Superstitions (2855 words) Essay Example For Students

Superstitions (2855 words) Essay SuperstitionsSuperstitions. Dina FagothLanguage ArtsP. 3 / 8thBackgroundA superstition is a traditional belief that a certain action or event can cause or foretell an apparently unrelated event. Superstitions ensure that a person will pass safely from one stage of life to the next. Many of them involve someone taking deliberate action to cause something to happen or to prevent something from occurring. Some superstitions go back almost to the very beginning of human life on Earth. Most of them come from ancient Europe and Egypt. There is no scientific basis for superstitions. Yet, they continually are being passed on from generation to generation. Almost everybody clings on to a few of them. Before bad luck strikes, there are plenty of things, or good luck charms, that can be used to prevent the bad luck. One, which is probably the most common, is a rabbits foot. This is because the fast reproduction of the rabbits is considered as wealth. Another good luck charm is the four-leaf clover. It is very unusual to find one in a field of clovers. So whoever found a four leaf clover was thought to be very lucky. The crossing of the fingers, which is probably familiar to all, is supposedlygood luck. This is because it is said to trap the evil inside where the fingers cross and prevent them from hurting you. Another sign is the circle by bringing the thumb and forefinger together. The enclosing of a circle with the forefinger and the thumb means everlasting life because a circle has no beginning or end and it is believed to enclose luck. For instance, the wedding ring stands for a long and happy marriage. Knocking on wood is something probably very well known but many people do n ot understand the meaning of it. Many dont know where it originated from. The idea of knocking on wood goes back to the early days when people thought gods lived in trees. Thus, when the person knocked on wood they were asking the god-spirit inside to see that luck stays with them. Iron is said to be even luckier than wood. Since it was used for various objects like tools, people thought it was 1endowed with magic. Bent nails and pins are also considered lucky like in the saying:?See a pin, and pick it up, all the day, youll have good luck. ?See a pin, and let it lie, youll want a pin before you die.?II. Types Countless activities are involved in superstitions. For example, eating, sleeping, working, playing, marriage, children, sickness, and dying are all part of them. There are also numerous superstitions connected with animals. Sports also include many superstitions, baseball in particular. There are also many in basketball, tennis, golf, horseback riding, and various other sports. Dates and holidays can also be very superstitious. Everybody does a little something to ensure luck when the clock strikes twelve oclock on New Years Day. There are also superstitions about the days of the week. Obviously, there are superstitions for everything in the world. III. Marriage Nobody goes through a wedding day without superstitions. At weddings, shoes would be thrown at the bride and groom and great luck would be 2bestowed upon them if their carriage were hit. Her groom, to establish his authority, would symbolically strike the bride. Brides would throw shoes at the bridesmaids to see who would marry next. The attire is also very important. The bride has many colors to pick from but some are better than others like in the saying:? Married in White, you have chosen right. ? Married in Gray, you will go far away. ? Married in Black, you will wish yourself back. ? Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead. ? Married in Green, ashamed to be seen. ? Married in Blue, you will always be true. ? Married in Pearl, you will live in whirl. ? Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow. ? Married in Pink, your spirit will sink.?Flowers have always been big features in wedding. The groom is supposed to wear a flower that appears in the bridal bouquet. Each flower has its own meaning . For example, an orange blossom signifies 3chastity, purity, and loveliness. The red chrysanthemum stands for ? I love you?. There are specific days for matrimony. Sunday was the most popular day for a wedding but many people thought it was improper to be festive on the Sabbath. Today, Saturdays are busiest despite the rhyme: ? Monday for health, Tuesday for wealth, Wednesday best of all,? Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses, Saturday for no luck at all.? IV. People There are numerous superstitious connected with humans. Their bodies tell several things about that person. If you just finished combing your hair and you let it blow away and a bird used it to build its nest, you will get sores on your head. Let the rain fall on your hair or cut it when the moon is getting bigger if you your hair to grow faster. You might have to be careful with people that are described by the following rhyme:? Trust no man, even your own brother,Whose hair is one color and beard another.?If eyebrows meet, you will be lucky in money matters but never marry. If your front teeth are set wide apart you are lucky in love and traveling. In many parts of the world it is thought that certain people can bring illluck to other people and animals just by looking at them. This power is called the having the ?evil eye?. It can cause people to die. The people with green eyes are mostly looked upon with the evil eye because green eyes are not common. To protect yourself from the power, you must never praise yourself or your family. It may also help to wear a blue bead on a string around your neck. Interview Of Euclid EssayV. Animals Animals may bring good or back luck. Dont stand next to a dog during a thunderstorm because they attract lightning. It is good luck if a strange ca t visits your home, but bad luck if it stays. It is also ill luck to have your picture taken with a cat. It is also unlucky to meet a white horse at midday or midnight. In order to protect yourself from harm, you should carry a horses hair in your right hand all day long. It is a sign of good fortune if a ladybug lands on a persons hand or dress, but it must not be brushed off, it must fly away on its own. The deeper the ladybugs color or the more spots, the better the luck. Of course, cat superstitions are one thing everybody knows. Everyone knows that it is bad luck for a black cat to cross your path. On the other hand, in England black cats are considered lucky and white cats are feared. Cats are looked upon as supernatural creatures because people think they have nine lives. The truth is that they have a very flexible spine and are less likely to get hurt in falls or accidents. VI. SportsMany people love sports and there are a few things they can do for good luck. Tennis players shouldnt hold three balls in one hand while serving or it will bring bad luck. Golfers should only tee off when the ball is placed with trade name or number up or the hole will be lost. Basketball players believe that if you make the last basket during warm-ups, you will do well in the game but others think that you will not do good in a game if you make the last basket. People who fish dont count the number of fish they have caught because they dont catch anymore. Baseball, out of the many sports, has the most superstitions. Players should stand in the batters box for good luck because spirits cannot hurt you if you are standing in a circle and this comes from the days when the sun was worshipped. They will also spit on the end of a bat or stick a piece of gum on the lower end of the bat for good luck. A ballplayer coming off the field should always lay his glove in the same place for luck in hitting. There are many more but these are some of the most important ones. VII. DatesHolidays, New Years in specific, have many superstitions. On New Years Eve when the clock strikes twelve midnight, people say what you are doing is very influential for the new year. Thus, you will find people walking up and down the street with a piece of luggage so their year brings traveling. One tradition that is very popular is the eating of twelve grapes. This is to ensure good luck for each of the twelve months in the upcoming year. There are many things that will be lucky or unlucky, depending on the day that you do them. Friday the 13th is very known. It is unlucky because just Fridays are supposed to be unlucky and that plus the number 13, the unluckiest number of them all, make it even worse. For Saturday, it is the worse day to hire someone because they will not stay long. Thursdays are supposed to have one lucky hour, the hour before the sunrises. There are some unlucky and lucky numbers. Three is considered one of the most luckiest numbers because many things come in threes. For instance, time is divided into past, present and future. A day is divided into morning, noon, and night. And as for the primary colors there are three: red, yellow, and blue. Even numbers are in general unlucky. All the odd numbers under ten are lucky. However, the number thirteen is said to have very bad luck, but there are some good things connected with it. The U.S flag has thirteen stripes and there are thirteen doughnuts, rolls, or cookies in a bakers dozen. Superstitions have been for a very long time. They can help us move safely through life if we listen to them. Yet, some people think they are very silly and that they dont make sense. There are even anti-superstition committees trying to prove that they dont exist. Many are very unrealistic and sound like they are not true or are they?BibliographyBrown, Zachary ?Superstitions?Outcasts Magazine, (May 1994)Canfield, Kimberly ? Out of the Minds?, Atlantic, Georgia Popular Entertainment,1997. Carter, Jane ?Great Superstitions?Penguin Group, 1998Clifford, Mike The Superstition Encyclopedia Published by Harmony books adivision Crown Publishers in 201 East 50th Street N.Y., N.Y 10020. Copyright1988 Pg.74Hardy, Phil and Dave Laing. Encyclopedia of Superstition. A division of Macmillan, Inc. New York, N.Y. Pg 187. http://outworld.yahoo.comhttp://wonders.aol.com/heykcsb/ index.htmhttp://www. secrets.comhttp://www.superstitions.yahoo.comPareles, John and Patricia Romanaowski . Superstitions. A division of Simon ; Schuster, Inc. New York, New York 10020 1983 pg.214Microsoft Works for Windows 95 (1995). . Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Supernatural Issues