Who here ios superstitious? I'm sure many on Gaia are. But really, is it necessary to hold your nose until you see a black or brown dog when an ambulance goes past?
Here are some superstitions
It's bad luck to walk under a ladder.
This came from the early Christian belief that a leaning ladder formed a triangle with the wall and ground. You must never violate the Holy Trinity by walking through a triangle, lest you be considered in league with the devil. (And you all know what good Christians did to people they suspected of being in league with the devil.)
Beware of Friday the Thirteenth.
Those who know about these things, inform us that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, Noah's flood started on a Friday, and Christ was crucified on a Friday. Christians also noted that twelve witches plus one devil are present at Satanic ceremonies so Friday and 13 make a deadly combination.
Black cats are evil.
In ancient Egypt, the Goddess Bast, was a black female cat. Christian priests wanted to wipe out all traces of other religions so convinced their ignorant followers to destroy the evil demons that were black cats. While they were at it, they destroyed the kindly little old ladies who cared for the cats believing them to be witches.
Ambulance
Seeing an ambulance is very unlucky unless you pinch your nose or hold your breath until you see a black or a brown dog.
-Touch your toes
-Touch your nose
-Never go in one of those
-Until you see a dog.
Apples
Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.
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If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.
Dog
A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen.
Falling.
To dream of falling indicates a loss of emotional equilibrium or self-control. It may represent your insecurity, a lack of self-confidence, a fear of failure or an inability to cope with a situation.
If you fall a long distance in your dream and get hurt, be prepared for really hard times ahead; but if you fall and are not injured your upsets will be minor and temporary.
Okay, so thats only SOME of them.
The question is, why are people supersticious?
The broken mirror with its bad luck, the ladder, or the black cat. How did all these items acquire significance in our society? Why do you cross your fingers when awaiting the answer to an uncertain situations? According to the prevalent theories in psychology, superstition is a byproduct of adventitious reinforcement. In other words, if you cross your fingers hoping that something will occur, and if in fact it does occur, you assume that it?s because you?ve crossed your fingers.
Another example would be the bowler who after he releases the bowling ball gyrates around with body English, trying to influence the ball's course. This behavior has been reinforced by those occasions in which these body movements have been followed by a strike. In reality the ball's course is not affected by his body movements once he lets go of the ball.
Many ancient beliefs involve superstition. For example, the rain dance: once when someone was doing the so-called rain dance, it started to rain. This person thought that perhaps their dance affected nature. After this rain dance was reinforced intermittently on a frequent enough schedule it became established as a superstitious behavior. It has only been with the advent of the scientific method that people have been able to distinguish between that which is superstitious and that which has a scientific basis.
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B.F. Skinner, a famous psychologist, demonstrated that you can create superstitious behavior in animals. When an animal is placed in a Skinner box, that contains a device which can automatically dispense food and food is given to the animal every five minutes regardless what the animal does; the animal will typically develop a superstitious behavior. This will occur when for example the animal happens to pick up its right foot just as food is delivered: the animal will then repeat this behavior, which will be intermittently reinforced. In this manner the superstitious behavior will become well established.
The above example, demonstrated by Skinner, shows that although a series of events has already been set into motion, coincidental actions by a being or animal, can cause them to believe that they have altered the series of events. Humans can overcome superstitious behavior if they understand what is taking place, and if they refrain from engaging in the superstitious behavior. They must then notice that events unfold in the same fashion as if they had engaged in the behavior.
Bibliography: http://ok.essortment.com/superstitiousbe_rsqz.htm
Anyway, thats my say on supersticions. To all those who are, Sorry if this has offended you.
By the way, WISH ME LUCK FOR THE SOCCER GAME ON SATURDAY!
(Friday for those who are living in America)
And last but not least some avatar things I made on this candybar.co.kr avatar thing...
these are basically for Mel, Flower and me. ^-^ NO TELLING WHICH IS WHICH!
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Your bud,
Suiso
Community Member
Oh no.........
I've got a bad omen.
Silver, since she's a Siberian Husky she howls on full moon day, also when she's sad or happy......
Me, I'm sick cause I've got the flu.
Me with the Flu+ Silver howling= Bad, BAD omen............... crying
By the way, check my journal!