SUPERSTITIONS IN ASIA

      A superstition is defined as "a belief founded on irrational feelings that do not have fact or reason to support them. Superstition is an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear. There are superstitions for almost all aspects of our daily lives and most have unknown origins." Superstitions abound in all cultures throughout the world, and are as old as mankind. In Asia, there are too many superstitious that they believe it’s involving their life.

      First, some of superstitious beliefs are associated to women’s life. These beliefs show their old immature way of thinking. For example, they can guess the sex of baby by a dead male snake. It might seem to be a strange idea to inspect the future, but there are still many people practice it. So, after killing a male snake, they articulate the name of the pregnant while they are throwing the snake. So, if the snake falls on its back, the baby is going to be a girl. On the other hand, if it lies on the other side, the baby is going to be a boy. This superstitious belief is common among old rural uneducated women and they used to practice it mostly with children.

      Second, the superstitious about, if someone breaks a mirror, she would receive seven years bad luck. There was a superstition that originated about 100 years ago about a woman named Mary. One day she had a terrible accident and her face was scratched so badly that she bled to death but her spirit could not rest. Bloody Mary, as she is called, roams the earth as an evil spirit. So as the story goes, if someone stands in front of a mirror in the dark and say her name three times, that people will see her horribly mangled face appear.

      The last one is about the number seven. The number seven symbolizes “togetherness”. It is a lucky number for relationships. It is also recognized as the luckiest number in the West, and is one of the rare numbers that is great in both Chinese and many Western cultures. It is a lucky number in Chinese culture, because it sounds alike to the Chinese character that give meaning arise. But number seven also considered spirits or ghostly. The seventh month of the Chinese calendar is also called the “Ghost Month”. During July, Chinese people believe that the gates of hell are said to be open so ghosts and spirits are permitted to visit the living realm.

      In conclusion, these superstitions are merely for your general knowledge. Some sound silly, some are freaky while some look fun but they may or may not be true.