Written by: Aaradhya Prasai - 2027001, Grade V
Posted on: 23 December, 2020
Superstition is a belief or practice based on fate or traditional unscientific beliefs. Superstitions do not exist only because of a lack of awareness and education. It is born out of fear of the unknown. If a person does not have a logical answer, he seems to have faith in superstition. Many people around the world rely on superstition. Its foundation is tradition, culture, and practice for generations. Since it is rooted in society, it is very difficult to remove it.
For example, if a soccer player wears his lucky shoe and his team wins, he associates his victory with that shoe. He knows that shoes do not bring good luck. You can play with any shoe that you feel comfortable with. And winning is closely related to the art of the game and the coordination of the group. But wearing lucky shoes gives the player the impression that he can easily control the ball. This is also superstition.
Superstitions are found in many parts of the world. There are examples of superstition worldwide. In Japan and Korea, it is believed that writing a name in red ink kills the person writing the name. In the United States, people tend to stick to wood to keep what they say is not true. The Americans and other Westerners believe that the number 13 is bad and that it causes misfortune. They try to avoid bad luck by keeping themselves away from anything with 13 marks or 13 labels. In Russia, giving a pair of flowers to someone is considered as wishing bad luck to the person taking the flower. Similarly, in Ireland, luck and misfortune are decided by the number of birds. There are many such examples as this.
Let us now look at some examples in the context of Nepal. In Nepal, it is believed that slippers bring bad luck. It is believed that if a black cat crosses the road, it will be bad. Many people in Nepal have fallen prey to superstition. Such people are especially poor, weak, happy, marginalized. People also have been believing in witches. There is an evil practice called untouchability in society. There have been cases of people being beaten to death due to untouchability. I do not believe in any superstition. It could also be because of the environment in which I grew up. My parents and relatives never taught me to believe in superstition. My parents taught me to believe only in hard work, logic, and facts. In this way, I have never followed any superstition. Also, my family doesn’t believe in success that comes from superstition or the success that comes from luck.
However, I have been listening to the superstitions in Nepali society and finding out through the news. Superstition has taught people to rely on supernatural powers rather than on modern science and technology. This is having a negative effect on our society but in the future education will help people to better understand the reality and come out of superstitions
