Superstitions: The Building Blocks Of American Culture

Symbols are very important and influential to everyone. Symbols holds a hidden meaning that, in most cases, are more influential than telling it blunt. Yes, sometimes telling it bluntly works but putting it as a symbol shows a deeper meaning and relevance to what you, your community, or your nation stands for.

Superstition is a belief based on past experiences and not facts. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the Puritans were living in Salem, Massachusetts but are very superstitious. Part of the reason why is because they are avid believers in two different worlds: the natural world and the invisible world. There are also strong believers in the idea that God gives signs, good or bad, to express how he feels about them during certain times. For example, a natural disaster may signify that the Puritans are doing something wrong. The Puritans were superstitious because they are paranoid people.

Symbolism is a characteristic that stands out in a person or thing. People usually use symbolism for something that means to them or represents to them. The symbols are used for many things, for example the apple on the iphone, laptop or iPod symbolizes the brand. Symbols are also used in churches, for example the cross symbolizes Jesus Christ. It symbolizes how he was crucified, put to death on a cross. The colors symbolize something’s to for example the colors white, red and blue symbolize freedom in the United States, it also represents the United States flag. Symbols are also used in movies like the hunger games catching fire; their symbol is a mocking bird with an arrow on it.

One common superstition that some people believed was that the weather was an expression of God’s feelings (The Religious History of America, page 56). If God was furious there might be a hurricane or an earthquake and if God was happy there might sunshine. A similar superstition suggested that God would express his feeling through people. If people were nice toward someone God was happy with them. If people were rude to one another, God was mad at someone. This superstition is different because instead of God showing feelings at a group of people, God would show his feelings to an individual. (Colonial Religion, page 12). Another popular superstition was that people had to act a certain way in order to receive good luck. For example someone made sure that they would never run into a black cat or else they would have bad luck (The Religious History of America, page 54). Superstitions have diminished in popularity over time but are still present

Symbols are found everywhere. With or without realizing it we see them everyday in our lives and in things we do. They serve the purpose of representing something bigger. Something as little as a cake is a symbol for it serves the purpose of celebrating something. Symbols are unique and each mean something different depending on the situation.

Gerald L. Shargel claims that “[He] will walk under ladders. [He] will let black cats pass in front of [him]. But [he will] not pass up a beggar” (Weiser 6). He usually gives each beggar he sees twenty dollars. This small act not only impacts Shargel, but also the beggar. It makes the beggar happy that they made some money, and it also makes Shargel happy that he is conducting his superstition. Shargel uses this superstition because trials are never the same. With all the new people and new cases, he might need a sense of repetitivity to comfort him or make him feel like there is a least one constant with his variating life. Richard B. Lind asserts that he is not superstitious, but that he acknowledges the possible contradiction to his belief by doing simple things like “purposely [stepping] on a crack” (Weiser 10). Although he is not superstitious, he believes that dissipating superstitions will clear his trial of any grip that superstitions have on his mind. By contradicting superstitions, he feels that the bad energy they contain has no effect on his trials and that the trials will

where did these superstitions come from? To be honest, everywhere. Superstitions are linked into every

According to CBS News, over half of Americans believe in at least one superstition while Forbes magazines survey says that fifty three percent of Americans are superstitious. Still another survey by the University of Hertfordshire also shows that fifty-three percent of Americans are superstitious with twenty-five percent reported being very superstitious; it also went on to say that seventy-seven percent of people in the UK reported being at least a little superstitious. These are frightening numbers considering the United States has over 300 million people and the UK has over 64 million people living in it. While I admit that not all, nor even the majority of those people are all engaged in harmful animal superstitions it does prove the point that animal superstitions, and superstition in generally, is widely popular and accepted even in developed countries with many well educated citizens. As I stated earlier, the number of people believing in superstition only continues to grow as the population of Earth grows and the number of problems in the world rises. It is very important to stop animal superstitions when they are found even if they are acknowledged in a way of humor or skepticism, as not much is needed to change those ideas into strong beliefs that can turn

Until I started playing substandard in my games, I used to never have any superstitions before. I thought to myself “ what can I do to be more prepared for my games”. I started to look up different routines that professional athletes focused on to ready themselves for play. That's when I discovered innumerable different superstitions.

A symbol is a person, place, or thing that has a significance to something. Symbols are used all over the world to represent their state and people. Symbols are very important to the people and to their country because it represents who they are. For example, a flag is very symbolic to the state you are living in because it says a lot about you as a person. A flag represents who you are because by looking at the flag where someone is from you can identify the language they speak. Symbols in a state or country can represent the power that place has. For instance, people from different places of the world look up to America because the power and the opportunities many people have. In my opinion they look up to America where there is so much

Many of their superstitions included beliefs of their loved ones or even evil ghosts trying to reach out to them. Some superstitions claimed to bring the death into one’s home or have them leave. Superstitions include things such as lighting

In the essay “In Defense of Superstition”, begins with an anecdote of someone going to the airport on Friday the 13th, claiming, “Will you still take the flight will all the omens screaming you shouldn’t?” Friday the 13th has been known to be a truly unfortunate day worldwide and despite this person doing all these superstitions will they be safe? Although there’s no scientific basis of superstitions being real, its not harmful to believe in them. It’s only unhealthy if you’re putting all of your faith in that single ideology; this notion can be compared to religion. Religious followers degrade others for not believing in religion and if they do, they disgrace them for not believing it “right”. They believe everything they say is right and

In the media article from ET by Marc Lallanilla ‘Friday the 13th: Why Humans Are So Superstitious’. Lallanilla talks about how human being are superstitious and why they are superstitious. According to Vyse the author of "Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition."

The first example that supports the theme of superstition in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the wart cure. In the story, Tom asks Huck what a dead cat can do where Huck responds that it can cure warts: “Say-what is dead cats good for, Huck?”

Some examples of common, everyday superstition include the belief that the number 13 is unlucky, that walking under a ladder will bring bad luck, and that a black cat crossing your path can affect your luck. Belief that black cats affect your luck goes far back in time. One king of England, Charles I, owned a black cat. His fear of losing it was so great that he had it guarded. The day after it fell ill and died, he was arrested. Black cats were often witches in disguise or witches' familiars. There were also many cat charms relating to ships and the sea. Fishermen's wives would keep a black cat at home to prevent disaster at sea, consequently the cats became very valuable and were often stolen. If a cat ran ahead of a sailor to the pier that would bring good luck, but if the cat crossed his path it means bad luck. For luck, cats were often kept on board ships. If a sailor was approached by the ship's cat it meant good luck, but if the cat only came halfway and went away again it meant bad luck. The worst possible cat-related act, guaranteed to raise a storm and bring bad luck of all sorts, was to throw the cat overboard. Cat superstitions were also common in medicine. Fur and blood drawn from various parts of the cat's anatomy cured everything from shingles to St. Anthony's Fire.