Superstition

Superstition

Superstition is the belief that an event can be caused as a result of a supernatural happening or being. People who are superstitious readily attribute magical qualities to objects and events with the belief that something larger is going on than meets the eye. Augustine, a student of the psychology of superstition, explains that “Anything undertaken by humans to make and worship idols is superstitious, whether it involves giving divine honours to a creature or any part of a creature or enquiries and certain pacts and marks agreed and contracted with demons – like those attempted in the magical arts” (Augustine 2015, 241). This claims that people who are superstitious are in accordance with demons and usually possess a magical worldview. Superstition can run deep in a culture’s beliefs. Copenhaver explains that superstition was extensively woven into society and showed itself through “Ordinary customs and conventions” (Copenhaver 2015, 248), meaning that their normal, everyday life is riddled with magical beliefs. An example of superstition running deep in a society can be seen in Eustathius’ claim that a myth written by Origen, a bible scholar, “sneaks in some Greek divining” in “a fever of superstition” (Eustathius 2015, 224). His point is that people with magical worldviews are constantly searching for situations that can be attributed to the supernatural, thus resulting in a superstitious frame of mind.

This concept has a strong presence in religion as it is commonly associated with contact with Satan. Burchard, a bishop, claims that “Some sins are superstition, falsely attributing the Creator’s unique powers to creatures” (Burchard 2015, 272). His belief is that it is wrong to be superstitious because good Christians should not mistake God’s miraculous works for the works of other beings. He also claims that people who believe in witches are superstitious because they think that a woman is able to possess the ability to use spells and magic to make supernatural events occur because of a deal with the devil (Burchard 2015, 273). Augustine demonstrates how superstition in conjunction with religion can affect one’s perspective on everyday happenings. He “called out ‘the silliest practices…like stepping on the threshold when crossing the street in front of your house. He saw such impulses as contractual, as the fine print in an implicit pact dictated by Satan over a lifetime” (Copenhaver 2015, 214). When superstitious habits form in a society, it is difficult to break the pattern of attempting to explain normal happenings using magical ideas. One man who began to break these habits was Francis Bacon at the beginning of the Scientific Revolution. He claimed that people too easily attributed magic to everyday happenings, blaming it on the “superstitious simplicity of some and the politic toleration of others” (Bacon 2015, 514). He thought that it was a lack of good judgement that resulted in superstition and that people should begin critically thinking and reasoning about what exists and what does not. Henry More also expressed his problem with the superstitious mindset; he believed that the ideas of superstitious people were most commonly “conveyed unto them by the confidence of some private theologer – to the authority of either Fathers, churches, or workers of miracles” (More 2015, 553). More agreed with Bacon in the sense that superstitious people were not exercising their judgement and taking the word of the authorities as proof for the presence of magic. More and more philosophers gained a mindset similar to these two philosophers as the Scientific Revolution took shape.

Key words: sorcery, supernatural, witchcraft, witch.

Bibliography

Augustine, A. 2015. “Deluded by Lying Angels: Augustine, On Christian Teaching” from The

Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by Penguin Classics.

Bacon, F. 2015. “Noble Ends: Bacon, The Advancement of Learning” from The Book of Magic:

From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by Penguin Classics.

Burchard. 2015. “Have You Believed? Burchard of Worms, Corrector” from The Book of

Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by Penguin Classics.

Copenhaver, B. 2015. The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by

Penguin Classics.

Eustathius. 2015. “Lies of a Demon-ridden Hag: Eustathius of Antioch, Against Origen’s

Thesis” from The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment. Published by

Penguin Classics.

More, H. 2015. The Book of Magic: From Antiquity to the Elightenment. Published by Penguin

Classics.