Superstitions !!!

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Superstitions !! ! Why superstitions?

description

Superstitions !!!. Why superstitions?. WHY ?. My mom said My grandmother said My friends spoke I read in books. What are superstitions ?. False beliefs in spite evidence /no evidence. To account for one mystery by another. Age old beliefs. Examples. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of Superstitions !!!

Page 1: Superstitions !!!

Superstitions !!!

Why superstitions?

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WHY ?

My mom saidMy grandmother saidMy friends spokeI read in books

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What are superstitions ?

False beliefs in spite evidence /no evidence.

To account for one mystery by another.

Age old beliefs.

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Examples

FRIDAY 13TH – CONSIDERD TO BE UNLUCKY .

BLACK CATS— Crossing your path. WALKING UNDER LADDER SPILLING SALT THREE BUTTERFLIES TOGETHER CUTTING NAILS ON FRIDAY

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CONTD

MEETING THREE SHEEP- GOOD LUCK

PUTTING A DRESS ON INSIDE OUT AN ITCH ON TOP OF YOUR HEAD. DOLPHINS SWIMMING NEAR BY A

SHIP. KNOCK ON THE WOOD.

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BACKGROUND

These goes way back to Greek as well as Egyptian mythology.

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Popular superstitions

A black cat crosses your path and you go back, a crow caws and visitors are expected. A lizard falls on your head and you live in fear of death! Are these omens or figments of an over-active imagination? Did old wives have nothing better to do than cook up tales to frighten generations ever after?

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Indians’ Beliefs !! False /True ?

Do not ever leave home without consulting an astrologer. Rahu and Ketu, two ominous planets, are waiting to ruin things for you. Wait for the shubh mahurat, based on the Hindu calendar. This also holds true for weddings, naming ceremonies, housewarming rites and everything in life!

Consult a horoscope before getting your children married. Go ahead only if the virtues and gunas match perfectly.

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Indians’ beliefs

Seeing an elephant during a journey is auspicious as Ganesha, the God who removes obstacles will ensure success.

A dog howling at night chills the blood – a portent of approaching death.

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Indian superstitions

When leaving home, it is auspicious to see a bride, a Brahmin or an religious idol. However, sighting a widow or a barren woman is not lucky!

A new bride is judged by the fortunes or misfortunes that occur in her new family for a year after marriage. She enters her new home putting her right foot first.

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Indian superstitions

Hiccups indicate someone is thinking of you. But an itchy eye refers to someone maligning you, or your envy of someone.

A barber shop remains closed on Tuesday as hair is not cut on that day.

Nails should not be cut at night for fear of evil spirits.

Twitching of the eye is highly inauspicious.

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Explanation

These colorful customs, no matter how absurd, keep the religious folk busy and the irreverent ones in mirth.

  Many of these customs came about for

perfectly valid reasons in the past, but don’t you feel that they are now being followed only as mere rites? What is your favorite superstition? Do you believe in any of the ones we listed here?

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Background

It's bad luck to walk under a ladder. This came from the early Christian belief that a leaning ladder formed a triangle with the wall and ground. You must never violate the Holy Trinity by walking through a triangle, lest you be considered in league with the devil. (And you all know what good Christians did to people they suspected of being in league with the devil.)

Beware of Friday the Thirteenth. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden on a Friday, Noah's flood started on a Friday, and Christ was crucified on a Friday. Christians also noted that twelve witches plus one devil are present at Satanic ceremonies so Friday and 13 make a deadly combination.

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Sayings and reasons

God Bless You. During the sixth century, it was customary to congratulate people who sneezed because they were expelling evil from their bodies. Later, when a great plague took hold of Europe, and people began sneezing violently, the Pope passed a law. Since sneezing meant that the person was going to die of plague, people were required to bless the sneezer.

Don't spill the salt. Although some people believe that Judas spilt salt during the last supper, this claim can't be proven. Salt was a very precious expensive commodity in the middle ages. It was also used for medicinal purposes. If you spilled any, you must immediately throw it over your left shoulder to strike the nasty spirits in the eye, thus preventing sickness.

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Common Phrases

Wear a St. Christopher Medal when you travel. Historians don't believe there ever was a Saint Christopher.

Black cats are evil. In ancient Egypt, the Goddess Bast, was a black female cat. Christian priests wanted to wipe out all traces of other religions so convinced their ignorant followers to destroy the evil demons that were black cats. While they were at it, they destroyed the kindly little old ladies who cared for the cats believing them to be witches.

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home. It is bad luck to kill a ladybug because it represents the Virgin Mary.

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Reasoning

Pie In The Sky. Of course, this means to search for the impossible dream but it originated in the early 1900's. A famous labor organizer named Joe Hill was extremely critical of the clergy's treatment of slaves. He wrote a tune called 'The Preacher and the Slave" accusing the clergy of making false promises of a better life in heaven while people starved on earth. The song goes: 'Work and pray, live on hay. You'll get pie in the sky when you die. That's a lie!'

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Why December 25th ?

Christmas and the Star of Bethlehem. - There is no historical evidence that Christ was born on December 25th. December 25th was officially adopted by Bishop Liberius of Rome in 354. December 25th occurs during the rainy season in the Holy Land, so it is highly unlikely that shepherds would be outside in their pastures. The Hayden Planetarium in New York recreated the heavens as they were in the time that Christ was allegedly born. Although nothing spectacular happened in the skies on the date of Christ's birth, the Planetarium went back to the year 6 B.C. On that date, there were three stars in close proximity which created a spectacularly bright beacon, which may account for the stories of the Star of Bethlehem. The most plausible reason that December 25 was chosen as a day to celebrate Christ's birth was that the Christian fathers were trying to compete with another growing religion, Mithraism - the worship of a sun god - whose holy day was also December 25.

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Common Phrases in use !!!

To make a scapegoat. - The poor scapegoat gets the punishment for everyone else's mistakes. God condoned this cruelty to animals in Leviticus 16:7-10 "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat." The scapegoat got to escape, and carry the tribe's sins into the wilderness, to be eaten by some animal instead of being offered alive as a sacrifice for the Lord.

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Bedeviled by evil spirits? Try these ancient rituals Today is Friday the 13th and, if you're not careful, an evil spirit could

enter your body and steal your soul -- or, at the very least, cause you to drop a meatball on your crisp white shirt. To ward off bad luck, protect yourself with any of these five rituals or tokens employed by cultures around the world.

Muslims call it the Hand of Fatima, while Jews refer to it as the Hand of Miriam, hamsa hand or hamesh hand. Both faiths, however, agree on its powers. The hand with the colored eye -- found on necklaces, ornaments, stickers, etc. -- will shield you from the powers of the evil eye.

Layer on the eyeliner and smoky eye shadow.

Ancient Egyptians believed that makeup prevented the evil one from entering your eyes.

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In Jewish tradition, you have a few options:

Spit three times on your fingertips, then wave them in the air; throw salt; say, in Yiddish, kayn aynhoreh ("no evil eye"); or eat lots of garlic. For Transylvanians,

the garlic (worn, not ingested) also frightens off vampires and werewolves.

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phrase

Grab a carrot,

a replica of the Washington Monument or any other phallic object. According to Romans, such objects seduce the evil spirit away from you -- however, your carrot might then be possessed

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Facts

The true reason that breaking a mirror was 7 years bad luck is because when mirrors were first made they were so expensive that if you broke on you would serve 7 years as an indentured servant to the owner of the mirror because not too many people could afford to buy another one to replace it." -

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Facts

The 'walking under a ladder thing' started in northern Europe, and its purpose was that the only time a latter was used, that was big enough to walk under, was for getting a body off the lynching pole. If one were to walk under it, they would meet death.

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Vietnamese beliefs

Sneezing -- If you sneeze, it means that someone is speaking well of you.

Houses -- It is bad luck to have a house where you can see or walk straight through out the back door from the front door (i.e., there needs to be walls in between). Also, if you can see up the staircase from the front door, that means all your money will "pour out" of the house. There are other ways of reading into the layout of a house, but it takes an expert to evaluate. This may be related to the Chinese art of fung-shei, regarding spiritual harmony with one's environment. In any case, many Vietnamese will have a monk "bless" a new house before they move in.

Gifts -- With certain gifts like scarves or combs, the receiver must immediately give something back to the giver -- like money or other compensation -- or else it's bad luck.

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Writer’s belief

Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer" has a lot of the superstitions of the day and brief explanations of what they meant (though not why)... He mentions "ticking" in the wall as being a "death clock", counting down someone's last seconds. -

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Opinion

Remember that all religion is based on superstition. Without a belief in rituals, luck, miracles, Gods that can't be seen, evil, or anything else, religion would just be a state of mind. - Steven -

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Malaysians beliefs

Young ladies should not sing while cooking. Why: You are asking for an aged husband. Truth: When you're singing and paying attention to cooking at the same time, you might mix up and end up doing some kind of awful tasting dish!!! (or accidentally cause fire)

Do not open an umbrella at home. ( for small kids) Why: A snake would came out from the inner centre of the umbrella. Truth: To prevent someone from getting a poked-eye. The kid under the umbrella may accidentally use the tip of the umbrella to poke someone's eye behind him.

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More about false beliefs

If you accidentally bite your tongue, it means that someone is speaking ill of you.

For Muslims: we are not supposed to play outdoors ( kids) during Maghrib ( during sunset). Around this time, we believed that this is the time when there are the most ghosts wandering around.

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Some umbrellas might be considered back luck indoors, but our patio umbrellas are always great for when you're outside! We also carry this sunbrella to keep the sun out of your eyes too.

Do not sit on pillows. ( especially kids)Why: Your backside would swell. Truth: Well, pillows are for our heads. Surely you don't want to get something extra... you know!

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Reasoning

I once read in a book in school that the rabbit's foot is good luck because back in the early settlements the more children you had to help you work in the fields the better. Well rabbits are very reproductive so if you had a rabbit or at least part of one it was said that your family will grow just like the rabbit's family. -

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Some fun facts about how superstitions effect our world...

80 percent of high rises don't have a 13th floor Most airports don't have a 13th gate I was also told that in Italy there isn't a 13 in

their national lottery. Also, These men all have 13 letters in their

name:Jack the Ripper, Albert De Salvo, Charles Manson, Osama Bin Laden, Jeffery Dahmer, Saddam Hussein, Theodore Bundy

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Conclusion

Evidently, superstitions are different in different parts of the country.

A situation which turns out to be good for a man needn’t necessarily be good to others.

Hence one has to be

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Conclusion

Logical

Rational