Superstition
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Illustration: Henri Robin and a Specter, 1863 by Eugène Thiébault
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"I don't believe in it. But I am told it works even if you don't believe in it " |
Illustration: Illustration to the Speculum Sophicum Rhodostauroticum (1618) by Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens
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Superstition, belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any natural process linking the two events, such as astrology, religion, omens, witchcraft, etc., that contradicts natural science.
Opposition to superstition was central to the intellectuals during the 18th century Age of Enlightenment. The philosophes at that time rejected any belief in miracles, revelation, magic, or the supernatural, as "superstition," as well as unreasoned Christian doctrine.
The word superstition is sometimes used to refer to religious practices (e.g., Voodoo) other than the one prevailing in a given society (e.g., Christianity in western culture), although the prevailing religion may contain just as many superstitious beliefs. It is also commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy and spiritual beings, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.
See also
- Magical thinking
- Luck
- Folk religion
- Taboo
- Post hoc ergo propter hoc
- Theatrical superstitions
- Witch window
Namesakes
