Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Superstition
is born of ignorance. It is an unreasonable belief in supernatural agencies and
omens in things that cannot be explained. There are superstitious people all
over the world, and superstitions are common among savages. Owing the
ignorance, the cause of many events remains unknown. So, they believe in some
unseen cause. In primitive society, men used to worship trees and stones.
Natural phenomena like thunderstorm, lightning and eclipses of the sun, were to
them manifestations of the activities of some good or evil spirit. Science has
unraveled many of the mysteries of nature. Lightning or an eclipse of the sun
does no longer mystify us, as it did our ancestors. We now know that both are
quite intelligible results of known factors.
An
eclipse of the sun is according to some superstitious people inauspicious for a
journey. A particular day in the week is also inauspicious for the same
purpose. The evils that result from such beliefs cannot be over-estimated. Let
us, suppose, that I am directed by a gentleman to see him on a Thursday in the
afternoon in connection with an appointment for which I have applied. My mind
is full of misgivings, as the day and the time mentioned are inauspicious. I do
not go, and the appointment is given to another man. Again, I am going to catch
a train, A lizard chirps, and I at once stop, as the chirping of the lizard is
regarded by many as inauspicious for a journey. Incalculable loss may be the
result.
The
fear of ghosts and other supernatural beings creates untold mischief. These
visionary things are the creations of fancy; and as superstitious people are
naturally moved to fear, it is they who see apparitions. In an unfamiliar and
lonely place, when the shades of evening descend showily, and all nature is
quiet, we feel nervous. The person who is free from superstition feels a
peculiarly pleasurable sensation in such surroundings. But the case is quite
different with a superstitions man. He will, perhaps, tremble with fear, and
his imagination and, not unoften, his temporarily disordered brain, will bring
fearful visions before his mind. He sees or hears something that he takes to be
supernatural, and is at once paralyzed with fear. Instances are not rare of
people having died of fear caused by some superstitious belief.
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