristine. The positioning of the egg and the rises in the sand around its base grant the egg an angular appearance. Where some eggs have scatterings of color and an overall chaotic look, this is a contrasting cool, calm and collected look. The only interruption to its perfection can be found just above its bed of sand in the form of a riddling smear reminiscent of the residue of a sticky finger pressing marring an otherwise immaculate tool.

Inspiration: Chef superstition: bad luck to touch another chef's knives!

Gaelyn

Evil Eye Egg

This egg has a sinister air about it, looking very much like an eye glaring menacingly about. Circular in shape, its entire surface is made up of various shades of orangey-gold save for a single, large black circle set exactly in the middle. Around the black spot, the color is at its darkest, almost a burnt orange. The color lightens by imperceptibly as the color travels further from the pupil-like spot, each color mixing and blending with the one before it until a unique, bright gold is reached. When looking closely, flecks of green, gold, and bronze can be seen throughout the colored portion of the egg. The entire surface is shiny and wet in appearance, as if covered in tears.

Inspiration: This egg is based off an owl eye. I read somewhere that if a screech owl sounds three times outside your house, someone in the house will, or has already died. The night I read that, I heard an owl outside my room. It hooted three times. Needless to say, I was freaked out for a little bit.

Niala

Fuzzy Soldiers Egg

This egg's shell is covered by various soothing shades of brown, with caramel, chocolate, chestnut, auburn, and russet being the most represented. There's not one spot of white on this particular egg; every part is dutifully covered. The gentle colours move in rippling waves, like a canine pup's silky soft fur; but when touched, the shell feels like any other egg: smooth, pockmarked, but also slightly warm and always hardening, silent promises of the life growing within.

Inspiration: When I was very young, my babysitters would comfort me by saying my stuffed teddy bears would come alive at night and protect me. Certainly a more cheerful superstition than usual!

Fayre

Traditional Taboos Egg

A lush, forest green is draped upon one half of this egg, the colour varying in places to suggest well-placed folds of sumptuous, silken fabric. The other side, in startling contrast, is red -- blood? Or the skirts of another dress composed of graduated reds? Light and dark red are layered in a way that hints either way -- here, a fold of a skirt, there a flow of blood. Diametrically opposed and yet complimentary, inextricably bound by the semblance of silver lacing running, zig-zag, between the two sides.

Inspiration: In any culture, there are tons of taboos and superstitions around weddings in particular. Here, the green gown is considered ill luck among the Pernese, while a graduated red dress is considered traditional. This egg could be a cautionary tale against wearing the green (thus resulting in blood) or that the Weaver who made it really ought to pay more attention to where the needle is.

Sunniva

Mystery Message Egg

Compared to some of its neighbors, this egg seems rather plain and boring, but there's an air of mystery about it. Smaller than the average egg, it would melt into the background if it weren't for its unique coloring. The backdrop of the ovum is ivory, aged and worn as if someone had been running their hand over the shell for years. Black, stylistic characters circle the egg, forming neat rows on its surface. One of the characters near the top of the egg appears larger and distorted in comparison to its neighbors, as if someone placed a glass lens over it, trying to highlight it and impart some secret message.

Inspiration: A Ouija board can be a fun sleepover game, or it can help the living communicate with the dead. OOooooo! Personally, I don't believe in the phenomena of the board, but it is eerie how the board seems to answer questions on its own, and some people swear by it.

Niala

Not Superstitious Egg

Eggs don't have hair. Everyone knows that. Then why is it that this egg, smaller than the rest, appears so large and ...fluffy? It's likely balanced on its base, its narrow apex buried in the dark sands, with more of those dark grains clinging tenaciously all over, adding to that puffed up appearance. Clumps of grains and the dim glow of the hatching cavern create the shifting appearances of a mighty but abandoned Hold's shadow against the storm-struck skyline, but in the next moment it seems to instead be a road or a pathway with a trail of tiny figures marching in line, but even that image shifts into a dozen cracked shimmering images, like a fine but broken triad of a hand mirror or delicate bit of reflective glass. From another angle, the illusions are broken, and it's just a dirty old egg.

Inspiration: The song Superstitious, by the 80s big hair band Europe. See the video or read the lyrics

Nolee

Speckled Shell Egg

This bright red egg has large black spots covering the top three quarters of its shape. Seven black spots in all are on the red egg waiting to be counted by someone. Despite being as oblong as any egg should be, there's something more rounded about this red and black shell. Near the bottom the black and red intermingle along with a few faint wisps of dark orangey-yellow that almost look like flames rising up underneath the shell to scorch the whole thing. It looks smaller than the other eggs around it, as if the tiniest flicker of fingers might send it off into the sky.

Inspiration: There are many superstitions about ladybugs. It is considered bad luck to kill one, but if one lands on you it can mean any number of good things as well depending on the location of the landing and what part of the world one lives in. The number of spots on a ladybug's back can tell someone information about if their harvest will be a good one to how many children they will have.

Niala

Pale Brown Egg

This medium-sized egg is largely a pale brown, almost a tan shade, evenly shaded over most of the shell. Small striations, similar to wrinkles, make patterned bumps across it, leading to small pockets of light and dark across its surface. One side has a darkened oval on it, a black deep enough to match the hue of the sands on which it sits. Within that oval is a smaller one of light brown, the same color as the rest of the shell. The egg tapers slightly at one end, curling up a little to give it an almost jaunty look.

Inspiration: Black-eyed peas! Superstition has it that eating them on New Year's Day will bring you good luck. This is a common belief in southern states.

C'len

Honorable Mentions

We received so many eggs and we wish we could have used them all! We wanted to make sure we shared all the wonderful submissions, so here they are!

Ladder's Shadow Egg

A waning sun seems to beat down on one side of this ebony speckled egg. The other half looks to be shadowed. It is an illusion however, considering that the darker, ominous side rests up towards the top and stretches downward. A ladder-like pattern tips from top to bottom with the darkest most dangerous area resting nestled in the sands. The smoothness of this egg's shell is seductively intriguing. A gentle warm belies its sinister side. Do not dare to dip behind its shadowed half. One never can tell what might happen.

Sheeza

Predicting Peel Egg

By all accounts, this egg is certainly peculiar with the almost unnatural gloss to its shell and the pronounced lack of pigment. It doesn't even really seem to be white, but rather to absorb the things around it, distorting color and shape with changing light, much like water. The single deviation to this is plainly obvious: a stark red spiral on one apex.

Inspiration: I was once told that if you take the peel of an apple and drop it in water, it will form the first letter of your true love.

Fadra

Ominous Numerologies Egg

Chilled black encases this egg in liquid-smooth splendor, an ominous backdrop for three peculiar markings upon its surface. Sanguine red appears to have been streaked deliberately upon the surface, rendered as glossy as the black it resides upon, and two finger-widths wide as if brushed there by the hand of a madman. A single vertical line is paired suspiciously with another shape that might be a three to make thirteen, while the opposing side is decorated with a design that is uncannily like a four.

Inspiration: In Western culture, the number 13 is inherently considered 'unlucky': if there are 13 people at a table, 1 will die; Friday the 13th is doomed to be a terrible day. In Japan, however, the number 4 ('shi') is not just a number, but also the word for death. Just as some hotels avoid having a 13th floor in the West, they avoid having a 4th floor ... all because it could be 'unlucky'.

Sunniva

Autumnal Leaves Egg

Oranges, yellows, and even some red shapes seem to flurry over the surface of this egg. Lines of brown run horizontal and hold the swirling leaf shaped colors in place. For all the bright, almost garish colors there's one blotch that stands out in particular. This bright yellow, three pointed leaf takes center stage and looks to be tumbling down to the ground. For this leaf there is an amorphous cream colored shape rising up as if it might be reaching to pluck that leaf right out of the spot it hangs from. The two forms seem almost to touch at their closest points as if the meeting of yellow and cream is meant to be.

Inspiration: It is believed that if you can catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn then you will not catch a cold all winter long.

Javeri

Restless Shade Egg

Like restless mythical shades walking about after they've shuffled off their mortal coil, a linked circle of vertically streaked shadow figures seem to dance across the egg's surface, an illusion that is only heightened when seen against the sparkling black sands of the Istan hatching grounds.

Inspiration: Ghosts; restless spirits walking among the waking world; hauntings.

Nolee

Make a Wish Egg

Dark black washes over the shell of this large, elongated egg. It almost appears to be an image of the night sky. Indigo clouds swirl about in the dark background, barely perceptible from a distance. Pinpoints of pure white of varying intensity wink out from between the clouds and scatter randomly over the surface, some clustering together, others forming shapes and patterns over the surface of the egg; still others sit lonely amongst the black void with no friends to make them shine. Across the middle, something magical happens. One of the white pinpoints burns brightly and shoots across the egg, leaving a bright white streak in its wake as it traverses the night sky.

Inspiration: Disney said it best. When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. When you wish upon a star your dreams come true. Who wouldn't want to make that a superstition? I always make a wish when I see a shooting star, sometimes they've even come true.

Niala

Grainy White Egg

It is not a pure white this egg that gleams without color. Instead it is an object made of hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands little white specks. There can appear to be at times flashes of a color underneath these granules of white, but that color must be just a trick of the mind. This egg? It has no color just that whiteness made of so much white atop white that it almost seems as if it will spill over and onto the sand. A pile of white far brighter at the top than at the bottom resting in the sand like it waits to be scooped up or gathered back together to go somewhere else. The swirling white granules to the left appear as if they might be obscuring something lurking there in the pattern, but a close examination shows nothing there at all.

Inspiration: Spilling salt has long since been believed to bring bad luck. A pinch of the spilled salt should be thrown over one's left shoulder to chase away the demon there.

Javeri

Sinister Gaze Egg

Opulent blues and greens are layered like the feathers of some exotic avian upon this egg, the iridescent tones sweeping up inexorably to the apex, where a singularly startling revelation can be beheld. There, the fine colours cease, transmuting into an ovoid marking of champagne gold, a crescent of lucid turquoise curving within the cusp, and the most disconcerting of all: a piercing black circle in the middle that renders the appearance of an unseeing eye, fixed blindly upon nothing.

Inspiration: Peacock feathers were often taken as a sign of bad luck, purely because the feathers looked as if they had an eye on them. While eyes aren't inherently bad, it was perceived as an 'evil eye' and thus Not A Good Thing.

Sunniva

Numerology Egg

The entire surface of this egg is smooth and shiny, as if someone painted it with lacquer. Only up close can the pores be seen and felt. The dark, rich blue of the deepest ocean engulfs the ovum, with the slightly lighter harper blue appearing in sharp, angular highlights. These highlights scatter at random over the eggs surface, as if the light itself was breaking the uniform cobalt, and further add to the illusion of the eggs sheen. Swirls of golden threads dance across the surface of the blue, forming no apparent pattern. Though here, if glanced at in the right light, a three may be seen, or here if you squint you might be able to see a thirteen. Perhaps a seven or a four appears at random, and that squiggle there could very well be a six.

Inspiration: Numerology has been around since numbers have been invented. Certain numbers, depending on culture, can be good or bad luck. For example, in China, four is considered an unlucky number. Seven and three are numbers of divinity in Western culture, while six is the number of evil. Thirteen, of course, is the most famous unlucky number.

Niala

Shivering Unsightly Egg

Peachy flesh-toned and somewhat squat, this egg looks uncomfortable in its own shell. The surface might feel smooth, but it looks as if its studded with bumps and wisps of hair on end -- all an illusion of course, but somewhat disturbing for that. Worse still, it appears to be sweating, being one of those curiously glossy eggs that never loses its luster. It tilts slightly away from the other eggs at an awkward angle, though not so precarious it might fall if it were to tremble.

Inspiration: Some say that a sudden bout of inexplicable goosebumps and shivers is the result of a goose walking over your grave. As superstitions go, it's on par with burning or itching ears -- though it may beg the question: where are these geese coming from and why are they walking in graveyards in the first place?

Sunniva

Lucky Leaves Egg

Oh my. It's green. Not just any green, but the brightest, most vibrant field-clover green ever seen. Verdant, brilliant, nearly blinding in its verdigris, this egg is hard to miss and even harder to overlook. If one can manage an extended view, there's even a pattern in the green-ness. Rough darker lines suggest grass, and a hundred or more small circles are linked in sets of four. The whole thing is like an impressionistic image of clover leaves, and dotted among them are tufting white flowering blossoms, nearly lost amid the overwhelming dominant green.

Inspiration: It's considered good luck to find a four-leaf clover!

Nolee

Deceptively Dangerous Loaf Egg

Golden-brown and with a sheen that hints at something buttery and delicious, this egg looks like it ought to be in the kitchens rather than baking away on the sands. While it appears to be unmarked upon first glance, closer inspection will reveal that there are thin, dark brown lines evenly spaced and cutting horizontally across it. It looks somewhat flattened on the bottom, ultimately resembling a loaf of bread that's been planted on its end on the sand.

Inspiration: One of the more unusual superstitions I found was one that warned against turning a loaf of bread on its end after a slice has been cut from it. Why? I have no idea, but it probably would have resulted in illness or death like any other superstition worth its salt.

Sunniva

When You Wish Egg

A midnight blue, a blue not so far from black, drapes this egg consistently. The pattern on it, however, is less consistent - so unnaturally erratic that it's actually possible to identify various shapes through the pinpoints of white stippled on its surface like small stars. And there, on the side that conveniently faces upward, one of the larger dots has broken the pattern, stretching in a single line along the wide curve.

Inspiration: See a falling star and make a wish. :)

Fadra

Butterfly Trio Egg

A pale blue in color this egg has only three spots that break up that color. The first one rests to the left with orange and black wings on either side of a solid black line. The second lays to the right of the first with slimmer, taller wings than the first. These are a startlingly bright blue in color in the middle with black at the top and a small bit at the bottom. Between the bottom of the blue and the black is an orange slash. The body between these wings is the same blue as the wings. To the right of this one is the third and shape. Pale yellow makes a thick border around light brown wings. The body between these is a mix of yellow and brown that matches the wings. These shapes seem to be hovering in the sky, welcoming observation.

Inspiration: Spying three butterflies together means good look for the viewer.

Javeri

Inauspicious Avians Egg

Pristine white covers this egg from apex to base, a purity of hue that would be utter and complete were it not for the inauspicious markings upon it. Six markings, as if stamped there in the darkest of inks, have seemingly been placed erratically upon it with no rhyme or reason. The blots themselves bear an eerie resemblance to avians, silhouettes hanging in stark contrast upon the shell with wings spread and sharp beaks gaped wide in a soundless cry.

Inspiration: A murder of crows -- 6, to be precise -- is believed to be an omen of impending death. Oddly, a single crow is just 'bad', while two is lucky, three signifies health and four is a sign of good wealth. But, unlucky number five is a sign of sickness, which goes to show that this superstition is for the birds.

Sunniva