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Essay on nature and origin of superstition
The theme of superstition
The theme of superstition
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SUPERSTITIONS MEANING OF THE WORD AND ITS ORIGIN: Superstition is a blind belief that one believes without any reasons, experiences, nor scientifically. It is supposedly responsible for the causes of connected events to magic.Everyone around the world believes in one or the other superstition. Superstition origins in Ancient Egypt and it was created based religious beliefs, myths, and legends. People were so obsessed with the deities that they satisfy them with offerings, prayers, sacrifices. Therefore, it created fear which gave rise to unfounded belief. Superstitions might serve a purpose or not, depend on one's belief. Even though superstitions can make some good or harmful fortune, sometimes it creates contradicting luck. BAD LUCK: …show more content…
This superstition goes back to the ancient Romans who believed the reflection of a person in a mirror is actually one's soul. Back in those times, the human soul was linked to your future. They would take what they saw in a mirror and predict one's future. Therefore, if one breaks a mirror, then one shatters their future and have a cycle of bad health. The Romans believed that it there were cycles of health that lasted 7 years. Since the number 7 represents perfection, security, safety and rest, the Romans assume it is the right number that the curse is released. Nevertheless, there is a way to prevent this bad luck. Accordingly to the Romans, if one brings the pieces outside and buries them under the moonlight, then those 7 years of bad luck no longer …show more content…
Cats found themselves tangled up in the hunt, simply because many presumed witches had taken in alley cats as companions. The belief that the “companion” turned into “familiar,” and that witches could transform themselves into their cat companions from a belief comes from a folklore. The story involves a father and his son in Lincolnshire around the 1560s. It says they were traveling one moonless night when a black cat crossed their path and dove into a crawl space. They threw rocks at the poor creature and then the injured cat scurried into a woman’s house, who was suspected of being a witch. On the following of next day, the father and son past by the same woman. As they looked at her, they noticed she was limping and bruised and believed that to be more than just a coincidence. From that day on in Lincolnshire, it was thought witches could transform into black cats at night. Black cats are considered bad luck, as well in other folklores like the Cat Sith. It is a fairy from the Scottish Folklore who have the ability to steal a dead person’s soul before the gods could claim it. That belief led to the creation of night-and-day watches called the “Late Wake” to guard bodies just before burial. Also from the Norse legend of Freya, the goddess of love and fertility, whose chariot was pulled by two black
Soldiers in the Vietnam War had to carry all of their belongings on their bodies with them over great distances of walking, earning Vietnam soldiers the nickname ‘Grunts’. Thus, they tried to limit their already grueling load as much as possible. In Tim O’Brien’s, The Things They Carried, he creates a detailed outline of the items carried by soldiers in the Vietnam War, which were “largely determined by necessity” (2). While most were out of necessity, the soldiers in the text also had many things that were strictly for personal reasons. The soldiers were already weighed down tremendously by their gear and weapons that were necessities, yet they chose to carry around the extra weight of seemingly useless objects. Some people carried objects
Witchcraft started in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Superstition started when women were accused of acting strangely. These superstitions turned into trials, and later lead to mounds of hanged people. Most of the people accused were innocent, but the harsh judge rulings left them with nothing to live for. The only options for the tried, no matter if guilty or not, were to claim guilty, living the rest of their life in prison, or to plead not guilty and hang. Due to both consequences being equally as punishable, many people isolated themselves from society. Unfortunately, some people caused the uprising of the salem witch trials more than others did. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams single handedly attributed to the
The history of the feline is extensive and intriguing. Although we think of the black cat as always being the carrier of misfortune, the white cat has held a dark position as well. In England the white cat is notorious for its bad luck, and an older American superstition stated that a white cat at night indicates disaster. The Dalton's cat abruptly has Bigger feeling uneasy,
Wicca, commonly known as the “Craft” or “Old Ways” is an expression used to describe various traditions of contemporary Paganism, an earth-centered religion that shows a substantial amount of respect for nature; celebrating the changes in the season and lunar cycles (Mankiller, Wicca); As stated by Morrison Wicca celebrates, “the beauty of the moon, the stars, and the sun (5)”; and the worshipping of the deities (Morrison, 2001). Those who follow the path of Wicca are usually referred to as “Witches” or “Wiccans” derived from the Anglo-Saxon term wicce, which can be translated as “Sorceress” or “Wise One” (Morrison, 2001), they are nothing like the witches seen in modern media (Mankiller, Wicca). Throughout History Wicca has been depicted as a Satanist related religion, leading to mass persecution of those who adhere to its principles (as seen in the Salem Witch Trials); few truly fathom the Wiccan faith. The real truth about Wicca is that, it is a religion centered on the theology of the deities in form of the Patron Goddess and God, it is a matriarchal religion, with varying traditions and religious branches, that doesn’t believe in predestination, and has basic tenets that must be followed.
Life in the Victorian era may be particularly unconventional and exotic to some individuals of today’s society. Bram Stoker, author of the well-known Gothic horror book, Dracula, displays what life was like back then. “For much of this century the term Victorian, which literally describes things and events (roughly) in the reign of Queen Victoria, conveyed connotations of ‘prudish,’ ‘repressed,’ and ‘old fashioned’” (“Victorian England:”). The Victorian era extended from 1837 to 1901.Compared to today especially, people at that time were highly puritanical. They were not able to speak of or even mention topics such as sex. “Without a doubt, it was an extraordinarily complex age, that has sometimes been called the Second English Renaissance.
Edgar Allan Poe wrote that the single effect was the most important aspect of a short story, which everything must contribute to this effect. Poe’s gothic tale “The Black Cat” was written trying to achieve an effect of shocking insanity. In this first person narrative the narrator tells of his decline from sanity to madness, all because of an obsession with two (or possibly one) black cats. These ebony creatures finally drive him to take the life his wife, whose death he unsuccessfully tries to conceal.
Gargano, James W. “’The Black Cat’: Perverseness Reconsidered.” Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe’s Tales. Ed. William L. Howarth. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1971. 87-94. Print.
“Black Cat” is about a narrator and his tribulations with animals, cats in particular with this work. The short story starts out with the narrator telling
The presence of the two cats in the tale allows the narrator to see himself for who he truly is. In the beginning the narrator explains that his “tenderness of heart made him the jest of his companions”. (251) He also speaks of his love for animals that has remained with him from childhood into manhood. However, Poe contradicts this description of the narrator when he seems to become annoyed with the cat that he claims to love so much. While under the influence of alcohol the narrator is “fancied that the cat avoided his presence”(250) and as a result decides to brutally attack the cat. This black cat symbolizes the cruelty received by slaves from whites. The narrator not only “deliberately cuts one of the cats eyes from the sockets” (250) but he also goes on to hang the cat. Once the narrator successfully hangs the cat the tale begins to take a very dark and gothic-like turn. The racism and guilt of the narrator continues to haunt him once he has killed the black cat. Th...
Macbeth: Superstitions & nbsp; & nbsp; The tragedy of Macbeth was written by Shakespeare in 1606 and produced in 1610. Macbeth is the most concentrated of Shakespeare's tragedies. The action gushes forward with great speed from the beginning to the end. The main characters in the play are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, who are very noble, but their evil. ambition ultimately causes their downfall and death.
Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Black Cat." Leonard, George McMichael and James S. Concise Anthology of American Literature. Pearson Education, Inc., 2011. 512-518. Short Story.
Black cats have historically represented witchcraft, bad luck, and death in many parts of the world. In “The Black Cat”, Pluto held the place of one of the narrator’s most beloved pets until the animal grows frightened. The narrator ends up cutting Pluto’s eye out causing him to become half blind, and eventually kills Pluto. Shortly after this, the narrator becomes haunted by a feline that looks similar to Pluto. The only difference between Pluto and the second cat is the second feline has a white mark on his neck. In “The Black Cat”, the feline Pluto represents the underworld, narcissism, and mental instability.
To me superstitions are simply beliefs or practices with no rational substance to them, for instance, ok a bird, if a bird flies into the house it is a sign of death. Now in all honest...
Superstition is the fear of what is unknown and mysterious, but does it in fact impact our everyday actions? In the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare superstition is a significant contribution to the characters actions. An analysis of Macbeth reveals that superstition causes insanity, rash decisions, and affects how people conduct their lives. Showing in fact, that superstition has a significant impact on thoughts and actions.
The first example is, London Bridge is Falling Down. The lyrics are London Bridge is falling down / falling down / London Bridge is falling down / my fair lady. When I was young, I would sing this song with other children and play a game. There would be two people making a bridge and other children would go under the bridge. After the song was over at “my fair lady”, the two people making the bridge would quickly put their arms down and try to trap one of the kids into their arms. There are many different superstitions or theories about this folk song. Different versions were passed throughout different cultures and different languages so there are not any known evidence for any theory to be true. The first main superstition is that the originally the London Bridge ...