Superstitions

      Superstition means belief in omens, and augurs an unreasonable fear of the unknown. They are rituals based on such beliefs and fears. Man in ancient times was ignorant. He was afraid of almost everything around him. Then he did not understand the earth and heavens. So he connected all sorts of events with his misfortunes and had superstitious beliefs. Those beliefs in their turn gave rise to strange and often horrible practices such as the human and animal sacrifices. Ages passed, and man emerged from his intellectual darkness. Science came into being. It conquered superstitious in general.

      But the primitive fear of the unknown is still lingering. Ignorance persists. Many people are still superstitious. They feel that evil will befall them if they have bad dreams early in the morning, if they spill salt, if they defy the number thirteen, if a black cat crosses their path, if they pass under a ladder, if someone sneezes at the time of their departure and so on. Our newspapers and magazines are full of astrological predictions. Fortune-tellers are carrying on a lucrative business.

      All such things weaken the minds of people and make them more credulous and miserable. However the fact remains that most of us are superstitious. Even the highest qualified people perform some pooja( a ritual in honor of the gods, performed either at home or in the temple) at the time of beginning any new work. This is nothing, but superstition. All the same, superstitious are bad. They deprive us of courage, self-confidence and self-control. We should do our best to guard ourselves against them