October is
a very multifaceted month. There is the scary, the snugly, the beautiful, the
tasty and the fun. I like to add one more to that mix, the contemplative.
October always gets my creative juices flowing, or maybe it’s just the moon. I
think deep thoughts. I reminisce. I imagine. Along with nostalgia, I also like
to think about the why questions, and what better time to ponder them than
October 13th, or since I’m a day late, the 14th.
This year the 13th fell on a Sunday, which is fine, but it still gets me to
thinking, specifically about superstitions. The definition of superstition as
Webster gives it is threefold. 1) a belief or notion, not based on reason or
knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing,
circumstance, occurrence, proceeding or the like. 2) a system or collection of
such beliefs 3) a custom or act based on such a belief.
Being a
geeky history major (and proud of it) I like to examine why things are the way
they are. I don't just like to do things cuz that's the way they have always
been done. I want the back story so I can make an informed decision. Superstitions, fairy tales, legend, story, song, myth, all of these can tell you a lot about a
population or a person. It can give you an insight into what they believe and
why and a glimpse into daily life.
Since this
is October, let me give you a suitable example. Take the vampire. In the lovely
olden days of yore, vampires were not the romantic heroes they are now.
Vampires were agents of evil who looked like something a cat coughed up and
smelled even worse. They were misshapen, had claws and lived in squalor. The superstition
centering on them came about because these early ancestors didn't know much
about corpses and lividity. If someone died you buried them and didn't poke
around to see what made them tick. Doing that sort of thing got you burned at
the stake or worse.
Unfortunately,
not being inquisitive left them ignorant to the fact that corpses do move. They
also make sounds. Even knowing this, if I was in a morgue with the recently
deceased and an arm moved or the body made a noise I might think it was
something undead and be fearful as well. Anyway, from this ignorance came about
the idea that some people had the capability to come back to life after they
died. So what do you do to someone who used to be living, died and then
seemingly came back? Well, you got a very large bit of wood and rammed it into
their chest, or you cut off their head. That seemed to be the catch all
solution. Of course with gases and such, the body might emit a noise upon
"expiring" the second time thus giving credence to the belief that
the being was a member of the undead. Thus a superstition and legend were born.
Now that we
in the thoroughly modern future know all about corpse behavior, the fable of
the vampire has changed significantly. What once was a dark evil doer who was
bent on destruction is now suddenly a power symbol. Where once it was a foul
fiend who lived in caves, we have Armani wearing socialites who live in
mansions. Modern man has changed the vampire myth into a story of power and not
fear. In our quest to retain youth and vigor (plastic surgery, cryo sleep) we
have traded in the fear of the vampire for admiration. It is funny to see how
society has changed the superstition to fit the mindset. If you showed a pitch fork
wielding villager from the middle ages a vampire film today (assuming they
wouldn't totally be freaked out by the whole motion picture process) they would
think we were nuts. See, isn't history fascinating.
The same
can be said with fairy tales. When the Grimm's wrote their stories originally,
they were capturing and collecting the tales that ordinary folk told around the
fire. These were not nice stories. They were cautionary tales. Don't trust
strangers, don't go into the woods, animals are dangerous, beware things you
don't understand. The tales are dark and most do not end well. But that is the
point. You learn from the characters mistakes so that you don’t have to make
them. In the original Grimm fairy tale, Snow White's prince is a lustful jerk.
Snow tortures the queen on her (Snow's) wedding day until the queen dies. There
is no wake up kiss. People back then were not so much concerned with true love.
Kings and queens were not to be trusted. Again, we see things differently. We
look at the true love aspect. The hopeful, everything will work out aspect, because
that is the world we live in. If you wait long enough, or stumble upon the
right circumstances you too can find true love and a castle waiting for you
around the corner. I'm pretty sure the past century villagers would laugh at
us, and then poke us with a pitchfork for showing them moving pictures.
In one of
my favorite scary movies, a museum is hosting a superstition exhibit (so you
know everyone is pretty much doomed from the get go). Every time I watch it I
get excited. Not to see people get eaten by beasties, but because I would love
to see such an exhibit in real life. In the movie, guests have to walk into the
mouth of a giant sculpture and follow a roped off path. Along the path they must
walk under a room full of open umbrellas, walk under fully opened ladders, and
walk across the path of a room full of fake black cats. There are also a room
of broken mirrors and cracks along the path that one can't help but step on.
Somewhere along the way there is an exhibit dedicated to the King Tut expedition
(The cursed dig that claimed the lives of all who opened the tomb.) In the film
I think you have to walk over the boy kings grave. I would LOVE to see a live
feed of those paths. How many people would walk in without fear, and how many
would try to find an alternate path, or not go in at all?
Even if you
are not a superstitious person, you can still find yourself being drawn in.
Why? I think because it is a human reaction. If you have a bunch of people who
are afraid of something, I think your body just reacts. It may not seem
sensible or logical, but the combined anxiety of a certain thing happening just
seeps into our pores and we go along.
Athletes
have lucky socks, shoes, bats, gloves, uniforms, pre-game routines, all because
they think they will help them win a game. And to an extent they might. It is a
roundabout form of meditation, a way to ready yourself. But it is still
superstition. We all do it. We cross our fingers, we go a certain route, and we
see a penny and pick it up. We read a fortune or horoscope and believe it. If a
good thing happened once when we did a certain thing, perhaps it will happen
again. Superstition is our way of making sense of things we don't understand.
It is our way to exert a little control over the uncontrollable.
As a
historian I find superstition endlessly fascinating. I have books about
superstitions and mostly they make me laugh. I think, how odd, or who would be
silly enough to believe that. But then again, I yell at characters on my TV
screen and pretend that they can hear me and make changes accordingly. "No
you fool, don't go into that room, the monster is in there. Run. RUN."
They haven't listened to me yet, but I still keep on yelling. I guess they
deserve to get eaten ;) Superstitions can truly be fascinating things. I'll bet
you didn't even realize that.
What are some of the superstitions in your life?
I'll bet you have more than you think.
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