Today's myths and superstitions.

Tweet

Right, Today, I shall be looking into myths and superstitions, their origins, and why people still believe them.

Well, to start off,

What is Superstition?

According to Webster's dictionary, superstition is n. any belief that is inconsistent with the known laws of science or with what is considered true and rational; esp., such a belief in omens, the supernatural, etc.

So, if we condense it down, it says you believe in a pack of useless lies because even the dictionary is clearly stating you believe something, with a complete ignorance to reality. And I'm not here to raise a giant issue with religion, because I believe that you should believe what you want to. That's all human rights, right? Anyway, I am raising an issue with the minor things, you know, broken mirrors, black cats, a weird obsession with bad luck and birds, and also ladders. Then inform you of why I think they are a load of old tosh. 

Bad superstitions

If you are like this, read on.

Many of you will probably say I will get 70 years of bad luck for just bad mouthing bad omens. But luck? There is no such thing, only where you are at a specific time. Because if some of you who read this are that crazily superstitious, and curse years of bad luck on me, then I'll do the same. Then what? I won't get these bad luck years, nor will you.

Right, on to my first subject, which made me think about this blog in the first place. A black cat. Black cats came from the middle ages when black and cats were both connected with evil, and were you in for some bad luck if both combined crossed your path... I don't think so, it's true, black does have connotations of evil, and it's true cats can be bad news, because some people have allergies. But why do we continue with it? No one believes it? I own a black cat, and she is constantly in my room. Surely, she must have walked past me, so really I should be dead. That amount of bad luck cannot store up. Unless you superstitious people believe in a kind of, ATM of the devil, who will dose out bad luck to me when sees fit. So, the black cats myth? Divulged. Checked. I think we can all agree that this one's a lie.

The next bad omen is breaking a mirror. 7 year's bad luck. Bad luck for 7 years. 7 years. Bad luck. I have broken in total of my memory, 3 mirrors. Right, so you clever people, I have 21 years of bad luck. Currently adding all my bad luck days together, I barely have a week, because I don't have bad luck days, or hours. Minute's maybe. So where did it come from? What naive people would have come up with this? Well, it was us. Our good ol' ancestors thought a mirror was an image of the actual soul, so breaking it...You get the picture, and unlike many superstitions, there is a way to cure this one!! You, apparently, have to wait 7 hours, 1 hour = 1 year, and then pick up the pieces and bury them in moonlight....Right, so for a theory/ailment to come about, it needs to be tested, right? So one day, someone broke a mirror, stood there in shock for 7 hours and then waited till moonlight to bury them. Hmmm, something tells me that this is not true, because mirrors aren't gateways to the soul. So, another myth, another lie.

I don't want to make the bad omens debate tedious, so this will be my last one and it's about the 'walking under ladders' myth. So, guess where it came from? Yes, us 'Brits'...So, the gallows, a ladder to get that high, and as they start to dangle, their spirit apparently, liked the look of the spot underneath the ladder, and lingered there. Forever. Because it's the triangle shape, and apparently triangles are evil. Very evil. As in Lucifer evil. So, people don't like to do this, simply for that reason? Well, if we don't have gallows nowadays, surely people would stop? But no. I still get funny looks from walking voluntarily under a ladder, and when I make it through unscathed, people are shocked, and they probably think I'm evil. 

David Hume

So we have seen 3 bad superstitions, and all lies. They all were believed, but referring back to the dictionary quote, they exist without truth and logic. I have shed some light on to the whys and what's of it. But it's your choice, I think it's complete lies. I have proven this. But, to the main question as to why people still believe them? I think it's their uncanny ability to blame something. If you fail in a football game because earlier you walked over 3 drains, you have something to blame. If your computer crashes as your black cat has just walked past, you have something to blame. If something drops on your head when walking under a ladder, you have something to blame. The funny thing about us humans, is that we have something known as 'Hume's theory of causality' Where if 'A' happens(bad performance in football) we instantly think it has a direct correlation to a previous event- 'B'(in this case, three drains), and this is mainly with all of us. Not just for superstitions but for anything. Most people's perception blank out the C, where you were just playing badly, or the other team was better? 

Tomorrow, I shall write up my opinions on 3 good superstitions, which include the rabbit's foot, horseshoes, and the four leaf clover. I will also be divulging into folklore.

Thank you again for reading, follow me etc. If you are superstitious, please go to the page hyperlinked. Have a good day, and thank you.