Are you a superstitious person? Some of us will answer this question in the affirmative, some will think about it, and the bravest ones or those who understand the true meaning of this word will say a categorical “no.” We know what it means to be superstitious, and we can explain the concept of “superstition” - a sign, a belief. A black cat, a fallen fork, empty buckets... Anyone can continue this chain.
We are accustomed to living in the world according to the laws of superstition, without realizing it ourselves.
Where do superstitions come from?
One of the most common causes of superstitions is a lack of church involvement. As a rule, superstitious people rarely go to church, and if they do, they do not develop correctly spiritually: they rarely pray, rarely read spiritual literature, rarely confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Or they don't do it at all. We can say that they seemed to be “grounded”, fixated on the material. But they, too, in their misfortunes and troubles, seek salvation, as they understand it. Such an anchor of salvation for them is material things, which are given a mysterious mystical meaning. A terrible and truly satanic thing is happening: man (the image and likeness of God) begins to worship material things, the fate of which is to turn to dust. This is how superstition is born - faith in vain, that is, a vain, fussy faith that does not bear any spiritual fruit. This is how modern neo-paganism develops. One might say that superstition is like crooked glass that distorts our view.
Is it possible to eat from a knife?
It is believed that eating food in this way will make a person evil. This is justified by the fact that the knife has long been used as a tool for obtaining food. In addition, it was perceived as a means of protection not only from real danger, but also from evil spirits. Such a powerful magical instrument deserves special treatment, so eating from it means angering the spirits.
But putting a knife in your mouth is also dangerous for another, more real and “earthly” reason: it is very sharp and can easily cause injury. Therefore, when eating, it is more advisable to use more familiar cutlery, such as a fork and spoon. Use the knife for its intended purpose.
What are superstitions?
All superstitions are divided into several groups. The most significant group includes pagan superstitions . These superstitions are directly related to the anti-Christian pagan worldview. They have their origins in polytheistic religions, which deny the existence of the One and Only God, reject Him as the Only Creator of the world. Instead of God, they deify the phenomena of the created world created by God, endowing them with the properties of the Divine. This is how a mass of small “gods” arises, which supposedly possess the attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, the ability to create the world, etc., but at the same time are part of the most transient and changeable world.
For example, astrology deifies impersonal cosmic objects, giving them the ability to influence people's lives, control and determine human destinies. But such an ability can only be fully possessed by the Creator of man, Who knows his life from the moment of conception to death.
Occultism teaches about “hidden forces” that can influence human life, deifies them, categorically denying the gracious power of the Creator of the Universe Himself.
Without intelligibly explaining the nature of hidden forces, occultism justifies dubious healing practices that supposedly save a person from all bad situations in life. Moreover, deliverance occurs without any appeal to God, who created man and is always able to come to his aid.
The most fashionable occult doctrines include Feng Shui, which, with the help of hidden forces, helps a person arrange his home right down to determining the date of purchase of furniture and interior materials.
Ufology, which is closely related to the occult, undoubtedly belongs to pagan superstitions. She develops the dubious doctrine of the creation of man by unknown aliens. The latter, according to the doctrines of ufologists, have long turned into hidden occult forces that manipulate man and even the cosmos, which allows us to consider them as pagan gods who created man and rule the world.
Less significant superstitions are superstitions common among the people . What distinguishes them from pagans is that they do not represent a holistic pagan worldview, but exist fragmentarily and separately, not being included in any holistic system of worldview.
For convenience, it is better to call them folk, since their transmission is carried out not from some “expert” of pagan knowledge (healer, sorcerer, occultist, psychic or ufologist), but from a simple person ignorant of religion to the same person.
At the same time, these superstitions are undoubtedly associated with paganism. They can be characterized as unconscious paganism, and some as fetishism, since fetishistic attitude Thus, belief in tied knots, handkerchiefs, happy or unlucky days presupposes belief in the omnipotence of things and numbers, and therefore leads to their deification.
Pagan superstitions have always sought to penetrate the Church. But the Church firmly opposes them with its dogmatic teaching, which affirms the first cause of the world only in omnipotent God. However, it remains possible for pagan consciousness to use the religious practice of the Church for its own non-Christian purposes. Such use of the Church for other purposes gives rise to parachurch superstitions .
For example, the use of liturgical practices for non-Christian (non-spiritual) purposes leads to ritual belief. There is no longer any place for the knowledge of God and the worship of God, since worship is used to achieve momentary benefits, and not for the instruction of the soul and the acquisition of Divine grace. Church superstitions are always pseudo-Christianity. They have nothing in common with the Christian religion, but only cover up the unovercome pagan worldview with church practice.
Some “church” superstitions:
- Picked up a lost cross - took on the “cross” or the sins of a person.
- A pregnant woman in the temple can be jinxed, and the child will be possessed by a demon.
- Baptism gives the child “heavenly protection” and cures illnesses.
- The fall of an icon in the house means the death of someone close.
- If a person feels bad in church, it is because he is a sinner.
- Anyone who dies on Bright Week (or who dies in church) immediately goes to heaven.
- If you order a memorial service for a living person, he will die.
- On the 40th day, you need to open the window to release the soul of the deceased.
- If you stood between the coffin and the altar during the funeral service, you will soon die.
- The crown fell off the forehead of the deceased, and you are nearby - you will die again.
- I looked out the window at the hearse and the procession, stepped on the “dead” tree - consider yourself already dead.
- Forty sins are forgiven for washing the floors after removing the body of the deceased.
- If before burial a pancake is placed on the face of the deceased, and after the funeral at the funeral the priest is fed this pancake, the deceased will receive the Kingdom of Heaven.
- If the priest tears up the piece of paper “with sins” during confession, the sins will be forgiven.
- An icon or cross in a car will protect against an accident, in a wallet - from theft of money, in a house - from a fire.
- If the candle you put goes out or smokes, it’s unlucky.
- If you place a note with a wish in a holy place, it will come true.
- Met a priest or monk on the street - bad luck.
- If you eat with a fork on the day of Communion, you will pierce the grace.
- After unction, you cannot wash your face for three days in order to “fix” the effect of the oil.
- If you got married in May, you will suffer.
Some "worldly" superstitions:
- A knife falls from the table - a man will come, a fork will fall - a woman will come, a teaspoon will fall - a girl will come (there is no superstition about boys)
- A woman came towards you with empty buckets - no luck.
- To avoid the “evil eye” (for example, after praise), you need to knock on wood.
- If you sprinkle the newlyweds with coins and grain, there will be money in the house and there will always be prosperity.
- If a loved one has died, curtain the mirrors so as not to see the soul of the deceased there.
- If you shake or toss the coffin with the deceased, the soul of the deceased becomes closer to heaven and goes to heaven.
- If you put money, a pack of cigarettes, or a bottle of vodka in the coffin, then the deceased will not need anything “in the next world.”
Superstitions around the “notorious” cat:
- A black cat crossed the road - there will be trouble.
- A black cat crossed the road - there will be trouble soon.
- If the same black cat crossed the road twice, it means: option 1 – the cat’s second crossing of the road cancels the disaster that should happen as a result of the first crossing; option 2 - the second time the cat crosses the road, on the contrary, increases the trouble.
- A white cat crossed the road - fortunately.
When should I take out the trash?
One of the most popular superstitions is the one that says you should not take out the trash after sunset. Our ancestors were sure that if a person takes out his dirty laundry so late, it means he has something to hide.
The second explanation relates to the belief in spirits, which can be both good and evil. So that the first ones can freely enter the house, it is necessary to remove all the rubbish from it in advance and restore order. If you do not do this in the light of day, then only evil spirits will come to spend the night.
Sayings of Athonite saints and elders about superstitions
St. Paisiy Svyatogorets: “To a person who is inattentive and leads an absent-minded way of life, it seems that everything is going on as usual. All events are the result of a random combination of circumstances... Such people are usually at the same time superstitious. They attach great importance to the influence of stars on human life, they monitor all sorts of stupid things, for example: so that the cat does not cross the road, so as not to spill salt on the table, not to say hello across the threshold, not to sleep with your feet towards the door, and so on. For some superstitious people, the number of such signs reaches a huge number. But in vain these people only complicate their lives. If you don’t pay attention to all these stupid superstitious signs, then it will be best, because the whole world in general and the life of every person in particular is controlled by God.” “...so that the devil does not deceive us with the help of fantasies and imagination. Imagination is a good thing, and if used wisely, it has great power. People susceptible to delusion imagine what they see or read the way they want. And then they believe that the picture painted by their imagination is real. In order for these unfortunates to receive help, they must be under constant [spiritual] supervision, because the devil is constantly fooling them.”
St. Joseph the Hesychast: “A person becomes a laughing stock for demons. And then they mock him with the help of pictures and visions, phenomena and revelations, symbols and numbers, prejudices and fortune-telling and a whole bunch of superstitions. May God protect us from such perversion!” “So, the mind is the economy of the soul, which brings food - what you give it. So, when he is peaceful and you give him something good that he needs, he transfers it to his heart. First, he is cleansed of all the prejudices to which he was held captive in the world.”
St. Nicodemus the Svyatogorets: “Many animals turn out to be wiser and smarter than you, for they, without studying astronomy and without studying the movement of stars, by their nature from birth are able to foresee the future...”
Archimandrite Philotheus, abbot of the Caracal monastery, disciple of Elder Ephraim of Philotheus: “The evil one leads people by the nose. He seeks to make a person afraid of his own shadow, so that he no longer feels free. Instead of going to church, he begins to rush around among sorcerers, psychics, fortune tellers and mediums, thereby ruining his soul.” “Satan makes people a laughing stock. Why should we depend on some ridiculous “signs”? We must remain as God created us - free. Our Lord Jesus Christ freed us from the tyranny of the devil and death. When will we finally understand this? “We should not be afraid of what we should not be afraid of. It’s very sad when people (sometimes educated and learned men) have such phobias and psychological addictions.”
Elder Joseph of Vatopedi: “It is more difficult to renounce passionate ideas, desires and “prejudices,” as the fathers call active sins that exist as habits and memories in the rational part of our being, and mainly in our very heart.”
St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov): Then only faith is holy and true when it is faith in holy Truth, when it is faith brought to earth by the Divine Truth made man, our Lord Jesus Christ. Any other faith, except faith in the holy Truth, is superstition. The fruits of superstition are destruction. Such a faith is condemned by God: it is believed by idolaters in their idols, Muslims in the false prophet Mohammed and the Koran, heretics in their blasphemous dogmas and in their heresiarchs, rationalists in the fallen human mind. This is how his followers will believe in the Antichrist.
Why are intersections dangerous?
If you ask people what superstitions they know, many will immediately think of crossroads. Road intersections are considered a mystical place where parallel worlds come into contact. Therefore, crossroads “participate” in numerous magical rituals, which do not always carry positive energy.
By lifting a thing in such an area, you can take on someone else’s failure and problems. To prevent this from happening, you should under no circumstances touch any product that lies at the crossroads, no matter how valuable it may be.
Not superstitious
Thus, a person who considers all sorts of rituals and talismans to be stupid and unnecessary superstitions most likely strives to be independently responsible for everything that happens to him. He builds his destiny with his own hands, striving at all costs to achieve his goals. He is pragmatic, trying to find meaning or benefit in any phenomenon. Such a person ponders any failure until he has calculated all the prerequisites and patterns that caused the disruption to the planned course of events. In short, people from this group often have a “mathematical mindset.”
Superstitions related to numbers
What if this is a disease?
I would like to draw the reader’s attention to another important detail - the tendency to invent various signs is a sign of nervous exhaustion. If a person begins to track what he was wearing on the day when he won a significant amount in the lottery, what desk he was sitting at, when he successfully passed the exam, or what chain of small events preceded his promotion, then it would not hurt him to consult a psychologist. The desire to perceive life as an abundance of small chains of events leading to the right or wrong result is characteristic of a sensitive, unbalanced person, prone to dramatize a situation and “make a mountain out of a molehill.” He often has sudden mood swings, he is visited by feelings of loss, instability and inability to influence what is happening around him. Therefore, if you too often ask yourself the question “what is this for?”, then it’s time for you to unwind and change the situation.
