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A new blog to contain answers to prompts |
| Prompt: Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day in Western superstition. Did you know according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville, North Carolina, an estimated 17–21 million people in the United States are affected by Paraskevidekatriaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th), making it the most feared day and date in history. Are you superstitious? Do you know people who are afraid of Friday the 13th? Do you carry some kind of lucky charm? Do you avoid activities because of the date? ========== I don't know anyone who is afraid of Friday the 13th, and I certainly hope I'm not superstitious at all. But then, I grew up with a mother who was extremely superstitious just about anything. Luckily, I had my uncles come to the rescue. They kept scolding my mother and told me not to believe and follow her ways. One of my mother's superstitions was not to do the laundry on a Saturday. She wasn't Jewish, so that wasn't it. Still, she made such a fuss over it that, to this day, decades after her passing, I feel funny when I do the wash on a Saturday. So, I might be participating in superstitious thinking or behavior, often without even realizing I'm doing it. Another one was, eating standing up. "Don't eat standing up. Satan will steal your food from inside you." But then, there was a time I had to eat lunch standing up because the school cafeteria would be so crowded that there was no place to sit and they had high tables without chairs for those of us who had to eat standing up. I bet no one had their food stolen from inside them because they had to eat standing up. The list of my mother's superstitions are endless, but I don't recall her being afraid of Friday the 13th or the number 13 itself. I still wonder about the psychology behind her magical thinking, and if it was hurting or helping her and by extension, yours truly. As to the origin of superstitions, I'm guessing they are born either from the fear of living or from ritualistic behavior, only because I have noticed that when I don't do what I have set as a ritual, I feel uneasy. Such as in the mornings when I first get up my ritual is bathroom, wash up, get dressed, make the bed, get breakfast. So far I've never had breakfast without making the bed, first. If I step away from a ritual, I feel uneasy. Is it me or my mother's influence, I haven't decided yet. In essence, I believe that those who favor superstitions too much are suffering from an anxiety disorder, only because I have seen it in my mother and in others like her that those who are the most superstitious are people who worry a lot and become anxious about any new change in their lives. Then, maybe, most of the superstitions people engage in are perfectly fine, and not pathological. This may be because the superstitions do help people to make them feel they have control over their environment and the events in their lives. This may be a false feeling, but it may help them deal with difficult times and boring everyday lives. |
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