Superstitions

Dear Readers,

Before I begin, I would like to define the word "superstition". According to the Cambridge International Dictionary of English, "superstition" is defined as a belief which is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but is connected with old ideas about magic.

I believe many of us believe in superstitions, such as Friday the 13th and seeing a black cat. However, in my opinion, these are not really credible, as all we know about Friday the 13th is that it is deemed an unlucky day but nobody truly met with some unfortunate incidents or something, similarly in the case of the black cat.

More of such superstitions can be found at this website: http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html.

However, I will state some of my personal experiences which further spurred me to believe in some superstitions with true evidence.

The first example occurred to me when I was about one-and-a-half year old. I was unable to sleep well and would continuously cry throughout the night. My mother became impatient and rather unhappy, as she was working then and had to wake up rather early. As a result, she asked my father to consult a medium. The medium mentioned that I was crying incessantly and not sleeping well because I had previously passed by a funeral at the void decks. He then gave my father some incense paper which he had to burn and put into a glass of water to drink. Lo and behold, the next day I was back to normal and no longer cried at night. In fact, I slept very well!

If this is merely a superstition, why did it work so effectively?

Another incident happened on my mother during her teenage years. She had a growth on the ankle of her right foot. She mentioned that it was neither itchy nor uncomfortable but it was an unsightly eyesore. She had attempted to apply medication after the consultation of a doctor; however, it did not work. My grandmother realised the growth and then advised her to carry out a ritual.

Firstly, she had to select an auspicious day (preferably, the first or fifteenth day of the lunar month where there is a new or full moon). In my mother's case, she picked the Dumpling Festival. On that day, my mother had to pick up a used piece of material, be it tissue paper or a dumpling "wrapper" (in my mother's case). She then scrapped at the growth and said, "Go away. Go away." Last but not least, she had to take a different route back home. Amazingly, after a few days, the growth disappeared.

This happened not once but twice! The second time was just two years ago, when I witnessed it for myself, with my own eyes. Science was unable to solve such a problem, but superstition was able to. Why is this so?

I believe that in this world of ours, there are many incredible things that happen to us which we will never understand nor comprehend why it happens. Therefore, these are deemed as "superstitions". However, seeing is believing: the fact that we saw it, there is no reason why we should not believe it. Of course, having said that, not all superstitions are true. We must determine it by a case-by-case basis, and not believe them wholesale.

Please feel free to share some superstitions which happened to you!

Best Regards,

Nathan :D