Where do superstitions come from? Detailed answer

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Where do superstitions come from? Detailed answer

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Where do superstitions come from?

Superstitions have existed since the dawn of civilization to this day. Millions of people around the world are still infected with superstitions and are not going to give them up at all.

It is almost impossible to explain exactly how superstitions are born. Maybe the reason is in some natural phenomena that frighten people with their mystery, or events, the onset of which they would like to prevent. However, people begin to believe in some explanation of the phenomena that occur, or become stronger in the idea that it is in their power, by certain actions, to make these phenomena occur at their will. Superstition is a belief, usually born of fear, which is contrary to reason and cannot be verified by experience.

For example, the subject of hoaxes and fears of people for centuries were celestial bodies, in connection with which superstitions arose. A special fear was caused by mysterious aliens - comets. According to superstitious people, the comet is a sign of an impending war or other disaster.

The moon is also surrounded by a halo of mystery. Many believe that if you stare at her for a long time, you will become crazy. The word "lunatic", by the way, comes from the Latin "luna" (moon).

Since ancient people could not understand the behavior of animals, they created superstitions around them. A black cat crossing your path is a sign of bad luck, an owl's cry is a sign of approaching death, and so on.

Sailors, constantly struggling with the elements, have always been subject to superstition. For example, winds and storms are dangerous, so superstitions are associated with them. Many sailors believe whistling causes wind or storms. Even the tradition of christening a ship with a bottle of wine broken on its nose, which has survived to this day, also turns out to be a tribute to the old superstition: wine was considered a sacrifice to the god of the sea, Neptune!

Because people deal with numbers so much, naturally there are a lot of superstitions associated with "lucky" and "unlucky" numbers.

Superstitions may have different origins, but they are all born of ignorance and fear.

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

How many people have walked on the surface of the moon?

On July 21, 1969, the lunar cabin "Eagle" of the American spacecraft "Apollo 11" landed on the surface of the Moon (in the southwestern part of the Sea of Tranquility).

Neil Armstrong, commander of the spacecraft, became the first person to set foot on the surface of the moon. Lunar cabin pilot Edwin Aldrin joined him 20 minutes later. After 1 hour 44 minutes, Aldrin returned to the cockpit, and 10 minutes after him, Armstrong. On July 21, the astronauts launched from the Moon, having spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on it.

A few months later, on November 19 of the same year, the lunar cabin "Interpid" of the Apollo 12 spacecraft landed in the eastern part of the Ocean of Storms, from which the commander of the ship Charles Conrad and the pilot of the lunar cabin Alan Bean twice went to the surface of the Moon. In total, Konrad spent 7 hours 26 minutes on the surface of the Moon, Bean - 6 hours 34 minutes. On November 20, 31 hours and 32 minutes after landing, the Interpid cabin left the surface of the Earth's natural satellite.

In addition to these four American astronauts, none of the inhabitants of the Earth has yet been to the surface of the Moon.

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This is a two-meter scroll made of high quality paper with images of 1300 stars, distributed over 257 constellations. The scroll was found in an underground Buddhist monastery in western China. Until now, it has been studied mainly by historians and specialists in Chinese civilization.

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