Psychological susceptibility to various faiths in the fact that human life is exposed to supernatural forces that affect a person's fate, and often prejudge its outcome, always existed in all human societies and cultures. One of the major determinants of this psychological susceptibility is superstitions that appear as the main engines of believe in the intervention of supernatural forces in human’s life. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica (2010) ‘superstition’ could be defined as ‘belief, half-belief or practice’, which does not have any rational explanation or basis. Despite this fact, according to Behringer (2004) the amount of believers in witchcraft and superstitions are significantly higher than in XVII century.
Origins of superstition are deeply rooted in history and have a variety of reasons for the appearance, such as psychological, religious and economic aspects. Despite the fact that superstitions had different origins, according to Smith (2008), their function was to express the ideological associations of people and to indicate fears and anxieties of society at that time. To begin with, the psychological foundation of superstitions is the most deep-seated. It refers to the lack of knowledge and the impossibility to explain occurring events because of this. As Lindeman and Aarino (2007) argue, this fact can be compared with an understanding of the world by a child. As authors said, this understanding is explained by developmental psychologists by a notion of a core knowledge, which means process of cognitive learning about physical, psychological and biological entities and processes without any explanation, help or instructions. For instance, Lindeman and Aarino (ibid) recognize that animated subjects, such as ...
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Lepori, G.M. 2009. Dark Omens in the sky: Do Superstitious Beliefs Affect Investment Decisions. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School. SSRN. http://papers.ssrn.com/ (assessed February 22, 2011).
Dossey, D.E. 1992. Holiday folklore, phobias, and fun: mythical origins, scientific treatments, and superstitious "cures”. Asheville: Outcomes Unlimited Press. Quoted in Roach, J. 2004.
Rhetoric Class of the Orebro University. (2010,.March 22). Superstition Among Us. Cross-Cultural Blog. http://www.stanford.edu/group/ccr/blog/2010/03/superstition_among_us.html (assessed February 25, 2011).
Rituals help many people to feel more in control of their lives. Both American baseball players and Malinowski’s Trobriand Islanders practice some sort or ritual. In each case, the ritual is used to bring comfort in the face of
The unknown in the universe makes humans uncomfortable. Throughout history, people have emerged with answers to mind-boggling universal life questions. Why do humans exist? Are supernatural forces real? How was the earth created? People have attempted to answer these questions with science, theories, and most of all religion. But humans don’t always get the answer to the mind-boggling universal questions right. Salem’s colonial witch trials were horrific examples of religion encouraged by fear of the unknown and imagination. The Salem Witch Trials were a direct result of religious extremism, fear, and delusion.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders have been found to have many causal factors. Many of these are cultural and one possibility is that religion plays a part in severity of symptoms, like obsessive thoughts. Because of Darien’s past history and heavy involvement...
superstitious, infantile, passive, and generally uncultured,'; as written by Frank Ritter. These ideas may at first seem like the basis for a good arguement, but it is later apparent that these
Saltzman, Rachel. "This Buzz Is For You." Journal of Folklore, May-August 1995. Vol 32, Issue 2. P 101-119. Print. 29 Oct. 2014.
Life in the Victorian era may be particularly unconventional and exotic to some individuals of today’s society. Bram Stoker, author of the well-known Gothic horror book, Dracula, displays what life was like back then. “For much of this century the term Victorian, which literally describes things and events (roughly) in the reign of Queen Victoria, conveyed connotations of ‘prudish,’ ‘repressed,’ and ‘old fashioned’” (“Victorian England:”). The Victorian era extended from 1837 to 1901.Compared to today especially, people at that time were highly puritanical. They were not able to speak of or even mention topics such as sex. “Without a doubt, it was an extraordinarily complex age, that has sometimes been called the Second English Renaissance.
From as far back as 700 BC to present day, superstition lives on through ancient myths and legends. Dating back to the Roman and Greek Empires, the common culture and way of life was greatly based off of superstitious reasons.Superstition in Ancient Rome and Greece still exists today, but thrived between the Archaic Era to the end of the Antiquity and through the land of the Mediterranean Basin and Europe. Often, superstition and religion collide- especially in the Roman religion- which was originally based off of magic and myths. To extend, “Superstition sprang from the same origin as religion, in a belief in supernatural forces that control the lives of people. Although the entire Roman empire was based on superstition,
As long as one can remember, paranormal beliefs have always existed in human society. They are living in every man’s childhood and in every corner of human’s life. From the burning belief about Santa Claus’s gifts under a Christmas’s tree in the morning to a scary game about Bloody Mary and her coming back from the dead, it seems that people cannot help but draw themselves to these stories. Even when these beliefs fade, there would be a new one that eventually shows up. No matter how much science has progressed, the belief in paranormal phenomena still remains in society. Eventually, the question about paranormal phenomena seems pale in comparison to the human’s undying belief about such things. It is really hard to pinpoint an exact cause for human’s belief in the paranormal for only one cause is not enough; however, it is sure that psychological, sociological, and biological factors play an enormous role that contributes to this belief.
Throughout the ages, mankind’s fascination with the unknown has resulted in the beliefs of different theories of magic, sorcery and other supernatural activities. While it is a natural trait for humans to be curious of what they do not know, there is something to be said for the mass conviction in these paranormal topics. It’s a mystery in itself how groups of people of all ethnicities and nationalities can have the same beliefs and interest in these topics. From witchcraft to UFO’s, it can be seen all throughout history that humans have been attracted to the unexplained.
Religion is an organized collection of beliefs and cultural systems that entail the worship of a supernatural and metaphysical being. “Religion just like other belief systems, when held onto so much, can stop one from making significant progress in life”. Together with religion come traditions that provide the people with ways to tackle life’s complexities. A subscription to the school of thought of great scholars
Lehmann A. C. & Myers J. E. Magic, Witchcraft and Religion – An anthropological Study of the Supernatural (Fourth Edition) (Mayfield Publishing Company, 1997)
While is a common conception that pre-modern societies are primitive compared to their modern counterpart, this is not often the case, theses societies have complex systems within their society especially within their spirituality and religion. It is this complexity that has allowed aspects of pre-modern societies to evolve and adapt into modern societies. Myths, rituals and sorcery have been terms to describe the activities of pre-modern societies, but these activities have also been found to exist within modern society as well. This essay will further discuss the connections between pre-modern and modern societies that has allowed for myths, rituals and sorcery to exist in the modern societies.
A lot of people really see these as being quite true. These beliefs can take their affects on the ones who truly believe in them. However, not all of these affects are negative. Nevertheless, how do these superstitions affect the person who holds on to them, if they even do so? Are there certain things that make people more or less susceptible to believing in these little fables? There are so many different kinds of people out in the world. Are there any groups or cultures that are more heavily influenced by these beliefs? There are so many different questions one could ask when they try to take a deeper look into all of these superstitions.
III. Smithson, Jayne. “Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.” Class lectures. Anthropology 120. Diablo Valley College, San Ramon 2004.
We have all seen or practiced a superstition. Crossing our fingers for good luck or avoiding the path of a black cat. Some are as old as the written word. They have woven themselves into the fabric of everyday society. Probably the most superstious group in our society is the athlete.