'O culo

Sixteen is one of those numbers the Smorfia calls by its street word, a word that sounds rougher in Italian than it really is. In Naples, “tenè culo” means being lucky, and not just any luck: the undeserved kind, the kind that comes without effort and makes onlookers raise their eyebrows. It’s a folk way of saying that sometimes things just go well, for no reason at all. In dreams, sixteen shows up when something sorts itself out. An obstacle that gets out of the way while you were figuring out how to get around it, a meeting that happened at just the right moment, an oversight that, instead of costing you, solved everything. And it brings its own cheeky side: people who are lucky often take it for granted, and that’s the moment they stop watching where they step. The images that lead here have a courtyard feel. The behind, which is the word itself. The queen, standing for someone who puts on airs without having earned a thing. And the moralizer, who looks out of place but is actually the Smorfia’s best joke: the one who can never swallow other people’s luck. Let’s be clear, because this is about dreams, not gambling: sixteen doesn’t announce any luck on its way. It says that in your dream something went well without being earned — and that recognizing it, instead of taking credit for it, is usually the best way to hold on to it.