I should have known better. In class I mentioned that I could only check your comments up to 1:00 PM before class and from what I read, it looked like the postings did not really focus on DETAILS, but dealt primarily with major themes.
Today I finally had a chance to review the entire thread and:
1) I am impressed with the degree of participation and empathy of your comments;
2) Thank you for giving me a window on your perspectives and your "Weltanschauung" (now, rush to look it up and find out what it means.)
FOR NEXT TUE:
SON OF ITALY: Think "superstition," and the role of irrational beliefs in people's lives, yours included (irrational does not mean "wrong": it means it cannot be proven by our standard scientific methods.) DO YOU PERSONALLY, or does someone you know (family, friends, culture, community) believe in EVIL spiritual forces, or in "DEVILS," or that these forces can take control of a person (DEMONIC POSSESSION), or that some individuals in fact DO HAVE EVIL powers?
I am asking about the negative, because probably a majority of people believe in POSITIVE spiritual forces (god, angels, saints, amulets etc.)
COMMENT: IF YOU POST AS ANONYMOUS, TYPE YOUR NAME AT THE TOP OF YOUR COMMENT, OTHERWISE I WON'T BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU CREDIT.
keep it short, with short sentences and SHORT PARAGRAPHS. Go straight to the point, think like a junior anthropologist.
REPLY: Let at least 12 classmates post before you reply. Pick the comment that resonates with you the most and explain why.
I personally believe that there are evil entities that exist and that a person can be taken over with Demonic power. I watched a movie called "The Devil Inside", and it is based on a true story of an exorcism that happened in Rome, Italy. While I do think evil spirits are quite exaggerated in movies, I have always feared them greatly because I believe in them. I feel like it happens in weak individuals who are around very negative, and toxic energy. There are people who preach to the Devil and it is probably much more likely to happen to someone who praises Satan and if someone lives in a house deemed to be haunted by some evil entity.
ReplyDeleteThat movie describes the sort of evil that is thought about when talking about the supernatural and superstitions. This was a very good point.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child I spent a lot of time in a village with my grandparents especially during the summer time. My grandmother was a religious person, but she also believed in evil spirits and evil eyes. I remember how she was afraid of a thunderstorm and closed the shutters on the house when heavy rain started.. She even didn’t allow me to watch TV and asked me to sit quietly during the storm . She told me that to see lightning is a bad sign. From my grandmother I learned a lot of superstitions in which I still believe. And I can say for sure that in my native country Ukraine every third Ukranian believes in superstitions maybe because it is a part of Ukrainian tribe. For example, Ukrainians usually knock on wood in order to get rid of the evil eye. This superstition has reached such an absurdity that some people even knock on their head if there is no wood nearby. It was inherited from our ancestors. In ancient times people believed that if you touch the wooden surface, you touch the Christ, who was crucified on a wooden cross. Thus, asking for protection from evil forces. Why knock three times? Because three is a sacred number for Christians. Or my grandmother taught me never take the garbage out after sunset. This superstition is one of the most popular in Ukraine. It has two different explanations. The first says that if you take the garbage out after the sunset, you will be surrounded by bad rumours. The second concerns the spirits. If you have not managed to throw the garbage out before dark, the evil spirits will enter the house and stay overnight.
At the same time I understand that when something bad occurs it is much easier to blame and make excuses by referring to superstitions in order to avoid taking responsibility for one's own life. Which is a common trait among the majority of the people.
Hanna Kryvonos
DeleteThis post belongs to Hanna Kryvonos, I am so sorry I forgot to put my name
Hanna, I think you made some really interesting points about superstitions by mentioning your grandmother. I think it's important to see how different cultures have different belief systems and how it affects our point of view.
DeleteI am not a superstitious person by any means. In fact, when I was younger I would purposefully walk on cracks on the sidewalk or under ladders just to prove that there was no such thing. I was never shown proof of the contrary, so to this day, I am not one who believes in "bad luck" or the supernatural. That being said however, I do think that there is more going on in this world that we don't understand than what we do understand. My father is the sort of person who is very much factual. He believes in things that can be proven, much like me. However, there is this one superstition that he takes very seriously for reasons I can't really explain. He HATES it (in fact he has yelled at me for doing this) when umbrellas are open indoors. He swears that it's bad luck and seems genuinely bothered by it. It is very out of character for him to believe in nonsense like that; I can't explain why he feels so strongly.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I personally don't believe in "dark forces" mostly because I'm not sure I believe in "forces of light" like God and angels. Like I said, I think there is more going on in this world than we understand, but I also think that an abundance of the unexplainable is sheer luck and coincidence. But who's to say we all aren't just pawns on a chessboard being controlled by a higher power?
I personally do not believe in superstitions. However, something happened to me about three years ago that made me question my beliefs. The short story is that I was out late at night and I was in a secluded area at two in the morning. My friend was driving and we pulled out of the area only to see two people in all black standing in the middle of the woods with no lights. It freaked me out for awhile but I don't believe in the supernatural. I think superstitions are a cultural thing because my friend who is hispanic said his whole family is very superstitious and has had paranormal experiences. Even though there are folklore like Big Foot in the US, I feel like superstitions in other cultures are more prominent.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who shares your belief (or should I say lack thereof), I also had an experience that once made me question.
DeleteI was living in Alaska, back in 2013 when a good friend's dog ran away from home. I had never met the dog, and it went missing more moments ago, so I was looking for a loose dog with no description beyond that it was small. We split paths and eventually I saw a small white (almost bright in the darkness of night) dog sprinting at impossible speed in the distance. I knew I had found it, but in my heart I thought that it had died and I saw it's ghost. When I told him what I saw, he said it didn't match the description. Later that night, he found his dog, but I am forever left to wonder what exactly it was that I saw.
I believe in superstitions of evil spirts or energy that lingers around us all on a daily basis. I am not a big believe of religion but I do believe in the spiritual world and that there is a higher being/energy that has their hand in everything we do. I am also a believer in the evil world theory which is, all of us on earth are alone and the only things that surround us are evil energies or beings and they surround us because they are trying to tamper with our lives. Our job as living individuals is to navigate through this lifetime without falling to the hands of evil or the devil if that is what you want to label it as. I believe that some people can become "possessed" by the devil or evil spirts. There are plenty of old pieces of literature that record incidences like this but, I feel that these instances happen less due to our cultural awareness and the evils and devils of the world try to keep their identity as hidden as possible.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of the "evil world theory", but I can definitely see why you and others believe in it. It's interesting to me because, as you said, this theory stated that evil energies attempt to sabotage and tamper our lives, but, at the same time, many religious people believe that it is God who puts challenges and hard times in our lives to make us stronger individuals. Who's right and who's wrong? It's an interesting dichotomy to think about.
DeleteGrowing up in a christian family, My mother always spoke about the devil and how he is working in the real world. She explained how he is testing us to see whether or not we do what God tells us to do (Following the 10 commandments, reading the bible, praying, basically doing what makes up as a Christian). I personally do believe there are evil spirits (Devil in this case) in the works not because of what my mom tells me but rather that i believe it myself. Negative and toxic energy can be considered evil spirits as it takes over you and you begin to be inside a dark, isolated world where you begin to have terrible thoughts. There are many films that depict evil spirits like “The conjuring” where it’s a bit exaggerated. Most of what happens tends to be true but is also exaggerated to have that horror feeling
ReplyDeleteI would say that my family and myself do believe in some superstitions, not all. We also believe in evil spiritual forces, well at least I do, but my reasoning in explaining why that is, is because I feel in order to believe in the positive; as many people do, there has to be a negative ( belief in evil spiritual forces ) to push you to believe in the positive ( God, etc. )and that it will overcome and defeat the Negative. However, I personally do not believe that an evil being possess powers and I'm not to sure where I stand on possession by an evil being. Sometimes I feel as though in some cases people; at least back in the day, mistook mental disabilities as being possessed by an evil force so, I'm not sure about my stand on possession.
ReplyDeleteKamura-
DeleteI couldn't agree more with what you are saying. I almost feel like everyone believes in superstitions too. My brother is very big on negative and positive powers and even use to light sage in the household if let's say I opened an umbrella in the house.
In an Asian-American household, we've had roots in superstitions and beliefs that my parents believe in, but I for one do not believe in them. I couldn't relate too much to my parents myths of bad luck as they always felt outlandish or trivial matters that seemed to be made up. Like recently our family was eating steamed fish and we finished one side of the fish so I decided to try and flip it over. My parents were adamant in not flipping the fish as it would "give us bad luck for the rest of the year" and to instead take out the bones of the fish. I believed that nothing like that "luck" exists in this world, but my family overemphasizes the fact that there is such thing as good or bad fortune.
ReplyDeleteEven with my family and childhood, I feel like superstitions are often a cultural thing and it gets passed down because it gets implanted into our brains from young.
DeleteMy grandmother also did not allow me to flip the fish because she also believed that it would bring bad luck. In addition, she also told me after we come back home after traveling for a while, or somewhere, we had to knock on the door, even though no one was there before we could open the door. Because she said that knocking on the door was to notify the people in the underworld that she was returning home and that they had to disappear and not disturb the landlord. My grandmother said that when she was young, she saw ghosts, so she strongly believed in spiritual and demonic things.
DeleteJessica Fracasse
ReplyDeleteI am an atheist. However my mom is a spiritual person. Growing up I did believe in “evil” things and when I’d tell her I saw, felt, or heard something she would take me to her friend who is a “spiritual healer” or do a cleansing (all with natural herbs and things). Yet my mom doesn’t believe in possession. She believes in evil energy. Meaning something that is evil can give you bad energy causing you to be sad and feel vulnerable.
I don't really give it much of any thought but I think I do believe in evil and dark spiritual forces that are around us. It's interesting because I feel like I can see it from different perspectives and part of me is telling me that we only tell ourselves about good and evil to help understand the world, even if it may not even be real but the other part of me believes in karma, and the spiritual aspects of the world.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up my dad would tell me Mexican urban legends like those of "la llorona" and "el cucuy". So because of that I've always been superstitious. While most urban stories are told to scare children into behaving, the ones that made me really believe that demons are real are the more personal stories my families have recounted about their encounters with in-explainable things. Personally, I don't think too much about them because I don't want to encounter those evil forces but I do believe they exist. I also believe the more open you are to believing that demons exist and go out to purposely provoke them it opens a door for those kinds of spirits to follow you. Think about it, if you can manifest good things in your life wouldn't you also be able to manifest bad things too?
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a great point. I believe in manifesting good things into our lives, and believe the same can be said for the bad/evil. I also found it interesting how your Mexican culture relates to my Turkish culture. Although we come from two very different backgrounds, it is interesting to see how both cultures used urban legends and superstitions to scare children into behaving. Thanks for sharing!
DeleteI grew up believing in superstitions because my entire family is very superstitious. Within my culture, it is common to believe in the devil and evil entities. Although I never encountered an evil entity or experienced anything that would make me believe in the devil or evil, I do believe they exist, to a certain extent. As a child anything and everything I heard from my family had to be true. However, as an adult I have my doubts and find a lot of the superstitions my parents told me to be deliberate fabrications. For example, my mother used to tell my brother and I not to whistle at night because it invites the evil entities into our home; and that the food we left on our dinner plates would later chase us in our dreams. Eventually, it was clear my family wanted us to believe in certain superstitions because they simply wanted some peace and quiet; as well as children who finished their dinner plates.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I began to question a lot of the superstitions enforced by my family, there are certain evil spirits and energies I do believe in. For example, I believe there are people in the world who expose themselves to the evil spirits, and fear there are individuals who wish bad or harm against others. My fear of this “evil energy” lead me to believe in the power of an evil eye. Although it may sound like a ridiculous superstition, I believe I can protect myself from evil and bad energy by wearing a piece of jewelry that has an “evil eye”. I guess it all depends on our personal experiences and what we choose to believe.
Hanna Kryvonos
DeleteI also question myself why in today's society where we have so many scientifically proven discoveries we still believe in superstitions and evil spirits where according to the dictionary, a superstition is a belief that is "not based on reason or knowledge."There are many traditions and rituals that we follow in our daily lives that we don't even stop to think about. While it may not be logical to behave in a certain way, something in the back of our mind encourages us to keep the tradition and ritual alive.I personally think that there is nothing wrong with a little bit of connection to our past through the practice of superstitious rituals, in frame where it is not causes any harm for people and surrounding society. However in the book “Son of Italy” people from Majella believed that the innocent old woman, who they called “old witch” or “vampire”, made the small boy of six month old sick by doing her enchantment., And because of their such believes this woman was attacked by children which tried to put salt on her head or needles in her leg and was badly beaten by the inhabitants of Majella without clear evidence of her witchcraft abilities.
I have never been nor will I ever be superstitious but for some unexplainable reason I somewhat believe in karma. My belief isn't a result of experiencing it but I do think that all of your actions whether they may be good or bad will eventually come back to you. But many Italians believe in "Malocchio" or "Evil Eye", it is basically the belief that a jealous or envious person could cause someone else to have bad luck or worse by simply looking at them. As a means to combat this Italians, Italian Americans specifically in my experience wear necklaces with what many perceive to be a red pepper but in fact is a red horn known as a "Cornicello" which signifies strength amongst other things.
ReplyDeleteI do not consider myself superstitious. Growing up my mom was extremely superstitious and constantly warned me about spirits and bad karma. Last summer I went to the far end of Fort Tilden beach with a couple of friends for the day. Towards the end of the day we were looking for a place to change quick and we ended up going into this abandoned bomb shelter on the beach called the Battery Kessler. Its almost pitch black dark, has these giant terrifying metal doors leading into small rooms and the temperature drops about 10 degrees was you enter. I had been in a number of times and every time it was just filled with the regular graffiti. This time someone had lit a bunch of candles and written out odd symbols in chalk. We continued to look around and found weird bones, symbols written in sand, long scrawled out rants about cursing anyone who entered, shrines made of found objects, more candles and just odd stuff that you see in horror movies. As we went into the last room we found a bedroom and finally realized that a homeless person must have moved in and had placed all of that to scare people away. It was interesting how this person was relying on other peoples fears and superstitions to keep their home safe. The belief in evil forces is so prevalent that it can often be used as a defense mechanism.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you using it as a defense mechanism because once you tell someone you can talk to ghost, been possessed or do voodoo, most people will run away.Its actually surprising how many people are scared of demons, etc.
DeleteI was born and raised in a non-religious family. Although I don't follow any beliefs, I think the existence of demons in the world is real, but I just don't have the ability to feel their presence. In contrast to my family, my aunt's family is very superstitious. She and her daughter often go to fortune-tellers to contact with people in the underworld like her grandfather and her father. There was a time when she had a cold, even though she took medicine after several days, but she still did not recover. Then she phoned her shaman to talk about her health issues. After talking to him over the phone, the next day, she got better and was no longer sick. This is very insane, I don't want to believe it, but it's actually happening. Moreover, she once attended a relative's funeral. After touching the corpse in a coffin, she often had nightmares and bad luck always happened to her for 3 months. When she went to see the warlock, he said she was a panicky person so her soul was easily possessed by the devil. Extraordinary things happened to my aunty so I do believe in the existence of demons in this world.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is an interesting post. It makes me wonder if these things truly do exist or if it is all a coincidence. I also think that demons exist but I don't really trust shamans or fortune tellers. I’ve never experienced one so I don’t want to be rude and dismiss them but I just don’t see it. However, I think that there is a possibility that some people have a gift but there are definitely people who prey upon the weak. All in all, this topic is subjective and sometimes I find it hard to say whether it is right or wrong.
DeleteI do believe in some superstition and the role of some irrational beliefs in people. My belief was stronger when I was younger and I used to watch certain movies. For example, I believed and still do that some people practice voodoo for evil. My grandmother also believed this and she told me that it was evil. When one of my uncles got sick and died, my mother told me that some woman that he knew did voodoo on him and that is why he died. As I got older, I did not think about it as much but I still did believe it. Currently, I believe that evil still exists but now I am a bit more skeptical. I’ve learned that voodoo and certain practices that are deemed evil by the Western world derive from Animism. This is an ancient religion practiced by many indigenous people. Since I’ve never studied this religion or learned enough about it, I am more reluctant to dismiss it as evil. Rather, I believe that evil spirits, demons exist, and that people use “powers” for evil, but I am not so quick to judge people on beliefs but rather actions.
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting, I have heard a lot of stories about voodoo and I never actual heard a first hand experience. I do not know if it is true or not but I know some history on voodoo and the Haitian evil or spiritual practice and this idea that voodoo is real is a very relevant idea still. I believe in evils but I do not personally believe that one person can put evils onto another person such as what may have possibly been done to your uncle.
DeleteSon of Italy has been an interesting read so far. On the subject of superstitions, I have much sympathy toward victims of irrational superstitions such as the old woman from the mountain of Majella. It is at times difficult to symapthize with her, knowing that she is utilizing superstitions for her own gain, but when she beaten as a result of her manipulation, I am reminded of the senseless evils that have been enacted as a result of false beliefs in demons and devils within normal human beings. As a person who belongs to inherently Christian cultures, much of my family believes in negative superstitions that were once used to justify the mass murders of our own ancestors. The suffering of those people deeply resonates within my heart, but I do not believe in any of the superstitions that were used against us.
ReplyDeleteIt is said that as Hatüey was tied to a stake, he was asked if he would accept the Spaniards' faith so that he may at least avert an eternity in hell before they burned him alive. He asked if he would see the Spaniards in heaven, to which they of course replied yes. He told them he could never accept their faith if it meant eternally living among such evil humans in the afterlife. To them, Hatüey suffers in hell to this day. To me, he rests forever in the warm darkness of death. Superstitions can change the world if we only choose to or not to believe in them.
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ReplyDeleteGrowing up with a religious background I feel like it was concrete to believe in superstitions. (negative or positive). My grandma being Polish would take a white chalk and put crosses on top of each doorway in our home to keep out the devil (evil). One superstition that will always stick with me is never putting brand new shoes on a table. One time when I was younger I put a brand new pair of pointe shoes on the dinner table to show my grandma, and my mom almost had a heart attack. She said its extremely bad luck to put brand new shoes on the table. She even cried because she was scared that I was gonna break my foot wearing these shoes now. My mother proceeded to bless them with holy water and even went to church to light a candle. Needless to say I will never put new shoes on a table, ever.
ReplyDeleteMy family does believe in “devils”, “demons” and anything that serves a darker purpose. My mother comes from the country side of jamaica, as a child, she was told about duppy (ghost), demonic possession and how demons manifest into someone in stories or real accounts from her grandmother. We watch a lot of demonic possession theme films and television shows. I personally don’t know how to feel because i do believe there are forces in the world that are negative and positive. But, i find these films to be hilarious because how could this really happen? It is the same as saying zombies are real, but we haven’t seen a dead person come to life. i do believe everyone harnesses “power”, the issue is what do you use it for. People can use their power for evil and create moves, spells, antidotes, etc. that is for evil, but no one was born evil or good.
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