Information about Superstition

Superstition is a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

Superstition means one who overly stands, or not being progressive. As "new" religious beliefs and practices spread from one big city to another, people living in rural areas remained uninformed, continuing to practice as they had. Their beliefs were viewed as eccentric in the context of the cities. They were "superstitious" because they weren't doing what was new. Eventually the English word "superstition" came to imply a religion-like belief that stands outside the bounds of clerical religion.

In modern caveman talk, the term "superstition" is also used to refer to folkloric belief systems, often with the intention of deriding another culture's concept of the spiritual world.

Many extant superstitions arose before and during the time of the Black Plague that swept over Europe. During the time of the Black Plague, Pope Gregory I the Great passed a law requiring people to say "God bless you" when somebody sneezed; this was said to prevent the spread of the disease and to cure whoever already had it.^[1]

Superstition and folklore

In the academic discipline of folkloristics the term "superstition" is used to denote any are based on general, culturally variable beliefs in a supernatural "reality". Depending on a given culture's belief set, its superstitions may relate to things that are not fully understood or known, such as cemeteries, animals, demons, a devil, deceased ancestors, the weather, ripping one's sock, gambling, sports, food, holidays, occupations, excessive scrupulosity, death, luck, and spirits. Urban legends are also sometimes classed as superstition, especially if the moral of the legend is to justify fears about socially alien people or conditions.

In Western folklore, traditional superstitions associated with bad luck include Friday the 13th and walking under a ladder.

An interesting superstition in the Indian subcontinent is that a pregnant woman should avoid going outside during an eclipse in order to prevent her baby being born with a facial birthmark.

Another interesting superstition in Korea is that a fan left running in a closed room will suffocate the occupants.

Superstition and religion

In keeping with the Latin etymology of the word, religious believers have often seen other religions as superstition. Likewise, atheists, agnostics, deists, and skeptics regard religious belief as superstition. (Edmund Burke, the Irish orator, once said, "Superstition is the religion of feeble minds.") From the broadest perspective, all religion is a form of superstition.

Religious practices are most likely to be labeled "superstitious" by outsiders when they include belief in extraordinary events (miracles), an afterlife, supernatural interventions, apparitions or the efficacy of prayer, charms, incantations, the meaningfulness of omens, and prognostications.

Greek and Roman pagans, who modeled their relations with the gods on political and social terms scorned the man who constantly trembled with fear at the thought of the gods, as a slave feared a cruel and capricious master. "Such fear of the gods (deisidaimonia) was what the Romans meant by 'superstition' (Veyne 1987, p 211). For Christians just such fears might be worn proudly as a name: Desdemona.

The Roman Catholic Church considers superstition to be sinful in the sense that it denotes a lack of trust in the divine providence of God and, as such, is a violation of the first of the Ten Commandments. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states superstition "in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion" (para. #2110).

The Catechism clearly dispels commonly held preconceptions or misunderstandings about Catholic doctrine relating to superstitious practices:

Superstition is a deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand is to fall into superstition. Cf. Matthew 23:16-22| (para. #2111)

Superstition and magic

Superstitions differ from magic spells in that the former are generally passive if/then constructs while the latter contain formulae, recipes, petitions, prayers, and love songs for effecting future outcomes by means of symbolic, and perhaps non-causal activities. People who otherwise accept scientific de-mystification of the supernal world and do not consider themselves to be occultists or practitioners of magic, still may consider that it is "better to be safe than sorry" and observe some or many of the superstitions.

Hunting superstitions

• When a person goes out to hunt animals in the forest, the people who stay at home may not touch oil or water with their hands during the absence of their friend; for if they did so, the hunters would all be "butter-fingered" and the prey would slip through their hands.
• While a Gilyak hunter was pursuing game in the forests of ancient China, his children at home were forbidden to make drawings on wood or in sand; they feared that if the children did so, the paths in the forest would become as complicated as the lines in the drawings and that the hunter might lose his way and never return.^[2]
• The belief that there is a magical bond between a wound and the weapon which caused it may be traced unaltered for thousands of years:
• If a Melanesian can obtain possession of the bow which caused his wound, he will keep it carefully in a cool place so as to reduce the inflammation of the wound. But if the bow was left in the enemy's possession, it will undoubtedly be hung up close to the fire so that the wound may become hot and inflamed.^[3]
• Roman officer and encyclopedist Pliny (in his Natural History, Book xxviii, Chapter 7) tells us that "if you have wounded a man and are sorry for it, you have only to spit on the hand that gave the wound, and the pain of the sufferer will be instantly alleviated."^[4]
• Francis Bacon (in his Sylva Sylvarum, X, 998) mentions that "it is constantly received and avouched that the anointing of the weapon that maketh the wound will heal the wound itself".^[5] This superstition was still in practice in eastern England in the 20th century: At Norwich in June 1902 a woman named Matilda Henry accidentally ran a nail into her foot. Without examining the wound, or even removing her stocking, she caused her daughter to grease the nail, saying that if this were done no harm would come of the hurt. A few days afterwards she died of lockjaw.^[6]'''

Pregnancy and baby superstitions

There are many superstitions connected with fertility, pregnancy, labor and birth, and caring for the baby in its vital most vulnerable early years.

• A broom sweeps away the bad luck and evil spells that cause infertility. (Voodoo)
• If a woman puts two spoons in her saucer, she'll have ginger twins. (UK)
• If children pile cabbage stalks around the doors and windows of the house on Halloween, the fairies will bring them a new brother or sister. (Scotland)
• The baby will be born with a fish-head if the mother doesn't give in to her craving to eat fish. (French Canada)
• If a mother wears high heels during pregnancy, her baby will become cross-eyed. (Guyana)
• A mother should throw salt three times behind herself shortly before her 'Due Date' in order to ease her labour. (UK)
• A babysitter must never clean their teeth while they're sitting. (India)
• If three drops of water are given to a baby before he's baptised, he'll answer the first three questions put to him. (Ireland)
• Never tickle a baby's feet or you'll make him stutter. (UK)
• When you see baby's first tooth, immediately box his ear, and he'll cut the rest of his teeth quicker. (Germany)

Superstition source from the book - Baby Lore, ISBN 978-1846853692 by Rosalind Franklin.

• If someone in a family dreams about a death, there will be a birth in the family. Likewise, if someone dreams about birth, there will be a death in the family (South Carolina, USA)
• If a woman eats strawberries while pregnant, the baby will be born with a strawberry birthmark.^[7]
• If a pregnant woman's belly is round, that means she will give birth to a girl. If it's pointed, she will give birth to a boy. (Philippines)

Wedding superstitions

Lots of superstitions surround weddings and honeymoons, more because of the obvious connection to fertility, conception and childbirth than actual luck or love in the marriage which was of secondary importance when such a high percentage of women died in childbirth. Some examples -

• Never choose a redhead as your bridesmaid as she will steal your groom. Likewise, wearing red to a wedding signals disrespect for the bride.
• Saturday is a bad day for getting married as it is ruled by Saturn, an unlucky planet associated with negative energies like jealousy
• Never buy a wedding dress that was first set aside for a wedding that never actually happened as it is jinxed
• Always make sure the sun is shining without clouds in the way; the clouds symbolize trouble.
• Before getting married, it is bad luck to buy your significant other a watch, as it symbolizes that the time of the relationship is running out.
• Rose petals are thrown before the bride as she walks down the aisle to ward off the evil spirits that live beneath the ground from coming up at her
• Bridesmaids should not wash the dishes or they will fall out with the married couple

(reference:The Bride's Book of Wedding Superstitions by Rosalind Franklin, ISBN 978-1846857706)

Other superstitions

• Touching the master of Luck ,Benoit Labbé, give luck
• Touching the apprentice of the master of Luck ,Charles-Antoine Désilets, give luck
• One's mentioning of a no-hitter ball game will cause the pitcher to give up a hit.
• Having one's foot swept by a broom will result in bad luck. The only way to ward off the results (often thought to be arrest or imprisonment) is to spit on the offending broom.
• A single magpie is considered a sign of bad luck.^[8]
• A gambler may credit a winning streak in poker to a lucky rabbit's foot or to sitting in a certain chair, rather than to skill or to the law of averages.
• Many believe that if all of the candles on a birthday cake are blown out with one breath, while making a silent wish, the wish will come true.
• Tetraphobia is widespread in China, Japan, Korea, and Hawaii; the number's use is minimized or avoided where possible. This is because the Chinese word for 4, sì, sounds nearly the same as the word for death, sǐ （死）. Mobile telephone numbers with 4 in them sell for less and some buildings even skip level four, labeling it the 5th floor instead. One of the Japanese words for 4, shi, is also homonymous with the kanji in the word for death, shi of shinu. (However, there is another word for four in Japan that does not sound like death: yon.) In Korea, number '4' is pronounced as sa (사 四) and is homonymous with 'death (사 死)'. Some, but not all, Korean buildings have the fourth floor written as 'F' floor. http://kushibo.blogspot.com/2006/01/paraskevidekatriaphobia-is-for-losers.html
• Triskaidekaphobia--In many Western cultures the number 13 is perceived as unlucky; 12a is sometimes used as a substitute http://www.broadland.gov.uk/bdc_shared_content/bdc/committee_papers/Thorpe_St_Andrew_-_Richmond_Court_-_20050644_-_10_August_2005.doc and some buildings skip floor 13 completely.
• Many believe that the United States two-dollar bill brings bad luck. Gamblers sometimes call it a "deuce", a term for two which also means "devil." To "undo", one of the bill's corners must be torn off, forming a triangle, an ancient symbol of life. If you receive a bill with no corners left, it must be torn all up.
• Spilling salt may cause a fight or argument during this day. There are several options to "undo" this which seem to relate to various ways of acknowledging the fact that salt was spilled with others present at the scene. One way to revert this is tossing some salt over one's left shoulder.
• Once leaving a residence it is bad luck to return if something was forgotten. If so, to "undo" the superstition, look in a mirror. Some people also believe smiling at oneself or showing one's tongue to oneself through a mirror is necessary.
• When a creature/witch's familiar crosses one's path, the hex or bad spell placed on the creature will be transferred to you unless a protective spell (or the sign of the cross) is immediately made to cancel out the hex. (South Carolina, USA)
• Yellow Underwear is good luck.
• At times, a horseshoe may be found above doorways. When positioned like a regular 'U' it supposedly collects luck. However, when it is positioned like an upside-down 'U' the luck supposedly drains.
• If someone leaves a residence, nothing can be cleaned until that person gets to the next immediate destination. If cleaning is done, something may happen on his/her way. There appears to be no way to "undo" this. Although very rarely do people believe in this.
• Breaking a mirror may bring bad luck for 7 years. To "undo" this, take the shards of glass and bury them underneath the moonlight. In ancient times, the mirror was said to be a window to the viewer's soul. If that mirror were to break, it would take time (or 7 years) for that 'cracked' soul to heal as ''.
• If a penny is found heads up, it will grant good luck, however, tails up will grant bad luck.
• If one walks underneath an open ladder it brings bad luck.
• Stepping on a crack in the sidewalk is believed to result in one's mother breaking her back.
• It is considered bad luck to open an Umbrella indoors.
• In Western cultures, black cats are considered unlucky; however in the rest of the world black cats are considered good luck.
• Placing a hat on the bed is bad luck. (South Carolina, USA)
• Placing a hat on a table is bad luck.
• Placing keys on a table means bad luck. (Sweden)
• Leaving a dwelling from a door different from the one you entered is bad luck. (South Carolina, USA)
• If one has a realistic bad dream, the next morning breakfast must be eaten before the dream can be mentioned or discussed. Otherwise, the bad dream will come true. (South Carolina, USA)
• It is bad luck to put new shoes on a bed (or a table) (comes from the tradition of dressing a corpse in new clothes and shoes and laying them out so everyone can give their respects) - (UK / Scotland)
• It is good luck to eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day. (American South, USA)
• Touching a bride before a wedding is considered good luck.^[9]
• A shark pursuing a ship means bad luck, especially if there are sick people onboard.
• Ancient roman soldiers often observed ants. If the ants were fighting, it meant the enemy was near.
• Eat a raw herring and you will see your future spouse.
• Collect seven or nine different flowers on midsummer eve and place them under your pillow and you will dream of your future spouse. (Sweden)

Superstition and psychology

In 1948, behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner published an article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, in which he describes his pigeons exhibiting what appeared to be superstitious behavior. One pigeon was making turns in its cage, another would swing its head in a pendulum motion, while others also displayed a variety of other behaviors. Because these behaviors were all done ritualistically in an attempt to receive food from a dispenser, even though the dispenser had already been programmed to release food at set time intervals regardless of the pigeons' actions, Skinner believed that the pigeons were trying to influence their feeding schedule by performing these actions. He then extended this as a proposition regarding the nature of superstitious behavior in humans.^[10]

Skinner's theory regarding superstition being the nature of the pigeons' behavior has been challenged by other psychologists such as Staddon and Simmelhag, who theorized an alternative explanation for the pigeons' behavior.^[11]

Despite challenges to Skinner's interpretation of the root of his pigeons' superstitious behavior, his conception of the reinforcement schedule has been used to explain superstitious behavior in humans. Originally, in Skinner's animal research, "some pigeons responded up to 10,000 times without reinforcement when they had originally been conditioned on an intermittent reinforcement basis."^[12] Compared to the other reinforcement schedules (e.g. fixed ratio, fixed interval), these behaviors were also the most resistant to extinction^[12]. This is called the partial reinforcement effect, and this has been used to explain superstitious behavior in humans. To be more precise, this effect means that, whenever an individual performs an action expecting a reinforcement, and none seems forthcoming, it actually creates a sense of persistence within the individual.^[13] This strongly parallels superstitious behavior in humans because the individual feels that, by continuing this action, reinforcement will happen; or that reinforcement has come at certain times in the past as a result of this action, although not all the time, but this may be one of those times.

See also

• Magic
• Magical thinking
• Religion
• Taboo
• Numbers in Chinese culture
• Luck

References