Superstitions -The blind faith

               Superstition refers to the excessive belief of baseless and illogical happenings of the supernaturals. It is an irrational state of mind which further complicates the established logical set of religious theories. There are many events which are controlled by the power of supernaturals. There are many things existing in nature which are beyond human knowledge. Though we try to understand, some things remain mysterious.  In spite of all, some instances and beliefs can be explained through proper scientific and logical reasoning, one such instance could be Superstitions. Ignorance and misconceptions are the root of superstitions.

                Superstitions occur due to lack of efficient knowledge and conceptual analysis of various things happening around us. Fear, illiteracy and lack of awareness are also reasons for superstition. In modern age, superstitious practices still do prevail, but the reasoning to these happenings are more of logical and science based. Superstition is one such happening where there is no straight - forward approaches to understand the underlying facts behind the practices. Superstitions are based on magicks. Magick is the term practitioners use to describe direct but subtle influences over reality. 

                 Underlying truths behind some of the practices namely superstitious practices :

     A cat crossing your path :

         In olden days, people used to travel at nights in bullock carts, and when forest cats like leopards and other animals passed by, people halted to protect themselves. But now in the later times, domestic cats are considered in place of those forest cats.

      Cutting hair and nails on Tuesdays are prohibited :

       In ancient times, majority were farmers for whom Monday was a resting day. So they would cut their hair and nails on Mondays and thus barbers closed their shops on Tuesdays. This practice is continued till today but the reason is forgotten. 

       Cracking of a mirror brings seven years of bad luck :

       Mirrors were costly and not very easily available in oden times and in order to avoid negligence towards mirrors, it was said that breaking of a mirror would bring seven yeas of bad luck.

        Cutting nails in the dark is prohibited :

        Since at ancient times, there was no proper electric lighting at homes and there were no equipped nail cutters, it was not recommended to cut nails at nights to avoid hurting themselves by cutting their fingers.  

        Pregnant women were not let to go out during eclipses:

       Since atmosphere has dangerous effects during eclipses, to ensure that the baby is not born with any deformities, and to give protection from uv rays, this practice was followed.

        Lizards falling on human is bad luck :

      Lizards have poisonous chemicals present on their skin. If this chemical comes in contact with human body, it would affect him/her severely. 

     Throwing coins into wells and rivers :

       In ancient times, since coins were made of copper and silver which had antibacterial properties often added onto the minerals present in water. So when people used this water, they could get sufficient amounts of these elements. This is not valid now as coins are made of stainless steel.

     Compulsion for married women to apply sindhoor :

      Since sindhoor is a mixture of turmeric, lime and metal mercury which have intrinsic properties, help in controlling blood pressure, removes stress and strain.

     worshipping peepal tree :

      This is the only tree which produces oxygen even in the dark. Therefore, in order to save these trees, in ancient times, people started considering it sacred.

      We are not allowed to sleep facing towards the north :

     Superstition is that it invites ghost or death. But the fact is that, since earth is a magnet, our body's magnetic field becomes asymmetrical to the earth's magnetic field. This can cause health problems,

       Fasting during navaratris : 

     The nine - days fast helps ours body to get adjusted to the changing season and detoxifying the body.

        Falling to elder's feet :

      Touching the feet indicate that our ego is surrendered and positive energy gets into our body through that person's toes and hands .

                 Superstitious beliefs are pointless according to science. But according to a study, some of these beliefs have a strong pre - Christian background. It is said that " In spite of advances in science, people are still superstitious ". Its not easy to eradicate superstitions from our society which are deeply rooted since ages. The key to abolish superstition is to educate people and make them understand the logic associated with the belief and practice. The challenging task lying in front of us is to introduce people to scientific principles which prove the insane nature of the superstitious beliefs. Its important to cultivate the sense of rational thinking in the minds of people. Its high time for all of us to help our nation to become a little more sensible and develop a scientific temper in order to ensure the real progress in our nation. Therefore, education acts as a very strong weapon to uplift the primitive minds and mindsets to prevent from exploiting themselves. Out of all the rich legacy and positive ideologies that are passed on to us from our ancestors, an evil called superstition is also passed onto us which has an urgent need to get eradicated from the whole world. Although, its not a good idea to neglect the fact that abolishing superstition all at once, easily is however, highly hypothetical.