Superstitions: an Objective Perspective - Essay Example

 Superstition Science is founded on the conviction that experience, effort, and reason are valid; magic on the belief that hope cannot fail nor desire deceive. (Branislaw Malinnowski, Magic, Science and Religion, 1948) Fact or fiction, Myth or reality or just a notion or belief – yes, all these words conjure up a kind of debatable attitude especially when it is one of the burning issues in these modern times. This subject relates to the circumstances of its happening, a belief in an occurrence or for some it is sheer luck or magic. Yes, our topic of discussion is based on Superstitions in its purest form. For many people, superstition is a way of life and nothing takes place or materializes till every aspect is well taken care of. For others and especially the modern generation superstitions is just old wives tales or grandmother stories. During the time of the devastating epidemic also called the Black Plague that swept Europe, superstitious practices were rampant. It was during the Plague when people were so sick and suffered a lot, Pope Gregory passed a decree that whenever someone sneezed, the person near him should say, “God Bless You”! They were asked to do this in order to prevent the disease from spreading and to cure whoever already had it. (Ed Zotti, “Why do we say God Bless You”) Different countries associate superstitions with bad luck. For example in Western folklore people view Friday the 13th as an ominous day because they believe that something bad would definitely take place on that date. But for people in most other continents, Friday is a very auspicious day and one that brings them good luck. So also the number 13 which is unlucky for most people proves to be very lucky for many. So when such is the case how authentic is this superstition? Another classy example of this would be that walking under a ladder brings misfortune or bad luck to the person. The actual significance of this is that walking under a ladder is dangerous because the ladder may break or slip and hurt the people walking under it. Such a notion gathered strength from rumors spread by some people and has now come to be in the category of superstitions. In fact if every superstition is to be examined from the time of its inception we would come to know that what holds significance as a superstition was only a co-incidental occurrence and nothing more to it. Another great superstition is that a baby born with teeth is a devil’s child and is extremely selfish. In my experience, I came across a couple who knew me and she gave birth to her first born who had four teeth. They were very worried because people around them started warning them of the superstition that surrounds such an occurrence. I put their fears aside and advised them that every child is God given and has nothing what-so-ever to do with the devil. The child was named Angel and she grew up to be a little angel who was always kind, generous and soft spoken. So why is such superstition given credence? Actually teeth appear in a new born if the mother had eaten foods rich in Calcium and since she has excessive Calcium in her body, the new born cuts her teeth while in the mother’s womb. “Marriages are made in Heaven” is a very famous saying; then why is it that a marriage is immediately doomed if the wedding rings are dropped during the ceremony. Isn’t it rather ridiculous to lay a marriage on the line just because of a little clumsiness or carelessness? This sort of superstition would have taken shape because of some strange co-incident that had occurred and rumors passed around to make others believe it was true. I came across some very funny superstitions and one of them said that if you divide an apple down the center and count the number of seeds, then you would also come to know the number of children you are going to conceive! What if there are ten seeds? If that were true ladies would be even scared to cut an apple for what they might find. Another ridiculous superstition has to do in finding the sex of a baby. For this, a piece of string is used from which a wedding band had to be suspended over the palm of the to-be mother. If the ring moves of swings in a straight line, then she would give birth to a boy but if it moves in a circular or oval direction then she would get a girl. Just imagine! The superstitious person in his foolish belief of such ridiculous phenomena throws Science to the winds or puts it on hold for a later time. To add to the fun we have the superstition of the Birthday candles, where the birthday girl/boy would get their wish granted if they blew out all the candles with one blow. If this were true, then everyone would make sure that they had a cake, blew out all the candles in one breath and wished for some of the most exotic things on earth. This belief is more than a joke! Another very ridiculous one is if a lighted candle used in a ceremony goes out, then evil spirits are near by. The superstitious believer does not understand that if a gust of wind passes by, the candle would naturally go out, or if the room has less oxygen, the candle is bound to fizzle out. People who are gullible are the ones who are weak minded and willing to believe in something they want to believe in- no one can stop them. They fall a prey to people who in the name of an advisor of sorts feeds the already distressed person with anxiety and fear. Take the example of a coin falling down. Picking up a coin if the head side is up brings good luck and if the tail side is up it brings bad luck. It is rather strange to think that a small coin could change anyone’s fortunes to misfortunes or vice versa. If this were true one would find poor people dropping coins as they please in order to gain some favor with the Gods. Most of the Modern Day therapy paraphernalia is mostly a big bunch of hooey. They try to attract people to believe that their concoctions would protect and guard them against the rough edges of life and take them on one long smooth journey. But such beliefs are ridiculous and amount to nothing as these believers would find out sooner or later. The wisest thing to do in such a situation would be to be skeptical in case one encounters them. Paul Kurtz, a Philosopher created widespread awareness by forming dozens of skeptical groups in the United States as well as in other countries. These groups consisted of intellectuals from different walks of life such as scientists, physicians, teachers, professors, lawyers and engineers who held conferences, gathered data and conducted investigations on supernatural phenomena and after much debating arrive collectively at a reasonable agreement. Skepticism therefore helps people against becoming superstitious. (Michael Shermer, Stephen Jay Gould) Superstitions are therefore that phenomena that is built on rumors, wrong beliefs and just co-incidence. If something happens accidentally a person who is superstitious believes that it would occur again and hence passes a juicy rumor to unsuspecting or gullible people who easily fall for the bait. These people in turn pass this on to others and by the end of it you have a very strong community who totally believes it to be true. For my part, I don’t believe in superstitions and understand that it is a strange bag of misconceptions. I staunchly vouch that Science is the basis of all life and occurrences and would definitely support this belief by unraveling any superstition I come across in my life. I conclude by saying that all intelligent people would not fall a prey to superstition because they understand that superstitions are not based on any facts as Science does. References: Michael Shermer, Stephen Jay Gould, Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition and Other Confusions of Our Time. Publisher - Henry Holt and Company, LLC. New York. Old Superstitions www.oldsuperstitions.com Superstition www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition Superstitions: Old Wives Tales, Beliefs and Misconceptions www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html Read More