There are some people who believe in superstitions. They would follow certain “rules” that most of the time may make no sense. They’ll just say you that it is bad luck to do certain things. So what is the basis of these beliefs? Superstitions are beliefs that one event leads to the cause of another event without any physical process linking them. Oftentimes these were just based on events that happened by chance or coincidence. Others may just happen to be repetitious. Yet still others are just made by some people just for the heck of it, concluding something that isn’t scientifically proven. Though superstitions do have a basis, most of the reasons are forgotten but are still followed just because it became a tradition or it became customary. Some superstitions are linked with religion.
A good example would be that it isn’t good to walk under a ladder. This may have an obvious reason that it might cause an accident: hitting yourself with the ladder or that something might fall on you. Aside from this, it also came from the ladder forming a triangle with the wall and ground. This triangle represents the Trinity and by crossing the space in between may mean violating the Trinity. Also, the belief of breaking a mirror would yield bad luck. This may be based on the belief of spiritualism. It was once believed that mirrors reflect one’s soul and that breaking it may mean destroying one’s soul. Other superstitions may be reasonable in the olden times and impractical at the present. Some examples would include the prohibition of cutting one’s nails at night. Before, there was no electricity and people only rely on the moonlight.
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Cutting one’s nails during that time would have a risk in cutting one’s fingers, especially when using a knife or blade as they don’t have those fancy nail cutters that we have now today. Some of the real reasons of derivation are also forgotten. The old would give random reasons that when you think about it, doesn’t give a cause-effect relationship. Some would even say because it was said by the elders and was passed from generation to generation. So knowing these origins, now what are the advantages and disadvantages of being superstitious or following the traditions? First, the advantages or the good points at least would be that one would have a sort of tradition or ritual to follow. It may also add colour to life. As what Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Superstition is the poetry of life…” Believing other superstitions like wearing a lucky charm will not necessarily give you good luck but it somehow conditions your mind that you are lucky and everything will be fine.
By conditioning your mind to this thinking, it will boost your confidence as this is what most people lack. They are capable of doing something but they doubt they are able. Also, some may also avoid accidents to happen as the case of crossing the ladder. They also organize one’s life as they create certain patterns. Some superstitions were made from experience and may be practical to us still. Disadvantage may include that it gives a kind of restriction to those who really observed them. They also waste time. Some of the superstition would also let you miss an opportunity to help others. An example would be the tale that one shouldn’t bring out money once it’s already nighttime. With all these superstitions, knowing them all and following them is impossible. Some superstitions may be beneficial but most are just impractical in the modern times. They may even limit and restrict us when we could have done more.
