Some
people believe in superstition and go through their daily life
following them down to the letter. Some people are smart enough to
think and disregard those superstitions. Keep in mind that
superstitions were created for certain reasons, usually to keep
people, especially children in line. Usually, children tend to
disobey their parents, so the parents will make up stories so that
the children will follow their advice and this traditions go on and
on through generations.
Let's
start with the obvious ones. Walking under a ladder, breaking a
mirror and black cats. Now there are a few theories for the ladder
superstition. One of them is that walking under a ladder was akin to
blaspheming comes from the early days of Christianity. Many
Christians are believers in the Trinity—that God is made up of
three parts, the Holy Father, the Holy Son, and the Holy Ghost. Thus,
the number three was somewhat sacred, and the triangle was by
association also sacred with its three sides. To walk through this
triangle (by walking under the ladder) was seen as breaking the
Trinity. The bible talks about the one unforgivable sin being
blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, so someone who breaks the
Trinity is seen to be in league with the Devil; and once again, being
labeled such in the old days of Christianity was a great way to end
up burned at the stake or hanged.
The
mirror breaking originates from the fact that mirrors were once very
expensive. And thus to take care of mirrors and prevent accidents the
story that they cause seven years bad luck makes sense. Scare people
into safe and careful behavior.
As
for the black cat. In Scotland a strange black cat appearing on your
porch is a good omen. It means that prosperity is on the way. If you
hear a cat sneeze in Italy then you are in for a streak of good luck.
If you happen to spot a white cat in America as the sun sets,
however, you might be in trouble. Cats are not allowed in the room if
family is having a private talk in the Netherlands. The fear is that
the cat will spread the gossip all over town, and the family secrets
will be out. And in Ireland killing a cat is 17 years bad luck.
Apparently Christianity has to do with this nonsense. The
color black is often regarded as being bad. Blackmail, black sheep,
black death and so forth. So those Christians and there 'good'
intentions associated black cats with black magic and witches.
Now
there are ways to break the curses. For the mirror you could try,
throwing salt over your shoulder, or after breaking the mirror turn
around three times counterclockwise. You could also try to burn the
mirror, or at least blacken its shards in the flames of a fire, or
save
the
fragments for a year and then bury them, and the curse will be
counteracted
(so
you've only had to live with one year of bad luck). You could also
try this. On the first night after breaking the mirror, light seven
white candles and blow them out at midnight in one breath. Touch a
tombstone with a piece of the mirror and the hex will be lifted.
That's
a lot of solutions right? No. If you believe in this nonsense then
you are either a child or stupid. Superstitions like this hold back
progress. They keep us in a ring of ignorance that can't be broken
due to the fear of bad luck. Their are other myths as well that can
be dispelled just as easily. Humans want to make sense of a random
world. They want to find reasons for the good things and bad things
that happen. And they will inevitably create a reason that is based
on mere coincidence and chance. Wishful thinking, an arrogant belief
that your actions can change the randomness of the world. Nonsense
like this has held up scientific progress for long enough. And it's
not just black cats and mirrors that hold back progress. But I will
go in to detail in another post. Until then...Think!
(Please
point out mistakes in my post. I enjoy feedback. And leave comments.)
