Tiktok says toss old shoes this September to kick out bad luck

Science offers no proof that writing on shoes and tossing them can banish bad luck, attract wealth, or alter your future.

Before throwing away that battered pair of shoes gathering dust in your cabinet, TikTok has an unusual suggestion: write on them first.

A viral manifestation ritual tells people to use old shoes to symbolically kick bad luck, problems and stagnant energy out of their lives this September.

The instructions are strangely specific.

Take an old pair of shoes and, using a black pen, write “GO” on the right shoe to supposedly send troubles away. On the left, write “CLEAR” or “EMPTY” to represent removing negative energy.

Next, place the shoes inside a black garbage bag, tie it securely and throw it in a bin away from your home, preferably at night.

Goodbye old shoes. Goodbye bad vibes—or so TikTok says.

Some videos describe the practice as connected to Feng Shui, but the distinction is important: there is no known classical Feng Shui rule requiring people to write on shoes, use a black garbage bag or discard footwear specifically in September.

Those details appear to belong to the modern world of social media manifestation rituals.

What does resemble Feng Shui principles is the idea behind the trend: decluttering.

In Feng Shui practice, broken, worn-out and unused possessions are often associated with stagnant energy. Shoes are particularly symbolic because they literally carry us through life, making them an easy metaphor for direction, progress and moving forward.

So why September?

Some social media practitioners connect the timing to the period around the end of Ghost Month, traditionally associated in Chinese culture with heightened spiritual activity. Others simply see September—the start of the year’s final four months—as a chance to clear out the old before the year ends.

There is no scientific evidence that writing words on shoes and throwing them away can remove bad luck, attract money or change your future.

But the viral ritual does have one guaranteed result.

Your shoe cabinet gets cleaner.

And perhaps getting rid of things that no longer serve you is already one small way of moving forward.

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