When humans started living in groups, one of its first concerns was that the world around was full of mysteries. There were questions, and hardly any answers. Many of the questions still persist, but a lot of them have been unraveled by man’s persistence. Although these questions were essentially unanswered, there were explanations, not based on reason or knowledge, but beliefs set over time.
Yet, as days went by, man has understood that there are things that he does without logic or reason. These irrational actions, followed only because it has been repeated by generations, are thus referred to as “superstitions” or “old wives’ tales.”
We are concerned with the irrational beliefs that women have harbored over time. These have been brought unto existence through religions, cultures, and their mixtures.
1. In Godhra, Gujarat, in India, a recent news about how women, dressed as males, plundered cattle, and held them without food or water for a day, ending the ritual with the sacrifice of a goat, shed light into a superstition that has been continuing for a long time indeed. (Yes, it may be construed as obnoxious by animal right activists.)
This, apparently, brings rain into the country. Defying reason, this ceremony has lasted for a long time, involving young girls to old ladies.
2. For the ones who may have been considering a life with a Filipino girl, make sure that you are comfortable around ants. There is a superstition among them that ants should not be killed, that they are symbolic of a blissful family. One might wonder how a house full of ants can possibly keep a family happy, though perhaps it is the ant family that is mentioned here. Another reason why this is defined as ‘without reason.’
3. “The house should not be swept at night because it can lose you a blessing.” Another of the Filipino girls’ superstitions. One might as well hope that they don’t break a glass or furniture at night. For fear of losing a blessing, they may refuse to sweep the floor, which might lead to other problems rather than what the superstition advocates.
4. Superstitions are not restricted to being mildly insulting on the common sense. In some parts of the world, an inverted mirror over a well is supposed to show the girl either her future groom or a casket. In case she sees the latter, her marriage will never happen.
One might argue against the superstition, though, that if women start looking into an inverted mirror over a well, half the female population would be apt to be inside caskets, and the part about marriages might be true after-all.
5. The last superstition that caught my fascination is another within Filipinos. If there is one day that people will abstain from sex, it is on the day of Good Friday. If a couple make love on this day, the girl will not be able to remove the penis from herself. Ever. (That will put the fear of God into them!)
All these are fun to read about and are beyond reason. Perhaps because they are the latter, they become the former. Superstitions are everywhere. Some of them have a supporting logic, but there are the ones without any logic or reason, and these should be carefully understood without blindly following. Have a safe life. Heed reason, not superstition.
