Superstition

Superstition (Latin superstes, standing over) 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.

The word superstition means something standing or happening above, or set above. The earliest English uses of the word in the modern era refer critically to Catholic practices such as censing, rosaries, holy water and other practices that Protestants believed went beyond - or were set up above - their own interpretation of the New Testament practices of Christianity. From there the uses of the term expanded to include non-Christian religious practices, and beliefs that seemed unfounded or primitive in the light of modern knowledge.

Many extant superstitions arose before and during the time of the Black Plague that swept over Europe. During the time of a plague, Pope Gregory I the Great made a decree for people to say "God bless you" when somebody sneezed; this was said to prevent the spread of the disease.^[1]

Superstition and folklore

In the academic discipline of folkloristics the term "superstition" is used to denote any 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, superstitions associated with bad luck include Friday the 13th and walking under a ladder.

In India, there is a superstition that a pregnant woman should avoid going outside during an eclipse in order to prevent her baby being born with a facial birthmark. In Iran, birthmarks are called 'maah-gereftegi' (Persian: ماه گرفتگی) which means eclipse. In Korea, there is a superstition that leaving a fan on 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.

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 supernatural 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, 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 fingers".

• In the forests of ancient China, when a Nivkhs hunter was pursuing game his children 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:

  • A Melanesian believed that if he obtains possession of the weapon which caused his wound, he should carefully keep it in a cool place so as to reduce the inflammation of the wound. But if the weapon is left in the enemy's possession, it will undoubtedly be hung up close to the fire, causing the wound to 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 asked her daughter to grease the nail, thinking that if this were done no harm would come of the injury. Within few days she died of lockjaw.^[6]

        Wedding superstitions

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        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 ginger 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
        • The groom should not see the bride on the wedding day before the wedding. Some traditions say that it is only bad luck if the groom sees the bride wearing her wedding dress.
        • 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
        • If the Groom drops the ring at the ceremony then the marriage is doomed.^[7]

          Other superstitions

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          • A single magpie is considered a sign of bad luck.A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar recites an old proverb concerning the incidence of bad weather when magpies forage alone and a possible scientific explanation for this.
          • 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 use of number 4 is minimized or avoided wherever possible 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 or shin. (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.^[8]
            Image:P2110024NoThirteenStaAnita wb.jpg

            The number 13, believed to be unlucky, has been skipped over at a horse stable
            • Triskaidekaphobia--In Western culture, the number 13 is perceived as unlucky; 12a is sometimes used as a substitute 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.
            • In a different version of this superstition, you must count from 7 backwards without moving before going back.
            • 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). Another counter is to hold a garment button while crossing the familiar's path. (Uzbek/Russian)
            • 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.
            • 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 'time heals all wounds'.
            • If a penny is found heads up, it will grant good luck, however, tails up will grant bad luck. This can be "undone " by then giving the penny to someone else heads-up.
            • If one walks underneath an open ladder it brings bad luck. Sometimes it is said that this can be undone by immediately walking backwards back underneath the ladder.
            • If one speaks the name Macbeth in a theater, that person must be escorted outside, spit on the floor, spin around three times and then plead to be allowed back in. In some cases even alluding to the play may have similar results.
            • 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. Some traditions hold that it is only bad luck if the umbrella is placed over the head of someone while indoors.
            • Placing a hat on the bed is bad luck. (South Carolina)
            • 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)
            • 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)
            • 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)
            • It is good luck to eat Corned Beef (for health) and Cabbage (for wealth) on St. Patrick's Day (American Irish)
            • Touching a bride before a wedding is considered good luck.^[9] If the groom sees her in her wedding dress before the wedding is also considered bad luck and is believed to lead to an unhappy marriage.
              • Collect seven or nine different flowers on midsummer eve and place them under your pillow and you will dream of your future spouse. In order for this to work, you must not speak a word from the moment you start picking the flowers until you get to sleep. (Sweden)
              • Saying the surname of the former president of Argentina, Carlos Menem, is considered unlucky in that country, and people will often say "Mendez" instead of "Menem" when talking about him.
              • The phrase "See a pin and pick it up then all day you'll have good luck" is a superstition created from the first line of a poem in the book "The Real Mother Goose". Modern variants sometimes substitute the word "penny" for pin.^[10]
                • When you speak of bad luck, always knock on wood. Also knocking when speaking of good luck helps with having good luck. This is an old Celtic tradition related to belief of wood spirits.
                • Whistling while passing by a graveyard is very bad luck, leading to death.
                • Before traveling a person should sit on their luggage. (Russian)
                • If you get a sudden chill someone has walked over your grave.
                • If the same word is spoken by two people at the same time, the first one to next say the word "Jinx" avoids bad luck, while the second person acquires it. Some traditions hold that to avoid bad luck the second person should not say anything until released by the first person, or they have left their sight.
                • When someone is leaving, it is bad luck to watch them go out of sight. If you do, you'll never see them again. (Irish)
                • Putting a knife on the door frame keeps bad spirits out of the house. (Italian)
                • Two people breaking a wishbone can lead to good luck for the person with the larger piece.

                Superstition and psychology

                In 1948, behavioural 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 behaviour. 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 behaviours. Because these behaviours 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 behaviour in humans.^[11]

                Skinner's theory regarding superstition being the nature of the pigeons' behaviour has been challenged by other psychologists such as Staddon and Simmelhag, who theorised an alternative explanation for the pigeons' behaviour.^[12]

                Despite challenges to Skinner's interpretation of the root of his pigeons' superstitious behaviour, his conception of the reinforcement schedule has been used to explain superstitious behaviour 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."^[13] Compared to the other reinforcement schedules (e.g. fixed ratio, fixed interval), these behaviours were also the most resistant to extinction.^[13] This is called the partial reinforcement effect, and this has been used to explain superstitious behaviour 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.^[14] This strongly parallels superstitious behaviour 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

                

                Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

                Superstitions
                • Magic
                • Magical thinking
                • Religion
                • Taboo
                • Numbers in Chinese culture
                • Luck
                • Theatrical superstitions
                • Triskaidekaphobia
                • Sinner's Prayer

                References

                The references in this article would be clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking.

                1. ^ Straight Dope. Ed Zotti, Editor. Why Do We Say "God Bless You" After a Sneeze? 27 September, 2001.
                2. ^ Freud (1950, 81), quoting Frazer (1911, 1, 122).
                3. ^ [Frazer (1911, 1, 201), quoting Codrington (1891, 310).]
                4. ^ Freud (1950, 82).
                5. ^ Freud (1950, 82), citing Frazer (1911, 203)
                6. ^ "Death from Lockjaw at Norwich" (July 19, 1902). The People's Weekly Journal for Norfolk: p. 8.
                7. ^ The Bride's Book of Wedding Superstitions by Rosalind Franklin, ISBN 978-1846857706
                8. ^ http://kushibo.blogspot.com/2006/01/paraskevidekatriaphobia-is-for-losers.html
                9. ^ Ball of Fire
                10. ^ http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/18/messages/770.html
                11. ^ Skinner, B. F. (1948). 'Superstition' in the Pigeon. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38(2), 168-172.
                12. ^ Staddon, J. E., & Simmelhag, V. L. (1971). The 'supersitition' experiment: A reexamination of its implications for the principles of adaptive behaviour. Psychological Review, 78(1), 3-43.
                13. ^ ^{a b} Schultz & Schultz (2004, 238).
                14. ^ Carver & Scheier (2004, 332).

                
                

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