Superstition and Powerful Wood Spirit

|Is it foolish to believe in superstitions ? |
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|A degree of superstition is built into the history of very race. The few remaining peoples living simple and remote lives still |
|govern their actions by superstitions. Many African tribes live by a double standard. They adopt Western Attitudes for the most |
|part, but the witch-doctor still wields great power. One wealthy example claimed that he could not only predict the winners of |
|the World Cup but also, for due payment, prevent any participating team from winning, and all this from his native village. Some|
|people believe him. |
|More sophisticated people tend to adopt a superior attitude to superstition. Yet despite themselves they sometimes find that |
|they behave as though the believed in it. |
|Superstitions have varying origins. Most are based in some kind of religious belief, ranging from animism to the monotheism of |
|the Muslim and Christian religions. In animism, all natural phenomena are held to be governed by different spirits, and care |
|must be taken both to please and to propitiate. For example, fishermen have beach ceremonies to ensure favor i.e a good catch. |
|These customs are understandable, but life lived in this way can become over-restrictive. Development is hampered. |
|In the case of the Christian Faith, the Roman Catholics have always laid great store by the efficacy of relics of the saints, or|
|some place previously hallowed by virtue, such as Lourdes, in respect of healing the sick. On occasion, these superstitions are |
|efficacious, though ti is hard o say how much of this healing is due to the patient's own faith. Any why should some be healed |
|and not others ? At any rate, superstition of this kind cannot easily be dismissed. Veneration of images, the use of holy water |
|etc come into this category. |
|Science and sophistication have done much to eradicate superstition from Western and Westernized society. Adam Smith wrote |
|"science is the antidote to superstition", meaning that people's actions should be governed by rational thought. Most people |
|today would deny that superstition plays any part in their lives. Yet ironically British people for example still observe |
|certain taboos, of which the following examples are typical; it is bad luck to bring certain plants into the house, such as |
|lilac; if you fear had luck you touch wood, originally to appease the powerful wood spirit; if you spill salt at table you throw|
|a pinch over your left shoulder. This gets into the eyes of the devil and thwarts his evil intentions. For some reason you do |
|not walk under a ladder, perhaps because the painter above may drop his pot on your head ! |
|Logically, most superstitions can be dismissed as having their origins in ignorance. Yet there is a hard core of superstition |
|which seems to work without any rational explanation. in the end, superstition may die out completely, but that time is far |
|ahead. |