Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-02-07
SUPERSTITIOUS in SPITE OF
OURSELVES, SAYS HASklN

Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

Bruce thinks that the influence oil
popular superstitions upon the edu-
Gated adult mind may be explained
largely by the fact that they are ac-
uuired i'll childhood-"that plastic
period when the mind is most re-
ceptive and the critical faculty most
in allegiance. The folk tales OF the
nursery and the Kitchen" he says,
the superstitious saying of the older
members If the family circle make a
tremendous impression on the mind
| of the child. This would not mat
| ter so much were it not for the fact
that Impressions of childhood, espe-
cially when they appeal strongly to
the emotional in man., are apt to per-
sist throughout life"
He also points out that supersti-
ton has played an important part in
the development of all religions and
| governments and quotes a British
anthropologist DR.. j. G. Frazer, who
| declares hat 1.-THE salutary principle
of respect for government can be
traced, in part, at all events, to the
/ superstitious reverence with which
primitive peoples have always re-
garded their chiefs, holding them in
awe as persons possessed of super
natural powers. This attitude, still
much in evidence among savage
tribes, seems to have been shared by
the ancestors of all Aryan peoples;
while in England a lingering relic OF
it remained until as late as the eigh-
teenth century in the notion that
scrofuIa could be healed by a touch
of the Kings hand.
Similarly, respect for property
was vastly strengthened by thai
form of superstition known as TIA
boo by which the supernatural pow
err supposed to reside in the person
of the chieftan was transmitted to
his movable property-his clothes,
tools, weapons, ornaments, in fact,
to everything he touched. :
Respect for human life was long
promoted by the worldwide belief
in the ability of the ghost of a MUIR
dered man to haunt his slayer"
Religions Font of SuperstitiOns
Many of our most popular super
stitions today have been traced to re-
ligious sources, as, for instance, the
unlucky nature of Friday and the
number thirteen. The dread of the
number thirteen is well-nigh univer-
sal. In Rome and Florence it is
used in numbering houses, nor
on theatre boxeS nor in making up
lottery lists. In India the 18th year
is feared like plague. In Persia peo-
pie carefully refrain from pronounce
ing the number, and in Turkey it is
avoided as far as possible in v
sation. 1t is thought that thirteen
acquired it's unfortunate reputation
at the Lords Supper when thirteen
sat at the table. The last to take
his place is supposed to have been
Judas. Yet there is no proof that
Judas was the last to be seated, and,
furthermore, there is considerable
evidence to show that the evil thir-
teen existed long before the Chris
tan era. 1t is generally accepted,
however, hat Friday is held to be
unlucky because Christ was crucified
on that day.
The history of superstition, indeed,
presents some fascinating aspects.
but it is not at all flattering to the
race. 1t shows that in spite of all
our railroads and motor cars and
gas bombs and aeroplanes, we are
en~lotionally just about as primitive
as we are when the race was young.
We still gaze cautiously at the new
moon over the proper shoulder, and
we still! cherish a half-ashamed be-
lief in the power of charms.