What People Misunderstand This Week: Is February an Unusually Lucky Month?
We’re approaching the second half of February—and according to your weird aunt on Facebook, it’s an unusual, possibly magical month. Some say it’s a “miracle,” a lucky calendar configuration that only happens once every 823 years. Others say February 2026 is the “perfect month.” Some say it’s the beginning of a particularly unlucky year. Some say the planetary alignment at the end of the month will cause great upheaval.
“Miracle Drug” February 2026
Although astronomers (and, as far as I know, even astrologers) don’t use the word, some call this month a “miracle month,” a month in which every day of the week occurs four times. This happens only once every 823 years, they say. A variation on the “miracle month” is that some call February a “money bag ,” claiming it’s a good month for abundance. (Markets disagree: February has been volatile .)
Here’s a video explaining this theory:
A quick glance at the calendar reveals that miracles happen almost every year. Every day of the week occurs exactly four times in February (except leap years), because four times seven equals 28, and there are 28 days in a month. This isn’t a miracle—it’s math. There’s nothing new about it. People spread it every February . It’s an example of a common myth and superstition based on the calendar.
Is February 2026 the “perfect month”?
If you delve a little deeper into the history of February 2026, you’ll find it described as a ” perfect month” because it begins and ends on a Sunday. This makes sense, as the calendar is a perfect grid, with no overhanging days. It’s pleasant and orderly, but not all that unusual. February 2015 was a “perfect” month, and February 2037 will be too.
Planetary parade in February
The “miracle” and perfect month only exist because we choose to keep our calendars that way, but this month is hosting a cosmic event that transcends humanity. On February 28, six planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will align in the sky. Some describe this as a “once-in-6,000-year planetary conjunction” that will cause a ” paradigm shift for the entire planet ” or gravitational anomalies. Some warn, ” Don’t look at the sky during a planetary alignment “; others, more humorously, say , “The planets are holding some kind of conference or meeting on February 28.” But whether you call it a “conjunction” or a “meeting,” it’s not uncommon. Five or six planetary alignments occur every few years, and last February, seven planets participated in a “meeting.”
In any case, the planets aren’t actually aligned. From our perspective on Earth, they’ll just appear to be aligned. Nothing will happen to your eyes if you look at them (you still won’t be able to see Uranus and Neptune without a telescope), and it won’t affect gravity or cause any dramatic changes. They’re just planets going about their business in space.
Is 2026 an unusually unlucky year?
There will be three Friday the 13ths in 2026—one occurred in February, the next is expected in March, and the third will be in November—leading some to believe that 2026 will be a particularly unlucky or cursed year. There’s no definitive answer yet as to whether this year is cursed, but if so, it won’t be because of Friday the 13ths. While three is the maximum number of Friday the 13ths that can occur in a calendar year, it’s not uncommon. There were three Friday the 13ths in 2015, and there will be three in 2037.
Speaking of the number 13, the belief that it’s an unlucky or unlucky day dates back to 19th-century France, but it’s not entirely clear why people consider it unlucky. One theory is that Judas was the 13th apostle, but there’s also the Norse myth of Loki, who showed up as the thirteenth guest at a dinner party and caused mischief. Other cultures have other unlucky days, too. The fourth is considered unlucky in China. In Italy, the 17th is considered unlucky because XVII can be rearranged to form “VIXI,” Latin for “my life is over,” a common inscription on tombstones. The main point is that none of these superstitions have anything to do with the physical world. They’re examples of how connections can be made where none exist.
Glory to Apophenia, the master of human thought!
I don’t have any research to back this up, but I’m guessing the Venn diagram of people who believed in the coming apocalypse , Leviathan rising from the oceans , and aliens arriving overlaps significantly with people who believe there’s something ominous about planetary alignments or that February is rich people’s month. You’d think that when aliens didn’t land and the apocalypse didn’t happen, people would be more cautious about spreading predictions of the future, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. But it’s not just people being gullible. It’s a byproduct of how our brains are wired.
Apophenia is the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. Neurologist Klaus Conrad coined the term in a 1958 study of schizophrenics, describing a “peculiar sense of abnormal meaningfulness,” but apophenia isn’t exclusive to schizophrenics. It’s present in every gambler who’s “lucky,” in everyone who’s seen the “man on the moon,” and in everyone who’s ever mistaken correlation for causation. That is: everyone. Our brains evolved to find patterns in data because it kept us alive and led to things like the scientific method, but the price we pay for it is thinking a baseball cap will help our team win a series.
Pascal’s Wager
Apophenia isn’t the only factor at play here. The spread of TikTok videos promising abundance is a heightened version of Pascal’s Wager , the philosophical argument that it’s wiser to bet on rewards when the entry costs are low: clicking the “share” button requires almost no effort, so what if it works ? While neither of these beliefs is new, in “prehistoric times,” if you wanted to be a doomsday prophet, you had to stand on a street corner with a sign that said, “The End is Nigh.” This required a lot of effort, and you wouldn’t have an algorithm to ensure your message reached those most receptive.
Even disinformation that doesn’t promise monetary reward offers something to those who spread it. Sometimes it’s a fleeting sense of euphoria from possessing secret knowledge. Or it’s a way to demonstrate membership in a certain group (“I’m one of those who believes the alignment of the stars has mystical significance!”), or perhaps simply a way to attract attention .
I wouldn’t write about “Moneybags February” because my friends would think I’m weird for sharing my spending habits on Facebook, and I’d get the general impression that spreading lies is harmful. But the truth is, your weird Facebook aunt and I are doing the same thing. We both pick up the same patterns and hit “share”; we just have different ideas about which patterns to pay attention to. I’m still willing to bet on any conspiracy theory, but February is a cold month, and if your aunt likes to think it brings in money, who am I to judge her? It’s just that the same system that spreads “February is a magical month” also spreads beliefs and ideas that are truly dangerous, even deadly—at least that’s how I see it.