Superstition

Although most people do not believe in superstition, they follow people’s daily lives—some are common, such as knocking on wood, while others are more elaborate, such as rituals during football games. Nowadays, forgetting to perform a superstitious ritual will not end in terror, but in the past people thought terrible luck would befall them for forgetting. Superstition thrives in poor, rural areas because the people living there look for luck to improve their circumstances. Ireland, who has…

In Bantam's Elizabethan Star Wars: Superstition and Supernatural, Bantam analyzes the extent to which superstitions influenced people's lives in Elizabethan England. Superstitions substituted rationalization with unexplainable myths that society would abide by and deem infallible; the underlying cause of superstitions derives from its use as moral mitigation and a way to recompense for malice without confronting their own errors. Every aspect of their life was tainted with magic- the spilt milk…

“Albatross in the Red Sky on Friday: Does Irrational Superstition on the Great Lakes Make a Difference?” Bowling Green State University, Firelands Campus student Sara E. Cordle wrote an in-depth essay entitled; “Albatross in The Red Sky; Does Irrational Superstition on The Great Lakes Make a Difference?, explaining how the maritime superstitions had a major impact on the seamen of the Great Lakes. The author states how these superstitions can affect the seamen psychologically as well as…

family of people that believes in superstitions. When I was younger, I could not comprehend why things happened certain ways. I asked questions and believed the answers that my elders gave me to be the truth. As I grew older, I realized that many of those answers were made up throughout history by people who did not understand the reasons certain things happened certain ways. Despite superstition still being accepted by many people around the world, superstition is best understood as an unproven…

school or doing calculations in day-to-day life could cause intense panic in the sufferer.” I wish I would have known about this phobia in high school, I would have tried to get a doctor’s note to excuse me. There are some theories to where the superstition of numbers has come from. It all points back to the number 13. One theory is the Judas theory. This has to do with Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Allegedly…

In Junot Diaz’s book, The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao is a story about a guy named Oscar Wao and his adventures. One of the major theme is supernatural or superstition, Fuku Americanus. Yunior the narrator, introduces the book with this curse. So many of the characters have troubles upon the Fuku in the Dominican Republic due to the dictator, Trujilllo. Even though he was assassinated, his spirit lurks and he represents the curse. The Fuku curse has a great impact on the main character,…

In our world there are many people who believe that different superstitions will help them stay safe, find love and have a happy life. However, when people ponder about politics, those ideas go away and, especially in an unknown country, the usage of superstition is thought of as a religious ritual. What if there was a leader similar to Hitler that shows the same obsession with superstition and can control a country that can be possibly thrown into another war? Based on many facts, it has been…

Growing up, I was surrounded by many superstitious and unfounded behaviors that many of my friends and family members believed in and practiced. As it turns out, there are many superstitions and ritualistic behaviors that Poles believe in and that are incorporated into daily lives as well as in the many rich customs and traditions. One example of a superstitious routine intertwined with many ritualistic behaviors is the Christmas Eve in Poland. Although many different practices are performed on…

the common human tendency to notice or seek out information which confirms our already existing beliefs while ignoring evidence which conflicts our beliefs. It is particularly prevalent in cases where our beliefs are mere prejudice or based on superstition. Confirmation bias is the reason why many people believe in the supernatural such as ESP, lucky charms or the lunar effect: a claim that human behaviour is influenced by the position of the moon in its cycle. These kind of beliefs are usually…

Baseball Magic by George Gmelch discussed superstition and the use of “magic” in baseball. Baseball Magic did not give definitions for ritual, taboo, or fetish, but one can derive their meanings from context and the examples given in the reading. A ritual is an action or behavior performed to produce some sort of effect such as: improved fertility or increased luck. A taboo is an object or action that is avoided in fear of transgressing or producing some undesired outcome. A fetish is an object…