Some common superstitions include seeing a black cat as a sign of good or bad luck, breaking a mirror bringing 7 years of bad luck, and opening an umbrella indoors being considered unlucky.
Superstitions
Folk Belief & Facts...
Outline...
What are Superstitions ??
Why we call it “ FOLK BELIEF” ??
Why we believe in Superstitions ??
Superstitions & their Origins.
Superstitions in PAKISTAN.
Effect of Superstitions in our everyday Life.
Superstitions & ISLAM.
How to get rid of Superstitions ??
What is Superstition ???
Came from Latin word “ superstitio “ meaning
“standing over a thing in amazement or awe “ .
Superstition is a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events
Why we call it “ FOLK BELIEF” ??
They explain the unexplainable.
They are based on the fear of abnormal.
They reflects our desire to have some power over our destinies.
They reflect a desire to have the universe make sense , to se a cause-effect relations between events.
Why we believe in Superstitions ??
In a way, it is a sign of acceptance of our ignorance and limitations of our power.
a wrong idea about external reality.
It’s a belief based on fear and ignorance.
Irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious.
Superstitions & their Origins.
Broken MIRRORS
Black CATS
The No. 13th
Spilling SALT
Itching PALM
Crossing FINGERS
Blessing Someone Who SNEEZED
The custom of showering RICE
Walking Under a LADDER
Broken MIRRORS
“Breaking a Mirror Brings Seven Years Bad luck”.
The superstition regarding breaking mirrors goes back to ancient Rome.The Romans were the first to create glass mirrors.They believed the mirror had the power to confiscate a part of the user’s soul.If a person’s reflected image became distorted in any way this could mean a corruption in his or her soul.
"The true reason that breaking a mirror was 7 years bad luck is because when mirrors were first made they were so expensive that if you broke on you would serve 7 years as an indentured servant to the owner of the mirror because not too many people could afford to buy another one to replace it."
Black CATS Crossing your path
As one version of the belief goes, if a black cat crosses your path, bad luck will befall you.
In ancient Egypt, the Goddess Bast was a black, female cat. Christians, wanting to rid society of all traces of other religions, convinced the ignorant that black cats were demons in disguise and should thus be destroyed. In the process, they also destroyed the kindly women who cared for the cats, believing them to be witches.
Being demons, a black cat crossing your path would create a barrier of evil, cutting you off from God and blocking the entrance to heaven.
Crossing FINGERS
for educational purposes only
sources: http://www.slideshare.net/dmccorkleporter ; www.pbs.org and for additional sources download the file and look in the notes section.
Superstitions
Folk Belief & Facts...
Outline...
What are Superstitions ??
Why we call it “ FOLK BELIEF” ??
Why we believe in Superstitions ??
Superstitions & their Origins.
Superstitions in PAKISTAN.
Effect of Superstitions in our everyday Life.
Superstitions & ISLAM.
How to get rid of Superstitions ??
What is Superstition ???
Came from Latin word “ superstitio “ meaning
“standing over a thing in amazement or awe “ .
Superstition is a credulous belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events
Why we call it “ FOLK BELIEF” ??
They explain the unexplainable.
They are based on the fear of abnormal.
They reflects our desire to have some power over our destinies.
They reflect a desire to have the universe make sense , to se a cause-effect relations between events.
Why we believe in Superstitions ??
In a way, it is a sign of acceptance of our ignorance and limitations of our power.
a wrong idea about external reality.
It’s a belief based on fear and ignorance.
Irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious.
Superstitions & their Origins.
Broken MIRRORS
Black CATS
The No. 13th
Spilling SALT
Itching PALM
Crossing FINGERS
Blessing Someone Who SNEEZED
The custom of showering RICE
Walking Under a LADDER
Broken MIRRORS
“Breaking a Mirror Brings Seven Years Bad luck”.
The superstition regarding breaking mirrors goes back to ancient Rome.The Romans were the first to create glass mirrors.They believed the mirror had the power to confiscate a part of the user’s soul.If a person’s reflected image became distorted in any way this could mean a corruption in his or her soul.
"The true reason that breaking a mirror was 7 years bad luck is because when mirrors were first made they were so expensive that if you broke on you would serve 7 years as an indentured servant to the owner of the mirror because not too many people could afford to buy another one to replace it."
Black CATS Crossing your path
As one version of the belief goes, if a black cat crosses your path, bad luck will befall you.
In ancient Egypt, the Goddess Bast was a black, female cat. Christians, wanting to rid society of all traces of other religions, convinced the ignorant that black cats were demons in disguise and should thus be destroyed. In the process, they also destroyed the kindly women who cared for the cats, believing them to be witches.
Being demons, a black cat crossing your path would create a barrier of evil, cutting you off from God and blocking the entrance to heaven.
Crossing FINGERS
for educational purposes only
sources: http://www.slideshare.net/dmccorkleporter ; www.pbs.org and for additional sources download the file and look in the notes section.
