Snow Melt

Opinion Thursday: Superstitions

The May 23, 2013 prompt for "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  is
Are there any superstitions you believe (or don't believe) in?

Are there any superstitions I believe? Yes, all though I am doing my best to figure out why I believe them and then get rid of the superstition. This morning or maybe it was yesterday morning, the palm of one of my hands itched (I think it was my left hand or perhaps it was my right); anyway I caught myself thinking I would receive money. I had to laugh when I realized what I was thinking because I know this particular superstition is not true. I remember one of my grandparents saying that if one palm itched (I think it was the right) then you would receive money, but if the other palm itched (left) you would lose money. I learned long ago that if my palms its it usually means my hands are dry and I need to find the hand lotion.

Are there any superstitions I do not believe? Yes, because I have managed to overcome some of the superstitions I was taught as a child. One of the superstitions, I have managed to overcome is the Friday the thirteenth superstition. Friday the thirteenth is no luckier or unluckier then any other day, unless, of course, you believe the superstition and then because of you believe you a likely to do something stupid which will reinforce the belief.

There are certain things I do which may look like I am superstition; however, the reason I do them has nothing to do with the superstition that goes along with those things. If someone sneezes in public, I say "Bless you" because it is the polite thing to do. I do not walk under ladders because I am either too tall to get under the ladder safely or I do not trust the people at the top of the ladder not to accidentally drop something on my head.

Food for thought: "The third principle or teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the oneness of religion and science. Any religious belief which is not conformable with scientific proof and investigation is superstition, for true science is reason and reality, and religion is essentially reality and pure reason; therefore, the two must correspond...." - ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, page 107, From a Talk Delivered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Pittsburg on May 7, 1912 at the Hotel Schenley in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.