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Essays on superstition
Essays on superstition
Essays about superstitions
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I’m doing my speech on superstitions. Wulp wish me luck, break a leg, knock on wood.
Superstitions, what are they and where did they come from? Are they true are they false or is there some sort of reasoning behind them? Or are they simply just a whole lot of mumbo jumbo. I mean ….. awww man (meeoow) there goes a black cat man talk about bad luck it just took off with any luck that I had, (gosh darn – click fingers well lets see if its true…Mrs Maslen whadda ya reckon am I gonna get an A for this or what? C’mon c’mon you can tell me. Damn you cat (shake fist meeooow). Where did that superstition come from? For heavens sake how pathetic is it! Anyways for most people these are simply old wives tales and silly misconstrued stories, happenings and events. But for others these are real, they believe every word of these.
For centuries people have been fascinated by these superstitions. Superstitions have bewitched, bemused and befuddled the minds of millions, billions of innocent people. Because believing superstitions is simply showing ignorance and fear of the unknown. This is why so many people have fallen into the traps and beliefs that are superstitions, taboos. These superstitions have been deeply influential in history. You look back in history and you’ll find them 600, 700 back in time.
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...
Perhaps some of the best stories told are classified as urban legends. Urban legends have become a part of culture, and a way to tell stories. They can tell us things about ourselves and about how we lead our lives. They serve to entertain us, but can also teach us lessons, such as morals to live by. Urban legends are passed on between generations, and become a part of the oral history of a place. Whether the stories are true or not, urban legends are often taken to hold at least some truth about a culture. No matter how radical some of the stories may be, people often take the urban legends to be true. People may take these stories to be true simply for entertainment purposes, but mostly because the morals the stories teach are important. Urban legends can become a part of the place where they originate, and can help define a culture, and shape its history.
Many cultures ascribe to some kind of superstition, magic, or faith. Merriam-Webster defines superstition as “a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation” ("Superstition”). This definition makes superstition sound like it belongs in a lower developed country that lacks the ability to have scientific knowledge. However, magic and superstition are alive and well in developed countries, such as the United States. Sports are rife with superstitions. Many players use “ritual, taboos, and fetishes to manage the anxiety generated by unpredictable events that challenge human control” (Gmelch 266). Superstitions are entirely psychological; a way to create a reason for an event that has occurred. In his article “Baseball Magic,” George Gmelch examines the rituals, taboos, and fetishes of American baseball and how they compare to the magic of the Trobriand Islanders.
Puerto Rico has many similar superstitions as the United States, as well some that are not as common. Some of the superstitions that are shared with the United States include black cats and walking under ladders bringing bad luck. Another similar one is that the number 13 can bring bad luck as well. Most high rise buildings in Puerto Rico do not have a thirteenth floor. The floor numbers jump from twelve to fourteen. Also, Tuesday the 13th is the equivalent of the United States Friday the 13th, however many in Puerto Rico view both days as a day full of bad luck. Some other interesting superstitions begin on New Years. These superstitions begin with throwing a bucket of water out the front door at midnight. To many in Puerto Rico, this symbolizes throwing out the all of the bad events of the previous year and emptying out the past year for a fresh new year.
Urban legends are the supernatural folklore of our modern society. From one generation to the next, they orally travel throughout the world, constantly changing from one region to the next. Although cultural variations exist, the core of all these urban legends remains the same, to unveil the universally known individual and societal fears. “The Graveyard Wager” is a timeless urban legend told again and again, and the one of which I will explore more in depth.
Sagan said “more than a third of American adults believe that on some level they’ve made contact with the dead” (151). This figure is not hard to believe when one thinks about our need to believe in something greater than ourselves. People believe in superstitions and horoscopes because they want to believe in that something that is greater than themselves is
An example of this would be the fortune telling hairball and the rattlesnake skin. Jim also states during the first few chapters that his body hair is a sign of his future wealth. The signs have no correlation to their meanings and seem ludicrous and silly to those reading about them. Another moment where superstitions became important would be after Jim and Huck Finn 's separation in the fog. When Huck Finn lies to Jim about their separation being a dream Jim begins to tell Huck his interpretation of the dream as a warning. It shows that to the superstitious, signs and meanings can be applied to everything and anything. Later on in the book, while helping Jim to escape, Tom and Huck Finn lie to Nat about odd occurrences caused by their plans. Because Nat is superstitious he is quick to blame witches and believes Tom and Huck Finn 's lies. This allows Tom 's overly complicated plans to take off without a
These beliefs are all presented early in Story of the Stone. In the beginning, it is a Buddhist monk and a Taoist who discover the stone. Though he initially considers ignoring the stone because of its perceived loose moral values and questionable content, the Taoist Vanitas is soon convinced of the worth of the story by the stone’s insistence that others may learn from the message, and thus avoid the same pitfalls that befell so many in the Jia clan. “My only wish is that men in the world below may sometimes pick up this tale… and in doing so find not only mental refreshment but even perhaps, if they will heed its lesson and abandon the...
...as decreased the amount of exorcisms because religions put stipulations on the behaviors that qualify them for an exorcism. A medical diagnosis seems more practical in the twenty-first century, but people will still hold the same superstitions.
The first aspect of superstition impacting our lives we’ll explore is the idea of superstitions causing us to spend money. According to the financial firm Forbes, “Superstition is a billion dollar industry. Every year, Americans spend a substantial amount of their disposable income on superstitious items such as 4 leaf
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines divination as, “the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge, usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers.” However, many choose to define it as a scam, without taking into account whether or not divination is actually an example of the supernatural at play. As a result, the practice and belief in divination have varied widely throughout history; in fact, the people who believe/practice it have been called everything from witches and con artists, to gods on earth. Nevertheless, whether or not the science behind divination can be proven, the continuing belief in the ¨unknowns¨ represented by it are alive and well.
Witchcraft is said to be the most widespread cultural phenomenon in existence today and throughout history. Even those who shun the ideas of witchcraft cannot discount the similarities in stories from all corners of the globe. Witchcraft and its ideas have spread across racial, religious, and language barriers from Asia to Africa to America. Primitive people from different areas in the world have shockingly similar accounts of witchcraft occurrences. In most cases the strange parallels cannot be explained and one is only left to assume that the tales hold some truth. Anthropologists say that many common elements about witchcraft are shared by different cultures in the world. Among these common elements are the physical characteristics and the activities of supposed witches. I will go on to highlight some of the witch characteristic parallels found in printed accounts from different parts of the world and their comparisons to some famous fairytales.
The introduction of the supernatural in the Elizabethan-Jacobean mind as human beings, we tend to perceive concepts like “supernatural” as a sort of phenomena beyond scientific explanation, a notion largely identified with religion and belief. It might be portrayed as events or occurrences introduced by powers outside nature. These obscure powers have been, since the start of mankind incorporated in every social and literary interpretation, the presence of the supernatural is for the most part acknowledged as an unavoidable truth by the masses, and even by the best researchers and scholars, in the Elizabethan and Jacobean times. Throughout the Elizabethan Era, and with the development of science, started the superstitions. The roots of the supernatural can be directly traced from the Celtic tribes of the Bronze Age, the convention of making medicines was given over to women, and hence the old women of this period were distinguished as witches and their medical prescriptions as magic potions.
This said, superstition was still there in cultures but as a more positive variation instead of an idea that was dark and held malicious intent. The people of that time had more hope rather than fear. This is also when the first variation of a type of Tooth Fairy was made. To start, in most Latin countries, they believe in a rat named Ratoncito Perez who comes in at night and takes the fallen baby tooth and leaves a small gift for the children when they wake up (123Dentist). The story behind Ratoncito Perez is that since they are mice, the eat nuts from a local shop, but all the elder mice can’t chew because their teeth are too weak and old, practically falling out. Ratoncito then goes out every night and collects teeth small enough to replace the elder mice’s teeth; Ratoncito collects baby teeth. In return for taking the tooth, he leaves a small gift. This is also where we see the first type of exchange for a tooth. So as you can see, the tradition of the tooth has travelled from Northern Europe to Spain and other Latin countries. The Tooth Fairy Myth is very famous and that is why so many countries hold onto these traditions and and stories. For example, there is even a small museum that is completely dedicated to Ratoncito. Ratoncito is considered strongly “worshipped” (123Dentist).
*As you walk into the Divination tower your eyes are drawn to a round table covered in felt. Over the felt there appears to be a dark cloth with a deck of cards. Professor ____ is standing by the table and beckons you closer. She motions for you to take a seat and when the last student arrives she turns and starts talking. She appears excited*
For example, a slave that Huckleberry and Tom talk to on their adventure, rather than used his problem solving skills to figure out that Huckleberry and Tom already knew, he automatically assumed it was witches. "Oh, it's de dad-blame' witches, sah..."(Twain, 237). If he had not believed in his superstition then, he would have figured out that something suspicious was up. Another time is when the slave is oblivious to what is going on when Huckleberry and Tom forgot to fasten the door and the dogs ended up getting into the house. “Mars Sid, you'll say I's a fool but if I din't b'lieve I see most a million dogs er devils, er some'n…”(Twain, 250). Once again, the slave blames it on the witches. Instead of thinking through the