2010年6月25日 星期五

Taboos in Middle East

Written by Riki

Many superstitious beliefs in Middle East make people avoid do certain kind of actions. Like other counties, Middle East has a variety of superstitions, and I’ve found one particular belief which appears in several superstitions or taboos of Middle East: that is the “Evil Eye.” Evil Eye is an eye of envy or jealous which may cause disease or harm usually to a children, livestock, or crops. In Saudi Arabia, many people who get sick believe that their sickness is because of the “evil eye” so that they do not want to accept medical treatments. Also for the first three months of pregnancy, they should not tell anyone that they are pregnant because someone may throw the person the “evil eye,” and it is believed that miscarriage is because of it. “Evil eye” is believed not only Middle East, but also other Mediterranean countries, Latin America, and so on.
For the pregnancy taboos, there is also another superstition that a husband cannot shave when goes to see his newborn child and his wife.
In addition to that, there is an interesting story about another kind of Islamic taboo. In a hospital in London, because of hygiene, they made those who came to the hospital clean their hands with anti-bacterial gel. However, Muslim people refuse to do it because it contains alcohol. Moreover, Turkey is also full of superstitious taboos, some may be well-known because they spread to other counties, washing close on Saturday, sweeping house at night, whistling at night, etc.
Many countries in Middle East have long histories so that beliefs, myths, or superstitions are deep with quite a lot of variations. Therefore, it is possible that if we trace the origin of common superstitions, we might end up in some religious beliefs or myths from this region. Since those beliefs are from thousands of years ago and pretty complicated because of many different religions, empire, ages were involved, finding out the origin or reason seems extremely challenging. However, if you are really interested, this is worth researching.

“evil eye.” The Skeptic’s Dictionary. 23 Feb.2009. 25 Jun.2009.
http://www.skepdic.com/evileye.html.

“Evil eye.” Wikipedia. 25 Jun. 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_eye.

Garcia, Ben.“Deliver us from Superstition.” Kuwait Times. 5 Jun. 2009. 25 Jun. 2010. http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=OTIyNzgzMDMx

MacAllen, Susan.“Islamic Superstition Endangers Healthcare System in the West.” Islam Watch. 7 Feb. 2007. 25 Jun. 2010.
http://www.islam-watch.org/Mac/Islam_Superstition_Health_issues.htm

Al Eidan, Kholoud. “The Evil Eye: Traditional Superstitions and Mental Illness in Saudi Arabia.” Asharq Al-Awsat. 8 Feb. 2007. 25 Jun. 2010. http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=7&id=9773

Birbiri, Mehmet. “Turkish Superstitions.” Turkey Central.com. 25.Jun.2010. http://www.turkeycentral.com/articles/turkey_article.php?article_id=70

Taboos in Morocco
Morocco is located in the north of African continent, just below Spain over Atlantic Ocean. The official language used is Arabic and the country is a part of Islamic world. Therefore, many beliefs and superstitions seem to be based on the Islamic religion.
While researching superstitions in Middle East, I found that Morocco particularly has a lot of superstitions and seeing comments of several people. Because of the religion, there are many beliefs, customs, and taboos, which restrict several behaviors, such as wearing clothes that show your skin too much or eating with left hand should be avoided. However, in Morocco, besides those religious customs, they have their own taboos or don’ts. Here are some examples:

1. “Don't use a whistle in the house.” This superstition can be found in other countries. Although I have found in a few web pages that talk about it, I could not find the exact answer why it is a taboo to use a whistle in the house. However, according to Russian superstition, they think that if you whistle, you are whistling away your money.
2. “Don't place your shoes upside down.” This is also a bad luck superstition that I found many people believing. One of the most probable reasons for doing so is that in Islam’s religion, they respect the order. Therefore, in order to have the right order, it is considered good to put in that way.
3. “Don't open an umbrella in a closed space.” This superstition is also believed in many other countries. What commonly believed is not in a closed space, but is inside house. It is believed that bad luck will fall to you like rain even inside it. Un umbrella is used to protect against something, and however, if we opens it inside a house, it keeps away a spirit or a god living in the room.
4. “Never eat food that's been sitting out overnight.” People believe that Jinn comes at night and will put something bad in it. Jinn is also known as “Genie” which is a creature introduced in Qur’an which is a holy book of Islam. Some superstitions are related to jinns. The following is another example.
5. “Don't pour hot water down a sanitation hole after dark.” Jinn can do both good and bad thing. It is believed that the hot water will reach where Jinn sleeps. Jinn may get angry because of hot water and come to bother you.
Here are other taboos which may not be commonly believed:
6. “Don’t brush a girl's feet with a broom.” They believe that doing so will keep the girl from getting married.
7. Don’t take a shower at night
8. Don’t let a dog inside a house.
9. Don’t visit the toilet between half past eleven and half past two.
Although some of the taboos do not explain reasons or origins for them, Moroccan people in general seem to respect old beliefs. I also found that many superstitions exist in Morocco due to its unique cultural and geographical background. As Morocco is surrounded by European countries, African countries, and Arabian counties, beliefs in those cultures seem to be mixed into Moroccan culture.

Allam, Hannah. “Superstitions.” Middle East Diary. 15 Aug. 2007. 13 Jun. 2010.
http://blogs.mcclatchydc.com/cairo/2007/08/superstitions.html

“Moroccan superstition?” Yahoo! Answers. Mar. 2010. 13 Jun. 2010. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100327084326AAPdT8B

“Superstitions.” British Council. 13 Jun. 2010.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-magazine-superstitions.htm

“Moroccan magic and superstition.” Yoga Travel. 13 Jun. 2010.
http://www.yogatravel.co.uk/yoga-holidays-morocco/morocco-magic-superstition.htm

“Moroccan banks offer un-Islamic Eid loans.” Al Arabiya News Channnel. 15 Dec. 2007. 13 Jun. 2010.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2007/12/15/42902.html

“Why is it considered bad luck to open an umbrella indoors?” Answerbag. 1 Jun. 2005. 13 Jun. 2010.
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/22995

Kunkle, John. “Russian Superstitions.” EzineArticles.13 Jun. 2010.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Russian-Superstitions&id=331435

2010年6月21日 星期一

The Superstition of Blood Types

Written by Sasha





Though there’re lots of people around the world believe that the blood type influences one’s personality, the phenomenon is much more prevailed in Japanese society nowadays, and surprisingly that most of western countries don't have this concepts at all. Most of Japanese, especially young generation, trust that the blood type affects not only characteristics but also ability of work, interrelationship, strategy-making, and almost everything.

In their opinion, each type has these specialties separately.

A: Obeying rules without suspect and hesitation; always staying in all seriousness; being easily to endure unreasonable things; being temperate and sympathetic.

B: Liberalist; being curious and sensitive especially to the field of art; speaking and doing things directly and sometimes even impulsively; being optimistic and careless; being easy to indulge in his/her own world.

O: Super-optimist; being careless and having no desires of worldly success ordinarily, however, once they find out their goal, they become aggressive and concentrated; being brave and filled of energy.

AB: Changeable; optimist; having lots of interesting even unreasonable thoughts; carelessness; judging a thing in a unique but fair way.

In a report opinion poll held in Japan recently shows that at least 20% of Japanese believe unreservedly that blood type influence their personality and even life. The situation becomes more and more serious and exaggerated. Some newspapers and magazines all indicate how this superstition deprives the basic human rights because there are even companies choose their employees according to the blood type.

If we take the characteristics which said to origin from bloody type as the consequence of statistics and don’t over-believe in it, we will find lots of interesting coincidences and funs. It’s just like the astrology, though some of the specialties match our personalities, we should not be confined by it for there are not only twelve kinds of set of one’s identities in the world.


More comics:
http://blog.xuite.net/osaki99/blog/17972900

Reference:
http://jp.hjenglish.com/music/60784/
http://bbs.fesco.com.cn/dispbbs.asp?boardid=17&Id=98512
http://www.jmnews.com.cn/c/2005/05/11/16/c_592208.shtml

The origin of SUPERSTITION

Written by Sasha

Belief is the origin of people’s thoughts and behaviors. The word “belief” here means not only religions but also the psychological state which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. The sources of belief are many but not conflict with each other. For instance, people may adopt the beliefs from an enchanting leader’s opinions or from a primary advertising industry which repeats certain images again and again, even those beliefs are not in their own self-interest or against all the previous beliefs. Besides, people tend to internalize the concepts around us and we are easy to be influenced by parents, the society or the majority. Belief is an important supporter and comforter in everyone’s life and it brings people the freedom and fortitude.

However, some people consider their beliefs as the absolutely correct concepts and can’t accept any other different opinions; some customs which are reasonable because of the past environment or culture, are passed down generation to generation without being adapted to modern society; some governors, merchants or groups “introduce” certain beliefs which profit them. All these reasons cause superstition.

Actually in the past, the word “superstition” is neuter and indicates the situation when someone believes certain concepts firmly instead of the negative intents we use today. Nowadays, we use “superstition” to describe someone trust in a concepts or theory without advanced knowledge and realization about what they believe. The word implies blind believing.

Moreover, the word “superstition” can be used in every field because, theoretically, people may indulge themselves in variety kinds of beliefs. Even though in the extent of modern technology and science, which often used by people to break superstitions, there are rooted concepts which can be referred to the co-called superstition.

Beliefs should bring people freedom, fortitude and comfort originally, however, they leads to superstitions which are totally opposite to them. Nevertheless, superstitions are not all harmful and some of them are even very interesting and become specialties in a culture.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%BF%B7%E4%BF%A1?variant=zh-tw

2010年6月20日 星期日

Social Taboos in Europe

Written by Adrian

Taboos are different from places to places and can be changed by the movement of time. Also, some things regard as taboos is not necessary in other culture. If you do not know those taboo before, you may be made fun of. Next are some taboos find in Europe.

1. Toss the glass
In Hungary, they never toss the glass before they drink the wine, since the factor of history. Some Austria once toss their glasses after they killed lots of Hungary people. Therefore, this tradition is presented even to todays.

2. The gesture of “V”
In British, if you do the gesture of V with your hand face inside, it seems as a aggressive meaning. The origin of the taboo comes from the Hundred Years War, because at that time the France declared to cut all British’s finger which uses to shot an arrow.

3. Kiss manner
In British, all the train’s passengers are not allowed to kiss or linger at the train station. Instead, you can do those things to a particular area.

4.Visiting Church
When you are going to the church in Italy, remember to wear long-sleeved t-shirt and long pants/skirt. Even during the hot weather, all visitors no matter women or men should not allow to wear short pants and the clothes without sleeves.

5.Sending Flowers
In Ukraine, you should make sure you have bunches of odd numbers, since even numbers are used in the funeral. Except this, you should notice the type of the flower before you sending out, because each flower has different meaning.

6.Praise
In Greek, if you over exaggerated the things and give too many praises may intrigue the host.


Reference:
http://tw.knowledge.yahoo.com/question/question?qid=1405112603641
http://tw.knowledge.yahoo.com/question/question?qid=1105050501899

The Superstition of Numbers in America

Written by Sasha


Most of superstitions are related to daily life and people’s habits. Among them, the superstitions of numbers are the most prevailed one because we can find it in almost every country. In this article, we are going to overview the history and development of this wide-believed superstition which is rooted in American’s everyday life.

There’s something interesting that “superstitions” always warn you what’s harmful and unlucky instead of telling you what’s helpful and positive to life. However, that phenomenon is reasonable for making a living is hard in the past so people were trying hard to avoid possible obstacles. Besides, religions, especially the Christ and Catholic are influential in western culture. In America, the number “13” is disliked and said to be unfortunate. The origin can trace the history back to the century before. In the Last Supper, Jesus had dinner with his twelve disciples. However, one of the disciples, Judah betrayed Jesus and led the Judaic governors, who crucified Jesus in the end, to the dinner hall. Judah sat at the thirteenth seat at that time; as a result, western people consider the number“13” as a symbol of unluckiness.

In America, the number of people sits around a table and of dishes could not be thirteen; in many high buildings, there’s not “the thirteenth” floor, even there is, people will call it the “fourteenth” floor instead.

In one of the provinces, there was an interesting accident happened. In a week, five car accidents occurred continuously and it caused citizens’ discontent. As a result, the police officer worked hard to find out the account. Finally they found a panda car which had a license plate with the number 13, and it was considered to be the origin of the recent unfortunatenesses. Consequently, the number od the license plate was replaced with 25.

Nevertheless, the Americans also have lucky numbers and the most significant one is the number “3”. In their opinion, three stands for a traditional family which consists of a father, mother and a child. Therefore, Americans tend to make up the proper number to three or the multiple of three. However, thinking in a negative way, accidents, funerals and bad luck may also appears in three at a time.



Reference:
http://www.3158.cn/news/20100302/10/2842221701_1.shtml
http://www.dreye.com/tw/english/ztip/content/ztip61.htm
http://www.eng24.com/html/2007-9/2007926104013.html

2010年6月14日 星期一

Taboos in Latin America---Spain

Written by Claire

Apart from those that are common to much of the western world (such as not walking under ladders or believing that black cats are unlucky), the Spanish have a number of other taboos and superstitions, just to name a few.

1. Never toast with a glass of water
(you do it you'll get seven years' bad sex)

2. Don’t get married, nor board on Tuesday the 13th

3. A lighter shouldn't be shared among more than three people

4. A salt shaker should not be passed from hand to hand
(it must be placed on the table, for the other person to pick it up themselves)

5. When pouring liquid from a bottle, the bottom of the bottle should not face close from the body and poured towards the body

6. While sweeping, the broom shouldn’t hit the feet of a single person
(that person will never marry)

7. Shouldn’t leave the bag on the floor
(This means that your money will run away)

8. Chimneys should also always be capped
(an uncapped chimney means that witches would climb down it)

9. Shouldn’t leave home when the moon is full in Galicia
(In the north of Spain, there is a big region which is called Galicia. This region is traditionally a land of witches and incantations. A Santa Compaña is a long line of dead people who walk through the forests of Galicia at night. People say if you see this line of people, you will follow them for all of Eternity. If you don't want to follow them for all of eternity, you should stay at home when the moon is full.)




Reference
http://gospain.about.com/od/spanishlife/qt/superstitions_in_spain.htm
http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/superstitions/spain.htm

2010年6月7日 星期一

Superstitious and Taboos of Death in Chinese Culture

Written by Adrian

In Chinese culture, because of the respected attitude toward their ancestors and people's fear feeling toward death, there forms up several of superstitious and taboos of death. Except this, it needs to know that Chinese religious believes people would turn into ghost after they die. Then, the people's former alive behavior would decide the going direction of the ghost, such as whether the ghost needs to go to the hell, linger in the human’s world or enter in the transmigration of the soul. However, though we cannot affect one's behavior that decides the going of the soul, we can still have other ways to help these souls enter in the better place.

First, it's about the ritual superstitious and taboos of the death. It's believed that the dieing people should pass away at his own house and bed, and at that time all the family should gather together in front of this person. I think this is because Chinese people care the conception of family and also believe the saying that” we come back from where we come from”.

Second, after this person is dead, their family's god status should be covered by red papers. Then, the descendants will set up a place to prey this new dead one, and serves the dished there with the chopsticks suck in the middle of the bowl as if the dead one sill alive. Later, after finding the nice buried place that will have a great influence on the fortune of a family and his offsprings, the family will announce their family and friend to attend the funeral.

Third, the day before the buried ritual, all the guests should give the family some money in white envelope. At this time, the receiver can only replay: ”You have a good heart ” rather than “Thank you!” In return, the receiver will give off the gifts that include a coin, a white towel and a candy. Then, all of the descendants should stay up for a night to guard the dead body. (In the past time, they fear the dead body would corrupt by the dogs or cats.)

Last, after the dead body already be cleaned and wears cosmetic and nice clothes, this would be the last time for all the family and friends to see the dead before interment. Meanwhile, there would be a Taoist prays for the ghost. Generally, Chinese people like to chose interment for fear of destroy their dead people's body. When the burial ritual is done, everyone will have a vegetarian meal together, and need to cross a small stove before enter in the home on the behalf of getting rid of bad luck. It's almost 3 months after one's family dead; their offspring should wear some particular thing to pay respect to their dead people and can't enter any gatherings. Except that, it's believed those ghosts will come back to their home after 7 days.


Reference:
1.http://www.thinkerstar.com/lu/essays/funeral/deathtw.html
2.http://www.hkmd.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=8

2010年6月6日 星期日

What a Number Means in Asian Countries

Written by Riki

Vietnam: # 3
It is believed that taking a picture with three people is a bad luck.
Reference:
“3 (number).” Wikipedia. 21 Jun. 2010. 22 Jun. 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_(number)#As_a_lucky_or_unlucky_number

Nepal: #8
It believed a lucky number in Nepali mythology, and eight strings are used in the traditional dress “Daura”.
Reference:
“Nepal Culture.” Saarc Tourism. 2009. 6 Jun. 2010.
http://nepal.saarctourism.org/nepal-culture.html

Myanmar (Burma): #9
The number is a lucky number since the sound nine “ko” also means “seek protection from the gods”.
Reference:
“Buddhist Monks Novices and Nuns.” Journeys. Jun.2010. 6 Jun. 2010.
http://www.journeysmyanmar.com/buddhist_monks_novies_nuns.htm

Thailand:# 9
In Thailand the number nine is considered a good number because the sound of nine “gao” is similar to the sound “kow-nah,” which means to “move forward.”
Reference:
“Lucky Number 9.” thaizer.com. 22 Nov. 2007. 6 Jun. 2010. http://www.thaizer.com/culture-shock/lucky-number-9/

Cambodia #:9, #10
If you add up a series of numbers and becomes nine, it is a good luck Number ten means bad luck in Cambodia.
Reference:
“Cambodian Myths.” Cambodian Learning Facilitators. 2010. 6 Jun. 2010.
http://www.camlefa.org/cam_myths.html

Philippines: #13
It is a bad luck to eat meal with 13 people
Reference:
“Superstitions and Beliefs Related to Death.” Living in the Philippines. 2010. 6 Jun. 2010.
http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/philculture/superstitions_and_beliefs.html

Indonesia: odd numbers
Taking picture with odd-numbers of people is a bad luck.
Reference:
Luxamore.“Superstitions of Indonesia.” Content for Reprint. 31 Jan. 2008. 6 Jun. 2010.
http://www.content4reprint.com/religion-and-spirituality/metaphysical/superstitions-of-indonesia.htm

Korea: #3, #7
Number 3 and 7 is believed as lucky numbers in Korea
References:
Li, Li. “Superstition or Modernity?” M/C Journal. 22 Jun. 2010. 22 Jun. 2010. http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0703/07-li.php
W. Tim G. Richardson. “Mother Tongue Marketing.” witiger.com. 8 Jun. 2010. 22 Jun. 2010. http://www.witiger.com/marketing/cultures.htm

Japan: #7, #8
Because of the influence of western culture, the number seven is often considered a lucky number in Japan. The number eight also can be said is a lucky number because the first letter of the sound of eight “hachi” is the same as the first letter of “happy.”

Chinese culture :#2, #6, #8
In Chinese culture, many people take numbers seriously, and there are more lucky numbers than unlucky ones:The number two is considered a lucky number because it is believed that “all good things come in pairs.”The number six is also a lucky number because its sound is similar to the sound which means “flowing and smooth”The number eight is also a lucky number because the sound of eight is similar to the sound of the word which means making money.

References:
Drwi.“Chinese Lucky Numbers.” chinatravel.com. 15 Oct. 2008. 6 Jun.2010.
http://www.chinatravel.com/facts/traditions-and-custom/chinese-lucky-numbers.htm

Number #4
In China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Japan, the number 4 is often avoided because the sound is similar to the word “death.”
Reference:
“Tetraphobia.” Wikipedia. 22 May 2010. 6 Jun. 2010.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraphobia

After doing this research, I realized that many countries in Asia are pretty superstitious about numbers. Chinese culture is quite superstitious, and it influences a lot to neighborhood countries due to its immigrants. However, besides that I found many westerners who have lived in other Asian countries also felt people in those countries care about lucky or unlucky numbers very much, and often writes phrase like “….. (country name) is more superstitious than any other countries in Asia.”

Superstition and tradition of Chinese New Year

Written by Claire

We all know that superstition is kind of related to tradition and culture of a country. Here I want to introduce a superstion of this example: Chinese tradition of a coming new year.

House Cleaning:
The entire house should be cleaned before New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year's Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not taken or thrown out until the fifth day. At no time should the rubbish in the corners be trampled upon. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family away. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it must always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door.

New Year Activities Set Precendent:
All debts had to paid by this time. Nothing should be lent on this day, as anyone who does so will be lending all the year. Back when tinder and flint were used, no one would lend them on this day or give a light to others. Everyone should refrain from using foul language and bad or unlucky words. Negative terms and the word "four" (Ssu), which sounds like the word for death, are not to be uttered. Death and dying are never mentioned and ghost stories are totally taboo. References to the past year are also avoided as everything should be turned toward the New Year and a new beginning. If you cry on New Year's day, you will cry all through the year. Therefore, children are tolerated and are not spanked, even though they are mischievous.

More New Year superstitions:
For those most superstitious, before leaving the house to call on others, the Almanac should be consulted to find the best time to leave the home and the direction which is most auspicious to head out.

The first person one meets and the first words heard are significant as to what the fortunes would be for the entire year. It is a lucky sign to see or hear songbirds or red-colored birds or swallows.

It is considered unlucky to greet anyone in their bedroom so that is why everyone, even the sick, should get dressed and sit in the living room.

Do not use knives or scissors on New Year's Day as this may cut off fortune.



While many Chinese people today may not believe in these do's and don'ts, these traditions and customs are still practiced. These traditions and customs are kept because most families realize that it is these very traditions, whether believed or not, that provide continuity with the past and provide the family with an identity.

2010年5月30日 星期日

Religion versus Superstition

Written by Claire

Is there any real connection between superstition and religion? Well, at first I thought that they are almost the same thing, even not the exactly the same, it’s not easy to tell the difference between the two. If you have the same question about the topic, well, think about the following situations first: A person can faithfully attend church services all their life without giving a second thought to a black cat walking in front of them. On the other hand, a person who completely rejects any religion whatsoever may consciously or unconsciously avoid walking under a ladder — even if there is no one on the ladder who might drop something.

Obviously, not everyone who is religious is also superstitious and not everyone who is superstitious is also religious.

Actually, they are different in some ways. Because the very label “superstition” seems to include a negative judgment of irrationality, childishness, or primitiveness, it is understandable of religious believers wouldn’t want their own faiths to be categorized with superstitions.

However, we must, nevertheless, acknowledge that the similarities are not superficial. For one thing, both superstition and traditional religions are non-materialistic in nature. They do not conceive of the world as a place controlled by sequences of cause and effect between matter and energy. Instead, they presume the added presence of immaterial forces which influence or control the course of our lives.
Furthermore, there is also the appearance of a desire to provide meaning and coherence to otherwise random and chaotic events. If we get hurt in an accident, it might be attributed to a black cat, to spilling salt, to failing to pay sufficient honor to our ancestors, to performing the appropriate sacrifices to the sprits, etc. There seems to be a genuine continuum between what we tend to call “superstition” and the ideas in animistic religions.

In both cases, people are expected to avoid certain actions and perform other actions in order to ensure that they do not fall victim to the unseen forces at work in our world. In both cases, the very idea that such unseen forces are at work seems to stem (at least in part) both from a desire to explain otherwise random events and from a desire to have some means of affecting those events.
These are all important psychological benefits often used to explain the reason why religion exists and why religion persists. They are also reasons for the existence and persistence of superstition. It seems reasonable to argue, then, that while superstition may not be a form of religion, it does spring from some of the same basic human needs and desires as religion does. Thus, a greater understanding of how and why superstition develops can be useful in gaining a better understanding and appreciation of religion.

Related articles
http://fixed-point.org/index.php/blog/224-faithorsuperstition
http://schansblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/faith-and-superstition.html

2010年5月27日 星期四

Are Superstitions Harmful?

Witten by Riki

It is hard to define whether one superstition can harm people or not. If we search for stories about the incidents related to the superstitions, we can find a lot. For example, suppose we had a bad luck you on Friday thirteenth. If we are superstitious, we would think that was because it was the day. However, the bad luck maybe just a coincidence. No one can scientifically prove that bad things definitely will occur on that day. On the other hand, obsession with superstitions may affect our lives and could harm our health. According to Sarah Albert, the author of “The Psychology of Superstition” on Medicinenet.com, obsession toward unreasonable thoughts such as superstition may give us great anxiety and distress as the example of the character that Jack Nicholson’s acted in the film As Good as it Gets, who “skips cracks in the sidewalk” or always sits “at the same table in the same restaurant everyday.” Even a research by David Phillips, a sociologist at the University of California, showed that being superstitious can make people more anxious and stressed. Therefore, it is better not to believe superstitions too much.

Are superstitions helpful?
As I mentioned above, this is the matter of the degree we believe. Although there is no specific line that defines the level we believe superstitions and hard to say how deep we can believe superstitious, being superstitious may also have a function to ease our anxiety. There are so many things in life that we are not able to predict and some people have a great fear or worry toward those things: Am I going to pass an entrance exam for the school I really wish to go? What will happen if I tell him that I like him? Can I find my dream career? We have those small anxieties in our lives, and many of us try to calm the thoughts in superstitious manner. In Japanese culture, for instance, many people carry amulet as a charm, and in American culture, carrying a rabbit food is a lucky charm. Many sports players have some superstitious habits to let their anxiety go off. The well-known basketball player Michel Jordan would do up his shoelace in a certain manner before the game. Even the historical baseball player Babe Ruth would hit butterflies with the diamond because he believed they were bad luck. Even though being too superstitious can harm our health, being moderately superstitious may help us act more confidently rather than being nervous in big occasions.

References:

Albert, Sarah. “Is 'magical' thinking hurting or helping you?” MedicineNet.com. 4 Oct. 2004. 27 May. 2010. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46749


“Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).”MayoClinic.com. 19 Dec. 2008. 27 May. 2010. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/ds00189

“As Good as It Gets.”The Internet Movie Database. 1997. 27 May. 2010. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119822/

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2010年5月25日 星期二

What is SUPERSTITION?

Written by Claire

Superstition is a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason, knowledge, or experience. The word is often used pejoratively to refer to folk beliefs deemed irrational. This leads to some superstitions being called "old wives' tales". It is also commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the irrational belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.

When you try to define the word superstition, don't you find that it is quite difficult to do so?
Suppose ,for example, you said it was a belief in something that wasn't really so.
Well there are many things all of us believe in that can't be proved. Besides,at certain times in man's history,everyone believed in certain things that we now regard as superstititions . And the people who believed in them at that time weren't superstitious at all. For example, they believed that the shadow or reflections of a person was a part of soul.So they considered that you would harm the soul,if you broke anything on which this shadow or reflection appeared . Therefore they considered it harmful unlucky to break mirror. But remember at that time this was a belief held by most people. Today if someone considers it unlucky to break a mirror he is superstitious.Today we no longer believe that a shadow or reflection is a part of the soul.

So a superstition is actually a belief or practice that people cling to after new knowledge or facts have appeared to disprove them . That's why it is impossible to say when superstition began. In ancient times man tried to explain events in the world as best as he could with the knowledge at hand. He did not know much about the sun, stars,moon,comets and so on, So people made up explanations about them and followed certain practice to protect themselves from their influence.That is why astrology was an accepted belief at one time. But with the development of science,the heavenly bodies comes to be known and understood, the old beliefs should have died out. When they didn't and when people still believed that ,for example , that seeing an shotting star brought good luck,these beliefs became superstitions



reference: (Wikipedia)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition