Under the Cloud of Superstitions

Experiences and beliefs are like pieces of a puzzle that may not be relevant individually, but, when put all together they armor to contest against odds and uncertainties. We tend to overestimate our scientific wisdom and adopt irrational practices called superstitions to deal with impending challenges and difficulties. And, unconsciously, we subscribe to superstitious beliefs like the unlucky number 13, a cat crossing the road, sneezing, etc. Here, our intelligence has little say.

Superstitious practices infuse us with the power to outweigh the real. Just as an illusion may make you see something unreal that amplifies your fears and anxieties, superstitions alleviate them. Superstition is like the dice that roll on the perfect digit to give you a jackpot, but there will be times that it may slip or slide you into a pitfall of peril.

Psychologists believe that superstitious beliefs play a pivotal role in interpreting our lives on assumption and anticipation. Our mindset is the catalyst that triggers the need to embark on this journey. Furthermore, these beliefs are on the hypothesis of recurring events, related or unrelated. Observations and experiments have proven that though this idea is transient, it instills unwavering faith, so much so that the believer repeats the action again and again, each time steadfastly.

A recent survey confirmed that more than 50% believed in possessing certain superstitions, whereas 35% denied it, and 15% preferred not to comment. The above statistics stamp out the phenomenon’s prevalence and hint that it’s still a domain with which people wish not to be associated. Furthermore, approximately one-third of people accepted that holding on to such acts relaxes them and boosts their morale. Around 28% of people exhibited a dilemma in giving an exact answer; one-fourth of them sided with negation. Moreover, 15% of people completely denied association with superstitions.

Surprisingly, when the same number of people were asked, if people around them adhered to such phenomena, 50% of them answered that they did so. In addition, less than one-fourth of people restricted themselves to latching onto affirmation or confutation reiterating their alliance as taboo or stigma. Technological leaps, education, and innovation have not withheld the practice of superstition because 68% of people still believe that fueling these practices could be catastrophic.

Many celebrities and eminent personalities hold onto some unharmful superstitious acts practiced. It would not be wrong to repulse; each of us has an array of rituals that we perform every time we start a new endeavor. Moreover, psychologists even believed that these superstitious activities promoted an optimistic mental attitude and aptitude. It may sound like a farce, but trust me, good luck outweighs merit and self-worth.

However, the tables are turned when superstitions entail dangerous or immoral uncertainties like witchcraft and black magic, and the tantamount of such incidents may veil your vision of ingenuity and drift you into oblivion. In simple words, it is here that superstitions take a rather evil approach that cloaks you in extreme fear. You become stubborn and rigid. Your everyday life is murkier, and your actions tread you towards mental illness.

Superstitions have cultural influences that have been engraved in our minds. Nonetheless, no scripture manifests a belief, right or wrong, so follow your heart and mind and adapt to your surroundings with a deeper understanding of your behavior. As long as they are fully compatible with your lives, nurture them, but the moment they impede your lives, definitely get help.

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Link to Survey: (Click Here)