| Superstition
Have you ever seen a passing lady back away at the sight of a black cat? Or perhaps a man who dreaded his coming birthday on Friday the thirteenth? Have you ever wondered why your friends say it’s bad luck to open the umbrella inside a house? They are of course, examples of the effect of various superstitions in our daily lives.
Superstitions, little do we know influences the lives of many people around us. Most people always take time to read the omens’ of good or bad luck before carrying out an action; especially on important days. Though superstition; by dictionary definition, is a statement or belief that makes no sense at all, people don’t seem to care about it and follow them in an almost religious manner. The excuse given is that it is what they have always done. Here, superstition is altered and transformed
into a sort of tradition that is passed down from generation to generation. Without anyone pausing to ponder the true idiocy behind these superstitions.
To our modern eye, superstitions are illogical and most definitely irrational, but hundreds of years ago, when these superstitions first came about, there was a kind of logic behind these creation, if a twisted one at that.
Take for example, a popular belief that it is unlucky to walk under a ladder. It all started when a Christian woke up one morning to look out his window and saw a ladder leaning against his wall. He then realized with a snock, that the leaning ladder formed a triangle with a wall and the ground. And any good Christians know, to walk through a triangle was to violate the Holy Trinity, thus naming yourself in league with the devil. So the word was spread and anyone caught walking under the ladder would persecute and severely punished. Indeed, to walk under a ladder was considered a serious offense at that time.
Morning on, hore you ever had anyone say ‘God bless you’ or the shortened form ‘bless you’ when you sneezed? Although nowadays it is considered good manner to do so, it does in fact carry a very different meaning. Two, actually, because through the passage of time, this phrase has acquired two very different definitions. To begin with, sneezing in front of Christian in the 1500’s would received a quick ‘God bless you’, a part on the back and a word of congratulations. Sneeze years later, and his eyes would widen in horror, screaming ‘God bless you’ on the top of his lungs, he would take his heels and leave the area at a mile a minute.
The reasoning behind these conflicting opinions is because in the sixteenth century, it was a customary to congratulate the sneezer as he expelling evil from his body. Letter on, when the plague took hold of Europe, sneezing was a sure a sign that you were going to die. Realizing this, the Pope wisely passed law. Since a person infected with the plague was incurable by human means, to survive. Understandably, all Romans were required to bless the sneezer in hopes of preventing or at least delaying the one major side-effect of mortality.
‘Black cats are evil’ is another favorite superstition. But why cats or more specifically, why black cats? To tell the truth it all begin in ancient Egypt where the goddess Bast was believed to be a female black cat. But when Christianity took up residence in Egypt, the Christian priests departed on a missions to rid the land of all traces of other religions. With a battalion of ignorant followers, they destroyed all black cats in sight, convinced that they were actually evil demons. Incidentally, kindly old ladies also shared the same fate as they were believed to be witches, practitioners of black magic.
The list doesn’t end here, in top place, is Friday the thirteenth, the scariest superstition of all. It is so frightening that it will send believers running to Charm shops to buy an assortment of items in hopes of warding off bad luck. Friday and thirteen, when brought together is indeed deadly combination. On a Friday, Adam And Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden; Noah’s flood too started on a Friday. B people on the other hand, 12 witches and devil, are always present at satanic ceremonies. Furthermore, the first person to rise from or the last person to sit at a table of thirteen shall be the first to die. So strong is the influence of this particular day that people fear even to mention the day on that date, as to say ‘Friday the thirteenth’ was to bring bad luck and onto oneself.
‘Breaking a mirror’ too, is widely known superstition. Believed to curse the breaker with seven years of bad luck; believers were careful not to chip off even a corner. The origin of this superstition is intertwined with. The belief
that your reflection a window
to your soul. In the olden days, gazing pods were common in most people’s backyards enable the owners to get frequent glimpses of his inner self. Incidentally, to throw a stone at someone’s reflection was continued on to the gazing pool’s modern cousin, the mirror which follows the some principle.
There are countless other superstitions; from knock on to wood to hold your breath while passing a graveyard, to don’t spill the salt during dinner. Whether or not there is any truth behind these superstitions is a matter of opinion and therefore, mere speculation. While scientists and the majority of human race that the whole things is arrant nonsense, stories made up to scare children; true believers are steadfast in their belief that to disregard superstitions to play a fire. And lastly, a little something to chew on: since most superstitions began with someone’s actions or certain occurrences; if Cochraneans were to spread a rumour that it is bad luck to cane a student, try and imagine what life would be like a hundred years from now.
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