University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1910-12-04
ARE WE SUPERSTICIOUS?

AT IasnlUhaOle wedding the other
day the bride wore something old
and SON athing new, something Dor
rowed and something blue;" she wa.
careful that her wedding day did not
fall on Friday, and nothing could have
induced her to appear in her wedding
gown before the ceremony because
it would have been bad luck. Of
course she scoffed at the idea of put
ting faith in the good or bad influence
OF these omsns, yet she was secretly
q little more comfortable for having
propitiated Fate by observing them.
What tremendous lid superst-
ton has upon us still, even in this day
of cold scientific explanation for ev-
erything! How many of us are per-
fectly at ease when there are thirteen
at the table? How many carefully
avoid cellar-doors. not because they
might cave in. but because they have
some sinister power? And what a
multitude still refuse to undertake a
new project or start on a journey on
Friday because it is bound to end dis
Iastrously if we do.
Yet everyone Of our superstitions
are easily explainable. We firmly be-
lieve that wish made while a star
falls will come true" And it prob
ably will, not because the star has
any influence, but because desire SO
uppermost in our minds that it springs
into instant expression while the star
falls is a desire of sufficient strength
to impel us to work earnestly for its
iulfillment.
Friday has been credited with an
unlucky influence since the Middle
Ages, when it was hangmans day; the
moon has always been considered a
power for evil, English rustics still
maintain that it is bad luck to sleep
where the moons rays fall on one,
overlooking the fact that the bad luck
lies more in the probability of catch
ing cold, so near a window 1t has
been bad luck to spill salt for many
hundreds of years. The superstition
had its birth. more than likely. when
salt was very scarce and conse-
quentlt valuable commodity among
our primitive ancestors.
Our literature, language. thought
are all deeply colored by superstition
Nearly every profession has its pet
bug-bears. Actors are VIGOROUSLY SUI
perstitious, probably because of their
high emotionalism, and the fact that
| tickle public favor, upon which their
profession depends, seems to hinge
upon nothing more tangible than sheer
luck. Sailors have added countless
picturesque, beliefs to our supersti-
lions. Since they are so utterly al
the mercy of the elements. it is not
strange that they attribute the vast
powers for evil of wind and water to
Supernatural dSeICitS.
Most OF our superstitions are ira
dtions of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors.
Their beginnings are lost in antiquity.
Two thousand years ago they believed
as we do, that dogs bowling at
night is 4 sign of bad luck. And SO
it is, but usually just to the dog If
1.-THE palm of the hand itched it was
sign its owner was soon to handle
money, giving rise to our expression
Ian itching palm
1t may be noticed that the most SUI
perstitious persons are usually deeply
religious, though the two are so dia-
metrically opposed. Yet their religion
is of the emotional and unreasoning
type. usually a religion of fear. 1t is
here that both may be traced back to