SUPERSTITION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19798, 19 November 1927, Page 6 (Supplement)

SUPERSTITION.

BY SACHA LOBAINE

Superstition has its root in religion. It is tho primal urge of faith. It de-

motes submission of tho will to supernatural powers, a desire to conform to higher laws. The most charming people I have •ver met aro superstitions. Indeed, it is hard to regard with affection the aggressive materialist who takes a pride in annoying his more imaginative neighbour by spilling the salt, crossing knives, walking under ladders, opening umbrellas in the house, and looking at the moon "through the window pane. The Scots «nd the Irish are decidedly superstitious. •*nd where would you find more hospit®blo, friendly, and deeply religious people ? The samo faculty that enables them to believe m the " wee folk" enables them to Relieve so implicitly in God. Women are said to be much more superstitious than men. It is probably because they are less materialistic in their ♦utlcok. They are constantly in contact with the miraculous. As mothers of 4he race, they are compelled to submit themselves to the divine laws of life. They must havo faith for -themselves and for the children they bring into the world, otherwise the tragedy and suffering of their lot would overcome them. Their very anxiety for •the future welfare of their loved ones ■causes them to peer into the future, to search the universe for signs and portents. It is no wonder, then, that women have a tendency to bo superstitious, to become believers in a supernatural order •of tilings. Their whole experience of ■child-bearing makes them take notice of •Earnings and intimations that certain happenings aro to take place. If warnings .mnd signs aro given in advance regarding 4ho workings of nature, why should we inot expect them in the mental and tlpiril.ual worlds ? Tho most rationalistic (loul alive will read tho weather forecasts mnd pay attention to the scientist who ■predicts earthquakes and cyclones, but will laugh to scorn the woman who goes to have her fortune told. It is hardly logical. Traths that havo been investigated and mastered by the reasoning faculty become scientific facts, but when they remain beyond our comprehension, they aro regarded as superstitions and can only be dealt "with by faith or a belief in magic (which is much the same thing). It is easy for children to believo in God and the miracles, because it is easy for them to credit the marvellous doings of witches tind fairies. I can quite understand that tho possession of childish credulity will gain us tho entrance into tho spiritual kingdom. Superstition is tho mother of belief.

"We need not bo ashamed in tho least of being superstitious. Even tho apparently silly little superstitions that have been handed down to us for generations,' have had the seeds of truth and served their good: purposes. Discipline, forethought, |consideration, caution, obedience, humility, thrift, .faith, and reverence, have been ■taught by superstition. The idea that •the spilling of salt would bring bad luck, cultivated the trait of thrift and carefulness. In the ancient Eastern countries nalt was very precious, and a person who •■wouhl spill the salt was considered careless and extravagant. One need not bo ignorant to bo superstitious; one may be wise beyond the reaches of the reasoning mind. Superstition is the primer of religion. Through it we have learned to believe in the un--seen, in the miraculous, in a supernatural ipower, which in the conception oi the jmystic is the only reality.