Superstition

I was thinking this weekend over the concept of superstition... What it is, what it means, and why we have it. Some of the things are common to regions, some are found in countries. For example, in the mediterranean, there is the concept of the evil eye. The evil eye is similar to being jinxed... it means that people, with envy (and there bad eye), will bring you misfortune. In order to protect yourself from the evil eye, you wear a pendant or a bracelet or whatever... Another concept in North Africa is the hand of fatima, which you have on yourself, and should be made of silver. In India, seeing a young girl in the morning means you will have a good day, whereas seeing a widow means the countrary. Some concepts are (almost) universal, such as seeing a black cat... or knocking on wood for good fortune.

How exactly did these concept come to be? Why should it be made out of silver, and how did the design of this evil eye develop? What is it with black cats? Does believing in one thing or the other affect you as a person? Is superstition like a placebo?

Does a string of bad luck means you are unlucky (and what is luck anyway?) or that you were "stricken" with the bad eye? Or is it just cause and consequence in some weird cosmic order of things that made things the way they are?

I am a strong believer in cause and consequence and when a random event keeps on repeating itself, I just wonder.

Perhaps superstition is a way, a reason for us humans, to justify the bad things, the random sh*t that hits all of us ones in a while. If it is a nasty day, it must be the evil eye, or the black cat, or the widow. It can't be because you were clumsy and tired, and you hit yourself, or a colleague infected you with a virus, or a drunk driver hit you, and it just happened to be you, not the person after you. And if it's a nasty string that is hitting you, perhaps sacrificing a lamb will help improve your karma.

Random thoughts on a sunny day...