Superstitions began centuries ago, as our ancestors attempted to explain mysterious circumstances or events with knowledge they had at the time

Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth – Voltaire 

In Nepal, we follow plenty of superstitions without even thinking twice.  We have them engrained so well in our day to day affairs that we act first and then think about them. The other day during dinner I asked for a green chilly.  My grandson brought one to me and put it in a plate, though I had my hand out.  Traditionally chilly is not put directly in someone’s hand.  He also believed putting a chilly directly into someone’s hand invites fighting. Later I thought about it and had a good laugh. I don’t think he even considered it for a bit, because it had become a habit where certain things are done spontaneously.  The above incident reminded me of another instance from a long time ago. 

In 1983, my husband was going to Hawaii for his studies and I was going along with him.  Unfortunately, I started menstruating two days before the date of departure.  There was no way I could hide it.  My mother in-law was adamant that I should not travel under such circumstances, because superstition had it that menstruating women could not travel.  I had no option. The tickets were done, and we were all set to go.  I had to defy my mother in-law at the last moment and go. Everything went well, but nonetheless, I was worried throughout the trip. During the whole trip, I kept praying to reach our destination without a hitch.  Even now I think of that day and feel I almost got swept away by the superstitious belief.  I still remember having a hard time convincing my mother in-law that it would be ok to travel. Eventually, she gave in.  Sometimes such superstitions and beliefs are very difficult to overcome. Some of these beliefs are downright outrageous while others are harmless.

Belief and reason 
Many of these beliefs have been handed down to us from past generations and we follow them without even giving it a second thought.   If you think about it, I am sure the first thing that comes to mind is the writing of ‘OM’ on top of our answer sheets during exams.  Oh, and who can forget the new pinch phenomenon that we all enjoyed so much as a child?  Also remember the time you cried and tried you best at clarifying the fact to your mom that you did not wet the bed, when the smoke from the chulo came towards you, and all laughed and pointed their fingers at you, saying, you wet the bed? Talking of smoke reminded me of another incident that most of us have faced as a child growing up in the villages.  It is customary to sit around the ageno (fireplace in the kitchen) during the wintery nights.  Children being children always stroked the fire and mothers being mothers always said, ‘don’t play with fire or you’ll wet the bed while sleeping at night.’ These are some of the hilarious incidents that we can now reflect and laugh.

Sometimes I sit and seriously ponder about the mysticism that surrounds our culture and traditions and question the numerous superstitions but still follow them. These superstitions have no logical explanation as to how and why they started. If you think hard enough, you might be able to find some sort of logical explanations but not very satisfactory ones at that. Sometimes I am so fed up with them that I look for reasons as to why I even bother to follow them.  Even the dictionary definition says it is nothing more than ‘a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown.’ 

Despite knowing and rationalizing, I am sure you will agree that we still do all kinds of senseless actions spontaneously, from touching wood for good luck, to walking around ladders to avoid bad luck.  So, why do we repeat such stupid actions anyway, you may ask?  My guess is we just don’t want to find out the consequence of not doing something that is considered lucky. According to researchers working on superstition, our brain feels pressured to “capture” the behavior important for success when the stakes are high. All this leads to one question: “How did this phenomenon of believing in superstition start in the first place?”

How it began 
I think superstitions began centuries ago, as our ancestors attempted to explain mysterious circumstances or events with knowledge they had at the time. I am sure you will agree with me when I say basically our belief is more in the line with the thought ‘if it is not broken, don’t fix it.’ In the process, we ended up believing in ridiculous superstitions like putting the right foot forward for good luck.  No one knows why putting left foot is bad. We all know, it does not really matter, but we still believe in it. Yes, I know, it is a false belief based on ignorance and fear of the unknown. It has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence.  Still, we adhere to it. As a result, we often end up in funny situations, because, though we don’t want to believe in superstition, we cannot get away from it either. Now you are asking, ‘so why can’t we get away from it?’ You are right again, we should, but we do not want to risk finding out what happens if we change. Superstitions give us the feeling of having done one more thing in the right direction, to ensure our desired outcome. This, in turn, provides us with a sense of security and confidence.  Thus, these rituals have survived despite being irrational and funny. 

As you are going through my writing, I am sure you are mentally ticking off a number of superstitions that you believe in, fully aware it is rubbish.  I remember, my American friend always said she got out the wrong side of the bed, if she was having a bad day.  I for one, never, understood which side of the bed was the wrong side. I am sure she also believes in not standing below the ladder, avoids a black cat, or reads her daily horoscope. I can see you are smiling. You can say she is superstitious. According to a recent Gallup poll, more than half of Americans admitted to being at least a little superstitious. So, you see, believing in superstition is quite common. It’s not just us.  I am pretty sure most of us also believe in those superstitions.  Yes, we not only believe in our own set of superstitions, we also believe in other culture’s ones.  Isn’t that great?

Away with evils 
I know some of you are saying ‘why not if it assures me of success?’ I believe that is exactly the kind of explanation that keeps superstitions going.  If people start treating every old people as witch just because they look different and torture them, then the above logic does not work here.  It might sound like a fun thing, but superstition is a superstition and if it harms someone because of such belief, then we need to do away with them.  I am sure parents are conscious enough to explain to their children that superstitions and some beliefs, though seemingly harmless, have serious ramifications. Women being ostracized and tortured after being accused of being witches is one example. Such irrational beliefs must be done away with as they are nothing but social evils. I am sure you will agree with me on that aspect, right parents?

Pokharel is an educationist and author of several children’s books
usha@pokharel.net

 
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