You did not know that superstition takes four forms? Theologians assure us that it does. First is what they call Vain Observances, such as not walking under a ladder, and that kind of thing. Yet I saw a deeply learned professor of anthropology, who had spilled some salt, throwing a pinch of it over his left shoulder; when I asked him why, he replied, with a wink, that it was “to hit the Devil in the eye.” I did not question him further about his belief in the Devil, but I noticed that he did not smile until I asked him what he was doing.
The second form is Divination, or consulting oracles. Another learned professor I know, who would solve a problem by tossing a coin, told me quite seriously that he has dealt with a matter related to university affairs by consulting the I Ching. And why not? There are thousands of people on this world who appeal to the I Ching. The I Ching, to the embarrassment of rationalists, often gives excellent advice.
The third form is Idolatry, and universities can show plenty of that. If you have ever taken a large examination, you know how many jujus, lucky coins, and other bringers of luck are placed on the desks of students. Modest idolatry, but what else can you call it?
The fourth form is Improper Worship of the True God. A while ago, I learned that every day, for several days, a $2 bill had been tucked under a candlestick on the altar of a college chapel. Investigation revealed that an engineering student, worried about a girl, thought that bribery of the Deity might help. When I talked with him, he did not think he was pricing God cheap because he could afford no more.
Superstition, actually , is below the surface of human consciousness. It has done so for as long as we have any chronicle of human behavior, and although I cannot prove it, I doubt if it is more prevalent today than it has always been. Superstition, the theologians tell us, comes from the Latin supersisto, meaning to stand in terror of the Deity. Most people keep their terror within bounds, but they cannot root it out, nor do they seem to want to do so.
Superstition in general is linked to man’s yearning to know his fate, and to have some hand in deciding it. When my mother was a child, she innocently joined her Catholic friends in killing spiders on July 11, until she learned that this was done to ensure heavy rain the day following. I knew an Italian, a good scientist, who watched every morning before leaving his house, so that the first person he met would not be a priest as this would certainly bring bad luck.
I am not one to stand aloof from the rest of humanity in this matter, for when I was a university student, a gypsy14 woman with a child in her arms used to appear every year at examination time, and ask a shilling of anyone who touched the Lucky Baby; this cost me four shillings altogether, and I never failed an examination. Of course, I did it merely for the joke — or so I
thought then. Now, I am humbler.
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