I have been thinking lately about the nature of luck, how to measure it (if possible?), and how to adjust it. Would appreciate all your insights!
What is luck? Of course, people will disagree on whether luck exists, or whether fate exists, and what they are. However, I am treating good luck as coincidences which appear to be in one's favor. This is quite personal and subjective; for instance, a person stuck in traffic who misses a big job interview would consider it bad luck, whereas another person stuck in the same traffic who misses being in a plane crash would consider it good luck.
I would also propose distinguishing it from fate; that is, I am treating luck as coincidences that do not seem to lead to a bigger specific outcome. For instance, someone who is "meant to be" a famous actor or athlete might have a "lucky break" and be discovered, or someone might meet their significant other at the bus stop. These are all things considered lucky, but I'm focusing more on things which don't apparently seem to feed into some sort of fate path. However, having a sequence of lucky events (or unlucky events) overall would affect one's station in life, so I am not sure this is a fair distinction.
How to measure luck? I have never tried this, so I am not sure. Perhaps, divination? I would personally infer a sense of a person's overall luck from their natal chart (for instance, a well-placed Jupiter on the ascendant could correspond with good luck), but a person's luck presumably might change from time to time.
What affects luck? This is a combination of things that I have heard, and things I suspect. I'm sure there is more to add!
[Edited to include suggestions from below]
Good luck:
* I took some lessons in cosmos qi gong and the instructor said that the practice increased daily luck. Possibly, qi gong or working with qi in general?
* Ancestor work (according to Gordon White, possibly this depends on one's relationship with one's ancestors)
* Prayer and being on good terms with deity
* I find that doing significant amounts of deep meditation increases synchronicities, but that may not be luck (since synchronicities are often personally neutral and just interesting to note)
* Jupiter workings
* Benevolent or helpful spirits
* Believing you are lucky - I have been told that this affects luck. However, possibly, people develop a belief that they are lucky/unlucky, because they actually are. Still, believing that things will go well often means that they do (e.g. law of manifestation), and vice versa.
* Luck spells/workings
* Amulet for luck, such as the 9 cups of Tarot [Talerman]
* A bit of chaos magic, to try to adapt and embrace within yourself a lucky character from books, such as this lucky Donald Duck's brother. Be Gladson Gander when you need good luck [Talerman]
* Good psychic intuition (getting an intuitive sense you should go somewhere, ask someone something, avoid somewhere, etc) [edited to add this]
* Aligning one's self to the environment, e.g. Feng shui [Hemlighét, Talermn]
I am excluding things like "doing things which are harmonious with one's fate path and finding they work out" (assuming one believes in fate) since things might seem like a streak of luck when they are actually meant to be and leading to something bigger. (But is this a fair exclusion?)
Bad luck:
* Being on the receiving end of cursework
* Being in the presence of certain negative entities
* How one interacts with a location (e.g. locational astrology, being on bad terms with local spirits; same for good luck of course)
I omitted "what goes around comes around" or "payback" from "bad luck" because some people who do crummy things seem to still have good luck.
Anything to add, or any thoughts?