What Are Superstitions

An individual’s heritage is about his culture, history or personal experiences it is important to recognise and respect them because it is what makes him individual and unique. If we know them we provide a person centre care and focus on individual’s choices and preferences, he will then feel valued and included.

Superstitio is made up of the prefix super, meaning above, and the verb stare, which means to stand or be firm; literally translated, supersitio means a belief in something that is above what is clear or concrete. The english word that we derive from superstitio, superstition, can usually be defined as “irrational faith in supernatural powers”, but according to Dale B. Martin,

Superstition is considered a myth to most people, but for the ancient Romans, this was a historical belief. For the Romans, believing in superstition was a very ordinary thing. To them superstition explained the supernatural and strengthened their relationships with the gods (The Roman Empire). In the play Julius Caesar, the author William Shakespeare uses superstition repeatedly to affect the plot as well as the characters. Superstition in the play is used to foreshadow Caesar’s death, impact Brutus’ actions in the battlefield and to emphasize the Roman’s connection to superstition and fate.

Singer and Benassi (1981) described a positive correlation between environmental uncertainty in western countries and occult beliefs. Although it could be argued that they may be overreaching with this generalization which is not supported with data, there is truth to this correlation. Humans try to be rational, and logical, and think critically, but in uncertain situations, we look to our environment, the physical and social environment, to provide us with information. Therefore, superstitions and supernatural phenomenon seem possible if no logical explanation can be given, and if the feedback from the environment reinforces what could be occult beliefs. French, Haque, Bunton-Stasyshyn, & Davis (2009) conducted an experiment attempting to investigate whether they could try to create a “haunted” room, and if participants would experience more abnormal sensations. Participants were informed they may feel some abnormal sensations prior to entering the room. Majority of participants reported having three or more abnormal sensations in the 50-minute period they were in the room. These sensations can be a result of susceptibility, but the uncertainty of that environment, and the lack of information may create these sensations and can validate occult

Life is full of superstition, whether you like it or not everybody has some sort of superstition in them. Some people don’t let some things go to their head like others do. Some people can get really stubborn if something suspicious happens. I am one of them people, it is really hard to get suspicion out of your head, it is one of them things that once you do it, it is hard to not have those thoughts in your head. And in the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you will see the cause and effects of the use of suspicion. The main character, Huck Finn, used superstition as a means to keep him going in search of his true self and find interesting ways to live life the only way he knew.

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

Superstitions were not taken so seriously by educated people as plain people did, but both types of people were thoughtful moon watchers. Farmers did each of their tasks based on the the phases of the moon. They had superstitions that if they work on the right tasks during their corresponding moon phase, then they will have successful

Culture and heritage are the properties that make up a way of life for a specific population. As referenced by South African History Online (n.d.), “Culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.” Heritage is formed from the practices and traditions that are learned from generations

Traditions doesn’t have to stay till the end, till how much you can follow you could follow but you need not to follow every single thing they did in the past. We have a lot of superstitious beliefs, traditions I believe in a couple that I think makes sense. Before they would say, if you husband dies, you must burn your body and die as well. Well, in my dictionary I would be like why should I ruin my life when I could do so many other things for my husband when he had to die or died cause of a reason. And now a day, this isn’t happening anymore because there is no point of killing yourself and going thru all the pain just because your husband got into a bomb blast, or a car accident or many others.

An example of beliefs is in “An Indian Father’s Plea,” Robert Lake narrates the struggles of his child adapting to a new way of learning through the quote, “Wind-Wolf was strapped in snugly with a deliberate restriction… Although you in Western society may argue that such a method serves to hinder motor-skill

Many of the core beliefs of Hinduism have evolved over time, with some becoming increasingly clearer, and others going from merely an idea into full-fledged beliefs. Karma, Dharma, and the theory of Samsara and moksha are the core beliefs that almost all who define themselves as a practicer of Hinduism would accept. The belief of karma started out in the Early Vedic period merely as “ritualistic action or labor”. It transformed into a “moral law” that incorporated the idea that all actions have fruits, whether good or bad. “Action, which springs from the mind, from speech, and from the body, produces either good or evil results”. This concept of a "law of karma" where good actions yield good results, and bad in bad, extends from the Vedic idea of consequential action from the confines of the ritual to everyday life.

Culture is defined as asocial heritage of a group; it influences how people communicate with each other. Also referred to as the cumulative deposit experience, values, customs often affected by religious beliefs, it varies from one community to the other, it is transmitted through language and arts, from one generation to the next.

As you can see for yourself these are points why superstition develops major

There are a  multitude of superstitions, such as the belief in Russia that if a bird left excrement on your property, you would become rich. Another unusual superstition was that in Ancient Britain, people carried acorns with them so that they would stay young. This superstition might seem the strangest- the belief that if you look into a mirror, it captures your soul! Even though we have several strange superstitions, this is not close to the amount of superstitions people in the Middle Ages believed in. Unlike them, we have a vast expanse of knowledge that helps us understand life. People living in the Middle Ages did not, so they created a myriad of abnormal superstitions on what they did not understand. Superstitions are not scientifically proven, and should not be believed until proved otherwise. Just as nearly all myths and folk tales, the majority of superstitions are not real, but instead are

What is superstition? According to The Little Oxford Dictionary, superstition is "belief in the existence or power of the supernatural; irrational fear of the unknown; a religion or practice based on such tendencies; widely held but wrong idea." Let us examine that definition in depth. First, there is "belief in the existence or power of the supernatural". This means that there is believed to be some force that can influence the events on the Earth. Second, there is "irrational fear of the unknown." This has been endemic to the human race since the early days when a cave man did not know if that cave was safe to enter or if he would be attacked by a bear. Third, "a religion or practice based on such tendencies." This is the belief