SUPERSTITION

Who is superstitious? Everyone and no one, we might be tempted to answer. Some defend themselves against it as a shameful illness, others proclaim it loudly without any concern for human respect. We will no more dwell on the opinion of Freud, who considered superstition a “pathological symptom” (like neurosis), than on that of dear Voltaire, a great skeptic before the Eternal who readily said: “Superstition is to religion, what astrology is to Astronomy: the very crazy daughter of a very wise mother” Very debatable opinion! So, how is Superstition defined? Basically, it is a function which aims to reduce the anxiety arising from the Uncertainty of life, by trying to bring under its control, events that technical and scientific knowledge are not enough to dominate… It is true that throughout time, the human imagination has liked to attach a meaning, good or bad, to all fortuitous events. Unusual, strange, which interfere with everyday life: broken mirror, spilled salt, crossed knives, perverse numbers, harmful colors, etc. etc. A wink from the Invisible, the list of which goes on infinitely, depending on the country, customs, traditions. It is in this case that Superstition almost becomes the underlying story of human civilization. Because being an integral part of the psyche, it has permeated and continues to permeate humanity. No one can boast of escaping its influence: kings, princes, philosophers, bourgeois, peasants, Neanderthals or the 21st century, all have paid tribute to this mode of “wild thinking” as Lévi-Strauss described it. However, the tangle of manias, practices, credulities, whether inherited or familial or even acquired by contagion, adoption, foreign additions, this tangle is so dense that it is practically impossible to unravel its common threads. Like the ancient Park, superstition weaves its spider’s web in which human flies get stuck Era after Era, century after century, without much hope of extrication. Is there a typical profile of superstitious people?
Women more than men? Idiots more than Intellectuals? Religious people more than atheists? No discrimination, everyone is in the same boat!

However, when we hear about popular, bizarre or incongruous credulities, even bordering on the ridiculous, we are justified in thinking that we are in the presence of absurdities, so contrary to “reason” that it does not merit stopping the minds of cultivated, rational people, what is commonly called “common sense; nothing is less certain than this supposed convention. Thus, Napoleon, difficult to classify in the “imbecile-gullible” category, was not afraid to say: “I don’t like strong minds, it’s only fools who challenge the unknown.” As a good Corsican, the emperor knew what he was talking about. The Isle of Beauty is full of superstitious practices of all kinds. Even today, some housewives, armed with a broomstick, go through their house from top to bottom, tapping on the furniture, the floor, the walls in a sort of psychic cleaning! In parallel with simple housewives, major politicians, famous writers, renowned intellectuals, have sacrificed to superstition, without worrying about “what will people say about it”. Political genius and Grand Chamberlain of Napoleon, Prince de Talleyrand never hired a collaborator* or even a simple valet, without himask for his CV well in advance, if he was lucky. If the answer was negative, the candidate was mercilessly turned away. A vast mind like Honoré de Balzac admitted without complexes: “A man is not completely miserable when he is superstitious, a superstition is worth a hope”. Here are some weighty guarantees which will not fail to comfort all the bearers of rabbit’s feet, of four-leaf clovers leaves, the wood touchers (preferably round) the devotees of St Christopher, appointed protector of 200 an hour addicts. Curiously, the Church has just expelled St. Christopher from the litany of saints on the calendar, without explanation. The saint nonetheless continues to swing around in the passenger compartment of different brands of cars, from the humblest to the most prestigious. However, the field of superstition is so understood that there can be no question of covering its entire surface area in a simple article; an encyclopedia would not be enough! Despite everything, in this abundance of fads and practices, it is appropriate to distinguish collective superstitions of a social nature, transmitted by traditions whose origins are lost in the mists of time, from personal superstitions (playing your date of birth in the lottery* believing in your lucky day, secretly carrying a fetish object.). For example, this curious custom which is still perpetuated in Rome certainly falls into the 1st category: on New Year’s Eve, used objects are thrown out of the window (beware of passers-by): chipped glasses, dull knives, split crockery, old-fashioned clothes, wobbly chairs… in short, all the bulky old items, in order to renew the aura of the house with something new that brings hope.

NOTICE of BAD LUCK There are countless warnings of bad luck to counteract for everyone in everyday life: do not go under a ladder, spill salt, break a mirror (7 years of bad luck), place a hat on a bed, open an umbrella in the house, arrange knives crosswise, light three cigarettes with the same match, a sign of certain death. This prohibition would be of religious source, with reference to the Holy Trinity. Pronouncing the word “rope” is taboo on a theater stage. It is the same for the “rabbit” in the navy, this animal never appears on the ships’ menu. The green color and carnations are hated by all actors. Seeing a black cat crossing your path announces misfortune. Getting married in May (Month of the Virgin) will cause the union to fail. To ward off the “epizootic” scourge of stables, Wales hangs a bouquet of mistletoe on the horns of the cow which has just calved after Christmas. Here is a “remedy” to be reported very quickly to our councilors entangled in the current foot and mouth disease… We can say, without falling into easy puns, that Superstition feeds on everything. Thus, bread, a mythical food of the SOUTH, a port of life since Antiquity, still focuses many beliefs. Those which persist today, among many others, are that of bread turned upside down, placed upside down on the table, supposed to bring bad luck, because it is in this unusual position that it was presented to the executioner before each execution! As for the leaven, the soul of the bread, it was the subject of special care. It was kept in a container preferably made from an oak whose trunk had no branches. Moreover, all the making of bread, the reduction of the leaven, the kneading of the dough, its cooking totally excluded the presenceof a woman affected “from her days of impurity”, supposed to spoil the whole operation. The succulent mayonnaise carries the same taboo. A principle of life, blood endowed with mystical virtues is accompanied by “taboos” so numerous that our discussion cannot list them.

THE NUMBER OF JUDAS But the champion of all categories of these deviances which punctuate everyone’s daily life, especially those who adhere to them, is the famous “I3”. It participates greatly in the famous symbolism of numbers discovered by Pythagoras who made it a doctrine Arithmancy or divination by numbers. Among the 3, 7, 9, 12, 22, studied in their particular analogies by the Kabbalists, the 13 occupies a particular status. For many people, it remains the unavoidable metaphysical plague… a real calamity, spreading fear and all the more so through the fierce humor of chance, it is sometimes coupled with Friday, a day considered harmful. . Conversely, for a few courageous people, strong spirits ready to brave hell, the “13” is such a symbol of luck that they cajole it, seek it out and have fun challenging it in all the circumstances in which it presents itself. The ostracism of “13” comes from afar. Already in Antiquity it was considered particularly evil. Alexander the Great’s father, Philip of Macedon, a megalomaniacal king, was assassinated during a procession for having added his own statue to the procession of the twelve Olympian Gods. Divine revenge! The Romans, full of superstitions, had promulgated a law, ordering the highest Magistrate of the State, to drive a nail each year, on the 13th day of September, into the wall of the temple of Jupiter, in order to stop the ravages of the plague, an endemic disease and terror of the ancients. But the career of “13” experienced its greatest growth in the Christian era. The famous “13” at the table, a nightmare for housewives who particularly fear it, comes directly from the meal of the Last Supper, the symbolic meal of Christ celebrating the Jewish Passover with his disciples. The twelve apostles surrounded Jesus, when Judas Iscariot, the treasurer of the group came to sit at the banquet, the thirteenth guest already meditating on his betrayal. The curse of the evil number was not long in coming, Christ was crucified and Judas hanged himself… It is in this historical and religious circumstance that: Friday and the “13”, like a fatal duo, will permeate for a long time the Collective Unconscious of the Christian West. The harmfulness of this duo will still cause famous victims. It was on Friday October 13, 1307 that the powerful Order of the Temple was exterminated. .’ However, - “there will” always be strong minds, indifferent atheists, who will cheerfully brave the possible virulence of this fatal duo. That day they will hasten to run after the Goddess Fortune: lottery, trifecta, lotto, casino will see their clientele increase on this particular day. The fearful few anxious to defy fate, will keep their heads down… you never know: “the bad luck”, “The cherry”, there “scoumoune” could well be there!

DOWNS TO GEMONIES! Almost everywhere in the world, the 13th is dedicated to Gemonias. In Japan, the Lantern Festival was dedicated to the souls of the dead who were supposed to return on the “thirteenth day of the seventh month. The illuminations were intended to chase away unwanted ghosts who could have bothered the living. In Punjab, a small state in India, it was believed that the woman who died 13 days after giving birth would surely return under theform of an evil spirit, in order to torment the household and especially the husband. To avoid this untimely return, nails were driven into the eyes and head of the deceased, in order to magically “lose” her spirit. Having become blind (!1), she could not recognize the way home. A stubborn belief, finding yourself “13” at the table is enough to take away your appetite, because it means that one of the guests will die within the year. It is in this dark perspective that Victor Hugo, who hated the “13”, demanded that his Coachman make the fourteenth at a dinner where a guest had unfortunately canceled his order. Same case for Alexandre Dumas, who having realized that in a similar circumstance he himself was the 13th, flatly refused the invitation. One can be a great king, and nevertheless credulous, Frederick of Prussia paled with terror at the statement of the fatal figure. His Chamberlain, the Marquis d’Argens, although a great cynic, also trembled before this dreaded “13”. •Some dissidents of the “13” such as Henry IV, a bon vivant and cheerful lover, loved the “13” and saw it as a good luck charm. His son, also Louis the thirteenth, revered his own number, which did not prevent him from dying relatively young.

In the 18th century, the old usage of “treizin” was still current. In this circumstance, the betrothal, the rich or poor suitor was required to give 13 denarii to his bride or to the wedding celebrant. Bowing to custom, King Louis XVI offered Marie-Antoinette, his future wife, 13 gold coins as a token of happiness… A disastrous present which literally decapitated both of their existences. To put an end to this devastating 13, let us note that in Germany certain cities have erased this number from their streets and houses. Also in the U.S.A. some skyscrapers go directly from 12 to 14. Same superstitious terror in hotels. No room 13. The same goes for theaters, no chair 13, no more than a cloakroom ticket…

At the end of the day, WHO is superstitious? Everyone and probably no one. Everyone has their own particular superstition that they firmly believe in. So-and-so is wary of black cats when he really loves them. We turn away from ladders, we carry eggs to Ste Claire so that the weather is nice on her wedding day. We stake candles to find work, we tremble at the cry of the owl, the crow, etc. All this helps us to live, we believe. It’s all a matter of circumstances, old childish terrors, nursemaid legends, family traditions… In times of war, superstitions become stronger. The soldiers wear protective medals, a tortoise shell, a rabbit’s foot, saving fetishes of which they would blush in civilian life. Danger and uncertainty reinforce the irrational part that everyone carries within themselves. Sailors, oh-so-superstitious people, are faced with such an unpredictable environment (storms, gales, shipwreck) that the most difficult safeguarding rituals absurd, are like second nature to them. In conclusion, we cannot completely define superstition. In this regard, the help of the dictionary will not be very clear. For Petit Robert: “religious attitude considered vain”. Larousse is even stricter: “deviation” from the religious meaning. Neither are in the exact assessment. Superstition is neither religious nor anti-religious, it is a personal mode of “being”, facing events and the conduct of life, a precious intimacy with oneself, and as Balzac says: “a superstition is worth a hope”.

Louise Falba