JOURNEY from REALITY to SUPERSTITION!
Earlier pseudo-realities didn't really need to be very strong to become a SUPERSTITION . Unlike today , world was filled with aristocrats , who were believed to be the ones who had all the knowledge of the world within them . Common people around the world believed their respected chiefs blindly and were happy by this as the chiefs were more intelligent than his disciples (thats why he became the chief! 👑) , and told them to do things that were good for them . When the reasons for doing these things were too tough to be understood , chief had to make stories or some pseudo-scientifical statements for his disciples to understand the importance of doing it , which when believed by a whole community or an even bigger group is called a MYTH . All myths weren't made for the people's good ( Later the chiefs became greedy and selfish enough to fool peoples for his needs ) .
Superstitions come along with myths , as I have told in the above context , realities were made to believe using myths ! Notice I used the word reality instead of superstition . Its because this reality will only be called superstition when it becomes pseudo reality . Can a reality become a pseudo-reality? I am typing up this blog post is a reality now (while I am writing this blog) , but will become a pseudo reality when you actually read this post . For example , " lighting 3 cigarettes with the same matchstick " , could really be unlucky , for a group of soldiers , who are in the middle of a war and keeping a match lit for too long from their hiding place can draw attention of enemy snipers , but now most of the cigarette smokers don't have the need to fear sniper attack but still they believe in this superstition , which was once a reality !
So basically , superstition is just the result of being unupdated about the changed conditions , blind belief in uneducated people and being uneducated about the reality there .
FROM WHERE DID the SUPERSTITIONS COME?
Are you afraid of black cats ? Do you have any problem with the numbers 13 , 4 or 14 ?
You whether or not believe in this , you have heard of them several times , most probably , from you elders !! Lets open up some superstitious beliefs and examine them to find the answer to the question depicted as the heading .
Number 13 is believed to be unlucky because , Jesus Christ had his last supper with 12 of his disciples and the 13th one was the reason for his arrest which was followed by his brutal death . This is a religional superstition . And this superstition has played its role so strong , that many buildings skip their 13 th floor and goes the way 1 , 2 ... 12 , 14..... , devils number has been ignored . When the building owners were asked for the reason for this orderlessness , they said that there were no reasons other than the fact that they just want to show the customers that they respect their beliefs (No technical reason) .
" Knocking on wood is unlucky " , is another superstition which is believed to be spread by the ancient folklore of Indo-europians or their ancestors . This group believed that the trees were home to many spirits and knocking on the wood will awaken the spirits inside them . This still continues to be believed by many , even without knowing its origin .
Italians fear the number 17 , and this one has an interesting origin ! The number 17 , when written in roman numerals is XVII , which when rearranged can become VIXI , which translates into "I lived" a phrase which has a meaning , " my life is over " when perfectly implied in Italian language .
There are more numbers for the elevators of the buildings to skip !!
The number 4 is believed to be unlucky in some south-east asian countries . The number four in cantonese language pronounced "Sei" sounds like the word for death in chinese , pronounced "Si" . The countries whose languages were borrowed from chinese also believe in this superstitiion now . And as the number 1 similarly sounds like the word for "must" , number 14 is more scary as it sounds like "must die" when collaborated !
These were some of the superstitions which had no meaning at all and were never a reality . But there are some of them which were truth some long ago .
REALITY-LONG-AGO SUPERSTITIONS
" Whistling back stage can lead to unlucky events " , was real , let me explain how...
Long ago in stage shows , the backgroung portrait was moved up-down and side to side by the back-stage artists ( sorry if its the wrong word to describe them , you can comment the correct word for those fellows ) . They used whistles to signal the guy at the opposite end for coordination . Absent-minded whistles from the audience would lead to serious accidents on the stage . But this superstion also continues to be believed , even after those guys have became advanced enough to use microphones for signaling . There are so many more superstitions like lighting 3 cigarettes with the same match , (that I have already explained) that are continued to be believed even after the reality behind it becoming pseudo !!
" Breaking a mirror , can make you unlucky for 7 years " , is considered unlucky , as earlier there existed a belief that the mirror not only showed your image , but also carried bits of you soul , the reason behind americans covering up all the mirrors when someone dies has its roots entangled here . They think that the souls would get trapped in the mirror if they were left uncovered .
" The number 666 is unlucky " , this is again from the bible . 666 is Satans number and marks the end to everything . Is believed world wide as the evil trio of numbers . There are more , from round the globe...
Its unlucky to step on side-walk cracks .
Placing two mirrors facing each other opens the door to evil spirits . (MEXICO & ELSEWHERE)
Not going home straight after attending a funeral to avoid tagging of bad spirit on you and entering into your home with you . (FILIPINO)
If you cheers with water , then its believed that you want the person next to you to die . (GERMANY)
If you see or hear an owl, terrible news is coming . (EGYPT)
Knitting outside can prolong winter . (ICELAND)
Don't get a haircut on tuesday . (INDIA)
Pregnant women should not eat unshapely edibles . (KOREA)
Don't say the same word at the same time as your friend is unlucky in Italy while lucky in India !
Don't jump over a child , if you don't want them to be cursed with short height ! (NIGERIA)
WHY DO WE BELIEVE IN THEM EVEN AFTER BEING LITERATE?
Noone is born believing in stupid superstitions or dumbass rituals , and they wont be afraid to walk under a ladder until they are tought to do so by someone whom they are supposed to put trust on for the rest of their lives . If you are feeded with such superstitious beliefs and were strictly made to follow them , chances are that you won't be able to ignore them even after knowing that they were meaningless . As its easy to live believing in them and needs a lot of courage to break them .
Earlier pseudo-realities didn't really need to be very strong to become a SUPERSTITION . Unlike today , world was filled with aristocrats , who were believed to be the ones who had all the knowledge of the world within them . Common people around the world believed their respected chiefs blindly and were happy by this as the chiefs were more intelligent than his disciples (thats why he became the chief! 👑) , and told them to do things that were good for them . When the reasons for doing these things were too tough to be understood , chief had to make stories or some pseudo-scientifical statements for his disciples to understand the importance of doing it , which when believed by a whole community or an even bigger group is called a MYTH . All myths weren't made for the people's good ( Later the chiefs became greedy and selfish enough to fool peoples for his needs ) .
Superstitions come along with myths , as I have told in the above context , realities were made to believe using myths ! Notice I used the word reality instead of superstition . Its because this reality will only be called superstition when it becomes pseudo reality . Can a reality become a pseudo-reality? I am typing up this blog post is a reality now (while I am writing this blog) , but will become a pseudo reality when you actually read this post . For example , " lighting 3 cigarettes with the same matchstick " , could really be unlucky , for a group of soldiers , who are in the middle of a war and keeping a match lit for too long from their hiding place can draw attention of enemy snipers , but now most of the cigarette smokers don't have the need to fear sniper attack but still they believe in this superstition , which was once a reality !
So basically , superstition is just the result of being unupdated about the changed conditions , blind belief in uneducated people and being uneducated about the reality there .
FROM WHERE DID the SUPERSTITIONS COME?
Are you afraid of black cats ? Do you have any problem with the numbers 13 , 4 or 14 ?
You whether or not believe in this , you have heard of them several times , most probably , from you elders !! Lets open up some superstitious beliefs and examine them to find the answer to the question depicted as the heading .
Number 13 is believed to be unlucky because , Jesus Christ had his last supper with 12 of his disciples and the 13th one was the reason for his arrest which was followed by his brutal death . This is a religional superstition . And this superstition has played its role so strong , that many buildings skip their 13 th floor and goes the way 1 , 2 ... 12 , 14..... , devils number has been ignored . When the building owners were asked for the reason for this orderlessness , they said that there were no reasons other than the fact that they just want to show the customers that they respect their beliefs (No technical reason) .
" Knocking on wood is unlucky " , is another superstition which is believed to be spread by the ancient folklore of Indo-europians or their ancestors . This group believed that the trees were home to many spirits and knocking on the wood will awaken the spirits inside them . This still continues to be believed by many , even without knowing its origin .
Italians fear the number 17 , and this one has an interesting origin ! The number 17 , when written in roman numerals is XVII , which when rearranged can become VIXI , which translates into "I lived" a phrase which has a meaning , " my life is over " when perfectly implied in Italian language .
There are more numbers for the elevators of the buildings to skip !!
The number 4 is believed to be unlucky in some south-east asian countries . The number four in cantonese language pronounced "Sei" sounds like the word for death in chinese , pronounced "Si" . The countries whose languages were borrowed from chinese also believe in this superstitiion now . And as the number 1 similarly sounds like the word for "must" , number 14 is more scary as it sounds like "must die" when collaborated !
These were some of the superstitions which had no meaning at all and were never a reality . But there are some of them which were truth some long ago .
REALITY-LONG-AGO SUPERSTITIONS
" Whistling back stage can lead to unlucky events " , was real , let me explain how...
Long ago in stage shows , the backgroung portrait was moved up-down and side to side by the back-stage artists ( sorry if its the wrong word to describe them , you can comment the correct word for those fellows ) . They used whistles to signal the guy at the opposite end for coordination . Absent-minded whistles from the audience would lead to serious accidents on the stage . But this superstion also continues to be believed , even after those guys have became advanced enough to use microphones for signaling . There are so many more superstitions like lighting 3 cigarettes with the same match , (that I have already explained) that are continued to be believed even after the reality behind it becoming pseudo !!
" Breaking a mirror , can make you unlucky for 7 years " , is considered unlucky , as earlier there existed a belief that the mirror not only showed your image , but also carried bits of you soul , the reason behind americans covering up all the mirrors when someone dies has its roots entangled here . They think that the souls would get trapped in the mirror if they were left uncovered .
" The number 666 is unlucky " , this is again from the bible . 666 is Satans number and marks the end to everything . Is believed world wide as the evil trio of numbers . There are more , from round the globe...
Its unlucky to step on side-walk cracks .
Placing two mirrors facing each other opens the door to evil spirits . (MEXICO & ELSEWHERE)
Not going home straight after attending a funeral to avoid tagging of bad spirit on you and entering into your home with you . (FILIPINO)
If you cheers with water , then its believed that you want the person next to you to die . (GERMANY)
If you see or hear an owl, terrible news is coming . (EGYPT)
Knitting outside can prolong winter . (ICELAND)
Don't get a haircut on tuesday . (INDIA)
Pregnant women should not eat unshapely edibles . (KOREA)
Don't say the same word at the same time as your friend is unlucky in Italy while lucky in India !
Don't jump over a child , if you don't want them to be cursed with short height ! (NIGERIA)
WHY DO WE BELIEVE IN THEM EVEN AFTER BEING LITERATE?
Noone is born believing in stupid superstitions or dumbass rituals , and they wont be afraid to walk under a ladder until they are tought to do so by someone whom they are supposed to put trust on for the rest of their lives . If you are feeded with such superstitious beliefs and were strictly made to follow them , chances are that you won't be able to ignore them even after knowing that they were meaningless . As its easy to live believing in them and needs a lot of courage to break them .
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