Superstitions (FINAL)

7/31/2019 Superstitions (FINAL)

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Another word for superstitions is "blind

belief." Many superstitions could be based on

accidental luck or misfortune.

Unstemmed it ran in a straight course,through Paganism, Judaism, and

Christianism alike, catching up in its current

all the garbage of human dead letterinterpretations


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Origins

Superstition & Religion

Indian Society andSuperstition

Indian Superstitions

Global Superstitions

Sports Superstitions

Superstition & Tradition Indian Mentality and Progress

Conclusions


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The true origin of superstition is to be found

in early man's effort to explain Nature and hisown existence

Reason the superstitions which persist show apsychological habit of some importance

The first and main reason of the existence ofsuperstitions is ignorance


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Allied with ignorance is Fear, sometimes

both natural and justifiable What are the secondary origins?

(1) The old causes have never ceased to be

operative, though the manner of expressionhas changed; and

(2) The new causes were the advent of worldreligions, of social transformations, and of

political separation.


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No religion propagates superstition

Religious believers have often seen otherreligions as superstition. Likewise, atheistsand agnostics may regard any religiousbeliefas superstition.

Some superstitions originated as religiouspractices that continued to be observed bypeople who no longer adhere to the religion

that gave birth to the practice. Often the practices lost their original

meaning in this process.


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Superstition is not religion anymore thandarkness is light.

Superstition is to religion what astrology is

to astronomy: the mad daughter of a wise

mother"

- Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire (1694-

1778) French writer and philosopher


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India is always thought to be one of the most

superstitious country in the world.

Though Indian society is fast progressing

there are many people who are superstitiousand have strong faith in local beliefs.

Some of them are funny , some of them havefound their way into Indian religious texts

and scriptures.


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The main objective behind

superstitions have been toprotect the society from evilspirits.

With time the belief in thescientific reasoning behindsuperstitions has erodedand thats why most of

these beliefs appearunsubstantiated and false.


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Anything from the call of a bird to the falling

of utensils is considered an omen in India. Seeing an elephant when one is leaving for a

journey is considered lucky. This is because

an elephant represents Lord Ganesha , theIndian God who is the harbinger of goodluck

and removes obstacles.

Cutting of nails, hair and shaving after sunset

leads to one being born as an exort in his

next birth.


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Crying of dogs at night signifies the

presence of YAMRAJ and symbolizesdeath.

A very old belief is that if you kill a cat ,you have to offer one in gold to a priest.

Monday is not an auspicious day for shavingand Thursday is a bad day for washing ones

hair.


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It is supposed to be bad if somebody sneezes

behind or calls back a man who is leavinghis home for a journey.

It is again ominous if he sees an empty

vessel or a broom right in front of the house. The sight of a dead body or a cow feeding

her calf or a full pitcher is considered as

auspicious while one is on a journey.

A 'pipal' tree is supposed to be the haunt of

ghosts.


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The fear of ghosts is so great that some

people worship them in their homes withoutgiving them any shape and form.

In South India, the sight of a black cat,

crossing the way in front of one isconsidered to be very inauspicious.

In Punjab, the sight of a Brahmin right in the

morning is supposed to bring one misfortune

for the whole day.

The sight of a cobbler, oilmen or washer

man bring ill-luck to one in U.P.


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The old Aztec custom to sustain the

Universe. Every three weeks, they draggedvictims to the top of a pyramid/temple,

sliced open their chests and held up the still-

beating heart to the gods.

Spilling salt has also been thought to bring

bad luck, even to some today.

The colour red was a colour of good luck to

the Chinese, as the colour red symbolises

fire which is used to scare away evil spirits.


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If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of

autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.

To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have

a secret enemy.

It's bad luck to leave a project unfinished.

The intended receipient will get bad luckdue to the unfinished item.


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If a friend gives you a knife, you should give

him a coin, or your friendship will soon bebroken.

If your nose itches you will soon be kissedby a fool.

If the palm of your right hand itches itmeans you will soon be getting money. If

the palm of your left hand itches it means

you will soon be paying out money.


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Baseball: Spitting into your hand before

picking up the bat is said to bring good luck.

Basketball: Wipe the soles of your sneakers

for good luck.

Football: It's bad luck for a professionalfootball player to take a new number when

he is traded to another team.

Tennis: It's bad luck to hold more than twoballs at a time when serving. Avoid wearing

the colour yellow.


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Cricket:

The cricket legend Sachin Tendulkarwears his left pad first.

Mahela Jayawardhena kisses his bat

while batting.Standing during the whole course of

the match.


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Eating the same food throughout the

match, as whenever the food was eaten,our team did something good. (e.g. eating

a one and halfKILOs worth of Channas)

Not watching the match or India will lose.

The famous Football World Cup, 2010

octopus from Germany, which subsequentlydied (though we have our suspicions on

cause of death)


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Tradition and superstition are actually 2 very

different things. Tradition is something that you do repeatedly

and periodically as time goes by.

Superstition is a belief on something that iswithout proof.

They are beliefs that are steeped in lore or

tradition, and it is usually difficult to

pinpoint the exact origin.

Many traditions are universal. Traditions are

no fiction.


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One of the ways to distinguish between good

and bad or true and false traditions is to useour reason and discrimination. We have to

follow the intuitive feeling from within

which says, "This must be true."

Traditions and social customs are the cement

of the society.

The tradition of paying respect to one's

elders, teachers, parents, etc., prepares the

child to revere and recognize the

guruparampara chain.


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PAST SOCIETY:

Sati

Disallowance of widow remarriage

Human sacrifice (commonly known as Bali)

Child Marriage


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Education:

Broad Outlook

Girls Education

Knowledge to decide what is right, accept

it and reject what is wrong


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Major change Due to Girls Education:

You teach a girl,

You teach a family. Shift in Mentality:

Past scenario : GoldNo purchase during

shradh

Present Scenario : GoldBrought during

shradh also if price is low


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ProsScience has been able to prove

many of its theories, but has notdisproved superstition.

One of the few areas of modern

scientific research into

superstition is the study of

(OCD).

These superstitions may help

them control anxiety.

ConsSuperstition has given us

delusions, dreams andfantacism.

Science is the only civilizer

Science will put honesty above

hypocrisy


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Thank you(Complied and presented by Rahul, Esha, Ishwari, Parshwa,

Pooja, Dhairya, Nidhi, Gunjan, Sunayana and Kajal)

(Sources: Google.com and 366 readings from religions of the world)

Documents

Superstitions (FINAL)