Be Not Superstitious PDF - Understanding Superstitions

CHAPTER 12 Be Not Superstitious Superstitious people are those who believe insuperstitions. Asuperstition is a belief not based on reason. It is an irrational fear of the unknown or the mysterious. India is said to be a land of many religions. These relig...

CHAPTER 12 Be Not Superstitious Superstitious people are those who believe insuperstitions. Asuperstition is a belief not based on reason. It is an irrational fear of the unknown or the mysterious. India is said to be a land of many religions. These religions have givenrise o severalpractices. Some of these practices gradually led the way to the spread of superstition. Many of these superstitious practices have come down through tradition Nobody ever dared to question them or even study them. Blind belief made people follow these practices. India can rightiy be called the land of superstitions. No other country has so many supersitious practices as indio. Some of the many superstitions believed by Indians include the following. The itching of the palm indicates the inflow of money. The cawing of a crow signifies the arrival of guests. The hooting of an owl is a signalof sickness and the wailof a dog means sure death. A black cat crossing ones path means sure failure. Adrizzle at a wedding is a good omen. Certain days ore good for starting new ventures while other days bringdoom. The number seven is considered to be a lucky numberwhile thirteen is very unlucky. These practices or beliefs come into being due to various reasons. However these reasons were not based on logic,they werebased on rare occurrences or chance happenings. These were then generalised and beliefs developed around them. Nobody ever tried to test or to verify the actual truth behind these beliefs. 46  No blackcal Canharm me! Friday the 13th! I knew this would happen! Belief insuperstitions can have a lot of drawbacks. It prevents us from thinking freely. At the back of the mind there is fear. Eventually sUch beliefs destroyour self-confidence and make us slaves. We con see certain people sitting on the roadside with a caged parrot. The bird is supposed to pick out the correct card containing a person's future. There are people who go around with a decoratedcow or bul. The animal is expected to foretell a person's SUCCeSs or failure. These are superstitioUs practices very much prevalent allover our country. Itis avery sad thing that India ofthe 21st century is still bound by supersttions. What is sadder is the foct that even educated people have faith in these practices. Unless we get out ofthe holdofthese irrational beliefs and unscientific practices, we willnot progress. Is it notterible to think that innocent children are being sacrificed to propitiate certain spirits? In certain parts of our country, human beings are sUspended on hooks and taken out in procession asa religious practice. What about scourging and starving people in the belief that it would chase the demon out of them? We must be ashamed to think of the various superstitioUS practices followed in our country. Aseducated people and as the future leaders of this cOuntry,we must fight against such beliefs. We must raise our voiceagainst them. Through reasoning, we must prove them to be mere myths. We must show that God is the ruler of the world. If we trust in Him, we need not fear any of these superstitious practices.Any day is as good or bad as Monday, and any number is as good or as bad as the number one. Acat can cross our path, a crow can caw,an owl can hoot and a dogcan wail. We must continue to do whatwe want to do because we trust in God. 47